Of his own main supporters Clarence was only waiting for an opportunity of deserting him.
Even his brother Montagu shrank from striking fresh blows to further the triumph of a party which aimed at the ruin of the Nevilles, and looked forward with dread to the coming of the queen.
[Sidenote: Fall of Warwick] The preparations for her departure in March brought matters to a head.
With a French queen on the throne a French alliance became an instant danger for Burgundy, and Charles was driven to lend a secret ear to Edward's prayer for aid.

Money and ships were placed at his service, and on the fourteenth of March 1471 the young king landed at Ravenspur on the estuary of the Humber with a force of two thousand men.

In the north all remained quiet.

York opened its gates when Edward professed to be seeking not the crown but his father's dukedom.

Montagu lay motionless at Pomfret as the little army marched by him to the south.