The Winter Crown (53 page)

Richard came forward and the brothers embraced. Richard was taller than Harry, but slighter of build, still being only fifteen. ‘Well,’ said Richard with a mocking smile. ‘Here he is, the King-in-waiting!’

‘Not for much longer,’ Harry retorted.

‘Has Papa been promising you things again?’ One side of Richard’s mouth curled upwards. ‘Don’t believe a word. You should listen to Mama instead.’

Alienor was exasperated by her sons. Already the needling had begun, and bore a sharper edge now that Richard was Duke of Aquitaine and Harry still had nothing beyond an income that ran through his hands like water.

‘Come,’ she said. ‘Enough of that. There is plenty of time for other talk when we reach Montferrand.’

Harry turned to greet John who had not returned to Fontevraud because of the betrothal negotiations. ‘Little brother.’ He tousled John’s hair. ‘So Papa has found you an inheritance and a bride, hmmm? I wonder how long you’ll be waiting.’ Going to one of his baggage chests he produced a horse’s breast-band of green leather with silver bells tinkling on it. ‘I brought this for your horse so that everyone in Montferrand will know a true prince is coming.’

A rare smile lit up John’s face as he took the breast-band and he looked at Harry with an expression that was almost hero worship.

‘That was kind,’ Alienor said.

Harry shrugged. ‘Papa made me responsible for him in his will. One day he will be a man, and perhaps a useful ally.’ His expression said he was willing to be magnanimous because John was a child and he did not consider him a rival. There was no such gift for Richard.

Henry arrived then and greeted his heir with loud and superficial bonhomie, hugging him to his chest, slapping his back. There was a hearty kiss too for Marguerite and a comment about how buxom and well she looked, hinting that he hoped she was fecund.

Alienor observed Henry’s jovial performance and was not fooled. The smile was on his lips, but his eyes were steely, and his movements were dominant and forceful. She knew already that Montferrand would be a family gathering where Henry told everyone what they were going to do, and they would obey him or face the consequences.

Later, while they were all seated at table, Henry casually mentioned to Alienor that there was a meeting planned for after Montferrand at Limoges, which would be attended by various magnates and royalty and was an opportunity for diplomatic talks. ‘I hope to build a lasting peace and make firm alliances on our southern borders,’ he said.

‘Very laudable,’ Alienor replied and wondered if Henry was trying to box her in too by making arrangements surrounding Aquitaine. ‘Whom may we expect to see other than Humbert of Maurienne?’

Henry rinsed his mouth with wine and swallowed. ‘Alfonso of Aragón and his advisers.’ He gave her a calculating look. ‘He wants me to mediate in a dispute with Raymond of Toulouse.’

Alienor went very still. ‘So Raymond of Toulouse will be present?’

Henry shrugged. ‘Whatever your opinion of him, he is part of the process and needs to be present.’ He toyed with the gems studded around the base of the goblet. ‘We can turn this to our advantage. If I can successfully negotiate John’s marriage, it will weaken Raymond’s position in that he will have potentially hostile neighbours on both sides. To save himself, he will have to pay homage for Toulouse.’

Alienor swallowed revulsion. ‘Then do not bring him near me, except he be on his knees. You know my feelings about Toulouse.’

‘You have made them abundantly clear,’ he said stiffly. ‘I thought you would be delighted to have Count Raymond pay homage to Aquitaine.’

‘I am,’ she said, ‘but that does not mean I shall enjoy sharing his company, and I have no doubt he will wriggle out of the business if he can.’

Henry pushed the cup to one side. ‘Nonetheless, he will do it,’ he said. ‘And we shall have peace.’ He gave her a warning look.

Rather than being delighted at the news, Alienor was deflated and wary. There was something about Henry – a thin, tensile undercurrent that gave her cause for more than the usual suspicion.

Alienor was hungry and impatient. The discussion between Henry and Humbert of Maurienne concerning the proposed marriage between his small daughter and John had begun after morning mass, several hours ago. Her sons, including the prospective bridegroom, were with their father at the negotiations, but the women had been left to their embroidery and conversation in another chamber. A formal feast was to be held later, followed by informal discussion where Alienor’s duty would be to smile, play the gracious hostess and smooth out any remaining rough edges.

Her first impression of Count Humbert of Maurienne had been of a quiet, genial man, but his eyes were heavy-lidded and it was not sleepiness that lurked behind them, but a shrewd and calculating brain every bit as sharp as Henry’s. He would drive a hard bargain for the lands that came with his infant child.

Raised voices sounded outside the chamber door and Harry burst into the room, his face scarlet with fury and his fists clenched. Hamelin followed on his heels, remonstrating with him.

Alarmed, Alienor pushed aside her sewing frame and went to them. ‘What is this? What’s wrong?’

Harry’s eyes glittered with tears of rage and humiliation. ‘My father,’ he choked. ‘He has taken the castles of my inheritance at Chinon, Loudon and Mirebeau and offered them to Humbert of Maurienne as John’s contribution to the marriage bargain! He refuses to let me rule anything, and now he eats into what I am due, and barters it away in a marriage settlement for my little brother!’

Marguerite rose from her chair and hastened to his side.

‘How much more is he going to take from me?’ Harry demanded raggedly. ‘I’m not a child; I’m a crowned king in my own right without an inch of ground to my name. I might as well wear the ears of an ass on my head and ride a mare!’

‘There is a time and a place to discuss this and in the right manner,’ Hamelin said, his face ruddy with anger. ‘You should not have left the council chamber as you did. You have undermined your position already, you young fool.’

‘Hah, I couldn’t undermine it any more than it has already been!’ Harry spat. ‘Was I supposed to sit there and swallow it while my father gave away my patrimony?’

‘Younger sons always receive those castles by tradition,’ Hamelin replied, ‘but that is not the point. The point is you raging out of there like a child having a tantrum. Now Count Humbert may want to rethink his position. You should have had the control to sit still and discuss matters like a man, not an undisciplined boy. Is it any wonder your father has doubts about giving you responsibility? You have just enforced his opinion of you that you are not fit to rule.’

‘I know full well why you take my father’s part,’ Harry sneered. ‘Those castles would be in your administration until John came of age. You have a vested interest, Uncle, so don’t pretend you’re impartial. My father always sends you out like his dog to bark at those who displease him.’

Hamelin’s chest heaved. ‘If you were mine—’ he said in a congested voice.

‘My lord, enough, I pray.’ Alienor hastened to stand between them. Isabel was on her feet too. ‘Harry, peace. Your uncle is right; you do yourself no good by raging like this.’

Harry glared at her. ‘Did you know he was going to do this, Mama? Did you?’

‘No, and if I did, I would have advised him against it, but your father never heeds any voice but his own. He is quite capable of talking himself into riding off a precipice. It does not mean you should do so too.’

‘I won’t let him do this to me,’ Harry said with bitter pain. ‘He has given me nothing, and now he takes away even from what he promised me. What am I to think of the value he sets on me? My father-by-marriage loves me better than he does.’

Alienor shuddered. ‘Do not confuse love with political machinations. It well suits Louis to encourage strife between us.’

‘But he’s right, isn’t he? And my own father has just proven that.’ Taking Marguerite by the hand, he left the room, his stride so rapid that Marguerite stumbled. Hamelin made to follow, but Alienor caught him back.

‘Let him be,’ she said. ‘You will make things worse than they are if you pursue him.’ She turned to one of the squires on duty. ‘Find me William Marshal.’

Hamelin ground his teeth. ‘He cannot be allowed to behave in that manner before our allies.’

‘Why not?’ she said scornfully. ‘His father does, and I suppose he has learned by example. If Henry has done what Harry says, then he has reason to be upset.’

Hamelin stood his ground. ‘Indeed, but it was not the time or place … What if he leaves? What will that do to the negotiations?’

‘He won’t. Where would he go?’

The squire returned with William Marshal in tow. The knight was clad in the padded tunic he wore under his mail shirt. He had been tending to the latter garment, picking over it for flaws and his hands were black with grease and ferrous residue. ‘Madam,’ he said, and knelt.

‘Your lord has received some upsetting news,’ she said. ‘Find him and make sure he does nothing rash. He will listen to you. Calm him down and prevent him from leaving should he take it into his head to do so. Be about the business in haste.’

William gave her a shrewd look. ‘As you wish, madam.’ He rose, bowed and hurried from the room.

Alienor turned to Hamelin, who was slightly less red in the face by now. ‘I pray you return to the King,’ she said, ‘and see if you can repair the damage; I will also do what I can.’

Hamelin gave a brusque nod. ‘I am uncertain of success,’ he said, ‘but if anything is to be salvaged, some kind of peace must be made.’

‘Indeed.’ Alienor’s mouth twisted. ‘After all, is it not said that a queen’s most important role is that of peacemaker and that the meek shall inherit the earth?’

Typically, Henry did not want to talk about his decision. ‘It is made and that is final,’ he told Alienor when she tackled him in his chamber. ‘And I was right to make it. Until my son learns to govern himself, I am not about to let him govern others – and I will brook no interference from you, madam, on that score.’

‘But you must have known that giving those castles in surety for John would incense Harry. Surely you could have promised something else? You are throwing him into the arms of the French by doing this.’

Henry made an exasperated sound and threw up his hands.

‘What would you have done if you had been in his position at eighteen? I watched you strip your own brother of those castles. Henry, you must bend, or else the tree will break. You have enough trouble in your life to deal with already.’

‘How can I give him lands while he is incompetent to govern them? He says he will only learn by doing so, but I cannot trust him, and I know Louis has got his claws into him. I never thought I would fear betrayal from my own son when I saw him lying in his cradle.’

‘You are only reaping what you have sown,’ she said with weary contempt.

‘And what you have encouraged to grow,’ he accused.

‘When have I seen him of late to do so?’ she demanded incredulously. ‘You took him away from me when he was still a little boy.’

‘You bore him, madam. For all that I own him my son, he has your taint within his very bones.’

Alienor gasped. ‘Is that how you see it? You who have betrayed me again and again? With my lands, with other women, with all the promises you have made to me through the years and broken without a second thought? Look in your mirror, sire, before you throw stones at me, and do not blame me if what you see does not suit you.’

‘I will not stand for this,’ Henry snarled. ‘I will curb that boy – indeed, “boy” is what he is.’

‘And you will not allow him to be a man, because that threatens your own manhood!’

The argument had gone round in a circle. Precious little peacemaking, but she was too angry to be interested in peace now. She looked at Henry’s clenched fists and wondered if he would strike her, but he drew a deep breath and turned to pace the room like a caged lion.

‘When I was his age I had no choice but to fight for my inheritance. If I had not, I would not have had one. He has no need. He will inherit my kingdom in the fullness of time. There is no cause for any of this fighting.’ He paused and wagged a warning forefinger at her. ‘You will follow me on this; you will do as I tell you.’

‘Are you threatening me, my lord?’

‘What is left when talking sense to you is like pissing against the wind? I expect his obedience, and yours. You both owe your allegiance to me.’

Alienor raised her head. ‘Is there anything else, sire, or do I have your leave to retire?’

‘You may go,’ he said. ‘But think well on what I have said. Cooperate, or face the consequences.’

Harry was waiting in her chamber when she returned, and almost sprang on her as she walked through the door.

‘Oh, in God’s name pour us both some wine and sit down,’ she snapped. She sat down before the hearth and rubbed her aching temples.

‘I won’t let him have those castles, Mama, I won’t.’

‘It is not settled yet for certain,’ she replied. ‘Things change and you must take a long view of the game.’

He gave a puff of frustration and handed her the wine.

‘You did your cause no good by storming out like that.’

‘What else was I supposed to do?’ His voice rose with indignation. ‘Accept it meekly?’

‘You could have conducted yourself in a more mature manner in front of other men. You diminished yourself in their eyes by behaving as you did.’

‘So you take his side?’

Alienor restrained the urge to strike him for being so imperceptive. ‘No,’ she said. ‘I do not, but you play straight into his hands by acting as you do. Do not give up. You will have your lands and your esteem.’

‘When?’ Harry said bitterly. ‘When he is dead? When I challenge him for it at sword point?’

‘That is treason!’ Alarmed, she put her hand on his wrist. ‘You must not say such things! That is what I mean about taking responsibility.’

He stiffened under her touch, but not with rejection. Rather he appeared as if assimilating a new angle. ‘Yes, Mama,’ he said after a moment. ‘Thank you for your advice.’ He leaned over to kiss her cheek. ‘I will not apologise to him though.’