The Revolt of the Eaglets Page 8

  ‘You have given me these titles.’

  ‘They are titles … nothing more. If I were to die tomorrow then England, Anjou, Normandy would be yours. But I am not dead. Nor do I intend to die so that you can possess now that which if you wait long enough will in due course be yours.’

  ‘I am no longer a boy,’ cried Henry.

  ‘Then why behave like one?’

  ‘I am not behaving like one. I will not be told to do this and that. I want lands to govern. If you want Normandy give me England. Let me stand on my own.’

  The King laughed scornfully. ‘Do you think you could hold these dominions together?’

  ‘I do. I do.’

  ‘I do not and I know. You have to learn to rule.’

  ‘How old were you when you became Duke of Normandy and King of England?’

  ‘I had learned to govern when those honours came to me.’

  ‘I will learn. I have learned.’

  God’s eyes, thought Henry, what a mistake to crown this boy King! I never made a greater mistake in all my reign – except it were to make Thomas à Becket my Archbishop of Canterbury.

  ‘You will do as I wish,’ he said shortly.

  ‘Others think I should not be treated in this way.’

  ‘Who thinks this?’

  ‘The King of France. Some of my knights think it too.’

  ‘So you discuss our affairs with a foreign king?’

  ‘Louis is my father through marriage.’

  ‘And doubtless would like to see trouble in my realm. Louis is our enemy … our natural enemy. We can make truces and peace with him through our marriages, but the fact remains that he is the King of France and I am the King of England and as such we are enemies. As for your knights, I would know who these fellows are who speak and act treason. I will tell you this, son. They will no longer be your knights.’

  ‘I tell you I will not be treated in this way. If you are a king, so am I.’

  ‘Through my grace.’

  ‘It matters not through whose grace. I am a king and known as such.’

  It was true.

  The King was silent for a while. Then he said: ‘If you will be a king you have lessons to learn. You shall begin without delay. I shall keep you at my side and when you have learned your business you can be of great use to me. Mayhap then you will be left in charge of certain of my dominions when my presence is needed elsewhere. Till then you will do as I wish. Go now. I have finished what I have to say.’

  Young Henry went away with a dull anger in his heart. It was not appeased when he heard that certain of his knights had been dismissed from his service and sent back to England with a warning that they had been treated with leniency on this occasion, but should they displease the King again that clemency would not be repeated.

  Then the King declared that he was leaving Limoges for Normandy and that his son Henry would accompany him.

  Eleanor took leave of her son for she was travelling back to Aquitaine with Richard and Geoffrey.

  ‘Depend upon it,’ she whispered to young Henry, ‘he will keep you at his side so that he will have his eyes on you. You will endure more restraint than ever.’

  ‘I’ll not endure it,’ declared Henry.

  ‘The King of France said he would shelter you, did he not, if you found the situation with your father intolerable?’

  ‘My father says he is our enemy.’

  ‘And who is your real enemy, pray? Is it not the one who has robbed you of part of your inheritance? Might not his enemy be your friend? You are no longer a child, my son. It is time you woke up and took what is yours.’

  ‘He will never permit me to have it.’

  ‘There are many against him. Why should you not take what he will not give you? Think about it.’

  Henry did think and grew excited thinking. But the King was determined that he should accompany him to Normandy.

  Marguerite went back to visit her father before she returned to England and the two Henrys left Limoges for Normandy.

  * * *

  Father and son rode side by side. I shall have to watch him, thought the older Henry. I believe his mother has been urging him to rebellion. I begin to believe I never had a greater enemy than my wife. But the boy is young; I will soon subdue him. At the same time he was saddened by the situation. How pleasant it would have been to have had an affectionate son, one whom he could trust. He had always hoped that would be the case with Henry. Richard he knew would never care for him. His mind had been poisoned at too early an age. But perhaps if he could make this boy see reason they could work together, side by side and he could teach him to be a great king. If England were to be a great power she needed a strong king. Surely the people realised what could happen with a weak one? They had seen what the rule of Stephen had done to the country. Many of them had lived through those years of civil war when Matilda and Stephen had wrestled for the crown and then ineffectual Stephen had followed. Men such as the Conqueror, Henry I and Henry II were what the country needed. And this boy would be the third Henry; he must match up to the first two. Could he be taught? Could he be made to see that he must curb this personal vanity for power, for that was what it was? What a handsome boy he was and one had to admit he was possessed of a great charm of manner when he was not sullen as he was now. Good looks were an asset in a king; Stephen had had them; but one could get along very well without them if one had strength and that inborn genius which gives a man some secret magnetism to arouse the respect and fear of men. When he looked back on the preceding reigns it was so easy to select those who had ruled well and those badly and the two great kings were two of a kind and he trusted he was in the same category.

  He must make young Henry see this.

  So he talked to him as they rode, in a friendly fatherly fashion. He tried to convey to the boy that he wanted to teach him to be a great king, and it was partly for this reason that he did not wish to put a great strain on his inadequate powers now. But even he knew that he could not bear to take his own hands from the reins. It was true that once he had acquired possessions he could not bring himself to part with them.

  He curbed his temper in his effort to win the boy’s affection. He tried to joke pleasantly while he instructed him. He began to believe that at last he was making some headway.

  The younger Henry listened to his father and his resentment grew every day. How strong he is! he thought. He will live for years. I shall be an old man before I have a chance to rule and while he lives he will never give way one little bit. I am a king. There are many who would rather follow me. Nobody loves him. They are afraid of him. That is the only reason why they do not revolt. But if they had a leader, a leader they loved, respected, admired … what then? When he was riding beside his father revolt seemed impossible. But when he was alone he kept thinking of his mother’s words. She was powerful. Aquitaine would rise for her against her husband if she wished it.

  He began to grow excited. If he could get away he could go to the King of France, and there he could rally men to his banner. His mother would help him, for she hated her husband. Why should he wait on his father for years and years until he was an old man without ambition?

  His father seemed to sense that rebellion in him. He kept him at his side and at night he insisted that they share the same room.

  ‘It will show all what good friends we have become,’ he said jocularly.

  Young Henry said nothing. He was afraid of betraying his thoughts.

  He had sounded one or two of his friends. Would they be ready to follow him? They were cautious. They greatly feared the King’s rages. Already he had dismissed certain knights from his son’s suite with dire warnings of what would happen to them if he ever found them speaking treason. And yet the young King had great charm, his mother hated his father to such an extent that she had been heard to swear that she would never live with him again. It was said that when she had gone off to Aquitaine she had declared she would never return. There was certai
nly some truth in this because the Archbishop of Rouen had warned her that if she left her husband the Church would blame her and this could lead to excommunication.

  Eleanor cared as little for the Church as her husband did and had ignored the Archbishop’s reproof. But it showed how much she disliked his father and that she would be ready to help her son against him.

  Moreover the King was still under the shadow of suspicion which had risen from the murder of the Archbishop of Canterbury. There had been whispers that Heaven would not allow him to prosper.

  In the circumstances there were some who were ready to support the young King against the old and the former, discovering who these were, made his plans for escape.

  They had reached the chateau of Chinon. It had been an exhausting day’s ride and the older Henry was very tired. He said they would retire early and get a good night’s sleep before setting off early in the morning.

  No sooner had his father fallen into a deep sleep than young Henry rose from his bed, dressed hastily and made his way to the stables. There horses were saddled and waiting and he and a few of his trusted knights rode with great speed towards the French border.

  * * *

  When the King awoke to find his son had gone his rage was intense. He roared at his attendants, cuffing them right and left. Why had he not been told? Who had aided his son? Who had gone with him? By God’s eyes, they should be sorry they had ever been born.

  But he was quick to realise that he was wasting his time giving way to his fury. His son would have gone to the French border. He had hinted as much. He would seek sanctuary with Louis which was the last thing Henry wanted him to do.

  He shouted instructions. They were leaving at once and they would change direction. They were going to the French border. He sent riders in several directions and mounting the fastest of his horses he set out on the chase.

  Young Henry, however, had had a good start and although his father made every effort to catch up with him, he failed to do so and after two days Henry arrived at the Court of France.

  Louis was delighted to see him. At the evening’s banquet given in Henry’s honour, he sat at the right hand of the King of France. He told young Henry that he would support him in his claim for Normandy for he thought it fair to do so. The young man had sworn his oath of allegiance to Louis his suzerain and therefore the King regarded him as a vassal. If he wished to gain territory which by right belonged to him then his cause was a just one and the King saw it as his duty to aid his vassal.

  Young Henry was delighted. He had taken the first step and it had been comparatively easy.

  When the King of England heard that his son was at the Court of France and being entertained with honour by the King of France, his anger flared up.

  He sent a message to Louis in which he said that the King of England demanded that his son be sent back to him.

  Louis’s reply was: ‘I do not understand this message. The King of England is with me. If by the King of England you mean the King’s father, then I do not regard him as the King of England. He was I know formerly King of England but he resigned his crown to his son, and is no longer King.’

  When Henry received this message he bit his lips and hit his thighs with his clenched fists until he was bleeding and bruised.

  He was angry as much with himself as with his son and the King of France.

  He had no doubt now that his greatest act of folly had been to allow his son to be crowned King.

  * * *

  The news reached Eleanor of Aquitaine where she was holding one of her Courts of Love in which her troubadours sang romantic songs and brought their literary efforts for her to judge.

  The messengers came from the Court of France and she stopped the singing that she might hear the news without delay.

  When she heard that her son Henry had successfully escaped from his father she laughed with pleasure.

  ‘Rejoice,’ she cried. ‘He is my true son after all. He has decided that he will no longer endure the bonds of tyranny. Ah, how I wish I could have seen my husband when he received that news. I doubt he ever fell into a greater rage. No more singing. I wish to be alone with my sons.’

  When the troubadours had left in a somewhat crestfallen manner she turned to Richard and said: ‘You know what this means?’

  ‘It means that we are going to war against my father.’

  ‘Henry must not be foolish. He will not be, I am sure. Louis will guide him. I doubt not that there are many who will rally to his banner. And you, my sons – yes, you too, Geoffrey, must join him without delay that he may know that he has you to support him.’

  ‘We should leave immediately,’ said Richard, his eyes gleaming at the thought of battle and particularly that it should be conflict against the father whom he hated.

  Geoffrey was eager too. At this time he always wanted to follow Richard.

  She smiled from one to the other,

  ‘This is the moment. Your brother will shortly be King in very truth.’

  Geoffrey said: ‘Our father is a very great soldier, Mother.’

  ‘He was. Don’t forget that he murdered the Archbishop of Canterbury. That is something which will never be forgotten. There is a curse on him for what he did to that saint. All men know it. You will see he cannot prosper now. That is why the time is ripe to attack him. You see, the King of France who I have good reason to know is the mildest of men, is ready to help your brother against him. Louis thought highly of Thomas à Becket. He loathes his murderer. Louis will see himself as the instrument of God who is to strike down the man who has offended all Christendom and Heaven too.’

  ‘Our mother is right,’ cried Richard. ‘I will be ready to start for the Court of France tomorrow.’

  ‘Then I will accompany you,’ replied Geoffrey.

  Eleanor embraced them both and they prepared to start.

  * * *

  Eleanor watched them from the topmost turret of the castle.

  How brave they looked seated on their horses, their pennants waving in the breeze. She watched until she could see them no more.

  In her chamber she wrote verses on the sadness of parting with loved ones. How she missed Richard! She wondered whether he missed his life with her. He had always been a warrior in the making. Had he forgotten the pleasant hours they had spent together? Was he content to leave her now and march against his father?

  She could not settle to write. She wanted action now. She should have been riding out with her sons. She pictured herself on her horse, her standard bearer riding before her, going into battle against the man she hated.

  She was laughing to think of what he would say and feel when he heard that his sons Richard and Geoffrey had joined their brother Henry against him. And that would not be all. Aquitaine was ready to rebel against him. Brittany was doubtless the same. What of Anjou? Normandy she supposed would be loyal to him.

  It was so exciting. She could not stay in the castle. She sent a messenger to her uncle, Raoul de Faye, begging him to come to her as she was in need of his advice.

  Eleanor was very fond of this uncle though not quite in the same way as she had been of that other uncle, Raymond Prince of Antioch who had been her lover; but she had relied very much on Raoul de Faye who pleased her by his dislike of Henry Plantagenet and who had done a great deal to arouse young Henry’s antagonism against his father.

  Raoul quickly arrived in answer to her summons. He was delighted when she told him what had happened.

  ‘This will be the end of that arrogant husband of yours,’ he declared. ‘There is scarcely a man living who does not hold him guilty of Becket’s murder. This will be remembered against him and even those who have been his most loyal supporters until now will begin to change their tune.’

  How pleasant it was to walk in the gardens with Raoul, a charming and handsome man. She forgot when she was with him – for he paid her the most delightful compliments – that she was no longer young and that her notorious beauty was c
onsiderably faded for she felt young in the company of such a man, and because she could gloat over her hatred for her husband she was happy for a while.

  This would give him little time to dally with his Rosamund, she told Raoul.

  ‘I doubt not he will find women here and there to amuse him in the manner to which he is accustomed.’

  ‘He will do that, but he will not rest in peace long.’

  ‘I have heard that the people of England are murmuring against the heavy taxes he imposes.’

  They always did. But they remember the reign of Stephen when brigands roamed the country and took from them their possessions. They prefer to be robbed by the King with his taxes than that their money should be taken from them by roaming robbers.’

  ‘They will forget the robber brigands and remember only the robber king.’

  ‘He has staunch friends in England.’

  ‘Never mind England. We will drive him out of Aquitaine, Anjou and Normandy.’

  ‘My dear uncle, you will help in this?’

  ‘You may be assured that I shall do my best to stir up rebellion against him from all sides. Louis will be with us. We cannot fail to win.’

  ‘Then my son Henry shall have England, Normandy and Anjou, Richard Aquitaine and Geoffrey Brittany in very truth.’

  ‘The writing is on the wall for Henry Plantagenet,’ said Raoul de Faye.

  When he had gone Eleanor could not settle. She remembered the days when she and Louis had set out on their crusade to the Holy City. What excitements there had been then – discomforts too, but they only brightened the high lights. Wonderful days of youth and vitality!

  But she was not so old. At least she did not feel old. She could not expect to go into battle, but she could join her sons; she could advise them. No one could say she was not a woman of experience.

  Why should she not?