Tudor Spy (2): The White Rose by David Pilling

Author:David Pilling [Pilling, David]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-06-30T22:00:00+00:00

9: WATCH-FIRES

Barran knew his work, thank God. He turned about and anchored off the coast of Wales for a day, to avoid any danger of detection. The Saint Thomas bobbed on a choppy sea west of Dale, not far from the bay of Milford Haven.

I shaded my eyes to peer at the distant bay. Barely a year had passed since Harry landed there, with his rag-tag band of French mercenaries and English exiles, to win a crown.

It was already the stuff of legend. How he had marched through Wales, gathering recruits on the way, hailed as the Mab Darogan, the long-awaited Son of Prophecy who would lead the Welsh out of bondage. How he had met the White Boar in battle at Bosworth field, and won the day against all odds. How the golden crown of England, snatched up from a thorn bush, was placed on his head – perhaps the most unlikely head in English history – by the turncoat, Lord Stanley.

How long would it stay there? As I gazed at the rugged Pembroke coastline, battered by ceaseless tides, my thoughts were bleak. The Tudor regime was barely twelve months old, and had already survived two rebellions. True, they had died stillborn, led by fools such as Humphrey Stafford and Thomas Broughton. Yet the White Rose refused to wither. If the Yorkists found a competent leader, someone with a working brain in his head, who could actually lead and organise...

One face sprang to mind. A remarkably handsome one. Square-cut, strong-jawed, cleft-chinned. Attractive blue eyes, delicate lashes, a firm mouth, glossy black hair swept back from a noble brow. The best-looking man at court, no doubt of that. A pedigree to his boots. Why, he was even prettier than me.

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