Текст книги "The Lion of Justice"

Автор книги: Jean Plaidy

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Текущая страница: 10 (всего у книги 18 страниц)

Henry himself was far from displeased with his marriage. His Matilda was no Nesta but it had not been expected she would be; all the same he very often thought longingly of his one-time mistress and envied Gerald de Windsor. But affairs of state occupied him to the full so perhaps it was as well that he must dispense with the tempestuous, demanding passion he indulged in with Nesta and should be content with the pleasant marital relationship he enjoyed with his wife.

He shared her delight when she became pregnant, and again and again she asked herself what joy there could possibly be in life to compare with bringing a family into the world. Sometimes she was afraid of her happiness. Was Aunt Christina right? Was it sinful to be so happy?

She remembered the vow she had made that if she could but be saved from the veil she would follow the pious habits of her mother.

As it was Lent she went to Westminster Abbey dressed in a shirt of hair cloth—a reminder of the Benedictines robe—and gave alms. At the same time she insisted on washing and kissing the feet of the poor.

On one occasion Henry, who had been unaware of this activity, came to the Abbey with one of his knights while she was engaged on this. He was astonished.

He went to her and cried: ‘Matilda! What are you doing here?’

‘My duty.’ she answered. ‘Will you not join me?’

He shook his head and walked away. She thought he was displeased and this was the first cloud over her happiness.

She was apprehensive when they were alone together.

He said: ‘I had no idea that you performed such deeds.’

‘My mother did and I vowed that if I could escape from the Abbey I would do likewise.’

‘What if there were lepers among them?’

‘My mother washed the feet of lepers.’

He frowned and she asked fearfully: ‘Have I displeased you?’

He took her face in his hands. ‘Nay, nay, ‘twas done from the goodness of your heart and that heart I have learned most gratefully is kind and loving.’

‘I feared greatly that you were angry.’

‘Nay, never with you, my Queen.’

He was thinking: ‘The people were impressed by it and we have great need to impress the people.’

‘So you will not forbid this?’

‘Nay, my love. Rather do I applaud it. But remember the child. In no way must we imperil that.’

‘You are so good to me, so kind.’ she said and there were tears in her eyes.

It was one of those occasions when he wondered what she would feel when she discovered the truth about him, which he supposed she would in due course. When he began bringing his illegitimate children to Court and bestowing favours on them, which indeed he must, he hoped she would not be too badly hurt. It might well be that by that time she would have more understanding of the world. But it was disconcerting when she showed so clearly that she looked upon him as a knight of shining purity. He supposed he was growing fond of her.

He was more at ease talking of affairs of state.

‘Matilda,’ he said, ‘if ever I should have to go out of the country I should make you my Regent and for this reason you must know how I govern and what is happening in the realm.’

She looked apprehensive and he knew it was not because she was afraid of the task but because he would have to go on some expedition which might be perilous.

‘Why should you have to go?’

‘Perhaps to Normandy.’ he said. ‘My brother Robert is claiming England.’

‘But he is the Duke of Normandy and Normandy is in pawn to England.’

‘The debt has been settled. He has married and the lady’s dowry has paid his debt. Moreover she is with child. Men become ambitious for their children.’

‘He has laid claim to the throne then?’

‘Ay and he has many supporters—not only in Normandy but here. Ranulf Flambard has escaped from the White Tower. He is in Normandy now. It is men such as he that I fear rather than my brother. Robert is too lazy to carry through any enterprise with success. But when he is backed by men like Ranulf we must take the threat very seriously indeed.’

‘You think they will attempt invasion?’

‘I do. Many Normans over here who support Robert’s claim have already crossed the sea. But I have set a fleet to guard the Channel ports so that they can be prevented from landing.’

‘That is important,’ said Matilda. ‘If Harold Godwin had guarded his ports your father would never have landed so comfortably in England and it may well have been that the battle had gone a different way.’

‘In which case I should not be King of England, so let us rejoice in that lack of foresight.’

‘And profit by it,’ said Matilda.

‘You will see that is what I intend to do. But, Matilda, I am surrounded by traitors. Ranulf Flambard should never have been allowed to escape. I could have used that man. I could have had him killed in prison. But I thought after a while to make use of his cleverness. I am disturbed that he thought there would be more advantages in serving my brother than myself.’

‘Could it have been that he knew you were a King who would rule your subjects and Robert is a Duke who would be ruled by his?’

He looked at her quizzically. ‘God has given me a clever wife. We’ll stand together against them. My Queen, I thank God for you.’

This was the peak of her happiness. Not only did she love and was loved, not only was her body fruitful but the years of study had given her an agile mind and she could bring to her husband many gifts which more than made up for her lack of dowry. He talked to her earnestly of his hopes.

I have made promises which I shall endeavour to carry out...if it is possible. It was necessary to make those promises. But I intend to bring law back to this country. I shall punish severely those who steal. We are plagued by those who clip coins and so debase the currency. I mean to bring back my father’s laws. In his day men could travel without the fear of robbery and violence. That changed under Rufus. I will bring that back. The feudal barons must be made to understand that I will not have them roaming the country taking what they will and submitting to indignities the wives and daughters of peaceful citizens. I shall curb their power.’

‘The people will love you for it.’

‘They must, Matilda. I must make them see that I intend to prosper the country as my father did. They never loved him. He was a harsh man, but they came to respect him. And when Rufus reigned after him they appreciated him the more. I intend that they shall feel towards me as they did to my father.’

‘But you would wish them to love you?’

‘If that is possible. But I intend to make this country rich and, by God, I’ll do it. And I must make the people understand this. I have to bring the barons to order. You know that a band of them will set out together to plunder a market or a fair and will terrify the simple people who are enjoying these worthy pursuits. Some of them waylay merchants and kidnap them and hold them to ransom so that their family must squander their hard earned money on their release. They are cruel. They torture their victims. They raid a man’s house and rape his woman under his very eyes. This I will stop and the people will see what my intentions are.’

Matilda’s eyes were shining. ‘You will be a great king, Henry.’

He smiled at her ruefully. ‘If the people will let me.’

‘The forestry laws are said to be the most harsh.’

Henry’s lips hardened. He was not going to change those. His father had instituted them and the people had had to accept them. No, he would not give up his forests. The hunt was the breath of life to him as it had been to all his family. He and his brothers had been brought up to it; it was the greatest of pleasures—though perhaps women enchanted him slightly more, but not much; to ride through the forests, dogs in pursuit, the sight of a deer alert suddenly, and to see the graceful creature bound off; the smell of the forests; the excitement of the chase. No, not one of the harsh forestry laws should be lifted. They had perforce to accept them in his father’s day and they should accept them now.

But he did not tell Matilda this. Like that other overwhelming passion it must remain one of those secrets which she would certainly discover in time—but not yet.

For the time it pleased him that she should live in this dream of perfection, which showed how fond he was of her.

A messenger had arrived and was brought to the King.

His face darkened as he read the message.

‘Henry...’ began Matilda.

He looked at her and a savage anger darkened his face. ‘The fleet which was protecting our shores has gone to Normandy. This can mean one thing. They have deserted me and instead of stopping Robert’s landing they will help it.’

* * * * *

These were trying weeks for Henry. Rumours were in circulation. He had been a member of the hunting party in which Rufus had died; he had already shown marked favour to the Clare family; their kinsman Walter Tyrrell had left the country. Could it have been that there had been a plot and that Henry, who had everything to gain, was at the heart of it?

Henry ignored these suggestions. He knew that what the people of England wanted was a good steady king who would amend the state of anarchy which had risen during the reign of Rufus. So he concentrated on letting the people know what reforms he intended to make, and he set about making them.

Henry had not been nicknamed Beauclerc for nothing. He was possessed of an energy and efficiency which was similar to that which had made the Conqueror such a brilliant administrator. The Saxon part of the community were of the opinion that he would make a better ruler than his brother Robert who had already proved himself to be feckless; but there were many Norman barons in the country who deplored the fact that Henry, having been born and bred in England, was removing the Norman influence, and these powerful Norman barons were giving their support to Robert.

One of the chief of these was Robert of Bellême—a man whose reputation was perhaps more evil than that of any other throughout England and Normandy. Henry’s father had told him of the stories he had heard in his childhood of this wicked family who had terrorized the countryside. Nurses would warn him if he did not behave as they considered he should: ‘If you are not good the Bellêmes will get you.’ They tortured for sport and the entertainment they offered their guests at a banquet was the death agony of some poor prisoner. They would waylay travellers and take them to their dungeons. Men would be submitted to the slow death, women to all manner of indignities before suffering the same fate. The Conqueror had when a boy met a member of this family and had looked him straight in the face and in such a manner that the brute had quailed before him and turned away muttering that the boy and his heirs would bring disaster to the Bellêmes.

That prophecy should be fulfilled, Henry promised himself.

Robert of Bellême had until recently confined his atrocities to Normandy but alas, a few years earlier, he had bought the English estates of the Montgomerys and thus many castles and other property in England had fallen into his hands.

By the payment of this sum—£3,000—he had become one of the most powerful men in England as well as Normandy; and of course he would be in conflict with Henry whose new laws were aimed against such as himself.

‘I shall be the one to destroy him,’ Henry promised himself, ‘and others of his kind. We do not want them here nor in Normandy.’

He did not admit to Matilda that his hopes were not only to remain King of England but to take Normandy as well.

They were uneasy weeks. The Norman invasion was coming. He must be ready for it.

And in the midst of these preparations Matilda was brought to bed.

* * * * *

Her happiness was great when she held her child in her arms...although perhaps not quite complete, for the son for which she and Henry had longed had been denied them and they had a daughter.

Henry disguised his disappointment thinking: she is young; she has quickly shown she is fruitful. We’ll get sons in time.

She watched him anxiously from her bed.

‘Is she not perfect, Henry?’

Henry agreed that she was.

‘I prophesy that she will be as great as any boy.’

He kissed her and said, ‘We will have boys. Never fear.’

‘Yes, boys and girls. I never guessed how wonderful life could be until this child was born.’

He smiled at her tenderly, thinking how strange that a woman who could be quite astute in matters of government could be quite simple in her knowledge of human nature.

They were at Winchester where it was fitting the royal child be born and Matilda was to rest there for a week or more.

It was necessary, said Henry. She must consider her health. He wanted her to be well that she might give him more children.

She talked a great deal about the child and never once did she ask about what was happening outside her lying-in chamber. He did not tell her that he hourly expected invasion and that more and more Norman barons were deserting England and that those who remained were of doubtful loyalty.

It seemed very likely that as bloody a battle as that of Senlac might soon be fought.

* * * * *

Henry left Matilda with stern injunctions that she was not to leave her bed until it was considered wise to do so, and he joined his troops at Pevensey. Here some thirty-six years before, William the Conqueror had landed without opposition. Matilda had said how different it might have been if Harold had been there to prevent the easy landing. Well, he would be on the spot to prevent Robert and his Normans having that advantage.

As he inspected his troops he thought of all the traitors who had turned against him and his suppressed anger almost choked him. Both his father and Rufus would have given way to a furious outburst. Not so Henry. He could take vengeance but in cold blood, which was so much more effective in the end.

It was sad that brother should fight brother. He thought of his mother—another Matilda—who had had to make a terrible decision between her son Robert and her husband.

His parents had been lovers all their married life. Theirs had been an ideal relationship, but it was never the same with them after Matilda helped her son Robert against his father. William never forgot it. It would have been one of the biggest blows of his life. But it had been a wonderful partnership. Could he hope for the same from his Matilda? Hardly. The Conqueror had never had time for any woman but his wife. He had been a faithful husband. Perhaps that was the secret of the great bond between them. If it were, he and Matilda could never be so close. He wondered what she would do when she knew of the hosts of mistresses with whom he had shared his life before he met her. He had not been faithful since the marriage. How could he be when he was away so much? It was against his nature. Women and the chase...they were necessary to him, and no matter what was at stake he could not give either of them up. That was his weakness. His calm judicial mind saw it clearly.

And Robert...Robert was a fool. Robert had been a fool throughout his life. Their father had been aware of it; that was why he and Robert had been enemies, mortal enemies. Robert should never have had Normandy. His father had known that too, but it was a long standing promise which he had made to their mother and so he fulfilled it. Robert was doomed to failure. He was unfit to govern. He had made mistakes everywhere. It was only that charm of his which saved him from utter disaster. It always came to the surface in crucial moments. He had friends who loved him and helped him. He had found a rich woman to marry that he might redeem Normandy. It had always been thus with Robert but that did not mean it always would be.

No matter how strongly he came against him, he was going to defeat him.

Robert was not going to be the King of England. That honour was reserved for Henry. And, God willing, Robert should not long retain Normandy, for that was to be Henry’s too. Their father would approve. What would he be thinking, looking down from heaven, of the terrible state of anarchy to which men like the Bellêmes had reduced Normandy? He would approve of Henry’s rule in England; he was the king he himself would have instituted.

The spirit of my father will be with me today, thought Henry.

A messenger was brought to his tent. He was disordered and muddy and one look at his face showed that he had ill news to impart.

‘My lord King, the Duke of Normandy has landed.’

‘Where, by God!’

‘At Portsmouth. Piloted into the harbour by the fleet. They are marching to Winchester.’

* * * * *

Robert surveyed his troops as they re-formed after the landing. Ranulf Flambard, who had done much to organize the expedition, was beside him. He was exultant.

‘We cannot fail, my lord,’ said Ranulf. ‘We have completed without opposition the most difficult part of the operation. Our spies have done well. Henry is waiting to receive us at Pevensey. Now to Winchester.’

‘To Winchester! said Robert.

‘A rather amusing turn to affairs.’ murmured Ranulf. ‘The Queen is lying-in there. She has given birth to a daughter.’

‘A daughter! My niece!’ Robert smiled. ‘And lying-in at Winchester! Well, then we cannot march to Winchester.’

‘My lord?’

‘Nay.’ said Robert, ‘for if the Queen is lying-in she would be disturbed by soldiers in the town, Moreover it might be difficult to control them. What if they broke into her lying-in chamber?’

‘So much the better.’

Robert looked with distaste at Ranulf. He had to admit that the man was clever and he had been eager to make use of his services when he had arrived in Normandy. He had been of great use for he knew by first hand what was to be expected in England. Having served Rufus in such an intimate manner he was well acquainted with the state of affairs in England. He could not have had a better guide. When Ranulf had arrived in Normandy, slightly crippled by his fall from the rope when escaping, his hands swathed in bandages because when he slid down the rope the skin had been peeled from them, he had seemed the perfect minister. He had suffered much to come to Normandy; he must believe Robert’s cause was just to endure so much in his service, but now Robert clearly saw him as an insensitive oaf.

The fact was that Robert had been feeling more and more uneasy as he approached England. Brother against brother. It was not a situation he enjoyed. He had never been on good terms with Rufus, but he had always deplored it. And Henry was their younger brother, the one who had been left with very little. Their father had said that Henry would one day have more than either Robert or Rufus. He wondered what their mother would be thinking if she could know that they were preparing to go into battle against each other.

His chances were good. Ranulf was right there. He was in in the superior position but he had very little stomach for battle against his own brother.

He had just returned from a holy war in which he had distinguished himself. He believed that he had been purged of his sins by his service to God; and now he was going to do battle against his brother. What if Henry should be killed? It seemed to him that all the honours he had won in heaven through his crusade would be lost to him.

Ranulf was looking uneasy. He drew his horse closer to Robert’s.

‘A goodly array,’ he said. ‘We shall be victorious. In a very short time now England will be where it belongs—in the hands of Robert of Normandy, King of England.’

‘That is in God’s hands,’ said Robert.

‘And in ours, my lord. We must take die city of Winchester.’

‘I say we shall not go to Winchester.’

‘It is the capital city of these parts, lord.’

‘It is the lying-in place of my sister-in-law.’

‘That cannot affect our plans.’

‘It can and it will.’ Robert’s quick temper showed in his heightened colour. He had always been quixotic. He it was who when he and Rufus were besieging Mont St. Michel when Henry was there with his adherents, had sent in wine for his brother’s table because they were dying of thirst. Rufus had cursed him for a fool just as Ranulf would be doing if he dared.

‘These are my men.’ he said. ‘I am their commander, and I say that we shall not ride into Winchester.’

* * * * *

Henry left Pevensey with a sinking heart. Robert would be marching on Winchester where Matilda was lying-in! He was afraid. What would become of her? He pictured her lying in her bed clutching the baby at her breast while Robert’s soldiers burst into the chamber.

It must never be. He must prevent that. He cursed the fleet which had betrayed him. He cursed himself for being at Pevensey when they had landed at Portsmouth.

A messenger came riding up.

‘My lord, the Normans are not riding to Winchester. They are going straight to London.’

He was astonished. Surely they should have gone to Winchester? It was the reasonable road to have taken and at Winchester was the Treasury, his wife, his new-born child.

Seeing his puzzlement the messenger continued: ‘On the Duke’s instructions, my lord. He would not go there as the Queen was lying-in.’

A slow smile touched Henry’s lips. How typical of Robert! Always chivalrous. He would lose a battle rather than act in an un-knightly manner. It was small wonder that his dukedom was a place of anarchy. Robert might be the most charming of men but he was one of the worst rulers any country could have. Rufus had been a good one compared with him. Odd, thought Henry, to think that we three were all fathered by one man and that man the great Conqueror!

But his spirits were lifted. He felt happier than he had since he knew that his fleet had deserted to his brother.

* * * * *

The two armies met at Alton. They drew up, their helmets glittering in the sun; and at the head of each army were the brothers.

Robert rode forward and Henry went to meet him.

‘Hail, brother!’ said Robert.

‘Hail!' said Henry.

‘This is a sorry state when brothers meet in conflict.’

‘A conflict of your making.’

‘I never had great heart for it.’

Henry’s own heart began to beat wildly with hope. He knew that he was outnumbered. He could not be sure how many of those who were behind him now were true followers, and who would have deserted to the enemy by nightfall.

Henry said: ‘Yet you come at the head of an army.’

‘They seem to have arranged it before I returned to Rouen.’

‘Freed of your sins, but not for long if you kill your brother in battle,’ said Henry. ‘Are we to fight then? Our mother would be grieved.’

It was a good allusion for Robert had always felt sentimental about his mother—and well he might as she had defied the Conqueror to support him.

‘It is not meet that brother should fight brother.’

‘Perhaps we could come to some agreement.’

‘Why brother, that would please me.’

An agreement! To sit down to a conference! Henry the lawyer would fare far better on such an occasion than the dreamer idealist.

‘We must arrange it.’

‘We will.’

Robert rode back to his men. He was smiling happily.

‘There is to be no battle,’ he announced. ‘My brother and I have agreed to settle this matter amicably by a treaty.’

Ranulf groaned. Did I almost kill myself for this? he asked himself. Did I arrange this excursion? Did I use my spies so that I knew what was happening in England, raise the money, manoeuvre the desertion of the fleet...all this for a fool? Had Robert not the advantage? He was crazy; he would never be anything but a foolish adventurer.

Ranulf had chosen unwisely. He should have served the wily lawyer, never the mad adventurer who could not call at Winchester because his sister-in-law was in childbed, who had every advantage, and who was prepared to have it all stripped from him at the conference table.

* * * * *

Each of the brothers had chosen twelve knights to sit with them at that conference table that they might work out the details of the treaty. Henry was in his element. He listened to Robert and whenever his brother made a point which was not quite sound he would seize on it so that all attention was focused on it. Robert did not understand this lawyer’s trick and he was quickly out of his depth.

‘The people of England,’ Henry explained, ‘want an English King as the people of Normandy want a Norman Duke. Our father was aware of this. If he were here now he would say that your place was in Normandy, brother, mine in England.’

Robert saw the point of this.

‘But as the elder I have the claim, Henry,’ he pointed out. ‘And Rufus and I had an understanding that if either of us died the other should inherit his possessions.’

‘You had pawned Normandy to Rufus.’

‘Ay, and redeemed it.’

‘From me,’ Henry reminded him with a smile as though that settled the matter. ‘You could not rule England and Normandy, brother. Admit my claim and it may well be that a pension can be arranged for you for so doing.’

The thought of ready money always attracted Robert. True, he lost it almost as soon as he acquired it but that did not prevent his always being fascinated by the prospect.

The agreement was drawn up. For a pension of 3,000 marks a year Robert should withdraw his claim to the English throne and at the same time Henry would renounce his claims on Normandy.

That seemed fair enough.

‘There is one other point,’ said Robert. ‘Many Normans who have estates in England came to my support. It must be part of the agreement that they do not suffer for this.’

Henry hesitated. Ranulf Flambard. Robert of Bellême. His brother who was looking at him earnestly said, ‘I could not agree without your promise. These men came to my aid. I could not desert them.’

‘And if I refused?’

‘They would insist on fighting this out in battle.’

Fighting it out in battle with superior forces and men of doubtful loyalty in his ranks! Henry was not really hesitating. He would give the promise but he might well find a way round it. He was not going to allow men like Robert of Bellême to flourish in his country. They were a menace to his plans for law and order. But the important fact now was to prevent a battle in which the enemy had superior forces.

He had come well out of this. Poor Robert! He would always fail.

So the treaty was concluded and even then Henry could scarcely believe his good fortune.

As soon as possible he rode to Winchester to tell Matilda about it.

* * * * *

So he had plucked peace out of what seemed like certain disaster. True he must pay Robert’s pension—for a year at least. Then he must find some pretext of discontinuing it.

Now he could settle to this real business—that of ruling England. First though there was the christening of their little daughter.

Henry had said: ‘There is one name I should like her to have above all others. That of her mother.’

So with a certain ceremony the child was christened Matilda.

She was a lusty girl, and showed signs of becoming a true granddaughter of the Conqueror, for she gave voice to loud yells of protest when anything she wanted was denied her; her parents were delighted with her.

* * * * *

Henry faced Ranulf Flambard, who was watching him covertly. This was the man who had dared cast jibes at him when Rufus was alive, who, when imprisoned in the White Tower, had made such a daring escape, and had gone to Normandy to plan the invasion of England, the man who would have snatched England from Henry and given it to Robert.

Such a man, thought Henry, I should send back to the White Tower, I should have his eyes put out that he might not escape again and plot against me.

They looked steadily at each other.

He knew what Ranulf was thinking: Robert is a fool and I was a fool also to throw in my lot with him. I would have been wiser to go with the clever brother.

Indeed, my friend, you would, thought Henry.

Ranulf was clever in a manner which Henry understood, for it was his own brand of wisdom. Could it be that he might use that wisdom in support of Henry? It was a brilliant move to have lured the fleet over to Normandy so that the force which Henry should have built up to protect him should have been the very means of destroying his protection. He could appreciate that.

‘What would you say, Ranulf Flambard,’ he said, ‘if I were to return your lands in England?’

‘I would say you were a most generous King.’

‘And you would live here?’

A crafty look came into Ranulf’s eyes. ‘I am a grateful man. I return favour for favour. It might well be that I could show my gratitude if I spent some time in Normandy.’

The man was shrewd. He knew what was going on in Henry’s mind. Pay a pension to Robert? Only until his forces were out of England. And then why should not Henry turn the tables and cast his eyes in the direction of Normandy? And if he did Ranulf Flambard might well have an opportunity to show his gratitude.

‘You are a clever man, Ranulf.’ said Henry. ‘There are not enough brains in the world that we can afford to destroy them.’

Ranulf bowed, his eyes gleaming.

He was ready to change his allegiance, for here was a master whom he could serve while taking good care of himself. Moreover he was in Henry’s hands now and if Henry was going to exact no payment for his deeds then he was indeed eager for his services.

There was complete understanding between the two men. Ranulf’s estates would be graciously returned to him and he would live sometimes in Normandy, sometimes in England; and when the moment came for Henry to exert his claims, Ranulf would be his friend as he had tried to be Robert’s.

Henry was not so lenient with Robert of Bellême.

Henry knew that Normandy was in a state of anarchy and that this was due to men such as Robert of Bellême. Since Robert of Bellême had acquired estates throughout the country he had attempted to set up a similar state of affairs in England. The Bellêmes had been brought up in cruelty. They had been practising for generations. There was a warped streak in the entire family and their great aim was to see everyone cringe before them. Henry was determined to crush them.

He discussed this with Anselm who was in agreement with him.

‘I must,’ said Henry, ‘rid the country of this man. Yet I have vowed to my brother that those Normans who rebelled against me and showed their allegiance to Duke Robert should be forgiven.’