So we stitched and we talked and we often spoke of Isabel.

We were stunned when the news came. I helped my mother to her bed. I had never seen her so stricken.

Isabel was dead. She had died after her little boy was born and he soon followed his mother to the grave.

I could not believe it. Isabel ... dead! There were so many memories of her. She had been so much a part of my childhood. She was too young to die.

My mother wept in silence at night. By day she was withdrawn. I had never seen a face so sad as hers.

As for myself, I was equally desolate. It was inconceivable. Never to see Isabel again! Never to receive a letter from her.

I thought of those little ones: Margaret and Edward. Poor motherless children. And George? He had loved her, I believe, in his way, although I could not believe he would ever love anyone but himself, I

had never heard that he was unfaithful. At least he was not like the king in that respect.

How hard it was to believe that Isabel was dead, and for a long time afterwards I would find myself thinking: I will write and tell Isabel that.

Death was in the air. Isabel had died in December just before Christmas a sad time to die and in January there was another death.

Isabel's was of little importance in court circles, but that of Charles the Rash was another matter.

The Duke of Burgundy dead meant that the heiress to his vast estates was a woman his daughter Mary. So Mary of Burgundy had become the most desirable parti in Europe. Richard was thoughtful. He talked to me of it. He said: "I wonder what Edward is thinking now. Louis paid him to keep away because Burgundy was Edward's ally and Louis feared Burgundy more than he feared England. But what will happen now that Burgundy is no more?" There is, of course, Mary."

"A woman!" said Richard.

"Whom will she take for her husband? That is what everyone will be watching. She will need a strong man to stand beside and hold what she has inherited. You will see now, there will be a rush to marry her from all the most ambitious men in Europe."

"Poor Mary." I said.

"She will be married for her estates."

"I believe her to be a strong-minded young woman," said Richard.

"She might insist on making up her own mind as to which man she will marry. It will be interesting. Her stepmother -our sister Margaret, as you know may have some influence with her. If she had an English husband, that would do us no harm. Margaret will surely think of that."

It soon became clear that the demise of the Duke of Burgundy was going to have a big effect on a number of people.

In the first place, Edward called a council and Richard was summoned to London. As always he was loth to leave Middleham and the family life which he loved. "Why should you not come with me, Anne?" he said.

I was pleased, although I hated the thought of leaving Middleham and the children. Yet I felt that on this occasion Richard particularly wanted to have me with him. Always at the back of his mind was the question of what George might do next. Isabel was dead and George would be free to many. I believe some premonition of what would happen was in Richard's mind. It might have been that he needed someone with him to whom he could talk freely, someone in whom he could have complete trust. I was that one.

The journey will be hard going," he said, "for we shall have to travel with all speed if we are to get there in time for the first day of the council meeting."

I knew I could leave the children in the care of their nurses and attendants and Richard and I left for the south.

I felt uneasy to be at court. Clarence was there. He met me with an absolute nonchalance, as though the cookshop incident had never happened. He talked sentimentally of Isabel and said he was heart-broken; but his expressions of pleasure at seeing me and his recollections of his dear Isabel struck me as somewhat false. As with his brother Edward, when one saw them after an absence, one was always aware of their outstanding good looks -the height, the splendid physique, the clean-cut features, the almost perfectly masculine beauty. But I fancied Clarence looked a little bloated: his complexion was more florid. I knew of his fondness for good malmsey. Isabel used to say she often chided him for drinking too much: and when he drank he went into realms of fancy, seeing himself as the all-powerful one the king, no less.

When we arrived in London the council was already sitting. Edward, I knew, would be delighted to have Richard's support. He would be very wary of Clarence. I wondered that he allowed him to come to the council after his past record. Edward seemed to wave all that aside simply because he would not let himself believe that he had a brother who would betray him if he had a chance to do so.

After that first council meeting, Richard told me that the discussion had centred on trade. The great concern was what the effect would be on our English markets, and of course whether the death of Burgundy England's ally and Louis' enemy -would give Louis an opportunity of refusing to honour his treaty. However, Edward had a secret meeting with Richard and this I believe was at the root of his concern as much as any other.

In our apartments, as we lay in bed, Richard unburdened himself to me. After all, I was with him that he might talk openly to someone whom he could trust. He had once said that talking to me was like talking to himself and as he listened to himself he saw a subject from a different angle. Moreover he knew that everything he said to me would go no farther.

"Edward's real concern is not so much with trade and the pension, for he believes he can keep trade going and still have a hold on Louis. But our sister of Burgundy is trying to arrange a match between Mary and George."

"But Isabel..."

"Isabel is conveniently dead. If I know our brother, he will be on the look-out for a convenient match ... and what could be more so than this? Burgundy is one of the greatest estates in Europe. Clarence is avid for power. He wants the throne of England, of course. In his heart Edward knows that. But there is another matter. Burgundy has always believed it has a claim to the English throne. What do you think would happen if Clarence married Mary of Burgundy?"

"I think in the first place that Edward would never allow it."

"You are right. I know he seems easy-going, but when it is necessary, he can be strong. He likes peace. He is affable almost to a fault and it will need a good deal to provoke him. But in a matter like this he will stand firm."

"Margaret, your sister, wants it."

"Margaret always loved George dearly. I was so jealous of him when we were young. As I have told you, to Margaret he was always her dear little brother, so handsome and charming. Edward was the same as far as George was concerned. But Edward will certainly not allow this Burgundian marriage."

"And Clarence?"

"I am afraid he will be vengeful."

"Against the king? Will he dare?"

"When he is in one of his impulsive moods, he will dare anything. He does not look beyond the immediate present. He sees his wild dreams come true. I'll swear that now he is seeing himself Lord of Burgundy and doubtless ... in due course ... conqueror of England."

"He frightens me, Richard."

"He frightens us all. If he were not the king's brother and Edward were not the man he is Clarence would have lost his head long ere this. Margaret stresses the point that Mary should marry an Englishman to ensure that the ties between us are kept intact. We all agree. But what Englishman? Not Clarence. Not Rivers."

"Rivers?"

The queen's brother. Edward had allowed his name to go forward as a possible husband. It is only because the queen has pleaded for it. Everyone knows how she constantly puts forward members of her family. That has been one of the main troubles since Edward married her. Edward placates her, particularly when he knows there is not a chance of her attaining her ambitions."

"You mean that Edward has actually allowed Rivers to seek Mary's hand in competition with George?"

"He will not allow Clarence to be in the running."

"Yet Rivers is there?"

"Rivers has not a chance. Mary would laugh at the suggestion. So would everyone else ... except the queen who is robbed of her good sense where the promotion of her family is concerned. She thinks that because she, a woman of no standing, succeeded in marrying a king, she can pair off members of her family with all the great houses, not only in England but in Europe."

"And your sister Margaret favours Clarence! Does she have much influence with Mary?"

"She may have, but Mary is a strong-minded young woman. She will have her own views, I doubt not. What she needs is a strong man beside her and neither Clarence nor Rivers would fit the role. She would, of course, reject them both. But, in view of Margaret's preference for George, Edward says he cannot allow his name to go forward."

"I can see why he is worried. But what will Clarence say when he, the king's brother, is rejected by the king while Rivers is offered?"

"He will be furious. There is no doubt of that."

"And say that the king favoured his wife's brother and rejected his own."

"He will say a great many things, then lose his senses in his favourite malmsey and think up some ambitious project."

How I wished we could leave court and all the intrigues. My heart was in Middleham. I think Richard's was too.

I was with Richard when Clarence stormed in. Richard dismissed everyone else and I was alone with him and his brother.