ago.
The king inclined his head. “You may fight under your device if you must, but will be supplied with another showing the Plantagenet lions. You will display both when you ride out to rally men to your cause.”
“As you command.”
Henry was too wise a man to show his satisfaction. Walking on, he continued with the instructions he thought imperative for the success of their undertaking.
David stopped again. “I would point out, sire, that I have ample excuse for any lapse in manners or memory. If you will have it that Edward has been absent from England these many years for safety’s sake, then clearly there will be much he’s forgotten, including details of the Plantagenet family. Added to that, I’ve met a few princes. Most were less than pattern cards for royal conduct.”
“Nor were they setting themselves up as would-be kings, I’ll warrant,” Henry answered. “You will be judged everywhere you go. It can be no other way. To discover in private the things that may trip you up when you go into the public view will be far better.”
David thought to himself that he had more knowledge of court etiquette than Henry, or Lady Marguerite for that matter, seemed to realize. He had fought at a king’s side and called him friend, had dined with kings and princes, spoken with them in audience, and stood about while they spoke with others.
He let it go. He’d no wish to be found lacking in anydetail. Moreover, long days spent with Lady Marguerite while she aided him with the finer points of royal behavior were not to be scorned.
As for this business of impersonating a prince, he had his doubts. The line he would be treading was fine indeed. Its dangers were easily as apparent to him as they had been to Lady Marguerite. He must avoid being taken by either Yorkist or Lancastrian factions while building his base of support from which to challenge Perkin Warbeck. It would mean hard riding as he showed himself hither and yon, speaking to market crowds and gatherings of nobles, seldom remaining in one place for more than a few hours, staying always ahead of those who would destroy what he sought to build. Yes, and him with it.
He did not shrink from the danger, but neither did he underestimate it.
There was an additional peril that had gone unspoken by Lady Marguerite. Had that been from diplomacy or simple failure to recognize it? Either was possible, though it might also be that she rated his chance of success too low to trigger it.
In simple fact, attracting too great a following could become his greatest threat. What would Henry do if the support rallying to a new Plantagenet standard proved mighty enough to shake his throne?
He had sworn fealty to King Henry VII, but the king had sworn nothing to him.
“A question, sire,” David said in contemplative tones.
“Aye?”
“What of afterward, when this rebellion has been put down and Warbeck captured or killed? Will you makepublic the stratagem we have agreed to pursue, or will you denounce my part in it and banish me across the channel?”
A thoughtful frown crossed the king’s face. “We’ve not looked that far ahead. An oversight, it must be admitted.”
“Before it comes to that point, I could possibly discover proof that I’m not legitimate, after all, and fade from contention.” Even as he made the suggestion, David could not forebear wondering if Henry had not failed to consider this eventuality because he had no expectation that his new false pretender would be alive when it arose.
“It’s a possibility,” Henry allowed.
“One that may smack of cowardice if left too late.” David shook his head. “I would prefer the right to fight at your side, should that time come.”
“And I would be honored to have you there once more.” Henry clapped a hand on his shoulder. “An announcement it is, then, when events are in order and the pretended defeated, one telling all of the service you have rendered us.”
David would have liked to
The king inclined his head. “You may fight under your device if you must, but will be supplied with another showing the Plantagenet lions. You will display both when you ride out to rally men to your cause.”
“As you command.”
Henry was too wise a man to show his satisfaction. Walking on, he continued with the instructions he thought imperative for the success of their undertaking.
David stopped again. “I would point out, sire, that I have ample excuse for any lapse in manners or memory. If you will have it that Edward has been absent from England these many years for safety’s sake, then clearly there will be much he’s forgotten, including details of the Plantagenet family. Added to that, I’ve met a few princes. Most were less than pattern cards for royal conduct.”
“Nor were they setting themselves up as would-be kings, I’ll warrant,” Henry answered. “You will be judged everywhere you go. It can be no other way. To discover in private the things that may trip you up when you go into the public view will be far better.”
David thought to himself that he had more knowledge of court etiquette than Henry, or Lady Marguerite for that matter, seemed to realize. He had fought at a king’s side and called him friend, had dined with kings and princes, spoken with them in audience, and stood about while they spoke with others.
He let it go. He’d no wish to be found lacking in anydetail. Moreover, long days spent with Lady Marguerite while she aided him with the finer points of royal behavior were not to be scorned.
As for this business of impersonating a prince, he had his doubts. The line he would be treading was fine indeed. Its dangers were easily as apparent to him as they had been to Lady Marguerite. He must avoid being taken by either Yorkist or Lancastrian factions while building his base of support from which to challenge Perkin Warbeck. It would mean hard riding as he showed himself hither and yon, speaking to market crowds and gatherings of nobles, seldom remaining in one place for more than a few hours, staying always ahead of those who would destroy what he sought to build. Yes, and him with it.
He did not shrink from the danger, but neither did he underestimate it.
There was an additional peril that had gone unspoken by Lady Marguerite. Had that been from diplomacy or simple failure to recognize it? Either was possible, though it might also be that she rated his chance of success too low to trigger it.
In simple fact, attracting too great a following could become his greatest threat. What would Henry do if the support rallying to a new Plantagenet standard proved mighty enough to shake his throne?
He had sworn fealty to King Henry VII, but the king had sworn nothing to him.
“A question, sire,” David said in contemplative tones.
“Aye?”
“What of afterward, when this rebellion has been put down and Warbeck captured or killed? Will you makepublic the stratagem we have agreed to pursue, or will you denounce my part in it and banish me across the channel?”
A thoughtful frown crossed the king’s face. “We’ve not looked that far ahead. An oversight, it must be admitted.”
“Before it comes to that point, I could possibly discover proof that I’m not legitimate, after all, and fade from contention.” Even as he made the suggestion, David could not forebear wondering if Henry had not failed to consider this eventuality because he had no expectation that his new false pretender would be alive when it arose.
“It’s a possibility,” Henry allowed.
“One that may smack of cowardice if left too late.” David shook his head. “I would prefer the right to fight at your side, should that time come.”
“And I would be honored to have you there once more.” Henry clapped a hand on his shoulder. “An announcement it is, then, when events are in order and the pretended defeated, one telling all of the service you have rendered us.”
David would have liked to
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