"I deliver him into your keeping, my lord," she said to the Archbishop
of Canterbury, her face white, her voice trembling, "of whom I shall ask
him again before God and the world. And I pray you, for the trust which
his father reposed in you, that as you think I fear too much, so you be
cautious that you fear not too little."
Then she threw her arms round the boy and covered him with kisses.
"Farewell, mine own sweet son," she sobbed; "God send you good keeping.
And God knoweth when we shall kiss together again."
Her worst fears were realised. She never saw her boys again, never knew
how they were murdered in the Tower, or even where they were buried.
And from her dwelling-place within the Sanctuary precincts she could see
and hear all the preparations that were being made for the coronation of
Richard III., while she "sobbed and wept and pulled her fair hair, as
she called by name her two sweet babes, and cried to God to comfort
her."
For nearly a year she remained where she was, then Richard, having taken
an oath before the Lord Mayor and the Council to protect her and her
daughters, she moved out of Sanctuary into some humble lodgings near
Westminster, where her one friend seems to have been a doctor named
Lewis, who was also a priest, and apparently something of a politician
too, for he began to plan with the queen for the marriage of her eldest
daughter, Elizabeth, with Harry of Richmond, who, through his mother,
Margaret Beaufort, was the hope of the Lancastrian party.
Richard III. was already hated in England, and as the story of the way
in which he had caused his little nephews to be murdered became
generally known, the hatred increased tenfold. So the Lancastrian party
thought the moment had come for them to make another effort. Harry
Richmond landed at Milford Haven from France with 3000 men, and soon an
eager, willing army flocked to his standard. At Bosworth field he met
Richard in battle.
"Let courage supply the want of our numbers," he cried. "And as for me,
I propose to live with honour hereafter, or die with honour here."
Evening found him the victor of the day; Richard lay dead on the field,
and his crown, which he had worn into battle, was found hanging on a
bush. There on the scene of his triumph the crown was set on Henry’s
head, while the soldiers shouted joyfully, "God save King Henry VII.,"
and then burst into a solemn _Te Deum_.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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