Read Online The Star of Lancaster by Jean Plaidy - Free Book Online
Authors: Jean Plaidy
Tags: Historical
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a man who acted on impulse however foolishly.
She was glad when they departed. It was very upsetting.
Occasionally Henry visited her but he was in attendance on the King and could not be with her as often as he wished. She liked to hear about the King whom she suspected Henry despised a little. He was not as clever as Henry at any of the outdoor sports; Henry would always triumph over him.
‘Does he mind?’ asked Mary.
‘Not he. He cares more about his books; and he will talk of his fine clothes for hours. He is very particular about his food. Not that he eats a great deal; but it must be served in the most delicate manner. To tell you the truth, Mary, he is not what one thinks of as a king.’
Henry was often wistful when he talked of the King. Mary understood why when he said to her one day: ‘Do you know, if my father had been the first of his father’s sons, I should have been the King.’
‘Would you have liked that, Henry?’ she asked.
‘It is not a matter of liking it,’ was his reply, ‘but of accepting the fact and moulding oneself accordingly. You see Richard was not meant to be King. If his elder brother had lived he would have taken the crown; and then his father died and there he was aged about nine years old, King of England.’
A faint resentment was in Henry’s voice.
She did not say so, but she was glad his father had not been the eldest for then she would in due course have been Queen and she knew that would have been rather alarming.
Henry’s visits were so brief and she was left much to herself.She did a great deal of needlework, played her guitar, learned new songs to sing for Henry and awaited the birth of her child with some impatience.
She heard scraps of gossip from the women. She could get a picture of what was happening in the outside world from them. She discovered that there was a murmuring of discontent throughout the country. Some said the peasants were getting too big for their boots because of the land laws which enabled them to cultivate for their own use a portion of the land belonging to the lord of the manor and to pay for it by working for him. They complained that the lord took the best of their time and their own crops were spoilt because they could not deal with them in an emergency since at such a time the lord’s own lands would need all their attention. They were slaves. They were bound to the land and so were their children. But the greatest grievance of all was the poll tax which was levied on every man, woman and child over fifteen.
She heard the name of John Ball which was mentioned frequently. He had been, she gathered, a ‘hedge priest’ which meant that he had had no church and no home of his own, but had wandered about the countryside preaching and accepting bed and board where he could find it. He had preached to the people on village greens at one time but when he began to be noticed by people in authority, these meetings had been held in woods at night.
Not only had he been preaching religion, it had been said, but he was preaching revolution for he was urging the peasants to rise against their masters, to throw off slavery, and demand what he had called their rights.
It was not to be wondered at that a man who preached such fiery doctrines should be considered dangerous, and John Ballhad been seized and put into the Archbishop’s prison of Maidstone.
And now there was all this talk about the peasants’ unrest; but no one took it very seriously.
Certainly not the household at Kenilworth where all were concerned with the coming birth.
It began one early evening when Mary sat with her ladies. She was playing the guitar while they stitched at their tapestry. The child was due in a few weeks and Mary was suffering acute discomfort. It was all very natural, said her women; it was the fate of all in her condition and all the inconvenience of the last months would have been worthwhile when her child was born.
Her pains began suddenly and they
She was glad when they departed. It was very upsetting.
Occasionally Henry visited her but he was in attendance on the King and could not be with her as often as he wished. She liked to hear about the King whom she suspected Henry despised a little. He was not as clever as Henry at any of the outdoor sports; Henry would always triumph over him.
‘Does he mind?’ asked Mary.
‘Not he. He cares more about his books; and he will talk of his fine clothes for hours. He is very particular about his food. Not that he eats a great deal; but it must be served in the most delicate manner. To tell you the truth, Mary, he is not what one thinks of as a king.’
Henry was often wistful when he talked of the King. Mary understood why when he said to her one day: ‘Do you know, if my father had been the first of his father’s sons, I should have been the King.’
‘Would you have liked that, Henry?’ she asked.
‘It is not a matter of liking it,’ was his reply, ‘but of accepting the fact and moulding oneself accordingly. You see Richard was not meant to be King. If his elder brother had lived he would have taken the crown; and then his father died and there he was aged about nine years old, King of England.’
A faint resentment was in Henry’s voice.
She did not say so, but she was glad his father had not been the eldest for then she would in due course have been Queen and she knew that would have been rather alarming.
Henry’s visits were so brief and she was left much to herself.She did a great deal of needlework, played her guitar, learned new songs to sing for Henry and awaited the birth of her child with some impatience.
She heard scraps of gossip from the women. She could get a picture of what was happening in the outside world from them. She discovered that there was a murmuring of discontent throughout the country. Some said the peasants were getting too big for their boots because of the land laws which enabled them to cultivate for their own use a portion of the land belonging to the lord of the manor and to pay for it by working for him. They complained that the lord took the best of their time and their own crops were spoilt because they could not deal with them in an emergency since at such a time the lord’s own lands would need all their attention. They were slaves. They were bound to the land and so were their children. But the greatest grievance of all was the poll tax which was levied on every man, woman and child over fifteen.
She heard the name of John Ball which was mentioned frequently. He had been, she gathered, a ‘hedge priest’ which meant that he had had no church and no home of his own, but had wandered about the countryside preaching and accepting bed and board where he could find it. He had preached to the people on village greens at one time but when he began to be noticed by people in authority, these meetings had been held in woods at night.
Not only had he been preaching religion, it had been said, but he was preaching revolution for he was urging the peasants to rise against their masters, to throw off slavery, and demand what he had called their rights.
It was not to be wondered at that a man who preached such fiery doctrines should be considered dangerous, and John Ballhad been seized and put into the Archbishop’s prison of Maidstone.
And now there was all this talk about the peasants’ unrest; but no one took it very seriously.
Certainly not the household at Kenilworth where all were concerned with the coming birth.
It began one early evening when Mary sat with her ladies. She was playing the guitar while they stitched at their tapestry. The child was due in a few weeks and Mary was suffering acute discomfort. It was all very natural, said her women; it was the fate of all in her condition and all the inconvenience of the last months would have been worthwhile when her child was born.
Her pains began suddenly and they
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