A nebulous state of affairs now existed in Ireland. The Earl of Kildare ceased to be deputy at Richard's death, and Sir Roland Fitz-Eustace, who acted as deputy to the new viceroy, George, Duke of Clarence, was a mere figurehead. In 1464 the Earl of Desmond succeeded as deputy to Clarence, but he incurred the enmity of Elizabeth Grey, Edward's plebeian wife, and she induced her husband to supersede the Irish earl by one of her favourites, the Earl of Worcester. The marriage of Edward IV. and Elizabeth Grey had caused much dissension in English court circles, and the king regarded any criticism of his action as being tantamount to high treason. A contemptuous remark about Elizabeth Grey cost the Earl of Desmond his life, Worcester executing him at Drogheda in 1468, ostensibly on a charge of high treason. It was said that Edward IV., when quarrelling with his wife, had angrily exclaimed that he, if he had taken the advice of the {55} Earl of Desmond, would not have found himself burdened by such a wife. Elizabeth never forgot this, and, as we have seen, it led the deputy to his death. [Illustration: St. Patrick's Hall, Dublin Castle] Worcester retired in 1468, and the Earl of Kildare ruled for the absent Duke of Clarence. Edward IV., however, began to entertain fears that the young Prince might imitate the example of his late father, and make the viceroyalty an office rivalling the throne itself, and convert Ireland into a stronghold against him and his house. The Duke of Clarence and the Earl of Warwick were undoubtedly conspiring against Edward, who promptly offered a reward of L1,000 or L100 a year for life to whoever captured the duke or the earl. The latter, however, did not survive the _coup d'etat_ of 1470, when Henry VI. was restored temporarily. The Earl of Warwick, who was nominally Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, being represented there by Edmund Dudley, was beheaded by the Earl of Oxford on Tower Hill. [Sidenote: The Duke of Clarence]