Queen Of Four Kingdoms, The (33 page)

‘Richemont is clearly completely seduced by your beauty and wisdom Maman, and by your imposing surroundings. That he has the king’s attention as well must
really
astonish him.’

With carefully chosen companions in the delightful surroundings of Yolande’s formidable yet comfortable and imposing castle of Angers, a place full of happy and secure childhood memories, Charles is relaxed, and he and Richemont have the time to talk and to get to know one another.

Following two days of agreeable entertainments, dances and feasts, with Arthur of Richmont easily absorbed among the many guests, on the third day finally the moment has come. The king, Yolande and René are alone in a large reception room at Angers when Richemont is summoned to join them. He enters, evidently unaware of what is about to happen. Charles, carefully schooled by his
bonne mère
, appears both affable and royal. Pleasantries are exchanged, and then the king turns slowly, and grandly offers Richemont the constable’s sword.

‘Sire,’ he looks suitably surprised, ‘the honour is immense, and undeserving as I am, I thank you for it.’ He bows low. ‘Allow me to consult my brother of Brittany before making such an important decision,’ and he bows low again.

But Charles, Yolande and René know this is just a ruse – Richemont is overwhelmed by the unexpected appointment – and the unimagined heights he is about to attain.
Of course he will accept
.

To Yolande satisfaction, her plan so far has worked – the king decides to accept the presence of Richemont at court once again and, this time, as Constable of France.

By Yolande establishing Richemont as constable, Charles understands that he must dispense with others. Louvet and his group – in fact all those who were involved in Montereau – must go. But these are powerful Armagnacs, and to make enemies of them would not be wise.

After a long talk, it is decided. Louvet is banished to Provence and given a minor post, but with considerable financial compensation to keep him at peace. He agrees to retire to his chateau there with his family. In a strange twist, Yolande’s beloved adopted son Jean Dunois becomes betrothed to one of Louvet’s daughters. It is a bittersweet moment when they wed – she is overjoyed to hear of his happiness, but knows as he does that she cannot attend his nuptials. It is almost a relief when she realizes that he has wed discreetly, in secret, and their bond is so strong that her relationship with him is unchanged. Others of the Montereau plotters are banished to various parts of the country, but with generous financial compensations, thus freeing the king of the negative members in his court without embarrassing them.

Tanneguy du Chastel has shown great loyalty to Charles, and especially to the Anjou family over many years, but Yolande knows that for the treaty with Philippe of Burgundy to be implemented, Tanneguy has to be seen to be punished. He too is banished, but Yolande decides to give him personally a very large compensation for his many years of loyal service to her husband and son, and she also creates him Seneschal of Beaucaire in her own sovereign territory of Provence. In this way they will not lose touch. There is no doubt Tanneguy did wrong, but for many years he was a staunch supporter and protector of her husband, and then of the king as a boy. She cannot abandon him.

Following this smooth change of power at court, henceforth the king wants no one within his kingdom to be in any doubt as to who is in charge. Letters are sent out to the principal cities throughout the land to inform King Charles VII’s subjects that those who previously exercised control are no more. ‘From this time onwards,’ states the communiqué, ‘only the king, the Constable of France and the Queen of Sicily are in a position to issue orders.’ Thereafter Yolande begins to take part in the meetings of the King’s Council, the only woman to do so, and her place is next to the king. She always tries to remain in the background, but Charles regularly turns to her for advice. He likes to give her the floor, even if he has already made up his own mind. He is keen to establish his
bonne mère
as someone for the other councillors to reckon with. And they do. A good number come to ask Yolande her opinions privately before and after meetings, and she passes on the king’s views as if they are her own. In view of how many of his people constantly manipulate him, she trusts she is helpful to him in this way.

Is Charles at last becoming the man Yolande trained him to be?

A
t last, Yolande begins to believe, the stage is set for a united France, a country in a position to defend itself against – more –
rid
itself of the invader. At last, through the exercise of negotiations, machinations, charm, diplomacy and hard work, she has placed Charles in a position where he can bring France together. The Montereau plotters are almost all gone, the Duke of Burgundy is set to be appeased. Unacceptable influences have been pruned out, and he can take up the mantle of kingship as he should. How desperate she feels, then, as, with time passing, she senses the momentum slipping away. Courtiers still come and go – her good appointees forced out by a slicker tongue, a more devious mind – while once again the English advance. For his part, Charles continues to play his favourites off against each other – and Yolande is certain he does this in order to keep them dependent on him. After all, royal patronage lies in his sole gift.

Apart from these damaging games he plays within his court, she can verify that Charles VII shows every resolve to become a responsible monarch. With most of the country’s nobility united under his control, the time has come for the king to rid France of the English, without the divisive partisans. But there is still one of the Montereau conspirators at court who was absent when the others were neutralized, and hence forgotten.

Pierre de Giac is the most subtly evil of the whole group who allowed his wife to accompany (and certainly more besides) the late Jean-sans-Peur to Montereau. Not only has he reappeared at court, but he has the king’s ear and has been appointed First Chamberlain.

Meanwhile, despite his famous courage and leadership, the Queen of Sicily’s protégé, Arthur of Richemont – whose men would follow him to hell and back if asked – has not shown himself to be the greatest military strategist. When he loses a major battle against the English, who far outnumber the French, there is some sympathy. When he loses to the English again but with far greater numbers on the French side, he also loses the king’s confidence – almost to the extent that the accusations of treason made against him by the former favourite Georges de La Trémoille carry some weight.

La Trémoille, to whom the king gave another chance with an important embassy to Holland, has also failed miserably. He was captured on the road home by a well-known brigand, and by the time he had paid his own enormous ransom, and managed, with difficulty, to rejoin the court, he found his place usurped by Giac.

Due to the power of his position, Giac has succeeded in surrounding the king with a solid group of his own people, many of whom were in Louvet’s circle and were dismissed with him. To Yolande’s dismay, these corrupt courtiers are entrenched in the court and have succeeded in keeping Charles isolated from everyone else. The new inner circle has encouraged the king to return to his former habits – orgies with lewd women, drinking and eating until he is sick, and for days on end.

Newly returned to court from Anjou, Yolande listens to these stories from a desperate Marie, who loyally resists going into details, and the Queen of Sicily is forced to instigate her own investigations. The results are shocking and shameful. There is no depravity beyond the imagination of this inner circle of the king’s – boys are even brought in to dance naked and entertain those who prefer them to young girls. The same decadent behaviour as recounted to her by Jean Dunois is repeated – and worse.

Marie has invited her mother to a dinner in her apartment at the palace, but Yolande needs to talk to Charles beforehand, since she knows he will not be joining them. She makes her way to his private apartments to the sound of laughter and music. To her surprise, there are no footmen or guards standing at the doorway into his suite. Yolande enters and is about to descend the short staircase from the landing to the reception area below when she stops to see what is happening there.

A group of about ten young people, all with their backs to the entrance and so to her, are performing a slow dance in the centre of the room below her, surrounded by courtiers and some women who do not appear to be ladies, all watching. She recognizes several of the men, and there is Giac, acting as the circus master with a long whip, which he waves at the participants, boys and girls of about twelve or fourteen, completely naked, who are miming lewd sexual acts – no, they are not miming! – and then she hears a strange noise, and two goats are brought in to join the performers, to ribald laughter from the audience! With her hand over her mouth, she turns and flees, still no one aware that she has been standing there.

‘Maman,’ calls Marie when she hears her mother arrive. ‘What is it? You are white. Are you unwell, dearest Maman? Come, sit here.’ She takes her mother’s hand, which is ice cold, and leads her to a sofa, then calls for a glass of water.

When Yolande’s breathing steadies, she says, ‘Yes, my darling, I am unwell. Bring me more water and let me sit here a little while before I join your guests.’

She does not know what to think, or what to do. She can tell no one from her world – but she must certainly change the world of the king!

By the time Marie’s other guests have left, Yolande has recovered her composure. She takes Marie by the hand.

‘My darling, tell me what is going on here. Come, child, you know you can trust me not to tell anyone, but I must know in order to help you, because I can see you are unhappy.’

Slowly, and with difficulty, Marie swallows several times, and then she says:

‘Maman, you are right, I am unhappy, deeply unhappy. There are such strange people around Charles, courtiers who I thought had been banished, who whisk him off to places I do not know. Often he does not return for the night, and when he does, he looks awful and dazed somehow – not himself at all, almost as if drugged. They are all back, Maman, all the bad influences from before, and also some dreadful young women.’

Yolande can see that Marie is desperate and close to tears, but she waits for her to tell her more.

‘Maman dearest, at these times, nothing can stir him to any form of action at all.’ She cries on her mother’s shoulder. ‘I am powerless – please can you help me? You are the only person he listens to.’

This boy I brought up is slipping downhill fast
, thinks Yolande helplessly.

‘Keep to your apartment, my darling,’ she counsels. ‘I have to think through these circumstances with all my intelligence, energy and reason. We will meet in the morning and I will have decided on what to do. Count on me, my beloved child.’ With that she kisses Marie, strokes her hair and hugs her.

In the morning, after a night spent searching her soul, Yolande has decided on what action she will take to rid the court of its evil nucleus. She sends for René, Jean Dunois and Pierre de Brézé – her three young chevaliers – to join her at the palace in Bourges – she wants them all to be in agreement with the plan to bring an end to the corruption dragging their king down into oblivion, and France with him.

‘Marie my dear, we have met in your apartments, but now I must ask you to leave us – I do not want you to be a party to my plot.’ And Marie leaves without a murmur.
How well she knows me
, reflects Yolande. ‘Never question, never explain’ was the motto Yolande lived by when her beloved husband was alive, and Marie does the same while her mother is there to watch out for her interests.

When her daughter has gone, the Queen of Sicily turns to the three young men before her.

‘Please listen carefully to what I have to say. I want you to know I have not come to my decision in haste or without a very great deal of thought. You all know that I speak the truth and that my love for the king and this country is my first concern, as I was taught by my late husband. And that is how I brought up my children, and cousin Jean, you too. Pierre, you have been with my family long enough to know that as well. Do you all agree?’ Yolande looks into the eyes of each of them, and she sees none of them flinch or avoid her sharp gaze as they all answer ‘Yes’ in a firm voice. They know not to say more – there is no need. The Queen of Sicily has spoken the truth and they have agreed.

‘During my four years in Provence, I have been hearing stories from my agents, and sometimes from one or other of you three, of what goes on in private with our king’s intimates. The stories have been growing steadily worse and have caused me a great deal of anxiety due to my helplessness at being far away. Since my return, and when I am at the court, the king appears quite normal to me – a little vacant at times, perhaps, but otherwise himself. No sooner am I gone than I hear that he slips, without resistance, under the influence of steadily more depraved characters.

‘I have instigated enquiries and have discovered appalling crimes being committed by some of his intimates. Those who were banished are back in favour and active in his corruption.

‘I have now, inadvertently, seen with my own eyes what company Charles keeps, and witnessed some of the behaviour of these intimates. For this reason I have brought the three of you here to help me solve this serious problem. No one knows him better than you, nor cares more about his future.

‘When it becomes known what is happening at court, I fear that neither Brittany nor Burgundy will stand by the treaty for which we have worked so diligently. Until now, in order to neutralize men opposed to the good of the kingdom, I have resorted to the well-trodden path of offering honours and privileges, and bribery. But slowly – and after much thought and agonizing – I have come to the conclusion that it is time for me to take more drastic action.’ All three shift uneasily in their seats.