Here Be Dragons - 1 Sharon Penman (paper ebook reader .TXT) 📖

not long since heard by now?""But I have not. . . heard that much, I mean. People rarely tell me ab°ut scandals," Joanna said regretfully.

U2Isabelle needed no further coaxing. "You do know, of course, that she was the greatest heiress of her time, Duchess of Aquitaine and Countess of Poitou. So great a marital prize was soon taken, and whe^ she was fifteen, she becameQueen of France. They say Louis doted upon her, could deny her nothing, even to allowing her to accompany him on crusade.""In truth?" Joanna asked, having learned the hard way to be rather dubious ofIsabelle's more extravagant claims, and Isabelle crossed herself with a dramatic flourish."Upon the soul of Blessed Mary, ever Virgin, I swear it so. And whilst in theHoly Land, she did bring great scandal to her name. Her Uncle Raymond wasPrince of Antioch, a most handsome man only eight years older than she.Eleanor had not seen him since childhood, and he welcomed her right lovingly .. . too much so, men thought. Whilst none can prove they did bed together, it is known that Eleanor told Louis she wanted to end their marriage. But he was still besotted with her, had her taken from Antioch by force!"Theirs had always been a marriage of fire and milk. Eleanor was once overheard to say she'd thought to marry a King, but found she'd married a monk! The Pope sought to reconcile them, but when Eleanor gave birth to a second daughter, even Louis began to think their union was not blessed in the eyes of God. And then, in the fall of 1151, Henry Plantagenet, Duke ofNormandy, came to the French court. Eleanor was eleven years older than he, but still surpassingly beautiful. We do not know what passed between them, but as soon as Henry left Paris, Eleanor again besought Louis to annul their marriage. This time he agreed, and the marriage was declared invalid in March1152. She at once withdrew to her own lands in Poitou, and there stunned all of Christendom by taking Henry Plantagenet as her husband."Louis would never have let her go had he suspected her intent, would rather have seen her wed to the Devil, so deeply did he fear Henry's ambitions. And with cause. With Eleanor's backing, Henry pushed his claim to the English crown, and within three years of their marriage, Eleanor became the only woman ever to wear the crowns of both France and England."Joanna was, as usual, proving to be a highly satisfactory audience, andIsabelle plunged ahead, scarcely pausing for breath. "In fifteen years as wife to Louis, Eleanor had given him but two daughters. But as Queen of England, she bore Henry a rich crop, eight children in fourteen years. Four healthy sons she gave Henry; what king could ask for more?""How, then, did she fall out of favor with Henry?""I'd say, rather, that Henry fell out of favor with her! He'd never

343faithful, but that is a wife's lot, and she'd turned a blind eye to his ne Rosamond Clifford, however, could not be ignored He5ht Rosamond into his bed, even to his table, honored her as if sheQueen, not concubine Most husbands are more discreet than that, We God, for the truth of it is, Joanna, that even if a man sets up his h lot right in the keep, there is little his wife can do about it But Elea-Eleanor was not like other women, when Henry shamed her so, he left him, withdrew to her own Poitou, and raised the standard of rebellion against him'"Joanna had been listening, openmouthed Indeed, her grandmother was not like other women1 "What happened then7" she prompted, as if listening to some improbable minstrel's tale"John was just a little lad, but their other sons were well nigh grown, and they sided with Eleanor So, too, did Louis, the French King, who was only too eager to turn Henry's own sons against him In the fighting that followed, Henry ravaged Eleanor's lands, took her prisoner She was," Isabelle said with relish, "not waiting meekly by the hearth for capture, but had dressed as a man and was seeking to escape into Anjou Henry sent her back to England under guard, imprisoned her in Salisbury Tower, kept her closely held until his death nigh on sixteen years, Joanna ""Oh, no1" Joanna had utterly forgotten these were events from a long-gone past, her sympathy for Eleanor, the captive Queen, was as immediate as it was unlawful She knew she should feel only disapproval toward a wayward wife, a rebel Queen, but she was aware, instead, of a sharp, piercing regret, an ache for that wild spirit caged at last within Salisbury Tower"They were bitter years for Henry, too," Isabelle conceded, "years of strife with his sons Henry, the eldest-born, died of a bloody flux Geoffrey was killed in a tournament in France, leaving his wife with child, that wretched boy Arthur who now gives John such grief Richard allied himself with Louis'son Philip, and between them they brought Henry to bay, forced him to accept their terms for peace He died days 'ater, muttering, so they say, 'Shame upon a conquered King '"But Joanna's imagination was still fired by Salisbury Tower "What of Eleanor'"'Oh, Richard at once dispatched William Marshal to free her They ere always close, when Richard was taken captive by the Holy Roman mperor, she labored day and night to raise his ransom " Have you ever met her, Isabelle7"Yes, two years ago John took me to Fontevrault soon after our arnage She was most generous, dowered me with the cities of Niort

144and Saintes. But I confess I am ever so thankful that she divides her ti between Poitiers and Fontevrault, that she dwells not at John's courtsJoanna had heard few fables as enthralling as this factual account a flesh-and-blood woman, her own kindred. But she had noted o strange omission in Isabelle's narrative. "But where was Papa in