ad been formed against her coterie. And now, her husband being dead,
what she feared was not that Gloucester, in taking the young king away
from the custody of her relatives, and sending those relatives off as
prisoners to the north, meant any hostility to the young king, but
only against her and the whole Woodville interest, of which she was
the head. She supposed that Gloucester would now put the power of the
government in the hands of other families, and banish hers, and that
perhaps he would even bring her to trial and punishment for acts of
maladministration, or other political crimes which he would charge
against her. It was fear of this, rather than any rebellion against
the right of Edward the Fifth to reign, which made her in such haste
to flee to sanctuary.

It was, however, somewhat uncertain what Gloucester intended to do.
His professions were all very fair in respect to his allegiance to the
young king. He sent a messenger to London, immediately after seizing
the king, to explain his views and motives in the act, and in this
communication he stated distinctly that his only object was to prevent
the king's falling into the hands of the Woodville family, and not at
all to oppose his coronation.

"It neyther is reason," said he in his letter, "nor in any wise to be
suffered that the young kynge, our master and kinsman, should be in
the hands of custody of his mother's kindred, sequestered in great
measure from our companie and attendance, the which is neither
honorable to hys majestie nor unto us."

Thus the pretense of Richard in seizing the king was simply that he
might prevent the government under him from falling into the hands of
his mother's party. But the very decisive measures he took in respect
to the leading members of the Woodville family led many to suspect
that he was secretly meditating a deeper design. All those who were
with the king at the time of his seizure were made prisoners and sent
off to a castle in the north, as we have already said; and, in order
to prevent those who were in and near London from making their escape,
Richard sent down immediately from Northampton ordering their arrest,
and appointing guards to prevent any of them from flying to sanctuary.
When the archbishop, who had called to see the queen at the palace,
went away, he saw through the window, although it was yet before the
dawn, a number of boats stationed on the Thames ready to intercept any
who might be coming up