"So far as thou hast seen," I replied. "That distance is not great. My father—rest his soul—saw this same Richard stab to the heart, without provocation, and in the coldest blood, young Edward, son of Henry. I've heard my father, with tears upon his cheeks, tell the tale of that foul deed.
"The young Prince, after Tewkesbury, was brought before King Edward and his brothers.
"'What meanest thou, so to rebel against the laws of England and her Sovereign, by thus taking up arms to disturb the peace of this thy native land?' asked our now dead King.
"'Proud and rebellious York,' replied the youth; 'by what right dost thou question us, thy true and lawful Sovereign? Hadst thou the loyalty equal to thine impertinence, thou wouldst now be at our feet, craving our pardon for this show of force before us, England's only King.'
"My father said 'twas grand to see the young Prince, as he did finish this speech, so full of dignity and power. His face was flushed with excitement, and with pride; and as he raised his hand to Heaven, as though asking of the powers there to bear him out, he looked as though he were inspired.
"Then Richard of Gloucester, now our pro tem. ruler, unable to look upon this righteous indignation, with his steel gauntlet, struck young Edward on that tender cheek. This proud bud of the noble flower of Lancaster could ill brook this insult; especially from one of a rival house. His hand flew to his dagger. Gloucester, who knew full well that this was but an impulse, pounced on the Prince, as doth the tiger on its tender prey, buried his weapon in that noble flesh, and, as the body fell upon the ground, he spurned it with his armoured foot. This," I continued, "doth show the tenderness of Richard, and the treatment that they may expect, which do not please his Highness, the Protector. His words and his actions are of but distant kin."
"Then dost thou not think he will be bound by his oath, made to the King before his Majesty deceased?" asked Hazel.
"Indeed who can tell?" I replied. "Mayhap a year will show, mayhap two. He may be honest, and he may be not. Which course he doth find to be most profitable, it is mine opinion, he will follow."
Thus we spent most of the morning, discussing the policy of the new Protector; and methinks the surmises we made that morning in the park turned out to be as true as the great majority of the prophecies which are, even now, so prevalent in this glorious and enlightened reign of his most gracious Majesty, King Henry, of that name the eighth, which, despite his faults—and we all must have our own—is a most noble master.