Oh Richard, thought Philip, my love, my friend, I hate you now. John will take your kingdom from you. You will do your noble deeds in the Holy Land or perhaps meet your end. And it may be that one day you will come to me supplicating, humble, as it was when you were a hostage Prince and you and I were together as we have never been since.
‘There is your sister the Princess Alice,’ said the Cardinal.
‘Richard has treated her shamefully,’ cried Philip.
‘She is no longer young. It is an insult that Richard should put her aside that he might marry Berengaria although he had been betrothed to her in his youth.’
‘We came to an agreement that this should be,’ said Philip.
‘It does not alter the fact that a Princess of France was slighted. Why should she not even now be the Queen of England?’
‘How could she be that?’
‘If John were King and she married him.’
‘John is already married to Hadwisa of Gloucester.’
‘There is a blood tie. The Pope has never given them a dispensation. To set her aside would present no difficulty.’
Philip clasped his hands together. ‘It is a project which gives me great amusement.’
‘’Twould give more than that, Sire, were it to bear fruit. Richard deposed by John! We could do anything with John. In due course we could bring Normandy back to the French crown. Who knows we might even make England a vassal of France.’
‘I can scarcely wait. I shall send messengers to John without delay.’
Philip was excited. Richard could still dominate his life even when they were far apart.
John, in his castle of Lancaster, received the messengers from the King of France. When he heard what they had to say he was amazed and delighted.
The King of France was offering to be his ally. Glittering prospects stretched out ahead of him.
He sent at once for Hugh Nunant, the Bishop of Coventry, who, having received no favours from Richard, was eager to see John on the throne. Hugh looked for great advancement should this event come about and he was as excited as John.
‘With Philip on your side,’ he declared, ‘you cannot fail. This is a Heaven-sent opportunity. Richard must have offended Philip mightily to bring about this happy state of affairs.’
‘Such friends can become enemies and then the enmity between them exceeds the love they once had for each other. Philip hates Richard now and longs to bring about his downfall.’
‘Would you accept Alice?’
‘Yes, I would.’
‘She is no longer young.’
‘There will be young girls to comfort me for that I doubt not.’
‘I doubt it not either,’ laughed Hugh. ‘But she was your father’s mistress remember.’
‘He had a great fondness for her. She must have been a worthy mistress to satisfy him. There was never a more lusty man than my father.’
‘She was young then.’
‘What care I! She is still the sister of the King of France.’
‘And bore him a child.’
‘Then she is fertile.’
‘Was fertile.’
‘Oh come, what is the marriage for but for the sake of Philip’s favour?’
‘It will be one of his conditions.’
‘And I’ll rid myself of my whimpering Hadwisa. That will not grieve me, as long as I keep a tight grip on her lands.’
‘We will arrange for that. And since you see the advantages that are being offered, it would seem we should set out for France without delay. Normandy will be yours and you will swear fealty to Philip. Do that and then I doubt not you can talk with him of how best to acquire the throne of England.’
‘Imagine Richard’s fury when he hears what is happening.’
‘It will madden him so much that he will doubtless return home.’
‘If he is not drowned on the way which I must confess would save a great deal of trouble. No matter. We will be ready for him. I will prepare to leave for France.’
Just at that time Queen Eleanor arrived back in England.
Having come, she was filled with misgiving. She had worked so hard to see her beloved son Richard King of England; in fact the greatest differences with her husband, which had resulted in those years of captivity, were in some measure due to him; and now that he had the crown he had left it for this romantic adventure abroad.
Thank God for allowing her to return safely; she dreaded to think what might have been happening during her and Richard’s absence. At least, now that she was here she could do her best to hold the kingdom loyal to him. But during her journey she had often thought how unwise it was to leave it, particularly as he had so recently attained it. She had hinted this much to him but she had quickly seen that it was impossible to turn him from his purpose. The lives of most people were strewn with unwise actions and looking back one could see what effect they had had on events. But being old at least one acquired a certain wisdom and sometimes she thought that acquisition was worth all the high adventures and excitements of youth.
A terrible doubt had come to her in that she had acted unwisely in advising Richard to allow his brother John and his half-brother Geoffrey to return to England. She loved her son John. She was after all a mother and he was her youngest and her inordinate love for Richard did not prevent her caring for her other children. John would be contented, she tried to soothe herself. Richard had been generous and John was rich, for his marriage with Hadwisa of Gloucester had brought him rich lands. He would not make trouble. She knew him well. Pleasure loving he most certainly was but could she blame him for that? When she had been his age what a glutton she had been for excitement. It was said that John was a profligate, that he indulged in lascivious orgies, that no woman was safe from him. She could not expect a son of hers to live like a monk and because she was saddened by rifts in the family she had persuaded Richard to give him permission to come back to England if he wanted to.
Did he want to? He had come immediately.
Now she wondered what was happening and after she had been ceremoniously received in London she travelled to Winchester and asked William de Longchamp and the Archbishop of Rouen to meet her there.
The Archbishop came. Where, she wanted to know, was Longchamp? She believed there had been some trouble between him and Prince John.
The Archbishop explained that there had indeed been great trouble, that Longchamp had been guilty of indiscretion in arresting the Archbishop of York and quarrelling with Prince John.
Eleanor was alarmed.
‘What was Prince John’s grievance?’
‘That Longchamp had asked the King of Scotland to support Prince Arthur as heir to the throne, for news had reached us that the King had made an agreement with Tancred and had given Prince Arthur to Tancred’s daughter.
There was a great deal of news which Eleanor had yet to learn. She asked the Archbishop to let her know at once all that had happened while she was making the journey home.
What she heard gave her no comfort. She saw that her worse fears had some foundation. John was too mischievous not to try to make trouble during his brother’s absence. Oh yes, indeed it had been a mistake to allow him to come back to England. Her only consolation was that had he not come he would have attempted to make trouble in Normandy.
When she heard that the King of France had invited John to visit him she realised how deep was the danger.
‘My lord Archbishop,’ she said, ‘my son John must not go to France.’
‘I agree, my lady,’ was the answer, ‘but how can we prevent him?’
Eleanor’s eyes flashed. The old vitality was still with her.