Read The Lion of Justice Online
Authors: Jean Plaidy
The Lion of Justice
Contents
A Horse and a Bride for William
The death of The Conqueror left three sons to inherit his power and his wealth. Normandy
for Robert, England for Rufus and for Henry, the youngest, five thousand pounds of silver.
The three were natural rivals. The feckless Robert lost Norman dukedom in an orgy of impulsive extravagance. Red-haired Rufus scandalized the court with his perverse sexuality and contempt for the Church.
And Henry â cleverest of all â awaited his chance to fulfill his father's prophecy and assume the mantle of The Lion of Justice.
Jean Plaidy, one of the preeminent authors of historical fiction for most of the twentieth century, is the pen name of the prolific English author Eleanor Hibbert, also known as Victoria Holt. Jean Plaidy's novels had sold more than 14 million copies worldwide by the time of her death in 1993.
THE TUDOR SAGA
Uneasy Lies the Head
Katharine, the Virgin Widow
The Shadow of the Pomegranate
The King's Secret Matter
Murder Most Royal
St Thomas's Eve
The Sixth Wife
The Thistle and the Rose
Mary, Queen of France
Lord Robert
Royal Road to Fotheringay
The Captive Queen of Scots
The Spanish Bridegroom
THE CATHERINE DE MEDICI TRILOGY
Madame Serpent
The Italian Woman
Queen Jezebel
THE STUART SAGA
The Murder in the Tower
The Wandering Prince
A Health Unto His Majesty
Here Lies Our Sovereign Lord
The Three Crowns
The Haunted Sisters
The Queen's Favourites
THE FRENCH REVOLUTION SERIES
Louis the Well-Beloved
The Road to Compiègne
Flaunting, Extravagant Queen
THE LUCREZIA BORGIA SERIES
Madonna of the Seven Hills
Light on Lucrezia
ISABELLA AND FERDINAND TRILOGY
Castile for Isabella
Spain for the Sovereigns
Daughters of Spain
THE GEORGIAN SAGA
The Princess of Celle
Queen in Waiting
Caroline the Queen
The Prince and the Quakeress
The Third George
Perdita's Prince
Sweet Lass of Richmond Hill
Indiscretions of the Queen
The Regent's Daughter
Goddess of the Green Room
Victoria in the Wings
THE QUEEN VICTORIA SERIES
The Captive of Kensington
The Queen and Lord M
The Queen's Husband
The Widow of Windsor
THE NORMAN TRILOGY
The Bastard King
The Lion of Justice
The Passionate Enemies
THE PLANTAGENET SAGA
The Plantagenet Prelude
The Revolt of the Eaglets
The Heart of the Lion
The Prince of Darkness
The Battle of the Queens
The Queen from Provence
The Hammer of the Scots
The Follies of the King
The Vow of the Heron
Passage to Pontefract
The Star of Lancaster
Epitaph for Three Women
Red Rose of Anjou
The Sun in Splendour
QUEEN OF ENGLAND SERIES
Myself, My Enemy
Queen of this Realm: The Story of Elizabeth I
Victoria, Victorious
The Lady in the Tower
The Goldsmith's Wife
The Queen's Secret
The Rose without a Thorn
OTHER TITLES
The Queen of Diamonds
Daughter of Satan
The Scarlet Cloak
Jean Plaidy
The second book in the Norman Trilogy
IN HER BEDCHAMBER
the Queen of Scotland lay dying. At any moment she would send for her children to say her last farewell to them. The girls, Edith and Mary, sat gloomily in the schoolroom, their books before them; but they paid no attention to these as they thought of their mother who, from the time she had first come to Scotland, had been noted for her beauty and her piety.
Mary, the younger, was the first to speak. âEdith, do you think she will die before our father comes?'
Edith paused a moment before she turned mournful blue eyes on her sister and said slowly: âWhat if
he
should never come back?'
âDon't speak so, Edith.' Mary shivered and glanced furtively over her shoulder. âIt could bring ill luck.'
âWhat I say will not bring us ill luck. It is the Normans who have brought that to our country and our family.'
âBut if our father defeats the King of England, our Uncle Edgar will be King. He
is
King in truth. If the Godwin Harold has not usurped the throne and the Normans had not come . . .'
âIf!' retorted Edith scornfully. âWhat is the use of saying If! And it all happened long ago. Twenty-seven years. And it is said that no one could have withstood William of Normandy. All his life he had conquered.'
âIt will be different with William Rufus. He is not like his father. And he is cruel. The people hate him. He cares for nothing but hunting and they say he has vices which are . . . unnatural.'
âBut what do you in truth know of him?'
âWhat I hear. And I believe that our father will defeat him and that very soon Uncle Edgar, the true King, will be on the throne. The English will welcome him. Of course they will welcome our dear Uncle Edgar. He's good, he's a Saxon and he is the true King.'
âYou talk like a child, Mary.'
âAnd you of course are so wise. You have lived for sixteen
years and because I haven't lived quite as long you think you are so much cleverer.'
âDon't let us quarrel, Mary, while our mother is dying.'
âShe won't die. She'll get better and very soon we shall see a messenger riding to the castle with the news that our father has captured Alnwick Castle and is marching south.'
Mary pushed her books aside and went to the long narrow window which was cut into the thick wall. Edith joined her, for what use was it to pretend to work at such a time? They should be praying â for the victory of their father and the soul of their mother. Yet how difficult it was to think of anything but: What will become of us?
Looking down to the moat and the drawbridge and beyond to the green hills, Edith was thinking how quickly everything could change. For sixteen years she had lived secure in her father's castle and it was only recently that she had been aware of a shifting pattern. Princesses became important when they grew up. Their future could become a matter of state. They either married or went into a nunnery. Edith was not of a nature to wish for the latter. The brief glimpses she had had of her mother's sister, Aunt Christina, who was the Abbess of Rumsey, had decided her. How different were the two sisters! Her mother was gentle, beautiful and kind; she was good, too, for on every day in Lent she went to church bare-footed, dressed in a gown of hair cloth, where she selected the poorest people that she might wash and kiss their feet. She wanted her children to be good and happy â but most of all good, as she was herself. As for Aunt Christina, she was far from beautiful and her black robes had frightened Edith when she was very young. Aunt Christina's sharp cold eyes saw every fault and no virtue; her knees were hard, it was said, because she had spent so many hours on them praying, and this was considered saintliness of the highest order. Aunt Christina was so busy being good that she had no time to be kind. She thought all those who were not dedicated to the convent life were sinners. Even her sister Margaret, mother of Edith, had lived in what Christina called a worldly manner, bearing many children.
No, it would not be a nunnery for Edith if she could help
it. She would beg her father to spare her that.
She hoped to marry as romantically as her mother had. She had heard the story many times. Edith's mother was Margaret Atheling, the daughter of Edward, who had been the son of Edmund Ironside; her grandmother had been the daughter of Emperor Henry II of Germany. When Edward the Confessor knew that his reign could not last much longer he had sent for Margaret's father Edward, as was presumed, with the object of making him his successor. Edward had died before the meeting could take place but left his son, Edgar, as well as two daughters, Margaret and Christina.
Then William came and conquered England, and because of Edgar's clear claim to the throne the Conqueror had kept him under surveillance. He treated him well but Edgar grew to suspect his motives and thought it an excellent idea to take his sisters to Hungary where his mother's relatives would welcome him.
He had set sail from England but ran into a storm and his ship had been thrown up on the Scottish coast. There was nothing to be done but to ask for asylum â which the royal Athelings did.
Malcolm Canmore, the King of Scotland, agreed to give them hospitality while they made their plans. Malcolm, young and comely, had recently come to the throne by driving out the usurper MacBeth, and was a romantic as well as a handsome figure. He entertained the fugitives in his castle and within a few days had fallen in love with Margaret and asked Edgar for his sister's hand in marriage.
What great good fortune! The dowerless young woman who had been on her way to Hungary to ask for asylum was being asked to share the crown of Scotland.
Her brother Edgar had expressed his pleasure; as for Margaret she was no less pleased, and very soon after her arrival in Scotland the marriage was solemnized and the spot where she had landed was for ever after known as Queen's Ferry.
It was a happy marriage and very fruitful. She soon presented her husband with a fine son who was named Edward after her father, and this child was followed by another son who became Edgar after her brother â then Edith, Mary and
the little ones followed. Her brother Edgar stayed at the Scottish court while her sister Christina entered a convent and became its Abbess.
