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By Root 1651 0

of the child, I took my place beside Henry in his journeyings around the country. I was enthralled by my new realm and wanted to learn as much about it as possible. The people were very different from the natives of Aquitaine, but I liked them nonetheless. They marveled at me and I felt that they were by no means hostile. They had taken to Henry; his ways suited them. They liked his careless way of dressing, his rough and ready style. I suppose he made them feel he was one of them. On the other hand they did appreciate my elegance and they were obviously delighted and rather overawed by my appearance. They were very interested in my clothes and seemed to like their Queen to look attractive.

So that was a happy time.

One could not expect it to continue. We were both back in Bermondsey for a brief respite when we were disturbed by a visitor, Henry’s brother Geoffrey.

We made much of him, but I could see he was envious and bent on making trouble. That irritated me. Did he think he would have had the wit and courage to win this crown? People like Geoffrey wanted everything to fall into their hands with no effort from themselves.

I guessed that he had come to see what he could get, and he soon made it clear that I was right about that.

“Now you have England,” he said, “Anjou should be mine.”

“I think not,” retorted Henry.

“It was what our father intended.”

“You could not hold on to Anjou.”

“Why should I not?”

“Because you lack the experience to do so,” Henry told him. “I cannot throw away my father’s inheritance. He left you three castles.”

“And you took them from me.”

“I might restore them.”

Geoffrey was furious. He left us in a huff.

Henry snapped his fingers. “Young fool,” he said. “How long does he think he would hold Anjou?”

“He has a very high opinion of himself,” I replied. “What a lucky escape I had. The young fool had the temerity to make a bid for me. Of course, it was doomed to failure—as all Geoffrey’s projects would be.”

Henry dismissed his brother from his mind but I did not think the matter would end there.

Then Matilda announced her intention of coming to England. Henry was delighted and great preparations were made to receive her.

“She will want to see you in your crown,” I said. “She has dreamed of that for so long.”

“And worked for it,” said Henry soberly.

She was indefatigable in his service. No sooner had she come than I realized she had a purpose in doing so.

“I think it is necessary for you to come over,” she told Henry. “Geoffrey is intent on trouble.”

“He has been here, you know,” said Henry.

“I do know it. He came back with grievances. You are brothers, he says. Why should you have everything?”

“It was as my father left it,” said Henry. “But I have been thinking I should do something for Geoffrey.”

“Not Normandy,” said Matilda.

“No. And not Anjou either. I don’t intend to throw away my dominions.”

“He is preparing an army,” went on Matilda. “How I hate this warfare in families.”

“To give him Anjou would be tantamount to throwing it away. How long do you think he would hold it?”

“Not long,” said Matilda.

“There is Ireland.”

“What of Ireland?”

“I had thought of conquering it and giving that to him.”

Matilda was very serious. “You have Anjou, Normandy and England. My dear son, your resources are going to be stretched as far as they can go with those territories. Do not add to that, for the love of God. You could lose them all by taking one more bite. Besides, the Irish are a troublesome race. They would need a constant army to subdue them. And how do you think either of your brothers would like that?”

“I suppose they should have something.”

“Geoffrey has shown that he cannot even hold his own castles. You must come back to Normandy with me. Eleanor can look after matters here. She has good men around her, has she not?”

“She has. There is Becket, my Chancellor, in whom I have great trust, and there are Robert of Leicester and Richard of Luci. Yes, that is what we must do. I will come back with you and settle this brother of mine once and for all. And Eleanor will make