Passage to Pontefract

by Jean Plaidy

  ‘Richard, don’t go. Richard, stay.’

  ‘My little love,’ he said, ‘people watch us. We must remember, must we not, that we are the King and Queen? Adieu, my sweetest, until we meet again.’

  Then he released himself and turned away to hide his emotion.

  Henry of Bolingbroke was brooding in Paris. He had good friends with him – all Richard’s enemies. There was Thomas Arundel the Archbishop of Canterbury and the young Earl of Arundel who still talked fiercely of avenging his father. Agents from England had been coming back and forth with news of the people’s discontent with Richard and now Henry had a grievance. The King had broken his promise. Solemnly he had sworn that the Lancaster estates should not be forfeited to the crown and immediately on the death of John of Gaunt this had been done. If the King could break his promise that released Bolingbroke from his.

  Henry was going to England. He was going to take the crown from Richard, but he must act cautiously. He could have gathered together an army in France but the English would not wish to see foreigners on their soil and his cause would be lost before it started. What Henry wanted was an English army fighting to replace a weak king by a strong one.

  The moment had come. Richard was in Ireland, and Edmund of Langley, Duke of York, a pleasant good man but completely lacking the ability to rule, was in charge of the government. Edmund had been retired from Court life and living in the country for some years. Moreover Richard had appointed to serve with him some of the most unpopular men in England: the Earl of Wiltshire, William Scrope, Sir William Bagot, Sir John Bushy and Sir Henry Green.

  Henry laid his plans with care. He had good reason for returning and he would come only with a few friends at the head of whom would be the Archbishop and the Earl of Arundel. He did not land in the South but in the Lancastrian stronghold of Yorkshire and made his way to Pontefract Castle.

  When it was heard that Henry was in England and that he had sworn that his only aim was to regain his estates many flocked to his banner. Few men of property approved of the confiscation of estates by the crown and they were ready to help Henry regain his.

  But the people were ripe for rebellion. Edmund of Langley hearing that Henry had now amassed a considerable army and was marching south went to meet him. There was no battle but Edmund Langley was no strategist and men began deserting from his army which fell back to Bristol. But the people of Bristol were not for the King and they seized the Earl of Wiltshire, Sir Henry Green and Sir John Bushy and executed them because they said they were the King’s evil counsellors. Thus when Henry came into Bristol the first thing he saw was the heads of these men on the city walls. He himself was greeted with cheers wherever he went.

  When the news was brought to Richard in Ireland that Henry had landed and had placed himself at the head of an army, he was mad with fury.

  He sent for Harry of Monmouth and contemplated what he would do with the boy.

  If he could catch his father, he told him, he should die a death which should make a noise as far as Turkey.

  Young Harry did not flinch. Richard looked at him through narrowed eyes. A hostage! Yet Henry of Bolingbroke had not cared that his son was in the King’s possession.

  He could not harm the boy. He had spoken truth when he had said he was fond of him. It was not the fault of Harry of Monmouth that his father was a traitor.

  ‘Take the boy away,’ he said. ‘Make him my prisoner. Let him be placed in Trim Castle and kept there until I say what shall become of him.’

  So young Harry of Monmouth was taken to the Irish castle and there held prisoner while Richard made his plans to leave for England.

  He was full of hope when he landed at Milford Haven. ‘We shall show this traitor what happens to his like,’ he declared, and he gave himself up to the pleasure of what he would do when Bolingbroke was in his hands.

  Alas, when he arrived in England he found there were few who were ready to rally to his banner; and those who had been with him in Ireland had little heart for the fight.

  It was alarming. They were all stealing away from him. Only a few remained. Where was the army he needed to subdue Bolingbroke? What had happened? Why had they all deserted him?

  What could he do? He summoned two whom he trusted – the Dukes of Exeter and Surrey – and told them they must go to his cousin and ask what his intentions were. If as he said he merely wished for the return of the Lancaster estates, they must discuss this matter.

  The two Dukes rode off to Chester but when they arrived at Henry’s stronghold he ordered them to join his forces and they immediately declared themselves willing to do this, for they believed that Richard’s was a lost cause.

  Richard was desolate for there seemed to be no way out of this morass into which he had so suddenly fallen. He could only wander from castle to castle with the very smallest band of faithful followers, knowing well that he could not continue in that way. From Conway to Caernarvon and from Caernarvon to Beaumaris and then back to Conway; and there the Earl of Northumberland, acting as Henry’s emissary, came to see him.

  ‘What would you have of me, traitor?’ demanded Richard.

  ‘I come from the Duke of Hereford, my lord.’

  ‘I know it well – traitor from traitor.’

  ‘We are no traitors, my lord. The Duke of Hereford does not mean to seize the throne. He merely wishes to escort you to London so that a Parliament may be held to deal with your evil counsellors through whose advice you have misgoverned the realm.’

  Richard said with dignity: ‘I will meet my cousin.’ Indeed he knew he had no alternative.

  ‘I will conduct you to the castle of Flint, my lord, where he awaits your coming.’

  ‘Then let us go,’ said Richard.

  Flint Castle was a formidable looking fortress – square with a large round tower at each corner and a keep of great size and strength detached from the main building and joined to it by a drawbridge. This tower was the donjon of the castle.

  It was dusk when they arrived and being exhausted by the journey Richard soon slept and did not awaken until the morning.

  He sat up in his bed wondering for a moment where he was. Then the memory of the previous day came to him. It seemed like a nightmare but the more wakeful he became the more real he realised it to be.

  It was undignified. It was demeaning. He would never forget this. Once his cousin was in his power he would lose no time in bringing about his end; and it would be in no delicate manner either.

  He rose and went to hear Mass in the castle chapel and as he came out he heard the sounds of marching.

  His spirits rose. His friends were coming to rescue him. He had known the nightmare could not persist.

  ‘I want to go to the tower,’ he said. ‘I wish to see what is happening outside the castle.’

  He went and when he looked down on that army gathered there he knew it was the end for him. Hereford’s men were surrounding the castle; and he recognised among them some on whose loyalty he had believed he could rely.

  He covered his face with his hands; he wanted to shut out the sight.

  One of his guards spoke to him. ‘My lord,’ he said, ‘the Duke of Hereford will be here after dinner.’

  ‘I shall have much to say to him when we meet,’ replied Richard grimly.

  He saw the sly smile on the face of the guard and he thought: By St John the Baptist, how has this come about? Such a short while ago I was their King and they trembled at my word. Then I went to Ireland and now that I am back, everything is changed.

  How quickly men who had once shown respect could delight in betraying their contempt. But there were a few friends left to him.

  Yes, there were some who had not torn off the badge of the White Hart.

  He went to the chamber where a table was laid for dinner. He turned to those who still wore their badges and said: ‘Kind friends and loyal gentlemen, sit down with me and eat for you are in peril of death for your fidelity to me.’

  ‘Aye,�
� cried one of the guards, ‘you should all eat well. For soon your heads will be off and how will you eat then?’

  ‘My friends,’ said the King, ‘heed not these oafs. Their time will come, I promise you.’

  And what alarmed him most was the lack of concern on the faces of these men. It was clear that they did not believe him.

  After the meal he made his way to that chamber where he was to receive his cousin.

  He had commanded that a chair be placed for him which should act as a throne. He was the King, he would remind them. This was not denied him and he went to it and seated himself and there awaited the coming of his enemy.

  Henry came before him as a subject to his King. He bowed and knelt. Richard took his hand and bade him rise. It did not seem that he was the vanquished one and the man who knelt before him the conqueror.

  ‘My lord and sovereign King,’ said Henry, ‘I have come back before my time.’

  ‘Why do you come thus, cousin?’ asked Richard.

  ‘I have come to seek the restitution of my lands and heritage.’

  ‘I am ready to accomplish your will so that you may enjoy all that is yours without exception.’

  ‘There is one other matter,’ went on Henry. ‘The common report of your people is that you have governed them badly for twenty years. They are not content therewith. If it pleases you, I will help you to govern better.’

  The Archbishop then asked leave to speak, and when this was granted he told the King that his rule could no longer be tolerated and that he must abdicate.

  Richard had expected this. He knew that the soft words of his cousin could be set aside. Here he was his cousin’s prisoner and Henry of Bolingbroke, Duke of Hereford and Lancaster, had an army behind him, while Richard’s followers had deserted him.

  What was a King without an army when his enemies came against him?

  He was a prisoner in his cousin’s hands and no good could come of denying it.

  He faced Henry and said meekly: ‘Fair cousin, since it pleases you it pleases me.’

  They began the journey to London. They had given him a miserable little horse to ride and when they reached Chester Richard was a prisoner in his own castle and the one who was set to guard him was the young Earl of Arundel who bore him a grudge for the murder of his father.

  But when I reach London, thought Richard, it will be different. The people of London will rally to me. Everything will be changed then.

  Alas it was not so. He soon realised that London had rejected him and had transferred its allegiance to Henry.

  They took him to the Tower and there he remained while Henry went to St Paul’s to pay respect to the tombs of his father and his mother. The people liked the sentiment he showed at these tombs and they came into the streets to cheer him.

  Henry was moving cautiously. He was determined that Richard must abdicate of his own free will. He did not want it to be said that he had driven him from the throne. That Richard was a weak ruler all must admit; and that England needed a strong king was equally obvious. But it must come about as Henry wished.

  He wanted it to be known that Richard, who was still the King, must be treated with respect and every effort must be made for his comfort. He even ordered that his dogs should be brought to him. All must know that Henry was a just man and would only take the crown if it was seen that Richard could no longer wear it.

  He was with the guards in the chamber when the hound Math was brought in.

  It was then that the strange thing happened for Math came bounding towards the King but before he reached him, he stopped suddenly. Then he turned away from Richard and went to Henry and placing his feet on his shoulders licked his face.

  There was great astonishment in the chamber for the dog had previously paid little attention to any but the King.

  Henry was the first to speak. ‘What does this mean?’ he asked. ‘Is this not your dog?’

  ‘Like others,’ said Richard, ‘he was mine, but, you see, even my dog knows which side he should be on.’

  It was uncanny. The guards talked of it. It was a sign.

  Nothing could have convinced them more than that strange act of the dog that Richard’s reign was over, and that of Henry of Bolingbroke had begun.

  Chapter XVII

  PONTEFRACT

  They had given him the clothes of a foreigner that he might not be recognised as they took him down the river. He was not sure of his destination. He felt numbed and at times he was certain that he would wake up and find he had been the victim of a nightmare that had seemed to go on for weeks. At Gravesend they alighted and went by road to Leeds Castle in Kent.

  A prisoner, he the King! No, no longer the King – plain Richard of Bordeaux. He would never forget those last days in the Tower. Gloomy days, with the rain pelting against the grey walls and the darkness of despair in the fortress.

  For the last time he had worn his royal robes, but he was not allowed to sit on the throne. He had gone there only to give it up.

  How they had shamed him! They had kept him standing while they read out the long list of his deficiencies. And then had come the degrading moment when he had taken off his crown and handed it to Bolingbroke.

  Oh fool that I was! he had thought. I had him in my power once. I exiled him. I should have destroyed him then.

  And Bolingbroke was now Henry the Fourth of England. It was the end. He had failed and it had all happened too quickly for him. He had not seen the danger until it was right upon him.

  Leeds was one of the most beautiful castles in England standing as it did on two islands connected by a double drawbridge, but Richard was in no mood to admire his surroundings. He could see nothing but that terrible scene in the great hall at Westminster when he had meekly handed over his birthright to his cousin.

  It was all over now. This was the end. Pictures from the past filled his mind. He remembered so well the anxious looks in his mother’s eyes. She had feared for him from the moment she knew he was destined to become a king. He thought of his great father and wondered what he would feel if he could look down on what was happening to his son.

  He must not brood on these things; of what then could he think? Of the present? He shivered. The future? What hope was there in life for him?

  They did not leave him long at Leeds. They did not tell him where they were taking him, but he knew that he was riding North. Ah yes, to some Lancastrian stronghold of his cousin-enemy. First they kept him at Pickering and after that at Knaresborough and finally they came to the Castle of Pontefract.

  It was built on a rock and the high wall was flanked by seven towers. The moat on the western side was deep. He had visited Pontefract before and had heard of the dungeons there. There was at least one he knew which could only be entered through a trap door. Prisoners were lowered and left there to die.

  What did they intend to do with him? The fact that he had been taken to this grim fortress of Pontefract could be significant.

  It was deep winter now and the weather bitterly cold. There were snowdrifts about the castle walls. From one of the towers Richard could look down on the town and he could see the guards who were stationed about the castle. There were always guards; when one group went off duty another took it’s place. It was heartening in a way because it meant that his enemies feared there might be an attempt to rescue him.

  He let himself dream. This nightmare would pass. He would be back again. He would be King; men would bow before him; he would ride to Windsor and see his dear little Isabella.

  Isabella, Isabella, he murmured, what do you know of this?

  Poor sweet child! She was growing up now. She would hear news and her sweet heart would be torn with grief.

  He must write to her. Perhaps they would send her to him. She was too young to be suspected of subtlety. She was but a child. She would be faithful to him in his adversity. Unlike Math. When he thought of that incident it struck him as uncanny. It had unnerved him more than anything that had gone before. Look
ing back, he saw that in that moment when Math had turned from him to Henry he had known it was the end.

  Dear, sweet Isabella! She would never turn from him.

  They allowed him writing materials. With mingling pleasure and pain he took up his pen.

  ‘My mistress and my consort, cursed be the man who has separated us. I am dying of grief because of it. Since I am robbed of the joy of being with you, I suffer such pain and am near despair … And it is no marvel when I from such a height have fallen so low, and lose my joy, my solace and my consort.’

  ‘Sweet child,’ he murmured. ‘What will become of you? What will become of us both?’

  They had set Sir Thomas Swynford to guard him. Trust Henry to make sure that those on whom he could rely should be given positions of trust. Swynford was the son of Henry’s stepmother, Catherine of Lancaster, and as all his possessions had come to him through Lancaster he would serve the Lancastrian cause with all his heart because it was his own.

  But he, Richard, had been good to Catherine. Had he not, on his uncle’s urgent request, legitimised the children they had had? The Beauforts were now the recognised legitimate sons of John of Gaunt. Surely they should be grateful for that. But it was natural that they should support their half-brother.

  He did not like Thomas Swynford. He fancied the man took pleasure in humiliating him.

  He talked to him now and then almost condescendingly and showed no respect for one who had once been a king.

  Once Richard said to him: ‘I was a good friend to you and your mother, Thomas Swynford.’

  Thomas Swynford replied: ‘You thought it well to please the man you called your mighty uncle.’

  ‘There were times when John of Gaunt felt it advisable to please me. Why do you say the man I call my uncle?’

  ‘Because many say now that he was not your uncle because you were not the son of the Black Prince.’

  ‘None would believe such a lie.’