The Courts of Love - Jean Plaidy [96]
“It is the moment I have been waiting for,” she said. “Everything will be worthwhile now.”
“You must come with us,” cried Henry. “You must see me crowned.”
“And what of Normandy? Because of this great prize, are you going to forget your lesser possessions?”
He threw back his head and laughed.
“Is not my mother a great general? Let me tell you this: there is not one that I value as I do her.”
So she must remain in Normandy and we should set sail.
It was with emotion that I bade her farewell.
“Alas that you are not with us,” I said.
“My place is here,” she answered.
“It is sad that after all you have done you cannot see him anointed.”
“I shall be happier here knowing that Normandy is safe.”
So we left, my baby William with us and the other in my womb. Petronilla was in my suite. It was comforting to have my family around me.
And so to Barfleur to embark for England.
Queen of England
THE WAVES WERE LASHING the coast; the wind shrieked a warning to all mariners; and we were drawn up at Barfleur contemplating that menacing sea and thinking of our new kingdom which lay on the other side of it.
It is impossible to cross in such weather, was the general verdict. No ship could be sure of doing it. It would be thrown about and all on board drowned.
Henry could never bear delay. He looked at the angry sea and gnashed his teeth. I thought he was going to fall into one of those rages which I dreaded. I had seen only a few of them but they were terrifying. No. Surely he would not dare show his rage against the heavens at such a time.
He gritted his teeth and said: “We sail.”
Sail in this weather! We were all aghast.
They tried to dissuade him. Perhaps by tomorrow the sea would be calmer.
He shouted at them. We were not waiting until tomorrow. We were sailing that very day. The ships were seaworthy. He could not wait. Rough seas could go on for months. December was not the month he would have chosen to set sail, but Stephen was dead and England without a ruler. It was a hazardous situation for any country to be in. He was not going to risk disaster just for the sake of a trip across the water. It happened to be a time when he had inherited a kingdom for which he had waited many years, and he was not going to allow a little wind to stop him taking it.
Never shall I forget that crossing. I do not know how we survived it. I was pregnant too, and in any case suffering certain discomforts. I should have demanded that we wait for more clement weather; but not even I argued with Henry when he was in his present mood.
He could not stand still. He strode about the deck, ever watchful. I remained below. I could not face the terrible pitching and tossing of the vessel. My condition made me feel really ill, and I knew that Henry would not care to have sick females about him. He never would, and certainly not at such a time. He was in a fever of impatience to claim the throne.
It seemed that we suffered this torment for hours; and then one of my women told me we were in sight of land. I staggered onto the deck. There was no sign of the rest of the convoy.
Henry wanted to get ashore at once. He would not wait for the others. He would go straight to Winchester.
As we rode along, people came out to look at us. I realized that they had not been expecting the arrival of their new King, for they could not believe that any could cross the Channel in such weather. Already they were recognizing him as a man of power since he defied the elements and with a jaunty nonchalance.
He acknowledged their greeting with obvious pleasure and so we rode into Winchester to be greeted by Theobald, the Archbishop of Canterbury.
We were in due course joined by the rest of the company who had reached England, and Henry, having satisfied himself that that portion of the treasury which was kept in Winchester was intact, made arrangements to set out for London.
He was insistent that his coronation should take place without delay, for he firmly believed that a king was not accepted by the people until he was anointed.
So we came to London.