there was a high wall all round the
palace, and within it were streets of quaint old houses, with gables and
angles, and in them lived the people who had to work for the King and
his Court--that is to say, all the carpenters, and blacksmiths, and
other work-people. And when the King and the princes went riding through
the streets on great occasions, these people used to hang out beautiful
pieces of cloth of many colours--red and blue and gold--so that the
curious narrow streets looked like fairyland. The great wall was a
protection to all the people who lived inside, and made the palace and
houses like a little town by themselves.

One day when young Edward and Richard rode in after they had been
playing with the nobles at some sports, they heard that their uncle
Clarence was dead. They dared not ask how it was that he, a man in the
prime of life, had died so suddenly, for their father looked very stern,
and their uncle Richard seemed pretending to be sorry. But the truth was
that Clarence had been killed by King Edward's orders, because Richard
had made up stories about him, and pretended that he had discovered a
plot of Clarence's to dethrone the King and make himself King instead,
and, unfortunately, King Edward had believed this wicked lie. No one
ever knew exactly how Clarence had been killed, but it was whispered
that, as he was a king's son, he had been allowed to choose his own
death, and he had chosen to be drowned in a great barrel of wine. This
was the beginning of Richard's wickedness, and later he grew worse and
worse, for he intended to be king himself some day, and so he
deliberately murdered everyone who stood in his way. He had begun with
Clarence, who was his elder brother, and who would have been king before
him if anything had happened to the King and his sons, but he did not
stop there.

Prince Edward was only eight years old when this happened, and Richard
was six.

Five years more went by, and during that time, though all seemed to be
well, there were really plots and schemes everywhere in the palace. The
Duke of Gloucester was always creeping about after the handsome King and
flattering him, and trying to win his confidence. The King still loved
his wife, Queen Elizabeth, and he gave her relations, the Woodvilles,
important posts about the Court and showed them favour. And this did not
please Gloucester at all, for he hated the Queen, and was jealous of her
relations; and so he made up storie