the bulls. He wuld 'ave dune it anyway.'
Richard knew that was true, but he felt badly regardless.
Richard turned away from Bromley and toward the others. He realized that they were discussing the many knights that had been on the roadway for the last couple of days. Each had been heading south.
'I saw per'aps 10 knights on the road tonight on me way from Burghley,' said Richard. 'Whot does it mean?'
Ralf was first to speak. ''ave you nay 'eard that Henry VI will ascend to the throne? The knights are going to the coronation.'
Richard hadn't heard. 'I do nay care much who the king is. I only 'ope that the ascendancy can be dune without bloodshed,' he replied.
'Aye,' Ralf agreed.
Lind had been listening and now offered his thoughts. Speaking with a low, but intense tone, he said, 'When the royals fight, they often cause commoners to bleed. I do nay care for the lot of them.'
'Aye,' agreed Ralf.
Richard suddenly realized that he was tired. It had been a long day of travel and the news that he had learned had taken an emotional toll.
'Where may I sleep?' he asked.
'Margaret and Geva are in the loft,' stated his mother. 'You may sleep on floor near to the fire.'
Richard looked at his mother closely for the first time since he had walked into the door. When had she gotten so old? Surely, she was not yet 50 years old, but the hard life that she had led was written clearly in the lines on her face. Her hair was mostly white and she wore it in a long braid down her back, a back that appeared to be bending slightly. Her hands clearly showed their veins. Richard wondered whether she had looked this way before he left. 'Per'aps she did,' he thought, 'and I culd nay see beyond Elizabeth to not'ice.' He wondered whether the strains of life that she was experiencing with Bromley might be contributing to her aging. Moments before, she thought that she had lost one son already and was loosing another. Now, she was grateful to have Richard back, but felt that she was loosing Bromley. She was a mix of emotions.
No one in the house got much sleep that night as Bromley awoke in pain off and on through the night. His low moaning and whimpers seemed to fill the cottage. Each time he stirred, one of the women would be at his side with a damp cloth and an offer of water. He had stopped eating a few days earlier and water was all he would take.
The next morning as Richard prepared to leave the cottage, Lind asked him to go and get the priest to pray for Bromley. Lind didn't want to leave Bromley's side now and it seemed that Bromley would not last to see night fall.
Richard was torn between his duty here with his family and his duty to find Elizabeth. He reasoned that a few more hours would make little difference and he went to fetch the priest.
When he returned with the priest, the entire family seemed to be consumed with sadness. It was as though they too were experiencing Bromley's pain. Richard stepped aside and let the priest enter. Richard looked about at the fields and meadows below the hill and at the church across the lane. He had always taken this beautiful scene for granted, and now he realized that Bromley may never see this scene again. Richard felt uncomfortable about going inside the cottage. He wondered what he might say or do to ease the pain of his mother and sister. 'And whot aboot Margaret?' he thought. 'Whot will she do if Bromley dees or loses leg? She is so yung.' His heart went out to Margaret probably more than the others since the feelings that she must have now would be similar to what Elizabeth must be feeling right then for himself. The thought filled his heart with pain and he turned to leave that instant to be at Elizabeth's side.
Richard didn't take more than a few steps when he heard the door of the cottage open. Turning about, he saw Margaret wiping tears from her face. 'She is so sad,' he thought. ''ow can I leave 'er right now?' Memories of their childhood seemed to flash through his mind. They had been dear friends as children and never once had he considered that she would feel such pain and sadness. He couldn't leave now and he walked to