The Courts of Love - Jean Plaidy [43]
It was disconcerting to discover by chance that it was quite the reverse when a member of Conrad’s army found his way back to Constantinople. He was bedraggled, weary and half dead from exhaustion. He begged to see the King of France. Louis was always accessible and the man was brought to us. He told us how utterly Conrad’s army had been defeated. It seemed that they had been led into a trap where the Turks were waiting for them. Taken by surprise, they had been overwhelmed and were now a defeated army.
The Bishop of Langres assembled the commanders together, with the King, to discuss this matter. I insisted on being present. I was, after all, the Queen of France and one of the leaders of the expedition, even if it was a band of women I was leading.
The Bishop said at once: “There is treachery here. Conrad’s men were cut to pieces because the Turks were lying in wait for them. How did they know the road the Germans would take? Depend upon it. They were betrayed.”
“By whom?” asked Louis.
“Need you ask, sire? By the Emperor Manuel Comnenus most certainly.”
“How could he, a Christian, lead Christians to the Infidel?”
“With the utmost ease, my lord. He is no friend to us. Of that I am sure.”
“But the Turks are his enemies.”
“He needs to placate them. No doubt they had offered bribes.”
“I find it hard to believe that of any man,” said Louis, “and especially a Christian. Manuel has been a good host.”
“My lord, that does not prevent his being an enemy. Conrad’s army is in retreat. The Turk will be awaiting the coming of ours.”
“What shall we do?” asked Louis. “Confront Manuel? Ask him if this be true?”
The Bishop raised his eyebrows to the ceiling, as well he might. My poor Louis was no diplomat. One of his greatest weaknesses was to believe all men were like himself—a trait of the innocent, perhaps. I thought: Save me from good men.
I was not sure about Manuel’s treachery but I could well believe it existed.
“We are among traitors,” went on the Bishop.
“We must act with great care,” said Louis. “Until we are sure of Manuel’s good faith we will tell him nothing.”
“He already knows a good deal. We could beat him at his own game.”
“How so?”
The Bishop’s next words made me catch my breath. “We have a well-equipped army here. We could capture Constantinople.”
Louis stared at him.
“Our plan is to go to Jerusalem, to make the Holy Land safe for Christian pilgrimage.”
“That is why we should make sure that this is a safe haven for them, and not ruled by a traitor who has just sent a fine army to destruction.”
“I would engage in no war but a holy one,” said Louis.
The Bishop sighed.
Several of the others spoke.
“My lord Bishop,” said one, “you are not sure of Manuel’s treachery.”
“Did he not tell us that Conrad was victorious? Surely that could only have been so that he could lead us into the same trap.”
“He could have been misinformed.”
I knew how these men were feeling. They wanted to move on. They wanted to go to the Holy Land. They wanted the glory that would come with the capture of Jerusalem. No one at home would understand the importance of taking Constantinople.
As I listened I began to see that the Bishop might well be right. Although I was attracted by Manuel, I knew an ambitious man when I saw one, and I was fully aware that he would sacrifice everything to gain his own ends . . . the German army . . . our army . . .
Had I been the commander I should have said: Let us take Constantinople. But of course they would not listen to me. I shrugged my shoulders. The inevitable would happen. We should leave Constantinople and march on. But at least we could be wary of any traps Manuel might set for us.
We took our farewells of Manuel and listened with skepticism to his protestations of friendship. None of us betrayed our doubts of him—not even Louis, who did not really believe in them, which was the only reason why he was able to deceive Manuel. The rest of us were more subtle and some of us could put up as good a front