another cigarette, ‘how did you like that story?’
‘I feel sorry for Elizabeth Wydville.’
‘Don't,’ Laura said flatly. ‘She had her chance and she blew it. So many people hated her and her cool aloofness, her counterfeit regal bearing. Buckingham did. He hated her so much that killing her sons would have been easy for him. He might even have enjoyed it.’
‘You make him sound like a monster.’
‘He was. Do you know what Richard said of Buckingham when he heard of his defection? He called him; “the most untrue creature living”.’
Gail turned her wine glass around and around, thinking. ‘Why didn't Richard denounce Buckingham? Why didn’t he let the whole world know up front that it was Buckingham who murdered the Princes?’
‘Well, at first I doubt if Richard believed him and that was probably why he sent Green down to London. Green returned with the horrible truth that the boys were missing, but no one knew what happened to them or where they were, alive or dead. Brackenbury may have delayed telling Richard in the hope of finding the boys before anyone knew. Can you imagine his panic when he took office only to find his two charges missing? And I think that's important. The boys were missing; the concept of murder probably never entered anyone's head. Children don't get murdered.’
‘But everyone believed that Richard did murder them.’
‘Now you have it; Shakespeare, More, how pleased they would be because now we have a true morality play. Richard's draconian treatment of everyone from the dowager Countess Elizabeth Howard way back in his early twenties, right through to Hastings' execution without trial; all the birds were coming home to roost. He had dared and succeeded at the most unlawful, disgusting and frankly, bloody crimes. As a result he was universally feared and even hated. Everything he had ever done was for his own gain, even where the Church was concerned. Kill two young boys? If it meant that he could feel more secure on the throne - sure. That people believed that he was capable of such a crime - most certainly.
‘Like his long dead brother, George, Richard became the instrument of his own destruction. Whether or not he murdered the Princes in the Tower became academic. The fact that most people believed he did was all that was important. And, no one knew better than Buckingham just how vulnerable Richard was in that regard.
Laura sighed as she pushed her notes aside. ‘Anyhow, we’ll have lots of time to talk about this during our travels. That’s enough. At the risk of being told I drink too much, I think I’ll have a nice glass of port.’ Smiling broadly at Gail, she signalled their waiter. Gail recovered just in time to add a dish of spumoni ice cream to the order before the waiter hurried away.
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