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Page 324
situation. News arrived of the burning and looting of Shrewsbury and the ravaging of the whole area. Heribert began to wonder whether he had attached himself to the right party, and his doubts grew stronger when word came that Pembroke was turning south once more, and the king's reaction was to order a retreat to Westminster, leaving only bare garrisons to protect the strongholds in the west. Winchester had spoken glibly enough about the king's strength, but Heribert saw no sign of it, and, anyway, no amount of strength is sufficient to someone who fears to use it.
One thing Heribert did not regret was the letter he had sent to Marie. From her dress and the way the servants obeyed her, it seemed that her brother-by-marriage did not hate Marie as much as she hated himor that her sister had sufficient influence with Pembroke to protect Marie. But if the king were driven to yield to Pembroke, Marie would be on the winning side.
So Sir Heribert might be destroyed and disappear, but Sir Palance might do well enough with Lady Marie's goodwill. Before Heribert left to travel east with the Bishop of Winchester's household, he wrote again to Lady Marie. His excuse was to apologize for not yet being able to perform the charge she had given him, but the letter was far more full of compliments of her manner and person than of business.
A little over two weeks later, Sir Heribert was thankful that he had one hope left. On 3 February, Sir Palance wrote again to Lady Marie, stating that there was no longer any chance that he could fulfill the charge she had laid upon him. At the council held at Westminster on the Purification of Mary, the Archbishop-elect of Canterbury, Edmund of Abingdon, had bitterly reproached the king for his differences with the Earl of Pembroke. Edmund said plainly for all to hear that the counsel King Henry received from the Bishop of Winchester was evil counsel, that Winchester and his adherents hated the English and had estranged the king from his people, and he had begged the king to dismiss these evil counselors. Nor had Henry flown into a rage or denied the archbishop-elect's arguments. He had only begged a respite from taking the advice given, saying humbly that he could not dismiss his counselors so suddenly, at least not until he had from them an account of the money entrusted to them.

 
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