‘Yes,’ said Philippa, ‘that was it. A dream. Nobody worries much about dreams. They seem of no importance when the day breaks.’
The two girls seemed to like the idea of the hanging man being a dream. ‘Yes, it was a dream,’ they kept saying.
Joanna had something else on her mind. She wanted to know about marriage.
‘What’s marriage like?’ asked Eleanor.
Philippa said that she thought it was the most wonderful thing that could happen to anyone.
‘But you married Edward,’ Joanna reminded her. ‘I wish I could marry Edward.’
‘You cannot marry your brother,’ Philippa explained. ‘Besides he is already married now.’
‘When I was little,’ went on Eleanor, ‘they were going to marry me to Alfonso, the King of Castile. I never did though. Perhaps he didn’t like me.’
‘That could not be,’ Philippa replied firmly. ‘He never saw you.’
‘Did you see Edward?’ asked Joanna.
‘Yes, I did.’ She told them of his coming to Valenciennes and how they had ridden in the forest and fallen in love with each other and then Edward had sent for her to be his wife.
They listened avidly. She told it with such glowing enthusiasm that the little girls could not hear it often enough.
Joanna’s face puckered with anxiety. ‘They are going to make me marry the son of the King of the Scots.’ Suddenly she turned to Philippa and buried her face in her lap. ‘Don’t let them, dear sister. I don’t want to go to Scotland.’
Philippa stroked the little girl’s hair. ‘Oh you are too young yet. You will have to wait years and years.’
That comforted Joanna. ‘I don’t want to go to Scotland,’ she said, ‘even when I am old. It is a cold cold country and the Scots are our enemies.’
‘That is why you will have to marry Robert the Bruce’s son,’ explained Eleanor. ‘We always have to marry to stop people making wars.’
‘He’s only a little boy,’ said Joanna scornfully. ‘He’s not as old as I am.’
‘Oh, you are far too young,’ Philippa assured her.
Then she told them more about Edward’s visit to Valenciennes and although Joanna laughed and asked questions Philippa could see that she was not entirely convinced. She must have been listening to gossip. There was plenty of that and people were not always very careful of what they said in children’s hearing.
When they were alone together Philippa talked to Edward about Joanna’s fears.
‘Poor little girl,’ she said, ‘she has had a very sad life. She and Eleanor seemed to be constantly expecting something unhappy to happen to them.’
Edward frowned. ‘They were always well looked after in Pleshy Castle in Essex. Isabella de Valence was put in charge of them. She was connected with the family because she had married Ralph Monthermer after my aunt Joanna died. Johanette Jermyn was their gouvernante and she was a pleasant woman. They should have had a happy household.’
‘I have no doubt their comforts were taken care of,’ said Philippa. ‘But I think they missed love. In my family our parents were always with us and we were all happy together.’
‘Yours was an unusual family, sweetheart. That was why they produced you.’
She smiled lovingly at him but she pursued the subject. ‘Is it really true that Joanna is to marry the son of Robert the Bruce?’
‘It’s part of the treaty. It’s a good thing really. These wars with Scotland are costly in life and money. The country is too wild and mountainous for a complete conquest. Even my grandfather could not do it. I am all for a peaceful settlement between our two countries and this is what this treaty is all about.’
‘The Scots agree?’
He nodded. ‘Robert the Bruce is anxious for it. He is a very sick man. He has been slowly dying of leprosy for many years and the end cannot be far off. All that he leaves is a five-year- old boy, David, and David will be King of Scotland when Robert dies.’
‘So the plan is to marry Joanna to him.’
‘That is so.’
‘As the boy is five and Joanna seven the marriage will not take place for years.’
‘It will have to take place soon. Anything could happen in a few years. It has to be clear that there is union between England and Scotland and the only way of making this apparent is to celebrate the marriage.’
‘Then Joanna will stay in her own country until she is older.’
Edward frowned. ‘I’m afraid not. Joanna will have to go to Scotland.’
‘Poor child! Then her fears are not groundless.’
‘Oh come, Philippa, these things happen to princesses. They have to reconcile themselves to the fact that they are bargaining counters. It always has been so.’
‘But such a child!’
‘Princesses grow up quickly.’
He kissed her lips. ‘I’ll not have you worrying about these matters. Come, my love, I never have half the time with you that I want. Let us forget these tiresome Scots. They have been a thorn in our side for centuries. This matter may well settle the problem.’
She slipped into his embrace and forgot Joanna, but only temporarily. Later her anxieties concerning the child returned to her with those uneasy stirrings of apprehension which Isabella and the Earl of March aroused in her.
The treaty had been signed. Edward explained the terms to her. He was giving up his feudal claim to Scotland and the great stone of Scone which his grandfather had taken away from Scotland was to be restored to them with certain treasures which had been confiscated. The Scots were to pay twenty thousand pounds to the King of England over the next three years. But the most important clause was the marriage between David, son of Robert the Bruce, and Joanna, daughter of King Edward the Second, the marriage to take place four months after the signing of the treaty.
Philippa was horrified. So the poor child was to be sacrificed. She saw at once that there was nothing she could do about it. Isabella and the Earl of March were in favour of it. They had no desire for a lengthy war. They wanted to enjoy the spoils of their victory and that could not be done if treasure was to be wasted in fighting what could only be a prolonged war which might not bring success in the end. Edward the First, one of the mightiest warriors ever known, had been unable to subdue the Scots.
This was what Edward told her, but she did suspect that he was in some way under the spell of his mother. She could understand it in a way because Isabella was so beautiful and she made such a point of showing her affection for her son—though, thought Philippa sadly, she did not show the same to her other children. Poor little Joanna was in urgent need of comfort, for before the year was out, if this unhappy matter were carried out, the poor little girl would be in Scotland.
There was nothing Philippa could do. She was too young and inexperienced. She was glad that Edward was sympathetic towards his little sister, but as he said to Philippa, it had to be.
It was a mercy that there was a little time left to Joanna and with the resilience of childhood and for weeks at a time she forgot the ordeal ahead of her.
Easter had come and after the church service and celebrations the whole Court prepared to travel south.
As they came out of the city of York and into the village of Bishoppesthorpe, a strange incident occurred which seemed to indicate that already the people had begun to guess the nature of their new young Queen.
Philippa was riding beside Edward at the head of the cavalcade when a woman ran into the road before the uncoming horses and kneeling held up her hands.
The horses were brought to a sharp halt and the woman, ragged and unkempt, came straight to Philippa. She fell to her knees and Philippa leaning forward spoke to her gently and asked what she wanted of her.