Neville Manor

[Mary The Quene]

Neville Manor

With the elevation of Ralph Neville, Earl of Westmorland, to the post of Lord Great Chamberlain, the Earl would purchase a suitable manor within London to serve as his residence during his stay in London.

Residents

• Ralph Neville, Earl of Westmorland
• Joan Beaufort, Countess of Westmorland
• Katherine Neville, daughter of Ralph and Joan.
• Eleanor Neville, daughter of Ralph and Joan.

[Oznerol]

The earl of Kent arrives with a proposal.

[Mary The Quene]

The earl is ofcourse promptly welcomed into Neville's manor where some servants led the earl to Neville's dinner room, after offering the earl a seat Neville gestured for the servants to bring in wine. Your Grace. Neville began the conversation politely, the Hollands have as of lately greatly increased in power Neville knows and therefore would be wise to befriend him.

[Oznerol]

"My Lord Neville"

Said Kent with a nod.

"I thank you for the warm welcome. In turn, I must say I'm glad you are now part of the council, you will serve my brother well. I come with a proposal in mind, that of marriage between one of my sons and your sister, who I understand isn't bound by any marriage contract"

[Mary The Quene]

My Lord Neville. Neville replied with a smile, the offer greatly pleased him for Holland is a rising star within the court. I thank you for these words. he continued thinking about his thirteen year old sister who resides in the North. Yes, my sister, the Lady Elizabeth has not been betrothed yet and is thus free to marry, who do you have in mind to marry my beloved sister to? Neville smiled, pleased with the possible match, it is his desire to marry all of siblings and children to proper matches, perhaps also his bastard son too one day.

[Oznerol]

"My son John Holland, is of close age to your sister, my lord"

Said Kent with a slight smile.

"They could be married soon enough and I believe it's a fair match"

[Mary The Quene]

Agreed, that seems a fair match for my dear sister. Perhaps with that small age gap his sister could even dominate him. Now we have to settle another matter, that of the dowry, how much do you have in mind? hopefully the dowry won't suck him dry

[Oznerol]

"I have no great need of coin, my Lord"

Said Kent, whose worth was more than eight thousand pounds a year.

"We could settle with four thousand pounds, would that be acceptable?"

[Mary The Quene]

Neville sighed inwardly. Ok, that seems an acceptable sum, the only request i make is to pay that sum in two parts, for the next two years i shall transfer each year a sum of 2000£. The northern lands weren't as rich as those in the south afterall. You know, i invested alot of money in my army to aid the king in hunting down that fool of an Arundel. and that sucked alot of his funds dry.

[Oznerol]

"You may pay that sum in four years, until the betrothed are of age"

Roughly, they'd have to wait four years or so until both John and Elizabeth could be married.

"Our clerks will redact a contract, ensuring this agreement of us is enshrined by law and is binding"

Not the first time a marriage was disolved due sudden uninterest on one side. Holland intended to grant his son his Yorkshire manors, so he would have income on his own and be closer to his own in-laws.

[Mary The Quene]

A contract, yes ofcourse. Hopefully the Hollands by then are still be on the good graces of the king. Very well, it seems we have an agreement here, unless you have something else to add? Neville asked, glad that the sum is spread out over four years.

[General Brewster]

Edmund of Norwich together with a company of his retainers make an appearance.

[Mary The Quene]

Lord Edmund is told that Neville doesn't want to see anybody for the moment, some servants lead Edmund away from Neville manor though they tell that his wife Lady Margaret Stafford is currently taking over his responsibilities in Middleham castle in the north.

[Oznerol]

Kent had returned to London to take possession of the chancellorship, so one day, soon afterwards, he paid a visit to Neville.

[Mary The Quene]

My Lord Kent, we welcome thee, it is good you have come. Westmorland began the conversation while his servants offered foods and beverages, he offered Kent a seat next to himself. How do thou fare these days? he asked politely, Neville ofcourse had been busy with intrigue, though he wondered how things went with his sister.

[Oznerol]

"Good, good. Everything's fine. And you, my Lord Westmoreland?"

He said, hoping the earl would be rather straightforward. Now that he was chancellor didn't have time for platitudes.

[Mary The Quene]

All is not well, My Lord Kent. he replied swiftly, better to go straightforward rather than wasting your time. It appears a plot is forming. he said so with a stern looking face, this is serious business afterall. Last year, when the wedding took place me and Lord March had a quarrel during the feast, minutes after i had left Lord March, Lord Hereford approached me and he talked about a 'crown' on his head, how he asked me if i'd liked to see Mortimer replaced by Lord Hereford as heir presumptive and how he had strong bloodline for the throne. he paused while drinking wine. After the wedding i went to Lord March and we reconciled as good men do. he said

Then after we reconciled i went back to Lord Hereford and gave him my support for his plan. Westmorland said, this could be dangerous. Ofcourse i do not support removing Lord March from the succession but i merely gave my support to get more information, to see who his supporters are, when he will strike and so on. Westmorland said, he had no reason to support Hereford over Mortimer now after they reconciled. This seems very dangerous, Lord Hereford once joined the now defunct Lord Appellants, could do it twice for his goals. he said

[Oznerol]

If Henry can be defined by a word, is subtlety.

Thought Kent, who had crossed paths with Lancaster more than often.

"So, my Lord of Hereford approached you in such a public instance and muttered those potentially dangerous words. For no apparent reason"

Holland arched an eyebrow.

"However, lords have quarrelled in the past to become heir presumptive, shall my brother die without offspring, God wills not. The gap between supporting his own candidacy against March's and actually being a traitor to the crown and be willing to reform the Lords Appellant is huge, my Lord"

He clasped hands.

"You see? I cannot, in any way, prosecute Lord Lancaster without any evidence, Westmoreland. In fact, he cannot be placed under trial for such an alledged declaration; moreso considering is no secret, at all, that Lord Lancaster and his late father always favored themselves over Lionel's grandson"

[Mary The Quene]

If Henry can be defined by a word, is subtlety.

Thought Kent, who had crossed paths with Lancaster more than often.

"So, my Lord of Hereford approached you in such a public instance and muttered those potentially dangerous words. For no apparent reason"

Holland arched an eyebrow.

"However, lords have quarrelled in the past to become heir presumptive, shall my brother die without offspring, God wills not. The gap between supporting his own candidacy against March's and actually being a traitor to the crown and be willing to reform the Lords Appellant is huge, my Lord"

He clasped hands.

"You see? I cannot, in any way, prosecute Lord Lancaster without any evidence, Westmoreland. In fact, he cannot be placed under trial for such an alledged declaration; moreso considering is no secret, at all, that Lord Lancaster and his late father always favored themselves over Lionel's grandson"

Indeed, i do not ask thee to prosecute Lord Lancaster, merely to inform thee about all this. he said swiftly. You see, i find such words nonetheless dangerous, very dangerous and i don't trust him, we must find more evidence to see if what he is up too, there are many others that are dissatisfied with His Majesty's rule likely. Those would obviously be York and Maltravers, both of them had been humiliated by the king. i will see what York and Maltravers are up too and try to lure them out if they have bad plans, they must be pretty vengeful after their humiliation.

[Barry Goldwater]

After spending his first few weeks back in England lazing off and 'accompanying' the King, the Duke of Ireland finally remembers to see the Earl of Westmorland as the latter had requested back when he was still in Dublin, and has shown up at the latter's London estate.