‘It was strange that you should have picked her out after she had picked you.’
Blanche looked at him with fond exasperation. Louis was a very innocent man.
‘We must be watchful of them, of course,’ Louis went on. ‘They are going to ask for concessions. We must be very wary of granting them.’
‘The Lusignans have always been a family to reckon with. Don’t forget that Hugh is the head of a house which reigns over a large part of France from the valleys of the Creuse and the Vienne in the east to Lusignan in the west. They hold many castles in Poitou. They could be a danger …’
‘Either to us or to Henry should he decide to come over and try to regain that which his father lost. And Isabella is his mother.’
‘That woman would have no feeling for her son,’ said Blanche firmly. ‘I fancy she would use him – as she did her daughter – to suit her own ends.’
‘I am not sure. She is clearly in love with Hugh and he undoubtedly with her. It may have been that their emotions overruled their sense of duty.’
‘As expediency would do as easily as love,’ replied Blanche cynically. ‘So we must take care.’
‘Never fear, we shall. They are claiming Saintes and Oleron which Isabella declares were promised as her dower lands.’
‘And you will grant them possession of these, Louis?’
‘We cannot afford to have the Lusignans against us. Don’t forget, Hugh commands a large army. If he were with us, if he were our ally, we could leave the south in his hands and return to the north where we may well be needed.’
Blanche saw the wisdom of this. ‘If Hugh had not married that woman, I would trust him.’
‘He has ever been a man of honour.’
‘Now he is married to Isabella you will see a change in him.’
‘Nay, Blanche. You are obsessed by the woman. She is a very fascinating creature and it is clear that Hugh is bewitched by her, but he is a soldier and a man of honour, and nothing can change that.’
‘Isabella could change it.’
‘You attribute too much power to her.’
‘You say I am obsessed by her. She is obsessed by power. And if Henry of England should come against us … and she his mother …’
‘Henry is a boy yet. We must be prepared for action, yes. That is why we are here in Lusignan. If I can be sure of Hugh I can feel reasonably confident.’
‘To be sure of Hugh, yes …’
‘He is a man I trust.’
Blanche sighed wearily. What was the use of trying to explain to Louis? When he looked at Isabella he only saw the most fascinating of women. He did not see the calculating schemer who would stop at nothing to get what she wanted.
They left during the next day. Louis had promised Hugh possession of Saintes and Oleron, and had discussed plans with Hugh for the capture of Gascony and the whole of Poitou and promised Hugh the town of Bordeaux when it was in their hands.
Hugh and Isabella watched the royal cavalcade depart. Hugh would make ready for war to carry out his part of the bargain. He was gratified that the King had realised the wisdom of strengthening their friendship. Louis was pleased too. He was sure it was a move of which his father would have approved.
Only Blanche was uneasy as they rode away.
ENGLAND
1223–1226
Chapter VIII
ROYAL BROTHERS AND SISTERS
It was rare that Henry and his brother and sisters were gathered together and this seemed to him a very special occasion. Richard, who was not quite two years younger than he was, had come to court from Corfe Castle where he was being brought up under the stern tutelage of Peter de Mauley, for Hubert de Burgh had said: ‘It is getting near the time when something must be done about your brother.’ Richard was at that time fourteen years of age. ‘For,’ went on Hubert, ‘if something is not done for princes they have a way of attempting to do something for themselves.’
Henry, who hung on Hubert’s words, agreed immediately that they must send for Richard and he duly arrived at court, where the two brothers confronted each other with a certain admiration and suspicion. Henry had acquired a regality since he had ascended the throne; as for Richard he had always been aware that he had been named after his uncle Coeur de Lion and as he had often been reminded of this he had developed a determination to be like that warlike hero. He naturally thought it was a pity that fate had been so unkind as to make him the second-born instead of the first, but the second son of a king was of great importance, so he was looking forward now to dispensing with the tiresomeness of childhood and coming out into the world to make his name.
Hubert had said to Henry: ‘In a year or so when your brother is sixteen, it will be necessary to knight him, and present him with land and titles. It is important for there to be complete amity between you. A good brother can be of inestimable value; a bad one, the greatest menace a king can know.’
Henry was remembering this as he received Richard and it was easier than he had believed, for Richard was delighted to be at court. The brothers had seen each other only once since the death of their father and that had been at the time of Henry’s coronation three years before. A boy grows up a great deal in three years and this was particularly so in the case of Henry.
They rode together and talked of the old days which Richard could not remember well, but Henry reminded him of how their mother had hastened him to be crowned with her throat-collar because there was no crown. That was why it had all to be done again in the proper manner four years later.
‘How strange,’ said Richard, ‘that our mother should have taken Joan to Lusignan and then married the man Joan was betrothed to.’
‘We don’t like it,’ said Henry importantly. ‘You see, Hubert and many of them think that if the King of France persuades Hugh de Lusignan to fight for him, our mother will be with her husband, not with us.’
‘Does Lusignan matter so much? He is only a count. We can fight him.’
‘He owns a great deal of land and is the overlord of many. Our father, you remember, thought it wise to marry Joan to him to secure his allegiance.’
‘Well, if we have secured it through our mother, what difference? Poor Joan. So she lost her husband.’
‘I found another for her, so what matters it?’ said Henry.
Richard looked at his brother with amusement. He found a husband for her. I’ll wager, thought Richard, he was told whom Joan should marry.
‘How likes Joan her new husband?’
‘You may ask her.’
‘She is coming here?’
‘She is on her way with her husband from Scotland, so you may ask her yourself. She must be content, for she has brought about an alliance between us and the Scots. And as Hubert married Alexander’s sister Margaret, we have very good relations with that country.’
‘It is said that Hubert de Burgh knows how to feather his own nest.’
‘Who says that?’ demanded Henry fiercely.
‘Oh, I have heard it said. And you must admit that marriage with the sister of the King of Scotland is somewhat higher than a … commoner should look.’
‘Pray do not speak of Hubert in that way. He is a great man. There is no one of more importance to me in the whole of my kingdom.’
‘Yes,’ said Richard, ‘that is what I have heard. The King is in leading strings to his Justiciar.’
Henry flushed scarlet. ‘Have done,’ he shouted. ‘I’ll not have such accusations made in my hearing.’
Oh, thought Richard, very much the King! He should have been the first-born. It was obvious.
‘If I were King,’ he said, ‘I would rather such things were said within my hearing than outside it.’