Lady of the English (46 page)

“He never had any intention of yielding to you unless you made him the power behind your throne,” Robert growled.

“I know what he is about. He is trying to take the castle to use as a bargaining piece to buy himself back into favour with Stephen’s wife.”

“Then we must go to Winchester and stop him,” she said, urgency mingling with her rage. “Go and muster everyone you can and make haste.”

Robert departed to issue orders to the men. Brian swept her a bow before departing with the marshal, and Matilda returned to the hall so that she could be at the centre of the hub as preparations were made to ride on the city and deal with the perfidious bishop.

ttt

Arriving in Winchester, Matilda discovered that the bishop’s troops had drawn off and shut themselves inside his palace beside the cathedral. Whether Bishop Henry was there or not was another matter. Matilda hoped he was, but suspected he had pulled back to better safety. What was evident was that he had reinforced his palace extensively since March and turned it into a fortress. With grim determination, Robert settled down to besiege the new stronghold and Matilda took up residence in the castle.

On the morning of the third day, Brian came running to 364

LadyofEnglish.indd 364

6/9/11 5:35 PM

Lady of the English

tell her that the soldiers defending the bishop’s palace were catapulting flaming balls of pitch over their walls and had set fire to the adjacent Benedictine Abbey of Hyde and the nunnery of Saint Mary’s. “Our scouts are reporting that Stephen’s wife and William D’Ypres are bringing up an army from Kent and we are likely to be encircled and besieged in our turn,” he panted.

Matilda hurried with him to the castle battlements and looked out in dismay at the gouts of smoke and flame that were spreading from the nunnery to the suburbs as thatched roofs and timber buildings, dry from the summer, caught light.

All was chaos with the monks, nuns, and citizens desperately trying to quench the flames and still the catapults shot out more fireballs to add to the destruction and confusion.

“A townsman reported seeing the bishop riding out with his entourage,” Brian said. “I suspect he has gone to join his sister-in-law.”

“I had to yield London.” Matilda clenched her fists. “I will not give them Winchester too.”

Brian shook his head. “It may not come to that, but we should pack the baggage in readiness. All this burning and wasting means we are being denied ground cover and supplies, and the closer D’Ypres and the Countess of Boulogne come to Winchester, the greater the problem becomes. There will be more hungry mouths to feed and homeless folk with nowhere to find succour.”

“While we have Stephen in chains at Bristol, we have the upper hand,” she said curtly, but her heart sank, because for every gain, there seemed to be a corresponding setback. At midsummer she had been one day away from wearing the crown of England. That day had become weeks and months and she could see the opportunity fading into darkness and becoming never.

ttt

365

LadyofEnglish.indd 365

6/9/11 5:35 PM

Elizabeth Chadwick

She was in her chamber dictating letters to a scribe when Brian came to break the news that the forces assembled by Stephen’s queen were making a concerted assault upon Winchester from the London road, while mercenaries under the command of William D’Ypres were heading down from Andover, which they had sacked.

“We must leave now,” he said urgently. “If D’Ypres gets past the marshal’s outpost at Wherwell, we are trapped. The Londoners are already in the suburbs. Robert will create a diversion, but Reynald and I have to get you out.” He was breathing hard. “We’ll make for Ludgershall and then on to Devizes, but we have to cross the Test at Stockbridge, and we must do it before the trap closes. You will need stout clothes and shoes; it is going to be a hard ride.”

The look in his eyes was bordering on fear and it gave her a jolt. She had the bitter experience of being driven out of Westminster to tell her that she dared not stay. Without a word she hastened to change her clothes. By the time she reached the courtyard, her horse was saddled and Brian was waiting for her clad in his black hauberk.

Robert strode up to her as she was gathering the reins on her mare. “Ride hard, sister,” he said. “Miles and I will protect your rear. We’ll meet you at Ludgershall and ride on to Devizes.”

She leaned down and they clasped hands and exchanged a swift kiss. Then she reined about and set her heels to the mare’s flanks. Brian had sent soldiers ahead to scout the way and give them early warning of trouble. He set out at a rapid trot but he was tight-lipped because he knew the pace was not fast enough. The north gate out of the city was the most direct route, but would lead them straight into the jaws of the enemy troops coming down the Andover Road, unless the marshal had held them at Wherwell, and he doubted that, because even with his formidable fighting skills, John 366

LadyofEnglish.indd 366

6/9/11 5:35 PM

Lady of the English

FitzGilbert did not have sufficient men to hold back an entire army of Flemings.

Brian knew they had to clear the causeway at Stockbridge before D’Ypres did and before they were seized by the troops overrunning Winchester. His upper chest was tight and it was difficult to breathe. Recognising panic, he was ashamed. The sensations had been coming upon him with growing frequency as the fighting continued and increasingly difficult burdens were laid upon his shoulders, including those of dependency and expectation. He was not the brave soldier and hero people thought he was. He could stick a lance in a man if he had to, he could kill, but it was not natural to him; the images stuck to his brain like scale to the side of a sewage chute and sickened him.

Behind them, he heard yells, screams, and the clash of battle, and acid burned his throat. “We must press on, domina,” he shouted, almost gagging. “Go in front!”

She slapped the reins on the mare’s neck and swayed in the saddle as the pace increased. She was a fine horsewoman, but could only go so fast riding side-saddle and if their pursuers reached them, all was lost. The ford was eight miles away and they could so easily be caught by hard riding troops. “Domina, you must ride astride,” he shouted. “We are losing ground!”

Reynald sent some men back to watch the road and hold up the pursuit. Brian dismounted and put Matilda up on Sable.

Fumbling in haste, he discarded her side-saddle and mounted her mare. There were no stirrups, but the saddle cloth was secure and he could grip the breast strap as well as the reins.

“Hah!” he shouted, digging in his heels, and they were off again at a hard pace.

Tight-lipped, Matilda urged Brian’s big black. Now that she was astride, she could indeed go faster and it was like galloping to the hunt, but the pace jolted her limbs and strained her thigh muscles and her flesh rubbed against the hard sides of the saddle.

367

LadyofEnglish.indd 367

6/9/11 5:35 PM

Elizabeth Chadwick

She dared not think about what was happening in Winchester and how Robert’s rearguard was faring. She had taken him for granted for so long but he and the handful of men defending her retreat were her backbone. She prayed under her breath, asking God to keep them safe and to strike down Henry of Winchester with a thunderbolt. A brief look over her shoulder showed her plumes of smoke in the city, but no sign of imminent pursuit. Easing the black down to a fast trot, she turned to Brian. “We should conserve the horses, because we are not going to find remounts along the way.”

He shook his head. “We have to reach Stockbridge ahead of the Flemings if we are to escape.” He leaned across to Sable and unfastened the costrel hanging from the saddle and brought out a silver goblet from the baggage roll on the crupper. The sight filled her with bitter humour. She was an uncrowned queen, drinking at a jog trot from a silver cup on the road to God knew what future with her enemies in hard pursuit and her dreams of a coronation in flames.

The wine was potent and revived her strength. “One day I will make you a great earl,” she said to Brian, returning the cup.

“Domina, I want no such lustre,” he said in a choked voice.

She raised her brows. “To serve me is enough?”

“What would I do with a title except encourage envy?

Where would be the point when I will never have an heir?

Your father raised me from the dust and all that I have is his daughter’s.” He lashed his reins down on the mare’s neck, thereby terminating the conversation, and once again they galloped for the ford.

Several times, looking over their shoulders, they saw pursuers in the distance. Matilda had to use her spurs on the black, but when they reached the causeway at Stockbridge at a lathered canter, the way ahead was still clear and they were able to cut off and take the track across the Downs where they 368

LadyofEnglish.indd 368

6/9/11 5:35 PM

Lady of the English

swiftly vanished amid the grassy humps and hollows. They had covered eight miles at a punishing pace but still had fourteen more to reach the precarious refuge at Ludgershall and another twenty after that to the greater safety of Devizes.

ttt

By the time Ludgershall came in sight, Matilda was clinging on in a state of exhaustion. Her thighs were chafed raw against the saddle, her spine was screaming for respite and she was unable to think beyond the engulfing pain and despondency that had encroached on her as the heat of the chase dissipated. When she drew rein in the courtyard, she could barely move. The horses were staggering and almost foundered. Summoning the last of her will power, she managed to swing her leg over Sable’s back to dismount. Reynald and Brian caught her, otherwise she would have fallen.

The castle of Ludgershall belonged to her marshal, and its constable, like its lord, was efficient, and swiftly provided them with food and succour.

“You should lie down, sister,” Reynald said anxiously.

“No!” she said with vehemence. She could not be found lacking. To be a queen and rule men, she had to prove she was as strong as they were.

“At least put your feet up,” Brian urged, gesturing to the padded bench and footstool the servants had brought. “It is no disgrace to rest.” He stooped to plump the cushions himself and she caught the acrid scent of his sweat and saw the dark circles under his eyes. In the dull candlelight, his features were almost cadaverous.

“I must be strong.” Her throat constricted on the words.

“Tomorrow, yes,” Brian said, “but there is nothing you can do for the moment save rest. You have to know when to delegate.” He took her hand and gave it a squeeze, and then tucked it under the blanket. “I will return in a moment.”

369

LadyofEnglish.indd 369

6/9/11 5:35 PM

Elizabeth Chadwick

She watched him leave the room. He was right that each person had their duties, but she should be giving the orders, and by not doing so, she felt a failure. Something was troubling Brian. She could sense it in him, although he was trying to hide it. It was as indelible as those ink stains on his fingers, but more difficult to interpret. And she was tired, so tired.

ttt

Brian climbed to the wall walk with Reynald and the constable and stared into the late dusk. He sought signs of pursuit: camp fires that might speak of an enemy drawing in on them, or torches and lanterns borne by night travellers, but there was nothing, and no sound to be heard beyond the walls but the bleating of sheep and the sough of the wind through the grasses of the Downs.

“We should never have come to Winchester,” Reynald said bitterly. “The bishop lured us into a trap. He wanted us to advance and be destroyed. He besieged the castle to draw us there and then set the fires himself so that he could escape and at the same time signal to the queen.”

“It is easy to be wise after the event,” Brian said.

“But why should he turn his allegiance now?” Reynald asked in bewilderment. “Surely his quarrel with my sister could have been mended.”

“He did it because Waleran de Meulan has yielded to us and gone to Normandy, so at one fell swoop an influence and an enemy is gone from the other court. With Stephen in prison, he can take over and rule England on Maheut’s behalf. Maheut will forget his transgressions and lean on him because of his skills. He has the knack of making expedience look like the common good.” Brian strained his eyes in the darkness and turned to Ludgershall’s constable. “You should post lookouts at every window with two people to a window, one an observer, one a back-up.”

370

LadyofEnglish.indd 370

6/9/11 5:35 PM

Lady of the English

“Sire, it shall be done.” The knight bowed, and after a hesitation added, “You have no news of my lord FitzGilbert?”

Brian shook his head. “No, but he must have succeeded in holding off D’Ypres at Wherwell because we were not caught on the road.”

“There is no sign of my lord though.”

“He would not come here. He would draw the enemy away from the empress, not towards her.” Brian did not add, “If he still lives,” but the unspoken words hung in the air.

“And what of Robert and Miles?” Reynald asked, his eyes straining in the darkness. “They should have been here by now.

And my uncle of Scotland.”

“There are many reasons why they might be delayed,” Brian said, for his own reassurance as much as Reynald’s. “They may have split up because it would be unwise to bring a large number of men here. Ludgershall does not have the same defensive capabilities as Devizes or Oxford. While there are but a few of us divided in many directions, it keeps the enemy guessing and chasing hither and yon.” It also meant they were scattered and ineffectual, but Reynald must know it.

The young man chewed his lip. “The horses will be in no condition to ride on to Devizes tomorrow.”

“We have little choice. The marshal has a few stabled here we can use, but we dare not stay. Ludgershall is not strong enough to hold against Stephen’s wife and D’Ypres.” He bunched his fists on the wall. Every time he started thinking of ways out of the dilemma, he realised he was only tidying it round the edges, and making it smaller did not make it better. Doing so merely showed their predicament in its true, desperate light.