between them, and between the Nevils and
the Woodvilles; the King's eldest daughter
was promised in marriage to the heir of the
Nevil family; and more friendly oaths were
sworn, and more friendly promises made,
than this book would hold.

They lasted about three months. At the
end of that time, the Archbishop of York
made a feast for the King, the Earl of
Warwick, and the Duke of Clarence, at his house,
the Moor, in Hertfordshire.  The King was
washing his hands before supper, when some
one whispered him that a body of a hundred
men were lying in ambush outside the
house.  Whether this were true or untrue,
the King took fright, mounted his horse,
and rode through the dark night to Windsor
Castle.  Another reconciliation was patched
up between him and the King-Maker, but it
was a short one, and it was the last. A new
rising took place in Lincolnshire, and the
King marched to repress it.  Having done so,
he proclaimed that both the Earl of Warwick
and the Duke of Clarence were traitors, who
had secretly assisted it, and who had been
prepared publicly to join it, on the following
day.  In these dangerous circumstances they
both took ship and sailed away to the French
court.

And here a meeting took place between the
Earl of Warwick and his old enemy, the
Dowager Queen Margaret, through whom his
father had had his head struck off, and to
whom he had been a bitter foe.  But now,
when he said that he had done with the
ungrateful and perfidious Edward of York, and
that henceforth he devoted himself to the
restoration of the House of Lancaster, either
in the person of her husband or of her little
son, she embraced him as if he had ever been
her dearest friend.  She did more than that;
she married her son to his second daughter,
the Lady Anne.  However agreeable this
marriage was to the two new friends, it was very
disagreable to the Duke of Clarence, who
perceived that his father-in-law, the King-Maker,
would never make him King now.
So, being but a weak-minded young traitor,
possessed of very little worth or sense, he
readily listened to an artful court lady sent
over for the purpose, and promised to turn
traitor once more, and go over to his brother,
King Edward, when a fitting opportunity
should come.

The Earl of Warwick, knowing nothing of
this, soon redeemed his promise to the
Dowager Queen Margaret, by invading
England and landing at Plymouth, where he
instantly proclaimed King Henry, and
summoned all Englishmen between the ages of
sixteen and sixty, to join his banner.  Then,
with his army increasing as he marched along,
he went northward, and came so near King
Edward, who was in that part of the country,
that Edward had to ride hard for it to the
coast of Norfolk, and thence to get away
in such ships as he could find, to Holland.
Thereupon, the triumphant King-Maker and
his false son-in-law, the Duke of Clarence,
went to London, took the old King out
of the Tower, and walked him in a great
procession to St. Paul's cathedral with the
crown upon his head. This did not
improve the temper of the Duke of Clarence,
who saw himself further off from being
King than ever; but he kept his secret,
and said nothing.  The Nevil family were
restored to all their honours and glories, and
the Woodvilles and, the rest were disgraced.
The King-Maker, less sanguinary than the
King, shed no blood except that of the Earl
of Worcester, who had been so cruel to the
people as to have gained the title of the
Butcher.  Him they caught hidden in a tree,
and him they tried and executed.  No other
death stained the King-Maker's triumph.

To dispute this triumph, back came King
Edward again, next year, landing at Ravenspur,
coming on to York, causing all his men
to cry "Long live King Henry!" and swearing
on the altar, without a blush, that he came to
lay no claim on the crown.  Now was the
time for the Duke of Clarence, who ordered
his men to assume the White Rose, and
declare for his brother. The Marquis of
Montague, though the Earl of Warwick's brother,
also declining to fight against King Edward,
he went on successfully to London, where the
Archbishop of York let him into the City,
and where the people made great
demonstrations in his favour.  For this they had four
reasons. Firstly, there were great numbers of
the King's adherents hiding in the City and
ready to break out; secondly, the King owed
them a great deal of money, which they could
never hope to get if he were unsuccessful;
thirdly, there was a young prince to inherit
the crown; and fourthly, the King was gay
and handsome, and more popular than a
better man might have been with the City
ladies.  After a stay of only two days with
these worthy supporters, the King marched
out to Barnet Common, to give the Earl of
Warwick battle. And now it was to be
seen, for the last time, whether the King
or the King-Maker was to carry the day.

While the battle was yet pending, the faint-
hearted Duke of Clarence began to repent,
and sent over secret messages to his father-
in-law, offering his services in mediation with
the King.  But, the Earl of Warwick disdainfully
rejected them, and replied that Clarence
was false and perjured, and that he would
settle the quarrel by the sword.  The battle
began at four o'clock in the morning and
lasted until ten, and during the greater part
of the time it was fought in a thick mist—
absurdly supposed to be raised by a magician.
The loss of life was very great, for the
hatred was strong on both sides.  The King-
Maker was defeated, and the King triumphed.
Both the Earl of Warwick and his brother
were slain, and their bodies lay in St. Paul's,
for some days, as a spectacle to the people.