London 1472 - The Royal Chancellory
((joint IC between the
@ThePatriotOfDreumel and me))
Robert was sitting in his office in the Chancellory. He was expecting to meet Henry Walpole today, the son of the late Count Walpole who has been a rival of his own father, may God give rest to his soul. The families had been in dispute for as long as Robert could remember, he could even recall his father giving him advise to stay as far away from every Walpole as he could. Today he would meet one, Robert hoped he could fix some of the damage that had been done between their families. As he heard a knock on his door he stood up and opened the door himself and let Count Henry Walpole of Meath enter.
Robert: Ah, Count Walpole, I am glad you came here today. Please, have a seat, do you wish for something to drink?
Henry: Thank you for the offer, I would like a glass of wine, if you have it here, Sir Robert of Huntingdon.
Robert: Sure.
He called for his assistant.
Robert: Rivington! Bring wine and glasses for the Count and myself.
After the servant had brought the drinks, both the Chancellor and Walpole seated themselves.
Henry Walpole: Thank you, sir.
Henry takes a sip of his wine.
Robert: Well, Sir Walpole, you asked for a meeting today. You know the history of our families therefore I am quite interested in the things you might have to say. What leads you to me, sir?
Henry: I came here to put aside our families differences, and to forge an alliance to stop the corruption and infighting within the Assembly.
Robert was relieved hearing this answer:
Robert: Putting away the differences between our families seems like a great idea to me. It was a rivalry between our fathers which should have died with both of them, may God have rest on their souls.
Henry: May God have rest on their souls.
Robert: I am also glad that you see the problems at the court at the moment. Everyone is suspecting everyone else to be a criminal or assassin. Nobles got attacked in the open streets, you yourself just got away with your life two times. This has to be stopped. My family has to be always protected by a mercenary and Mister Rivington knows more about fighting then you might think. What is your proposal to make a change in these matters?
Henry Walpole: We should reward loyalty more actively, and have harsher penalties for corruption. My other suggestion is to have more guards on the streets, to keep order, and if neccesary, intervene in battles.
Robert: I understand the point of guards in the streets and harsher penalties for corruption, Sir. But do you mean with “intervening in battles” - preventing fights in the streets? And what should rewarding loyalty mean? I think we should lead at first by example, trying to use reason and discussion over plots and murder.
Henry: By intervening in battles I mean to stop them from escalating, and to stop murder on the streets. And by rewarding loyalty I mean rewarding people whose loyalty has been proven, by giving them more chance to get positions in the council for expample. People who have been proven to be corrupt, should have penalties on the things they can do, to give them a harsher penalty than sitting for a couple of years.
Robert: But the Queen allready appoints only people into Small Council positions that have earned this position in some way or another and are therefore loyal in the eyes of Her Majesty. The only way I can think of removing corrupt and illoyal characters would be the following: Everyone who looses in a trial looses also his position in the government, may it be a seat in the Small Council or just the command over a unit.
Henry: I can agree to that. May they be found guilty of corruption a second time, and they are noble, they should lose their county, if they are clergy, they should lose their bishopric and if they are courtier, their trade companies, or be banned from voting for 5 years.
Robert: I disagree with the removal of titles, Sir. These are invested either by Her Majesty or the Holy Church for a lifetime and should only be taken away under dire circumstances. For the second part, the banning from voting, I can agree. Who is a suspect shall be unable to vote for one major voting session in the Royal Assembly. What do you say, Sir, shall these issues be brought as an act before the Assembly? We can additionally use our influence in the factions to make those matters heard.
Henry: I shall try to, but unlike you, I am not the leader of a faction.
Robert: But one last question is to answer, Count Walpole: How do we want to celebrate the end of the rivalry between our houses?
Henry: With a glass of this delicious wine!