June 1472 - August 1472
Francis and Stephen Lovell had been at Middleham Castle for two weeks. Mary noticed that Richard seemed to be a different person when he was with his friends. Mary liked seeing Richard happy, especially since her rarely ever smiled.
Mary had become acquainted with both brothers. Francis was Richard's age, nineteen. He was. He was the younger of the two brothers, but he held the title of Baron Lovell since Stephen was a bastard. He was five years older than Francis. Stephen was fun loving while Francis was serious like Richard. They were complete opposites, but they loved each other dearly. Mary enjoyed the two brothers for those reasons.
Every night since Francis and Stephen arrived, the four of them had many long conversations over cups of wine. Mary's own ladies even joined in the conversation some of the time. Francis seemed to like Alice, but it was really Mary who he liked. Stephen seemed to like Margery. Since she was King Edward's mistress, she showed no interest in Stephen. Even with that, they all enjoyed each others company. One night at supper, Mary asked the brothers how they became friends with Richard.
"We all lived with Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick when we were younger. We were his wards," said Francis when Mary asked the question.
"I see," said Mary. She felt weird about it since she knew about the earl of Warwick and all the trouble he had caused.
"Those were good days, weren't they?" Richard asked.
"Yes they were," said Francis.
Stephen nodded his head in agreement.
"Lets talk about something else," said Mary. She felt bad for bringing it up. She did not want anyone to feel bad.
They did talk about other things. History, war stories and other topics like that. Mary grew bored of the conversation after a while and excused herself. She went back to her room with her ladies.
Late that night, Mary was alone in her bed. She was about to go to sleep when she heard a knock on her door."
"Who is it?" she asked out loud.
"It's Richard. May I come in?"
"Of course."
Richard opened the door. He was already wearing his night shift. He joined Mary in her bed. He wrapped his arm around Mary, who laid her head on his chest."
"I am sorry about supper."
"Sorry about what?"
"The question I asked... it changed the mood at supper."
"Don't worry about it Mary. We all still remember our time with Warwick. It was great being there. Even with what kind of man Warwick became, it did not change our opinions of him. Out memories of him will always be fond ones."
Mary smiled, then kissed Richard on the cheek.
"What was that for?"
"Can't a wife kiss her husband with out having a specific reason?"
"Of course she can." Richard kissed her back on the lips. The two kissed passionately. They did not end up having sex, but they talked all night, falling asleep in each others arms.
A month had passed by quickly. Mary was enjoying her summer at Middleham with Richard, Francis and Stephen. They went hunting and hawking, riding and fishing. The men taught Mary archery, but she proved to be terrible at it. They spoke of many different subjects, from warfare to poetry. Having Francis and Stephen stay was good because it brought Mary and Richard closer together.
