The Courts of Love - Jean Plaidy [169]
He could not say that John had come under my influence. Here was one son whom he might mold as he wished. He sent for John.
From then on, the young boy replaced Henry in his affections. John lacked Henry’s good looks—he was smaller and darker—but he was young and therefore malleable.
The King made plans for his youngest son. The proposed marriage with Humbert’s daughter had come to nothing; but William of Gloucester, one of the richest and most powerful men in England, agreed that his daughter, Hadwisa, should marry John, who would then become heir to all his lands in the west of England and Glamorgan, a considerable inheritance.
John was then declared King of Ireland—John “Lackland” no longer.
Rumors were coming to my ears.
Amaria said: “They say the Princess Alais is very attractive.”
“Yes. I am glad,” I said. “I daresay it will not be long before she marries my son Richard. It is time he had a wife.”
“They say the King is very fond of her.”
“The King!” Something in Amaria’s expression gave me a hint of what she might have heard. “What do you know?” I asked.
She shrugged her shoulders. “They say that now the Lady Rosamund is dead . . . that the King has taken up with the Princess Alais.”
“But she is to be his daughter-in-law.”
“I only know what I hear, my lady.”
I pondered this. Alais . . . and Henry. What would Louis have to say? How far had Henry gone in this? Surely he did not think he could seduce a daughter of the King of France as he might such as Rosamund Clifford?
But Henry would never consider such things. Moreover he despised Louis. She was very young. And Richard? What of Richard?
I could see a storm blowing up here.
Each day I hoped for news. It came sparsely. I could not believe how time was passing. Often I asked myself: Was I to spend the rest of my life a prisoner?
Was Henry hoping I would die? I had refused to go to Fontevrault, which would have given him his divorce. Did he want to marry again? Who this time? Alais? How would that affect her betrothal to his son Richard? What did he want to do? Raise a family? He was rather old for that. But I had no doubt that he saw himself as immortal. He would make up his mind that he would not depart this life until he saw his successor ready to take on the burden of kingship and not fritter away all the advantages he had brought to the country.
Our destiny was closely linked with that of France because our sway extended so far over that country. Philip Augustus was growing up. He must be fourteen or fifteen years old. The years of my captivity went by so fast that I lost count of them.
Louis had changed since the birth of the God-Given. He had become more statesmanlike and, after having waited so long and tried so hard, he was especially proud to have provided the heir of the Capetian dynasty.
At this time he decided Philip Augustus should be crowned. One might have thought he would have seen what had happened in Henry’s case. Two kings in one kingdom made a dangerous situation. However, it did happen in France, and it might have been that Philip Augustus was a more docile son; in any case Louis had never valued his kingship as Henry had.
Having been so close to Louis at one time, I was always eager to hear news of him; moreover, what happened to him affected Henry closely. I heard that the coronation was going to take place at Rheims on August 5 of that year 1179.
How unpredictable life is! We make our plans and then Fate decides to change them.
Louis had commanded all the nobles of the land to make their way to the cathedral of Rheims. Philip Augustus led his own party and, as always on such occasions when there was an opportunity to hunt, it was taken with alacrity. This was what happened on the way. Philip Augustus, rather like my son Henry, must have been gratified to think he would soon be crowned King. How could they be so foolish as to put crowns on the heads of young boys and expect to withhold the power that went with them? It might be that it would work in this case, but I had heard recently that Philip Augustus was a boy