‘’Twas not devils,’ said Richard, ‘but evil counsellors. Come, John, do not fear me. You are but a child and you fell into evil hands.’
He rose and drew John to his feet. He kissed him. It was the kiss of peace and pardon.
‘Come,’ he said, ‘we will go and eat and from now on there shall be harmony between us.’
All those who were present marvelled at the King’s generosity or simplicity. The fact that he had returned and was in power could by no means have diminished John’s ambitions. But Richard seemed to be of the opinion that it did.
One of his servants brought in a salmon which had been presented for the King’s table.
‘A fine fish,’ said the King. ‘Cook it and I will share it with my brother.’
John was relieved but at the same time resentful; he knew that Richard’s leniency meant that he had little respect for him.
Well, he must be quiet for a while. He must watch his actions and wait for the day when the crown would be his.
Eleanor expressed her pleasure that the brothers had been reconciled.
‘You are magnanimous, Richard,’ she said. ‘I do not believe many kings would have been so.’
‘Bah,’ said Richard. ‘What is John but a child? He could never take a kingdom. His only chance of getting one would be if it were handed to him without a fight.’
‘Is that what you intend to do ... to hand it to him?’
‘I am not dead yet, Mother.’
‘Nay but you are ten years older than John. It is thirty-six years since I bore you. You must get an heir or there will be trouble, Richard. Why do you not send for Berengaria?’
‘There is much yet to be done. I don’t trust Philip. I shall be engaged here in Normandy for some time.’
‘She could be here with you as I am now.’
‘Mayhap,’ he said; and she knew that he did not intend to have her.
The next day he said: ‘I shall send for Arthur. He should be brought up in England.’
‘That you might make him your heir?’ replied the Queen.
‘Is it not wise to have him brought up in the country he may well govern?’
‘He would only be the heir, Richard, if you did not have sons.’
‘It is well to be prepared,’ replied Richard. ‘If he should be displaced it will have done him no harm to have had an English upbringing. Why, Mother, what ails you? You are thinking that it would go ill for England if John were King. That is why we send for Arthur.’
Eleanor understood. Richard meant that he was not going back to Berengaria.
Chapter XX
REUNION WITH BERENGARIA
The King was riding to the hunt in the Normandy forest. Like his ancestors he loved this sport and found greater relaxation from it than in any other way.
It was a year since he had been released from captivity; it had been a year spent chiefly in fighting, subduing those who would rise against him, regaining those castles which had fallen into other hands while he was away.
He had not seen Philip in that time but there had been opportunities when they might have met. Neither wanted it, certainly not Philip. He could never have faced Richard after all his perfidy; he could never have explained what had prompted him to betray him, to seek an ally in John when Richard was in prison. He thought of him constantly though; and if Richard could not be his loving friend, he found some consolation in being his enemy.
A great deal had happened. Joanna had married and had given birth to a child. She was happy with her Count and Richard was glad of that. The Princess Alice, who had once been betrothed to him and had been the mistress of his father, had been returned to her brother after a treaty he and Richard had made. Poor Alice, she had not had much of a life since the death of King Henry. Perhaps there would be a change when she went to France. And so it had proved to be, for Alice, now thirty-five years of age, was married to the Count of Ponthieu who evidently believed that alliance with the royal house of France was worthwhile even if it meant taking a princess who was no longer young and about whom there had been scandal in her youth.
Richard hoped Alice would at last find peace.
His sister-in-law Constance had refused to send Arthur to him. Clearly she did not trust him. What a fool the woman was! Surely she wanted Arthur to have his rights and there was no doubt that he was the heir to the English throne. Had he lived Geoffrey would have been pleased to see his son so elevated. But an English king should know the English and the best way of doing that was to be brought up among them.
Yet Constance had sensed some intrigue. She did not trust her brothers-in-law. That she did not trust John was understandable as Arthur would displace him, but why not Richard? She had even sought the aid of Philip to help her against Richard, and he had heard that she had sent her son to the Court of France to avoid his being taken by the English.
Richard shrugged his shoulders. If that was what she wanted let her have it. It could well lose her son the throne. John was at least known to the English. Oh God in Heaven, thought Richard, what would happen to England if John were King!
His Mother would say: Get heirs of your own. All that is needed is a son of yours.
No! he cried, and tried not to think of Berengaria lonely in the castle at Poitou. Joanna had gone now and even the little Cypriot Princess had been returned to Leopold’s wife in Austria who was her kinswoman.
Leopold had died recently. He had fallen from his horse and broken his leg which mortified to such an extent that amputation was necessary. Knowing that if it were not removed it would corrupt his whole body he himself held the axe while his chamberlain struck it with a beetle. He had courage, that Duke, thought Richard; but after his leg had been cut off he died in terrible agony which many said was Heaven’s retribution for his treatment of Richard the Lion-hearted who enjoyed favour from above on account of his having brought Acre to the Christians.
One day, thought Richard, I will go back to the Holy Land.
Saladin was dead. His intimate, the Saracen Bohadin, had told how nobly he had died. He was both brave and humble and talked of the perishability of earthly possessions. He told those about him to reverence God and not to shed blood unless it was necessary for the salvation of his country and to the glory of God. ‘Do not hate anyone,’ he had said. ‘Watch how you treat men. Forgive them their sins against you and thus will you obtain forgiveness for yours.’
Oh Saladin, thought Richard, would we could have met in different circumstances! But how could it have been otherwise than it was? I a Christian, you a Saracen; yet I would have trusted you as I could few men and I knew that you felt thus towards me.
Thinking of these matters he had ridden a little ahead of the party. It was often so, for he liked now and then to be alone; and as he came to a clearing in the woods a man ran forward and stood before him.
‘Who are you, fellow?’ demanded the King.
‘None that you would know, sir. But I know who you are.’
‘Who am I?’
‘A king and a sinner.’
Richard laughed aloud.
‘And I would say you are a bold man.’
‘You too, sir, for you will have need of your courage when you are called on to face a King far greater than any on earth.’
‘Oh, you are calling me to task for my wayward life, is that it?’
‘Repent, while there is time.’
‘Am I not a good king?’
‘The life you lead is not a good one.’
‘You are insolent, fellow.’
‘If truth be insolence then I am. Remember the Cities of the Plain. God moves in a mysterious way. Repent, lord King. Turn from your evil ways. If you do not you will be destroyed. The end is near ... nearer than you think. Repent, repent while there is still time.’