Chapter One

THE ECLIPSE

It grows darker with the passing of every minute. The people in the streets crowd together and gaze up at the sky. It is a portent of evil, they say. God is showing His displeasure by covering the face of the sun.

Very soon I shall lay down my pen. I am too tired to write more. My strength is slowly ebbing away and I feel Death close.

It is an unhappy time to leave this world. Suspicion and treachery are all around us. There are rumors to which I try to shut my ears. They frighten me. I tell myself I do not believe them. I do not want to hear the things people are saying-yet I must know.

"Tell me . . . tell me everything," I beg my ladies.

They shake their heads. They say, "There is nothing, your Grace."

That is not true. They know but they will not tell me.

We were happy at Middleham before Richard took the throne. Middleham will always be home to me . . . and, I believe, to him. It meant something very special to us both. It was there that we first knew each other. I always said it was there that love between us first began. The people there understood him. They knew his worth. They do not like him here. In their hearts they do not accept him as their king. He is not tall and handsome as his brother was. He lacks the gift of charm that Edward had in such abundance. How perverse human nature is! Richard would be a good king; he would serve his country faithfully; but it was Edward whom they loved because he was good to look upon; he was a giant among men; he smiled his way through his reign, beguiling rich and poor alike. His profligacy, his self-indulgence mattered not. He looked like a king and they had