Текст книги "The Lion of Justice"
Автор книги: Jean Plaidy
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Текущая страница: 12 (всего у книги 18 страниц)
Ranulf Flambard, still chafing against his ill judgment in the first place, realized immediately that Henry was going to take an opportunity to seize Normandy. He had admired the manner in which Henry had extricated himself from a confrontation which could have been disastrous to him. He knew that Henry had not meant to pay that pension for long; his lawyer’s mind had been searching for a loophole and he had found it. Ranulf was now eager to see Normandy pass to Henry. He knew what was in Henry’s mind. As the son of the Conqueror he had inherited to an intense degree the avariciousness which was one of the strongest characteristics of his father. Ranulf was well aware that Henry yearned not only to remain King of England but to be Duke of Normandy as well.
Well, why not? Ranulf could grow rich and powerful in a prosperous land as he never could in one such as Normandy had become with the Bellêmes’ power rising and that of the Duke diminishing.
‘The King of England,’ he reminded Robert, ‘has not paid the pension which was granted to you.’
‘Nay,’ answered Robert. ‘He is cheating me of it.’
‘Will you allow this, my lord?’
‘By Saint Mary, I will not, Ranulf.’
‘Nor did I think you would, my lord.’
Ranulf’s eyes were gleaming with the prospect of an enterprise which should be devious and cunning, such as his soul loved.
Robert said: ‘I should go to England and demand it.’
‘Would my lord take an army with him?’
‘How else?’
‘You did that before, my lord, and what resulted but this treaty?’
‘I never cared to take up arms against my own brothers.’
‘Kings and rulers can be enemies as well as brothers. You made this treaty in good faith and Henry has not honoured it.’
Robert’s face grew scarlet with a sudden rush of temper. He smote his knee with his fist and cried: ‘‘Tis so. I should teach him a lesson.’
Ranulf surveyed the Duke through half-closed eyes.
‘He complains that you have given shelter to barons who have displeased him.’
‘They are Normans. Why should I not?’
‘Perhaps this is a matter which you should talk out together.’
Robert looked interested. When they were making the treaty he had stayed at the English Court for six months. It had been a pleasant experience. He had greatly enjoyed the company of his sister-in-law Matilda—a charming cultivated lady and she had been very gracious to him because she said she had greatly appreciated his gallant gesture in not bringing his soldiers into Winchester where she was lying-in.
They had good beverages to drink at his brother’s court and he had on several occasions drunk himself into a stupor and had to be carried to his bed. It had been vastly entertaining and he had been sorry to leave the English court. Perhaps he had had enough of fighting. He had distinguished himself in the Holy Land; but it was different fighting an infidel, from engaging in what could prove a death struggle with his own brother.
‘To go in peace to my brother, discuss with him the reasons why he has not paid my pension, that seems a good idea.’
‘This suggestion of yours does seem a good one.’ It was always wise to shift the responsibility of a doubtful enterprise to other shoulders and Robert, like most men in his position, could always be persuaded to believe that an idea which seemed to him a good one had originated with himself.
‘I am sure it is.’ cried Robert, his enthusiasm mounting. ‘I will take a few gentlemen with me and cross to England. Henry will then see that I come in peace and we can together discuss our difference. I am sure I can make him realize that he does in truth owe me the pension and that I need it desperately.’
Ranulf nodded slowly. What a fool Robert was. Did he think that Henry was the man not to take advantage of every opportunity offered him? Did he really think that he could put his flighty mind against that astute lawyer’s brain?
It would be interesting to see what came of this visit, and as Henry’s very covetous eyes were almost certain to be fixed on Normandy—now that he was so admirably putting his own house in order—it might well be that Robert would never see Normandy again.
* * * * *
Henry was hunting in the New Forest when news was brought to him of his brother’s arrival in the country.
The Count de Mellent who had come with the news was disturbed when he saw Henry’s delight.
‘He comes.’ said the Count, ‘with only twelve gentlemen in attendance.’
‘Can a man begotten by my father be such a fool?’ cried Henry exultantly.
‘He has said that he has come in friendship to speak with you. He wishes to reason with you about his unpaid pension, my lord.’ said Mellent.
‘Now is my chance. I shall take him and put him in such a dungeon from which he will never be able to effect an escape.’
‘My lord, he is your brother.’
‘What mean you? Do you think I am not aware of that?’
‘It would be considered a villainy.’
Henry’s cold rage had begun to rise. ‘You dare...’
‘Yes, my lord, I dare,’ said the bold Count. ‘I dare because I serve you well. You are our Lion of Justice. The people are beginning to understand what it means to be ruled by a good strong king and most of all a just king. Do not allow them to doubt your justice, lord, for it is the quality in you they most admire.’
‘And think you it is unjust to imprison my enemies?’
‘This is your brother who has come in good faith. It would become no great king to take as a prisoner one who came with only twelve attendants. If you will give me permission to talk with him I will send him back to Normandy and I believe I know a way in which I can give you acquittance of his pension.’
‘You have a high opinion of your talents, my lord Count.’
‘I would serve my King with all my powers and I believe you would regret deeply to lose the respect of your subjects.’
‘None would have dared talk to my brother William as you have to me.’
‘Your brother was no Lion of Justice, sir.’
Henry said thoughtfully, ‘I believe in your loyalty to me. My brother is unfit to rule the Duchy my father left in his hands. It could well be a wise act to seize this opportunity. But you say you can send him back to Normandy and relieve me of my obligation to pay his pension. I’ll keep you to this. Do what you say you can. If you fail you will face my displeasure.’
‘My lord, I know that I can succeed.’
Henry was not so sure. He continued to follow the deer but he was thinking of Robert and how foolish he had been not to take him prisoner.
* * * * *
The Count of Mellent rode to Winchester where the Queen sat with her women. She was embroidering cloth which would be made into a gown; it was an art at which she excelled and was practised to a great degree in England.
The Count was shown into her presence as he assured her servants that he came with some urgency.
He then told her that the Duke of Normandy was in England.
‘Does the King know?’ she asked.
‘I have come from the King.’
‘He sent you to me?’
‘Nay, he does not know I come to you.’
She looked alarmed, and he told her quickly what had transpired between him and the King.
‘And why do you tell me this?’
‘Because I have an idea that you can be of great service to your husband.’
‘I do not see how.’
‘My lady, the King is incensed against his brother. Not because he comes here to remonstrate with him but because he has not paid him his pension.’
Matilda was quick to understand that the King knew he had wronged Robert and therefore he hated his brother. He was now seeking an excuse to imprison him that he might make an easy conquest of Normandy.
‘If the King harms his brother when he comes on a peaceful mission he will regret it, I know.’ said the Count de Mellent.
Matilda cried: ‘I am in agreement with you. The King must not harm his own brother, particularly when he comes in friendship.’ Her expression softened. She had never forgotten how gallant Robert had been when he had refused to disturb her lying-in; and afterwards when she had helped entertain him at the Court she had found him charming. He was known to be one of the most fascinating men of his day; he could charm both sexes with the utmost ease; that he was feckless and superficial and that the compliments were lightly uttered, the friendship on no firm foundation, was something which was discovered later. It was Robert’s personality which throughout his life had enabled him to fail his friends and yet be able to win them back to him.
Matilda was still smarting from her discovery of Henry’s infidelities. He left her frequently and she knew full well that there were occasions when he could have been with her but preferred some other woman, some new light of love, perhaps the perennially attractive Nesta.
Robert with his admiring glances and his charming compliments had made her feel a desirable woman and since her discovery of Henry’s waywardness she needed to be reassured. It was not that she contemplated emulating his example. She was far too pious for that, but she did feel that she could enjoy the somewhat exciting company of her brother-in-law; and now she would be very ready to help if possible.
The Count of Mellent said: ‘I shall go to meet the Duke and tell him that he may be in danger from the King’s anger. And I shall persuade him to come to you.’
‘Does the King know of this?’
‘Not that I have called on your help. He knows only that I wish to send the Duke back to Normandy unharmed and ready to forgo his pension.’
‘How can you promise that?’
‘I believe you could help me. The King cannot pay this pension. He has projects in this country. To raise such a sum yearly would mean increased taxation and you know full well how the people hate that. It was Ranulf Flambard’s methods of extracting money from the people which made them hate him and the last King.’
‘But the people are beginning to understand that Henry is a great king.’
‘That is why they must not be over-burdened by this extra taxation.’
‘Yet the King has given his word to pay this money.’
‘He could do nothing else at the time. The Norman army was in England. The fleet had deserted. There could have been another Norman conquest and instead of our just King we could now be ruled by Robert of Normandy.’
‘So the King in truth cannot pay this pension.’
‘Not without inflicting hardship on the people.’
‘But if he was promised.’
‘My dear lady, there is more at stake than a promise. The King had to make that promise. He now has to break it.’
‘And you are asking me to help the King break his promises?’
‘I am asking you to save the poor people of this land from further crippling taxation. I am asking you to do such service to the King your husband that he will never forget it.’
‘You convince me,’ she said. ‘Pray tell me what I must do.’
* * * * *
The Count de Mellent intercepted Robert and his followers on the road to Winchester.
‘My lord.’ said the Count, ‘what brings you here? How can you have been so ill advised as to come? The King regrets the treaty. He is determined not to pay you the pension. By coming here you have placed yourself in his hands. What do you think he will do? He will imprison you. He might even put you to death.’
Robert and the twelve knights whom he had brought with him immediately realized in what danger they had placed themselves.
‘Mayhap we should go back to Southampton.’ said Robert, ‘and return to Normandy without delay.’
‘The King will not allow you to do this. If you attempted to set sail you would be stopped.’
‘Then, my friend, what do you suggest we do?’
‘The Queen remembers your last visit with gratitude. I think that she would receive you and I have no doubt that she would ask the King to give you free passage back to Normandy.’
‘The Queen is a delightful lady,’ said Robert with a smile. ‘I remember how kindly she received me before. I tell you this: I shall be glad of the opportunity to be with her again.’
The Count de Mellent rode with the party to Winchester, where Matilda was waiting to receive them.
What a gracious woman she was, thought Robert, and if she was not as beautiful as some he had known, her grace and dignity and her clever mind put her well in the front rank.
She was beautifully dressed in a gown which she had embroidered herself. The work was exquisite. It was a Saxon art which they had perfected beyond anything that came from the Norman needle. The Saxons had a grace which made the Normans seem almost uncouth. They were a charming people if they did lack the warlike qualities of the old Viking stock. Her gown was of a blue which matched her eyes. The sleeves were exaggerated to such a degree that they hung at least a yard from the wrists; her skirts swept the floor as she walked and he noticed how the gown was laced at the waist to accentuate the trimness of her figure. Her main beauty was her hair which hung in two thick golden ropes reaching to her hips; there the plaits terminated in ringlets which were tied with ribbons the same colour as her gown.
Robert bowed low and declared himself speechless before such beauty.
‘Welcome,’ said Matilda. ‘It rejoices me to see you.’
‘Your welcome is warmer, good lady, than that which I believe I must expect from my brother.’
‘The King is absent from Winchester at this time.’
She was aware of a faint inward indignation. Where was he? With some mistress at his hunting lodge in the New Forest? Or would the hunt take him in the direction of the Welsh border...accidentally of course.
‘So,’ she went on, ‘you must be content with just a welcome from me.’
‘Nothing could delight me more. It is good of you to receive me so graciously.’
‘How could I be aught else but gracious towards you?’ she said softly. ‘Think not that I forget easily those who show me kindness. I remember another occasion when you did not come to Winchester on my account. Now you have come and that pleases me.’
She took his hand and led him into the castle.
He must be refreshed.
‘I remember well the delicious beverages with which I was refreshed last time I was in England.’
‘You shall be so refreshed again. You must allow me to entertain you in the King’s absence.’
Robert brought into play all his gallantries in an effort to charm Matilda. De Mellent had said he must, for Matilda could save him from the King’s wrath and perhaps procure for him a safe passage back to his Duchy.
She had wine brought for him and filled his glass herself. His followers were entertained by certain ladies and gentlemen of the court while she sat and chatted with her brother-in-law.
It was cosy and domestic at first. She said that before he left he must visit her nursery.
‘A girl and a boy.’ she told him.
‘My brother is indeed fortunate.’
‘And they tell me you have a son.’
He glowed when he talked of his little William. ‘Such a bright boy.’ he told her. ‘And William like yours. I doubt not your son is named after his grandfather as mine is. I’ll confess this to you, Matilda my dear sister, I am fonder of my father in death than I ever was in life. He was a tyrant. His word was law. He and I were in constant conflict.’
‘I have heard the story of how you saved his life in battle.’
‘Oh, did you hear that then?’
‘Yes, of how you were engaged in combat against each other. The Conqueror was unseated and at your feet. But you heard his voice and knew him for your father and so you saved his life. It was a noble thing to do. I know from my own experience how chivalrous you can be.’
Robert was delighted to bask in her approval. How wise he had been to come! De Mellent was right when he said that she might be able to plead for him with Henry. He could well understand how difficult it would be to refuse her anything.
She talked about her children. ‘My Matilda is very imperious. Is your William so?’
‘He is young yet.’
‘Matilda is already aware that she is the daughter of the King of England, and she is not going to allow anyone to forget it.’
‘I doubt not she will grow up as charming and modest as her mother.’
‘Oh, my upbringing was very different.’ Then she was telling him about Aunt Christina and the convent and the struggle between them to make a nun of her.
‘What a loss to the world I’ cried Robert in horror. He took her hand and kissed it. ‘I rejoice that she did not succeed.’
Then he talked about little Clito. ‘They always call him that. I suppose there have been so many Williams in the family. He is a bright little fellow. I think it would be pleasant if he and your little Matilda made a match of it. Let us drink to that.’
He was of course drinking a great deal. He had quickly forgotten that he might be in danger. Robert’s custom was to live in the moment. He felt that he had been snatched from a possible peril to a very pleasant interlude and he was going to enjoy that.
Matilda had had apartments made ready for him and when he retired he was a little hazy from the amount of potent liqueur he had consumed. His attendants helped him to bed and he was soon in a deep slumber.
When she knew that she was to entertain her brother-in-law Matilda had planned all manner of pastimes for his amusement. They rode together and she was able to show him the countryside; and she arranged for a tournament in the tilting yard. The gentlemen of the household had competitions in archery and with sword and buckler as well as tilting and wrestling, leaping and running. In some of these activities Robert took part and whenever he did Matilda always contrived that he should be the winner.
Robert excelled at all sports, even the quintain which was a novelty to him. This was an old Saxon game. The quintain was a strong post with a piece set in a crosswise direction moving on a spindle at the top. On this was nailed a board and a heavy bag of sand. The game was to strike a hard blow on the board and dodge back in time to escape a heavy knock from the bag of sand which, as the board was hit, swung round with great force. As many of the competitors were not quick enough to escape the blow there was a great deal of hilarity.
After the banquet tellers of stories entertained the company and there was dancing. Robert loved best of all the music and the songs of the minstrels; Matilda shared in his enthusiasm for this and it made an added bond between them.
Robert was enchanted when he and Matilda sang together; and during the evening he would partake heartily from the royal table, especially of the excellent beverages which he declared were superior to those of Normandy and all other parts of the world in which he had travelled. It seemed only courteous to show that he was sincere in his appreciation by gratefully accepting all that was pressed upon him with the result that he had invariably to be helped to his bedchamber. So enchanted with the company and the good wine was he that he completely forgot he was in an alien country, and since it was his dear sister-in-law who welcomed him to her board it would have been churlish to allow his friends to remind him of the precariousness of his position.
One evening when he was in a state of stupor he said to her in slurred tones: ‘My dear sister, I would I could show you my gratitude. If there was aught in my kingdom that you desired most happy would I be to give it to you.’
‘I wonder if you would give anything I asked?’
‘With all my heart,’ he stammered. ‘Tell me what you would have.’
‘I always need money. I give much to the poor. My mother always did and I have tried to follow in her footsteps.’
‘Ah, money,’ he said. ‘It is what we all need and what we never have enough of. Believe me, dear lady, anything I have is yours.’
‘I could not take it from you,’ she said.
‘Do you not regard me as your brother then?’
‘I do indeed.’
‘Then I should be affronted if you would not accept anything...anything from me.’
‘You have one thing,’ she told him.
‘What is that?’
‘I have heard it said that my husband pays you a pension. If instead of paying it to you he paid it to me...’
‘Anything you want,’ repeated Robert. ‘Ask me...and it is yours.’
‘This pension then...you would give it to me for my charities?’
‘Anything you ask, dear lady.’
Matilda smiled. ‘My lord Count.’ she said to de Mellent, ‘you have just heard the Duke’s most generous offer.’
‘I did indeed, my lady.’
She looked at Robert who had slumped forward, his head on the table in a drunken stupor.
‘I think the King would be most happy to learn of the Duke’s generosity. Tomorrow morning, my lord Count, at dawn, you should ride to him and tell him what the Duke has given me.’
* * * * *
Henry laughed aloud when he received the message. He must indeed be grateful to his clever wife. He lost no time in riding to Winchester.
There he embraced Robert.
Sobered by what had happened and no longer befuddled by drink, Robert had now realized what he had done but as his followers advised him, his plan now was to behave as though he had not given up his pension in a drunken stupor but out of affection for his sister-in-law. Once they were safe in Normandy they could consult with his ministers and friends and decide what could be done. The immediate need was a safe passage out of England.
Henry was so friendly that Robert was carried away by the situation.
‘I came to see you out of affection.’ said Robert untruthfully in fact but so believing it while he said it that it seemed like truth. ‘We are brothers, Henry. Never should we forget that. I am older than you, but you are a king and have a king’s crown, which is a greater honour than a ducal one. I seek nothing from you but friendship and I have given over to the Queen all you owe me for this kingdom. Let us exchange gifts as a token of our friendship. I will give you and the Queen jewels, dogs, birds...such things as mark the amity between friends and brothers.’
There were tears in Robert’s eyes as he spoke and thinking what a fool he was Henry embraced him, for if he did not love his brother he loved his folly.
‘Now that the King is here.’ said the Queen, ‘we will have an entertainment befitting the occasion. Robert and I have discovered a love for the same kind of music and we have a minstrel who sings like an angel.’
‘I shall look forward to hearing him.’ said the King.
In his chamber the Duke’s friends said to him, ‘My lord, you should plead business in Normandy. You should leave as soon as you can.’
They feared what other follies their Duke might commit and they were aware of the astute minds of the King and Queen of England.
Meanwhile the King warmly embraced his Queen.
‘My clever Matilda! How did you do it?’
‘He was drunk.’
Henry laughed aloud. ‘How could I have such a fool for a brother!’
‘I did not like doing it, Henry.’
‘Not like it! Why you have the art of a statesman.’
‘I am not proud of that.’
‘Oh come, Matilda, that conscience of yours will be the undoing of you. You have done good work for me and for England.’
‘That is my consolation. The Count de Mellent explained to me what the paying of the pension would mean in taxation to the people of this country.’
‘He did well.’
‘And I asked God for guidance. I believe that it is better for Robert to lose it than for the people here to pay and perhaps turn against you and begin to believe that the extortion under you was beginning to look like that under Rufus.’
‘I shall never forget what you have done, Matilda. I wish I could tell you what you mean to me.’
‘I know, Henry. You are fond of me, but not enough to love me only.’
‘You cannot understand. How could you, a woman who does not know of these mad desires which when they suddenly arise must be satisfied and then are forgotten almost immediately. They are not important, Matilda. Such is my nature that I cannot escape them but they are apart from my feelings for you.’
She sighed. ‘I did wrong to refer to them.’
‘You do wrong to remember them.’
‘Alas, I cannot forget.’
‘In time you will come to understand.’
But she knew she never would.
In a very short time Robert declared that Normandy demanded his attention and nothing was put in the way of his return. Henry and Matilda even went to Southampton to say farewell to him.
Robert embraced them warmly. He would send Matilda a set of jewels which would become her well; he had dogs too which he believed she would fancy.
He stood on the deck as his vessel moved slowly away from the shore. There were tears in his eyes.
But before he reached the shores of Normandy he began to see how he had been cheated and he fulminated against his brother, hating him as much as he had thought he loved him such a short while before.
‘By Saint Mary,’ he said, ‘I shall not rest until England is mine. Am I not the eldest son? Does not all the fair land belong to me?’
His friends assured him that it did, but the way to get it was not to venture there with only twelve knights and to place himself at the mercy of the country’s scheming King and Queen.
Henry, watching the ship depart, turned to Matilda and said: ‘To think my father’s Duchy is in the hands of such a fool. It should not be an impossible task to wrest it from him and by all the saints that is what I intend to do.’
Matilda was a little sad. She was ashamed of the part she had played in the interlude and she heartily wished that Henry would be content with England and leave Normandy to the Duke.
The Abduction
Nesta was not ill content with her lot. It was not her nature to seek adventure. It had always come to her. She was naturally indolent and had no great desire to take part in state matters. She was the kind of woman who was content to be a mistress and did not look for political influence, but she was determined that her children should not be overlooked although beyond that she made few demands.
Gerald of Windsor was a satisfactory husband in that he was complaisant. He had to be. The King had selected him and given him honours that he might marry his mistress. It was understood that he must not display the normal feelings a husband might have on seeing his wife entertain her lover. Certainly not when that lover was the King.
The castle was a great fortress of stone standing on its incline looking out boldly north, south, east and west as though defying any to come against it. Gerald should be proud to own such a castle and such new-found power which his wife had earned through her boudoir skills. Gerald understood perfectly. He was not a man who was capable of great passion. He was too old in any case; he already had two sons and they were being brought up at the castle with the King’s two.
It was a comfortable arrangement.
Each day Nesta rose late; she had assigned the duties of chatelaine to a housekeeper. This suited her indolent nature; and because she was rarely out of humour she was popular both with the young and old of her household.
When visitors came to Carew Castle she liked to hear news of the Court but had no great wish to go there, although she knew that Henry had once thought of installing her near him. If he had been in a position to marry in the early stages of their liaison he might have married her, but when he became King and could have done so there was the need to unite the Normans and Saxons so he must perforce marry the Saxon Princess whose uncle had a claim to the throne.
Nesta did not think that the role of Queen would have suited her.
‘You would have been too disturbing an influence at Court, my dear.’ Henry had once told her. ‘Moreover the Queen’s morals must be above reproach. A king has to be sure that his son or daughter is of the royal blood.’
‘My dear Henry.’ she had replied, ‘that would have put too great a strain on my frail morals.’
And they laughed together.
Now her cousin Owen son of Cadwgan had arrived at the castle and one encounter with the young man had been enough to tell Nesta that he would soon be attempting to share her bed.
She was amused by him. He was a fiery youth and as it was a long time since she had had a visit from the King, she was not averse to a new adventure.
Henry would not expect absolute fidelity from her any more than she would have done from him. They were of a kind; and this had served them both well. There were never any reproaches when they met.
Owen could see nothing but Nesta and when in the banqueting hall at Carew they were seated side by side at the board his hand sought hers.
‘You are the most fascinating woman I ever saw.’ he told her.
She smiled at him lazily.
‘We must be together...alone.’ he went on urgently.
‘Listen to the minstrel.’ she answered. ‘He sings a song of longing, of unrequited love. Is that not suited to the occasion?’
‘Nay.’ cried the young Owen. ‘For I will not allow that to be. I have never seen any woman like you, I would rather die than forgo your favours.’
‘Shall I tell my husband? Perhaps he would send someone to dispatch you to the other world.’
‘You jest, Nesta.’
She studied him appraisingly. Young, impetuous. A good lover she doubted not. There was no real substitute for Henry and she knew that there was none to take her place with him, but he had his Matilda and perhaps she would test this Owen.
‘You hesitate,’ he said.
‘Under my husband’s roof...’ she began.
‘Oh come, we know that the King often visits you...under your husband’s roof.’
‘The King is the King and master of us all.’
‘Not in Wales. By God, no.’
‘Treason?’ she said.
His hand was on her thigh. ‘When?’ he said.
She pretended to consider.
He went on: ‘I will come to your bedchamber.’
‘And share my bed with my husband?’
‘That old man, that...that...Oh God, I’ll show you.’
‘I have been shown before, you must know.’
‘That is what excites me about you. I never felt so before.’
‘My dear cousin, if you are wise you will go back to your father’s castle and take a mistress or a wife of your own age. You will see the wisdom of this.’
‘Wisdom! What man was ever wise when he looked on you?’
‘Gerald was wise. See what a fine castle he has got for himself for marrying me.’
‘And in his feeble way he loves you too.’
‘Go home, cousin, and forget Nesta.’
That was impossible. Nesta was amused, wondering what he would do. She even believed that he would break into her bedchamber and take her before Gerald’s eyes. Poor Gerald, he would be powerless to resist the strength of this young man who was growing more and more maddened by his desire for her every day.
