PLOTTINGS.
[Sidenote: Personal and political intrigues.]
[Sidenote: Margaret's beauty.]
It was in this way that public affairs were mingled and complicated
with private and personal intrigues in the English court at the time
of Margaret's arrival in the country. Margaret was of a character
which admirably fitted her to act her part well in the management of
such intrigues, and in playing off the passions of ambition, love,
resentment, envy, and hate, as manifested by those around
her--passions which always glow and rage with greater fury in a court
than in any other community--so as to accomplish her ends. She was
very young indeed, but she had arrived at a maturity, both mental and
personal, far beyond her years. Her countenance was beautiful, and her
air and manner possessed an inexpressible charm, but her mental powers
were of a very masculine character, and in the boldness of the plans
which she formed, and in the mingled shrewdness and energy with which
she went on to the execution of them, she evinced less the qualities
of a woman than of a man.
[Sidenote: Lady Neville supposed to be dead.]
[Sidenote: Her father.]
It was supposed by all parties in England that Lady Neville was dead.
Of course the Duke of Gloucester had no idea that any one could have
escaped from the boat. He supposed that he had effected the complete
destruction of all on board of it. Somerset's men, who had been
stationed at some distance from the landing to receive Lady Neville
and convey her home, waited until long past the appointed hour, but no
one came. The inquiries which Somerset made secretly the next day
showed that the boat had sailed from the village, but no tidings of
her arrival in London could be obtained, and he supposed that she must
have been lost, with all on board, by some accident on the river. As
for the Earl of Salisbury, Lady Neville's father, Gloucester went to
him at once, and informed him what he had done. He had detected his
daughter, he said, in a guilty intrigue, which, if it had been made
public, would have brought not only herself, but all her family, to
shame. The earl, who was a man of great sternness and severity of
character, said that Gloucester had done perfectly right, and they
agreed together to keep the whole transaction secret from the world,
and to circulate a report that Lady Neville had died from some natural
cause.
[Sidenote: Arrival in London.]
Such was the state of things when Margaret and Lady Neville arrived in
London. As soon as the queen became somewhat established in her new
home, she began to revolve in her mind the means of deposing
Gloucester. Her plan was first to endeavor to arouse her husband from
his lethargy, and to awaken in his mind something like a spirit of
independence and a feeling of ambition.
[Sidenote: The queen and Henry.]
"You have in your hands," she used to say to him, "what may be easily
made the foundation of the noblest realm in Europe. Besides Great
Britain, you have the whole of Normandy, and other valuable
possessions in France, which together form a vast kingdom, in the
government of which you might acquire great glory, if you would take
the government of it into your own hands."
[Sidenote: Margaret's arguments.]
She went on to represent to him how unworthy it was of him to allow
all the power of such a realm to be wielded by his uncle, instead of
assuming the command at once himself, as every consideration of
prudence and policy urged him to do. A great many instances had
occurred in English history, she said, in which a favorite minister
had been allowed to hold power so long, and to strengthen himself in
the possession of it so completely, that he could not be divested of
it, so that the king himself came at length to be held in subjection
by his own minister. The Duke of Gloucester was advancing rapidly in
the same course; and, unless the king aroused himself from his
inaction, and took the government into his own hands, he would soon
lose all power to do it, and would sink into a condition of
humiliating dependence upon one of his own subjects.
[Sidenote: The example of ancestors.]
Then, again, she urged upon him at other times the example of his
father and grandfather, Henry IV. and Henry V., whose reigns, through
the personal energy and prowess which they had exhibited in
strengthening and extending their dominions, had given them a
world-wide renown. It would be extremely inglorious for the descendant
of such a line to spend his life in spiritless inactivity, and to
leave the affairs of his kingdom in the hands of a relative, who of
course could only be expected to exercise his powers for the purpose
of promoting his own interest and glory.
[Sidenote: Anne.]
[Sidenote: House of York.]
Moreover, she reminded him of a danger that he was in from the
representations of other branches of the royal line who still claimed
the throne, and might at any time, whenever an opportunity offered, be
expected to attempt to enforce their claims. As will be seen by the
genealogical table,[6] Lionel, the _second_ son of Edward III.--whose
immediate descendants had been superseded by those of John of Gaunt,
the third son, on account of the fact that the only child of Lionel
was a daughter, and she had been unable to make good her claims--had a
great-granddaughter, named Anne, who married Richard, a son of Edmund,
the _fourth_ of the sons of Edward III.[7] Richard Plantagenet, who
issued from this union, was, of course, the descendant and heir of
Lionel. He had also other claims to the throne, and Margaret reminded
her husband that there was danger at any time that he might come
forward and assert his claims.
[Footnote 6: On page 20.]
[Footnote 7: That is, the fourth of the table. There were
other children not mentioned here.]
[Sidenote: The king not safe.]
Under these circumstances, it was evident, said she, that the king
could not consider his interests safe in the care of any person
whatsoever out of his own immediate family--that is, in any one's
hands but his own and those of his wife. A minister, however strong
his professions of fidelity and attachment might be, could not be
depended upon. If another dynasty offered him more advantageous terms,
there was not, and there could not be, any security against his
changing sides; whereas a wife, whose interests were bound up
inseparably with those of her husband, might be relied upon with
absolute certainty to be faithful and true to her husband in every
conceivable emergency.
[Sidenote: Margaret makes some impression.]
These representations which Margaret made to her husband from time to
time, as she had opportunity, produced a very considerable impression
upon him. Still he seemed not to have resolution and energy enough to
act in accordance with them. He said that he did not see how he could
take away from his uncle a power which he had always exercised well
and faithfully. And then, besides, he himself had not the age and
experience necessary for the successful management of the affairs of
so mighty a kingdom. If he were to undertake the duties of government,
he was convinced that he should make mistakes, and so get into
difficulty.
[Sidenote: Henry listens to her counsels.]
Margaret, however, clearly perceived that she was making progress in
producing an impression upon her husband's mind. To increase the
influence of her representations, she watched for occasions in which
Gloucester differed in opinion from the king, and failed to carry out
suggestions or recommendations which the king had made, relating
probably, in most cases, to appointments to office about the court.
Some say she _created_ these occasions by artfully inducing her
husband to make recommendations which she knew the duke would not
sanction. At all events, such cases occurred, and Margaret took
advantage of them to urge her views still more upon Henry's mind.
[Sidenote: 1446.]
[Sidenote: Henry's timidity.]
"How humiliating," said she, "that a great monarch should be dependent
upon one of his subjects for permission to do this or that, when he
might have all his affairs under his own absolute control!"
But Henry, in reply to this, said that it was not in human nature to
escape mistakes, and he thought he was very fortunate in having a
minister who, when he was in danger of making them, could interpose
and save him from the ill consequences which would otherwise result
from his errors.
[Sidenote: Margaret encourages him.]
To this Margaret rejoined that it was indeed true that human nature
was liable to err, but that it was very humiliating for a great and
powerful sovereign to have public attention called to his errors by
having them corrected in that manner by an inferior, and to be
restricted in the exercise of his powers by a tutor and a governor, in
order to keep him from doing wrong, as if he were a child not
competent to act for himself.
[Sidenote: The world indulgent to the great.]
"Besides," she added, "if you would really take the charge of your
affairs into your own hands and act independently, what you call your
errors you may depend upon it the public would designate by a
different and a softer name. The world is always disposed to consider
what is done by a great and powerful monarch as of course right, and
even when it would seem to them wrong they believe that its having
that appearance is only because they are not in a position to form a
just judgment on the question, not being fully acquainted with the
facts, or not seeing all the bearings of them."
She assured her husband, moreover, that if he would take the business
of the government into his own hands, he would be very successful in
his administration of public affairs, and would be well sustained by
all the people of the realm.
[Sidenote: Margaret's secret designs.]
Besides thus operating upon the mind of the king, Margaret was
secretly employed all the time in ascertaining the views and feelings
of the principal nobles and other great personages of the realm, with
a view to learning who were disposed to feel hostile to the duke, and
to unite all such into an organized opposition to him. One of the
first persons to whom she applied with this view was Somerset, the
former lover of Lady Neville.
[Sidenote: Opposition to the Duke of Gloucester.]
She presumed, of course, that Somerset would be predisposed to a
feeling of hostility to the duke on account of the old rivalry which
had existed between them, and she now proposed to make use of Lady
Neville's return, and of her agency in restoring her to him, as a
means of inducing him to enter fully into her plans for overturning
his old rival's power. In order to retain the management of the affair
wholly in her own hands, she agreed with Lady Neville that Lady
Neville herself was not in any way to communicate with Somerset until
she, the queen, had first had an interview with him, and that he was
to learn the safety of Lady Neville only through her. Lady Neville
readily consented to this, believing that the queen could manage the
matter better than she herself could do it.
[Sidenote: Somerset.]
It will be recollected that Somerset was married during the period of
his former acquaintance with Lady Neville, but his wife had died while
Lady Neville was in France, and he was now free; so that the plan
which the queen and Lady Neville now formed was to give him an
opportunity, if he still retained his love for her, to make her his
wife.
[Sidenote: A secret interview planned.]
In the prosecution of her design, the queen made arrangements for a
secret interview with Somerset, and in the interview informed him that
Lady Neville was still alive and well; that she was, moreover, not far
away, and it was in the queen's power to restore her to him if he
desired again to see her, and that she would do so on certain
conditions.
Somerset was overjoyed at hearing this news. At first he could not be
persuaded that it was true; and when assured positively that it was
so, and that the long-lost Lady Neville was alive and well, and in
England, he was in a fever of impatience to see her again. He would
agree to any conditions, he said, that the queen might name, as the
price of having her restored to him.
[Sidenote: The three conditions.]
The queen said that the conditions were three.
The first was that he was to see her but once, and that only for a few
minutes, in order that he might be convinced that she was really
alive, and then was to leave her and not to see her again until the
Duke of Gloucester had fallen from power.
The second was that he should pretend to be not on good terms with the
queen herself, in order to avert suspicion in respect to some of her
schemes until such time as she should be ready to receive him again
into favor.
[Sidenote: Party against Gloucester.]
The third was that he should do all he could to increase and
strengthen the party against the duke, by turning as many as possible
of his friends, and those over whom he had any influence, against him,
and then finally, when the party should become sufficiently strong, to
prefer charges against him in Parliament, and bring him to trial.
Somerset at once agreed to all these conditions, and the queen then
admitted him to an interview with Lady Neville.
[Sidenote: The interview.]
He was overwhelmed with transports of love and joy at once more
beholding her and pressing her in his arms. The queen, who was
present, was very much interested in witnessing the proofs of the
ardor of the affection by which the lovers were still bound to each
other, but she soon interrupted their expressions and demonstrations
of delight by calling Somerset's attention to the steps which were
next to be taken to further their plans.
[Sidenote: Lady Neville's father.]
"The first thing to be done," said she, "is for you to see the Earl of
Salisbury and ask the hand of his daughter, and at the same time
endeavor to induce him to join our party."
[Sidenote: The Earl of Salisbury.]
The Earl of Salisbury had a son, the brother, of course, of Lady
Neville, whose title was the Earl of Warwick. He was the celebrated
king-maker, so called, referred to in a former chapter. He received
that title on account of the great influence which he subsequently
exercised in raising up and putting down one after another of the two
great dynasties. His power was at this time very great, partly on
account of his immense wealth, and partly on account of his commanding
personal character. Margaret was extremely desirous of bringing him
over to her side.
[Sidenote: Progress of the intrigue.]
Somerset readily undertook the duty of communicating with the Earl of
Salisbury, with a view of informing him of his daughter's safety and
asking her hand, and at the same time of ascertaining what hope there
might be of drawing him into the combination which the queen was
forming against the Duke of Gloucester.
[Sidenote: Revelations.]
Somerset accordingly sought an interview with Salisbury, and told him
that the report which had been circulated that his daughter was dead
was not true--that she was still alive--that, instead of having been
drowned in the Thames, as had been supposed, she had made her escape
to France, where she had since lived under the protection of the
dauphiness.
[Sidenote: The case explained.]
He was, of course not willing to make known the real circumstances of
the case in respect to the cause of her flight, and so he represented
to the earl that the reason why she left the country was to escape the
marriage with Gloucester, which would have been extremely disagreeable
to her. She had now, however, returned, and he was commissioned by her
to ask the earl's forgiveness for what had passed, and his consent
that he himself--that is, Somerset, who had always been strongly
attached to her, and who now, by the death of his former wife, was
free, should be united to her in marriage.
[Sidenote: Somerset's proposal.]
[Sidenote: Cautious advances.]
[Sidenote: The earl's indignation.]
If Somerset had succeeded in this part of his mission, he was then
intending, when the old earl's love for his daughter should have been
reawakened in his bosom by the joyful news that she was alive, and by
the prospect of a brilliant marriage for her, to introduce the subject
of the Duke of Gloucester, and perhaps cautiously reveal to him the
true state of the case in respect to the murderous violence with which
the duke had assailed his daughter, and which was the true cause of
her flight. But the earl did not give him any opportunity to approach
the second part of his commission. After having heard the statement
which Somerset made to him in respect to his daughter, he broke out
in a furious rage against her. He called her by the most opprobrious
names. He had full proof of her dishonor, and he would have nothing
more to do with her. He had disinherited her, and given all her share
of the family property to her brother; and the only reason why he ever
wished her to come into his sight again was that he might with a surer
blow inflict upon her the punishment which Gloucester had designed for
her.
Somerset saw at once that the case was hopeless, and he withdrew.
[Sidenote: The scheme fails.]
Thus the attempt to draw Salisbury into the conspiracy against the
duke seemed for the time to fail. But Margaret was not at all
discouraged. She pushed her manoeuvres and intrigues in other quarters
with so much diligence and success that, in about two years after her
arrival in England, she found her party large enough and strong enough
for action.