es and cried--you
must remember he was only thirteen--and begged his uncle to release the
prisoners. Gloucester tried to comfort him, and assured him that he was
only doing what was best for the safety of everyone. He told Edward that
these men were bad men, and were plotting against him, and he said that
it was for his safety he had seized them; and then he said that he was
taking him back to London to his mother and brother and sisters, and
that when he got there he should be crowned King. Then Edward was a
little comforted.

Lord Hastings, however, began to be anxious: he did not like the way in
which Richard was getting all the power into his own hands; so though he
was no friend of the Queen mother's, he sent her a message to say that
he feared the Duke of Gloucester, and she would be wise to go to a place
of safety. I expect Gloucester found out about this message, for he
always hated Hastings afterwards, and never rested until he had punished
him, as you shall hear.

When the Queen received the message she left the palace at Westminster
and hurried to the Sanctuary, where she had been once before, and she
took all her children with her.

A bishop went to see her there, and he wrote a book about it, so we can
tell now just how he found her. She was sitting upon rushes, which in
those days were used instead of carpets, and all around her were bags
and bundles and furniture, which had been hastily brought across from
the palace. The Queen could be more comfortable this time than she had
been in the first dark and lonely days, for she had been able to bring
some of her own belongings to the gloomy Sanctuary. All the children
were there except Edward. The eldest girl, Elizabeth, was now seventeen,
and must have been a great comfort to her mother; yet, in spite of all
this, it was a hard time for all of them, and more so when Richard fell
ill. Perhaps it was because he couldn't run about as usual; but they all
took great care of him, and presently he began to get better. I must
tell you that on the very place where the Sanctuary used to stand is now
a large hospital called the Westminster Hospital; and so where little
Prince Richard was nursed by his frightened mother more than 400 years
ago, other people, and among them children, are now nursed back to
health and strength.

To go back to Edward and his uncle. The Duke was still pretending to be
a good, kind uncle, and he treated Edward as a king. When they entered