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duke.
    Francis accepted Edward's offer, but he insisted that he bring Henry to Edward personally—as soon as the war against France was launched. Fortunately for the Tudor, Edward was sinking deeper and deeper into a slough of dissipation, which was wrecking his constitution. Only a tiny part of the army he promised assembled, and Francis was able to ignore the agreement. Meanwhile, Henry worked hard to better his position at the Breton court. He used all his persuasive powers to urge Francis to take another wife. The move was a shrewd one, and when the new duchess bore a healthy child in 1477, the Bretons were appeased. Their fears about Henry began to fade, for, though the child was but a girl, the next might be a healthy son.
    Henry absented himself from court a good deal in the next two years. He did not wish to incur the hatred of the new duchess by vying with her and her daughter for Francis's affections. Out with Jasper, he learned military science in the field, and Jasper learned that his nephew had an uncanny ability to judge men. Surely that was good; yet what had happened to Henry? Even the most casual conversation became significant. If a man commented on the weather before a skirmish, Henry could judge him by the comment. He urged his men to drink with him, while he himself drank little, but only sat by watching, watching. To Jasper he might say, "This man is trustworthy," but Henry Tudor trusted no one.
    The years had been bitterly hard, more so for Henry than for Jasper. Jasper had long been accustomed to the life of a soldier and enjoyed it. He need not walk a tightrope between the duke's affection and the jealousy of the nobles, nor maintain appearances at court without an income.
    No agent of Edward's ever tried to slip a knife between Jasper's ribs. Jasper's soldiers saw his worth and loved him, while Henry's court companions regarded him with emotions ranging from mild distaste to violent, jealous hatred. Henry was being driven in upon himself. He was not less genial—he loved a joke, a stirring tale, music, or a lively dance as well as ever—but a watcher stood behind his eyes, and that watcher did not join in the merrymaking.
    Because he saw clearly, Henry could not ignore how even those men who loved him also feared him. Jasper himself, who treasured the boy as his own child, feared when the watcher gazed out from behind the love in Henry's eyes, for that watcher in Henry which saw into the naked soul, once called into being, could not be dismissed.
    Henry grew in upon himself, but he also came to understand his power over men. If Jasper's men fought because they loved him, Henry's would die for him because they feared him more than death. Yet he was gentle and did not like to fight. Indeed, he showed a most unmanly distaste for bloodshed.
    At the birth of Francis's second child, Henry and Jasper traveled to court to celebrate the event. The feasting was lavish, the ceremonies magnificent, but enthusiasm was lacking. The second child, too, was a girl, and the duchess was unlikely to bear another. Henry noticed the cold glances when he approached to kiss his protector's hand.
    Francis embraced him with the warmth of a father, and the duchess offered her hand and then her cheek. She was no enemy, but she did not look as if she would live to help him long.
    "You will not leave Francis again, Henry, will you?" Her voice was faint.
    "Not if he desires me to stay, madam, but I am of little use."
    "You give him comfort," the duchess sighed, "and he may have need of comfort soon."
    Her prediction came too close to Henry's own fears, and he steered the conversation into merrier channels, soon bringing a smile to her wan lips.
    "You see," she said as he bowed in parting, "you do us both good."
    Little good he did himself by endearing himself to Francis, Henry thought, shunning the black looks of the Breton nobles.

    When envoys came again from England, Francis agreed to permit them to take Henry back with them.