The Revolt of the Eaglets - Plaidy Jean - Страница 18

‘I’ll not endure it,’ cried Henry, almost in tears.

‘Nor should you,’ answered his mother.

‘What can I do?’

‘Your brother Richard would know what to do. When he heard he said: “By God, if he tries to lay his hands on Aquitaine, I will place myself at the head of any army and march against him.”’

‘Go into battle against my own father!’

‘It has been done before.’

‘Oh, no!’ cried Henry.

‘You lack Richard’s spirit,’ said Eleanor watching closely.

‘I do not,’ retorted Henry. ‘I am the King of England, remember.’

‘No one will remember it if you allow your estates to be filched from you.’

‘I will go to him. I will tell him I will not have it.’

‘Go then,’ said the Queen.

He stood before his father.

‘Father, I must speak with you.’

‘Say on, my son.’

‘The castles you have given to John belong to me.’

‘You are mistaken,’ said the King. ‘These are mine. They are still mine. They always will be mine.’

‘But I am the Count of Anjou … and … and these castles are part of my lands.’

‘You have titles which I have given you. I can take them away if I wish. You must remember this, Henry. There is one King of England, one Count of Anjou, one Duke of Normandy while I live.’

‘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 a 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.