The Passionate Enemies (37 page)

‘William, you do believe that Henry chose Stephen on his deathbed?'

‘I do and I regard him as my King.'

‘And you will never serve Matilda?'

‘I shall fight for Stephen as long as I live, for, although he has not proved to be the strong man his uncle was, still I believe him to be the true King. He has been solemnly crowned. He is our King and master.'

‘But if he is in chains at Bristol . . .'

‘He may not always be. He shall not always be.'

‘Oh, God,' she cried, ‘how I wish there could be an end to this fighting.'

‘It will not be until Stephen is back on the throne, my love, and the Empress driven from this land. In the meantime I am here with you and our babies.'

‘Are you safe here?'

‘As safe as anyone is in this land.'

‘She may send her guards for you. She will know you fought with Stephen.'

‘I have good friends and I shall have warning of that. Come, let us forget conflict for a while. We are here together. Let us remember that.'

So they were together, but the shadow was there. Every time she heard a clatter of horses' hoofs in the courtyard, Adelicia was alarmed. Every time she passed a window she would look out, straining her eyes to see if there were riders on the horizon. It was an uneasy existence.

News came to Arundel of Matilda's entry into Winchester and of her acceptance by Stephen's brother. This was the biggest blow which could have befallen Stephen's cause, said William. Not only was Henry Stephen's brother but a man of great influence throughout the country. If he had turned against Stephen then it seemed he had little hope left.

‘What will become of us?' asked Adelicia.

‘We must wait and see. Matilda has not yet been crowned.'

‘But she is in London. Surely that ceremony cannot long be delayed.'

‘Once it is then I fear for Stephen's life. I do not think he will be allowed to live long.'

‘She could not have him murdered. I never understood her feeling for him. He was important to her in some way.'

William looked tenderly at his wife. How could she, in the innocence of her uncomplicated nature, understand the tempestuous character of a woman like the Empress?

There was another visitor to Arundel, and Adelicia knew then that try as they might they could not escape involvement in the conflict.

Stephen's Queen, Matilda, returned to England.

She came first to Arundel with a small escort, there to learn the true state of affairs from William de Albini whom she knew to be a good friend of her husband.

Adelicia welcomed Queen Matilda with great compassion. She knew how dearly this Matilda loved her husband and she knew too that his unfaithfulness had caused her great grief which had in no way shaken her devotion. She had often said to William of the Queen: ‘There is a perfect wife. If Stephen has had ill luck in some ways the gods were smiling on him when they married him to Matilda of Boulogne.'

The Queen had changed. In fact every time Adelicia saw her
she seemed to have become more serious, more statesmanlike. Adelicia remembered her in the early days of her marriage to Stephen when she had been so quiet and unassuming and overawed by her good fortune in being married to the most handsome and charming man at Court.

She had never wanted to be Queen. Like Adelicia she would have preferred a life of domestic felicity in some quiet country house. But Stephen was ambitious and had seized the crown and she as his loyal wife was beside him in everything he did.

She wanted to hear from William all that had happened. ‘Spare me nothing,' she said. ‘I must know all.'

She knew of course that Stephen was the Empress's prisoner and she shuddered to think of him in chains in some filthy dungeon being treated as a felon.

‘Oh, how dare she!' she cried. ‘How can she do this to Stephen?'

But she knew. Matilda could hurt and humiliate him because in some way she both hated and loved him.

When she heard of Bishop Henry's defection she was stunned. This was the greatest blow, for Henry had turned against Stephen, and that was something she could not understand.

‘If he has changed sides,' said William, ‘it is because he is sure that Stephen is on the losing one.'

‘This is one battle lost,' replied Matilda. ‘A war is not lost through one battle.'

William was silent. Stephen in chains! Matilda in London about to be crowned! And the wily Bishop of Winchester acclaiming the Empress as Queen. What hope had the Queen of bringing Stephen back to power?

But there was something about her; it was almost a super-human quality. ‘We
shall
win,' said the Queen. ‘Stephen shall be released. He shall be proclaimed King of England. I swear it.'

To see the hitherto mild Queen so vehement was an inspiration which even the prosaic William was aware of. He found his opinions swerving a little. He did not see how this woman could raise an army and fight the forces of Robert of Gloucester and the Empress Matilda. She was no great
general. She had to raise an army. Who would support her? The Empress was all but crowned.

‘She is not crowned yet,' cried the Queen. ‘I know that if I could raise a standard many would rally to it. You would, William, I believe.'

‘I would serve the King with my life.'

‘I knew it well,' said the Queen; ‘and William of Ypres has sent word to me. I will join him in Kent.'

‘Where is he now?' asked Adelicia.

‘He is in Kent, biding his time. He has sent word to me that his men were routed at Lincoln and that he fled the field seeing the impossibility of being of use to the King. He thought it wiser to reserve his strength for a better opportunity.'

‘Can you rely on him?'

‘I must,' said the Queen firmly.

Adelicia was of the opinion that if William of Ypres could be trusted he was indeed a worthy ally, being an adventurer and a man well skilled in battle. He was the son of the Count of Ypres by a village girl of Flanders who had carded wool for a living. He was a name to be feared and while such as he were ready to support Stephen's cause there was a hope that everything was not lost.

‘The people of Kent are loyal to Stephen,' she went on, ‘and the citizens of London always loved him. We had many friends there when we lived at Tower Royal and Stephen would go and mingle with the traders. They knew him and he always had a smile and word for both men and women, however humble they were.'

So certain was she that she would succeed that she had been able to inspire Adelicia and William with her optimism. Of one thing they were certain, and that was Stephen's hopes had brightened with the return to England of his Queen.

The Empress was now installed at Westminster. She had been proclaimed Lady of England and Normandy at Winchester in April, two months after the defeat of Stephen; she had made her progress through Wiliton, Reading. Oxford and St Albans and at all of these places she had been received with honour. It was midsummer when she entered London.

So certain was she of her welcome that it did not occur to
her for one moment that the people of London might not readily accept her. In any case, she was not concerned with her subjects' feelings towards her. They were of no account, she would have thought. She was the Queen and all must realize it.

Indeed, imperious as she had always been, since her arrival at Winchester her arrogance had become intolerable. She could not forget for one moment that she was the Queen and the fact that she had not yet been crowned made her determined that everyone must proclaim her as such in every degree, however trivial. She was brusque with her friends, and even her brother Robert and Henry of Winchester were irritated by her manner of addressing them.

Stephen's wife, Queen Matilda, had taken up her abode at Tower Royal and her servants there and the people in the streets of London expressed their sympathy for her. They knew that they dared not openly support Stephen, but at the same time they wished to show their sympathy for the Queen.

As for Queen Matilda herself, she was convinced that William of Ypres would be successful in raising an army and she was not going to rest until she had brought about her husband's release. At the same time she believed that if she pleaded with the Empress she might prevail upon her to free Stephen.

She called at the Palace of Westminster and asked for an audience with the Lady of England.

The Empress laughed when she heard that the woman calling herself Queen Matilda was without. At first she declared she would not see her.

‘I have no time to see all the supplicants who call at the palace,' she said.

Then it occurred to her that it might amuse her to see this woman who was Stephen's wife, so she ordered that Queen Matilda be brought to her.

She kept her waiting and even when she was brought in she was forced to stand until the Empress deigned to notice her.

The Queen could not believe that a kinswoman who had been a playmate in the royal nursery could behave in this manner. She could understand a certain ceremony on public occasions, but not when they were alone together.

‘Matilda,' she began. ‘I have come to ask you . . .'

The Empress raised her eyebrows. ‘Do not forget,' she warned, ‘that you are addressing the Queen.'

‘I did not know the coronation had taken place, and I, Matilda, have been crowned Queen of England.'

‘You would be wise not to remind me of that. You and your husband took the crown to which you had no right. He is suffering for his sins. You are bold. I should have you punished in like manner.'

‘I have come to ask you to release Stephen.'

‘Release the man who usurped my crown! Why should I?'

‘Because he is your cousin. Because your father named him as his successor.'

‘That is a lie. Those who speak treason shall suffer the traitor's death.'

The Queen had one thought. To bring about her husband's release. If she must submit to the arrogance of Matilda in order to bring this about, then so must it be. She therefore decided to ignore the rights and wrongs of the matter and to appeal to the Empress's tender feelings if such existed.

‘Stephen lies in a dungeon,' said the Queen. ‘He is treated there like the meanest felon. He is your cousin. I beg of you move him to a comfortable prison, if in prison he must be.'

‘In prison he must be and there shall remain and prisons are not meant to be comfortable, cousin.'

‘We were all children together. You were friends once, you and Stephen . . .'

A smile curled the Empress's lips. Friends! Oh, more than friends, you good and faithful wife to Stephen. He was my lover. He could not resist me. He desired me as he never did you, you silly feeble creature. Some would say you are comely enough, but you lack my fire. Only I could kindle Stephen to deep passion. He was ready to risk everything for me . . . as he has shown. But what I cannot forgive is that he took the crown and did not come to me when my father died. For that he shall lie in his dungeon. I have not finished with him yet. He shall wish that he had never been born because he betrayed me.

‘This has nothing to do with the nursery,' said the Empress. ‘And I have no time to talk to you. Pray leave me now.'

The Queen knelt before her and raised her eyes to the Empress's cruel face. They were bright with tears and her hair had escaped from its coif. She was a beautiful woman. The Empress thought of her with Stephen, their embrace . . . the children they had.

‘Go from me,' she cried angrily, ‘or I will call the guards to take you away. Go quickly before I throw
you
into a dungeon. But it would not be that in which your husband now spends his time. Do not think that.'

It was no use pleading with the Empress and to remain was dangerous. Of what use would she be to Stephen if she became Matilda's prisoner?

The Queen left the palace where once she had held state with Stephen. She came out into the street and wrapped her cloak over her head. Even so some people recognized her.

‘It is the Queen!' she heard the whisper.

‘Come from the Lady where she had been pleading for her husband.'

‘Poor lady. She was always good to us.'

‘Different from . . .'

One man came forward and taking the Queen's hand kissed it.

Deeply moved, she passed on. The Empress's indifference to her sufferings and that of Stephen had shocked her; but she was comforted to remember that she and he had always had the affection of the people of London.

The Queen could not forget the balful light in the Empress's eyes when she had talked of Stephen and she decided that she would leave London for Kent, and there join with William of Ypres.

She had received disquieting news from Normandy. Since Stephen was a prisoner and Matilda had been accepted as the Lady of England in Winchester and Bishop Henry had sworn allegiance to her, the Empress's husband, Geoffrey of Anjou, had had little difficulty in persuading the Norman barons that Stephen's cause was lost and all those who had so recently sworn allegiance to Eustace and accepted him as the heir of Normandy, should now transfer their allegiance to the Empress Matilda and her son, Henry.

This was yet another blow, but the Queen realized that the important thing was to bring about Stephen's release without delay and set him back on the throne. Once that was achieved Normandy would naturally return to him.

But in the meantime the Empress was installed in London about to be crowned Queen of England while Stephen remained in chains in Bristol.

Only a supreme optimist could hope in such circumstances, but the Queen's grew out of desperation.

When she reached Kent she had a pleasant surprise. Far more men than she had dared to hope had rallied round William of Ypres who delightedly told her that the overbearing conduct of the Empress was turning many of her one-time friends against her.