Author's Note: One last chapter for tonight lovely readers. I hoped you enjoyed. If so, please leave a review and let me know what you think. Finally, Marion is off to London for Richard's coronation! Happy reading. :)
CHAPTER TWENTY – MIDDLEHAM, JULY 1483
Katheryn was sick. She said the illness come upon her while she stayed with her mother, she said. Her brother – whom she was not allowed to call brother – two-year-old James (called Jimmy for short), had been ill with the same symptoms, according to the girl's tales. As Marion sponged her fevered brow with a cool, wet cloth, she spied grey clouds circling outside the bedchamber window. Sighing, she looked at her niece's pale face and guessed that it was little Jimmy who had passed on the illness.
"My nose is stuffed up, but does not stop running!" she sniffed, wiping away the phlegm-like substance coming from her nose with the back of her hand.
Marion pressed a handkerchief to her nose to stave off the bad air. It was common knowledge that illness was spread from person to person through bad air, and seeing as Katheryn had also been coughing, the handkerchief seemed necessary to Marion, if she wished to remain well for Dickon's coronation. Aunt and niece sat in silence as Marion tried to do what she could to help the girl before she was to leave for London. Outside the room, Doctor Hobbs could be heard grumbling under his breath. Neddy too, was ill leaving the old physician busy. Marion had volunteered her own services to care for Kathryn when she arrived, allowing Hobbs to focus on Neddy. Neddy was priority now, since his father was to be King.
"Fret not Kathryn, I'm sure you will be fine. This illness will pass quickly, and then you'll be able to see your father when he is King."
As Marion left Kathryn's room to refill the water jug, she was met with an unexpected surprise.
"Aunt Marion!" Neddy shrieked, barreling down the hallway towards his sister's chambers.
Paying no attention to Doctor Hobbs's strict instructions to stay in bed while ill, he raced across the corridor to see his sister.
John, followed his brother, trying to grab him by the wrist and drag him back to Nursery Tower, while the physician lumbered out after them, grumbling complaints about Neddy's behavior. Bringing up the rear were Maggie and Eddie, both happy to be back at Middleham, after a brief time as wards of Thomas Gray, kinsman of the old Woodville Queen. They had returned to Middleham after Dickon became Lord Protector, and they had stayed with him and Lady Anne in London for a while.
"Neddy, go back to bed! You don't want Aunt Marion to fall ill, do you?" John scolded the younger boy. "And look here! Doctor Hobbs is elderly and cannot spend his time running after children. 'Twill make him ill, also."
Neddy hung his head. "No, I do not want to make either Aunt Marion or Doctor Hobbs ill... but Kathryn's also sick, so wouldn't Aunt Marion get ill from her?"
"Not necessarily. And go back to bed, Neddy!" Maggie chided, lightly shoving the younger boy back towards his room.
He left like a shamed dog with its tale between its legs. Hobbs followed with a wan smile on his jowly face, leaving John to shake his head, before ducking into Kathryn's chamber to visit with her for a while. Marion sighed, shaking her head. If those children kept defying the doctor's orders, it would surely be the death of them.
Anna de Beauchamp decided to stay at Middleham with the children who were too frail to travel to London. She would not be alone, however. Dickon's mother, a woman Marion had only met a few times over the past decade, was to stay as well. Cecily Neville, dowager Duchess of York, was the great-aunt of Lady Anne, cousin to Anne's dead father, Warwick. Cecily had left London to come to Middleham, although Marion knew not why she would not stay in the capital for her son's coronation. She was a beautiful woman, with dark blonde hair and Dickon's sapphire blue eyes. Normally, she covered her hair with a wimple, like Marion did, only hers was completed with a gorget, or throat collar, making her greatly resemble a nun. Duchess Cecily was a pious woman, who had passed on her religious fervour to her youngest son.
The two women invited Marion to stroll with them in the gardens before she departed, claiming the want to talk to her about "women's business". Marion hesitantly agreed, feeling intimidated in the presence of two very powerful women, who had held much influence in the early years of the war between the Houses of York and Lancaster.
Scattered summer sunshine spilled from the clouds that day, as Marion walked with the two women. Some of the household hounds loped after them, sniffing at the grass, and getting muck and dirt stuck up their wet, black noses.
"Ah, isn't this nice?" Anna said with a smile.
"Indeed, it is, what a lovely day." Duchess Cecily agreed, her arm linked through that of her friend. Marion followed awkwardly behind them, keeping her distance and being careful not to step on the hems of their gowns. This was a skill she had to master in the Court, she'd heard, so Marion decided to get some practice in, taking dainty, flitting steps, eyeing the slithering gown hems stroking the grass in front of her.
"What do you think, Marion? Will the weather be this fine for my son's coronation?" the Duchess asked suddenly.
Taken off guard, Marion stumbled, catching herself to stammer pitifully. "Oh, er... I um... hope so...?"
Both women smiled, laughing softly. "Ah, do not fret girl, it will be fine. The sun will shine down upon Westminster Abbey on the day, showing the people that God smiles over Dickon's ascension to the throne."
"Yes, it will. He has a better claim than Edward's sons, does he not?" Anna asked.
"Yes, he does. Those boys are bastards; they have no claim to anything. Anyway, those boys were half Woodville, and who would want half-Woodvilles ruling the country? And Edward's death was suspicious enough, even though by the time he died he was a fat, drunken lecher. His time was not yet to come."
Anna tilted her head back, letting the sun soak into her pale cheeks. "I heard some rumours that the Woodville woman poisoned the King. What say you about them, Duchess?"
Cecily sighed. "I say that the lot of them were sinners. Elizabeth Woodville lived in an unholy relationship with my boy, luring him in with her beauty. All of her family were unnaturally beautiful. There was nothing proper about the Woodvilles, and certainly, nothing sanctified by God."
Marion's head snapped around, to gape at the Duchess. She had heard one of the many rumours about the King's death in one of Dickon's letters; could it possibly be true? Or was Edward just too fat and drunk for his own good? When she thought about what she knew of Dickon taking his nephews into his custody, it made sense. Elizabeth could have killed her husband to put her son on the throne, and have ultimate control over him. It made sense. Marion could also remember how Elizabeth controlled her husband, and how she had made his decisions for him (or so it seemed). Who was to say she did not hold sway over his life and death?
Marion bit her lip, suddenly delighted that she was going to London, instead of staying at Middleham with the sick children and the two elderly ladies. Dickon had a true claim to the throne because of Edward and all his "mistakes". In fact, it was because of Edward's mistakes due to his "marriage" that Dickon had been thrown into this mess in the first place. Thanks to Edward's foolishness, England would have a good King on the throne, a King who cared about his people, who cared about all people, common and noble alike. Not to mention there was still the mystery of King Edward's death... and Marion really wanted to find out for herself what had happened there. So wrapped up in her thoughts was she, that she barely noticed the small smiles and glittering eyes of the two Ladies who had asked her to come for a simple stroll in the gardens.
"I hate it. 'Tis disgusting!" Marion cried, her eyes wide with horror.
"It's a dress," Maggie countered. "And do not complain, I have to wear one much the same."
Marion scowled. The dress she had to wear for the coronation was pure white, save for deep green details on the puffs over the elbows and around the dipped neckline. There was a new wimple too, adorned with a gold band around the brow. It was all too fancy for Marion's simple tastes. Much like her wedding dress.
"I don't care. I shan't wear it!" Marion growled.
"Well, you have no choice." Margaret, the maid said as she entered the room.
"Exactly as she says," Maggie nodded in agreement.
Marion growled again, glaring at her trunk. Filled to the brim with new, fancy dresses and jewels to adorn her body with, it was packed for a lady of the Court. With a narrow-eyed scowl, Marion contemplated just how much longer the four weeks of celebrations for Dickon and Anne's' coronation would be if she was forced to dress up like a doll. It would be very long, indeed…