John would hold it against him. The Prince was already his enemy. This would not help.
He let it be known that he had meant no harm to Geoffrey. The arrest had been the work of his over zealous friends and he himself had had no thought of making a prisoner of the Archbishop of York. He had known that the King had sent him into exile for three years and as he was acting on behalf of Richard and had not heard that his order had been rescinded he considered it only right to ask Geoffrey to go back to France which was in fact all he had done. He reiterated that the arrest had not been on his orders and reminded everyone that as soon as he had heard of it he had set Geoffrey free.
He wondered what was happening on the crusade and whether Richard would come safely through it. It was certain that he would be in the thick of the battle. Could he possibly avoid death? Many did; on the other hand many fell; and soldiers of the Cross were apt to be reckless, seeing in death, when engaged on such a mission, a certain and quick way to Heaven.
And if Richard did not return from his crusade, what of William of Longchamp? It would go ill with him if John ever came to the throne.
Perhaps John never would. Hadn’t Richard named Prince Arthur as his successor? When Richard returned, if Richard returned, he would do his best to persuade him to bring Arthur over to England. The boy should be educated as an Englishman and then when he was of age the people would accept him. After all, as the son of John’s elder brother, he had more right to the throne than John.
Longchamp wrote a letter to the King of Scots asking him if he would support Arthur of Brittany as heir to the throne of England in the event of Richard’s death without heirs. If he would, he would make a pact in Richard’s name, with the King of Scotland. This was the time for if it were known that Scotland supported Arthur that fact must influence a number of people below the Border and they would become accustomed to the idea that Arthur had the prior claim to the throne.
The messenger was sent off but on his way to Scotland he was waylaid and his papers stolen. John’s spies had caught up with him and it was not long before John was reading the message to the King of Scotland asking him to support Arthur’s claim.
John foamed with rage.
‘By God’s eyes and teeth,’ he cried, ‘I’ll kill the Norman with my own hands.’
The Archbishop of Rouen conferred with the Bishop of Lincoln and William the Marshal, that staunch supporter of royalty who had saved Henry II’s life when he had disarmed Richard and indeed had Richard at his mercy; he had spared Richard’s life and had expected to lose his own when Richard came to the throne; but Richard was wise enough to know a good and loyal man when he saw him and guessed that he would serve him as well as he had served his father. In this he had made no mistake.
The fact that the Archbishop of York had been arrested in the name of Longchamp and now he was unmasked as attempting to negotiate with a foreign power with regard to the succession of the throne of England had roused reasonable and worthy men such as the Marshal against him.
In a small chamber at Marlborough Castle these men gathered together with Prince John to discuss what must be done.
William the Marshal said: ‘We have to bear in mind that King Richard gave power to William of Longchamp. What he does, he does in the name of the King and therefore it seems we must act with caution.’
‘Even when he conspires against me?’ cried John.
‘My lord Prince,’ replied the Marshal, ‘it is a matter of his conspiring against the King.’ The Marshal was never one to mince his words. He would speak against the King himself but only in his presence; and he saw it might well be that Longchamp had had secret instructions from Richard to sound the King of Scotland about the succession of Arthur. The news was that he had made a pact with Tancred of Sicily and had offered Tancred’s daughter Arthur as a bridegroom, which was significant.
‘Am I not the King’s brother?’
‘You are,’ answered the Marshal. ‘None could dispute that.’
‘And heir, in the event of the King’s having no issue?’
‘Prince Arthur is the son of your elder brother Geoffrey. It will be a matter for your brother the King to decide.’
John scowled, but he realised how much weight the Marshal carried.
‘It would seem to me,’ said Hugh Nunant, who could always be relied on to support John, ‘that Longchamp has exceeded his powers in arresting Geoffrey of York.’
‘That is true indeed,’ said the Marshal, ‘but he has released him and declares the arrest was made without his knowing.’
‘A likely tale!’ cried John.
‘He released him immediately,’ the Marshal reminded him.
‘When he knew the people were against him and were talking of Becket.’
‘If we but knew the will of the King . . .’ began the Marshal.
Then the Archbishop of Rouen spoke. ‘There is a matter I must lay before you. The King having heard that all was not well in the realm and hearing of the unpopularity of Long-champ sent me to govern with him and if the occasion should arise to depose him and take the reins of Regency into my own hands. I can tell you this: There has been no instruction from the King to prepare the King of Scotland to accept Arthur as his heir. He is newly married. It seems likely that he will get a son of his own.’
‘If a Saracen’s arrow does not get him first,’ murmured John.
William Marshal cried: ‘Is this indeed so? Then my lord Archbishop of Rouen is our Regent and we can indeed proceed against Longchamp. The people have never accepted him gladly. He is unpopular. He has exceeded his powers. We will summon him to meet us at the bridge over the Lodden between Reading and Windsor and there we will ask him to give an account of his actions. Do you agree with this, my lord of Rouen?’
The Archbishop declared that he thought it the wisest way to act.
When Longchamp received the summons he was so terrified that he had to take to his bed. He was too ill, he said, to meet his accusers. It was an alarming discovery to realise that he was not merely facing John and his friends, for whom he had no great respect, but others such as the Archbishop of Rouen and William the Marshal; and the fact that the King had given such special powers to the Archbishop of Rouen was very disconcerting.
He could not evade the meeting entirely and promised to be at the Lodden Bridge the following day. Just as he was about to depart one of his servants came hurrying to him with the news that his enemies were marching on London where they intended to take possession of the Tower. So instead of going to Lodden Bridge, surrounded by his troops, he set out for London. On the road he encountered the soldiers of his enemies and there was a clash but Longchamp and his men managed to fight their way through and proceeded with all speed to London.
They reached the Tower and shut themselves in. He was, after all, Longchamp reminded those about him, custodian of the Tower of London in the King’s name.
For three days he remained in the Tower but could hold out no longer.
His enemies then forced him to give up the keys not only of the Tower but of Windsor Castle. There was no help for it; one false step now could cost him his life. He must get out of England, back to Normandy and there begin to reform his life. He was not to leave England was the order, until the castles had changed hands, but he was determined to get away.
The best method seemed to be to disguise himself as a woman; and this he did. A woman pedlar would attract little attention and the fact that she had goods to sell would be a reason for her travelling.
He set out with two of his faithful servants and counted himself fortunate to reach Dover without mishap. Afraid to go near any town or hamlet they slept under trees and by great good fortune when they reached Dover they found that a ship would shortly be sailing for France.