The Passionate Enemies (5 page)

Adelicia smiled. Inwardly she was far from calm, but of what use would it be to give vent to her feelings? She must wait and see. At that moment a serving woman appeared and said that the Duke, her father, wished to see her without delay.

Calmly she laid aside her needlework and rose.

Her sister watched her with round eyes. ‘I can't wait to hear, Adelicia,' she said. ‘Promise to come straight back and tell me.'

Adelicia went sedately to her father's apartment.

‘Come in, daughter,' he said.

Her mother was there too. The Countess took her in her arms and kissed her ceremoniously.

She is pleased, thought Adelicia. So it must be someone worthy of her blood.

‘My dear child, a great honour,' murmured the Duke. ‘But be seated.'

Godfrey of Louvaine was tender. It was sad, he thought, that girls should be taken from their homes. But this was life and it happened to all. He loved his eldest daughter dearly. He cherished the beautiful standard she had made for him and
often regretted that rulers such as himself must be forced to leave their homes so often in order to protect or regain their patrimony. Men must go away to fight and women must go away to marry. It was, alas, the accepted order of things.

He stroked his smooth cheek – a habit he had acquired thirteen years or so before when he had shaved it. He was even now known as Godfrey Barbatus because before the year 1107 he had worn a luxuriant beard. He had made a vow that he would not shave this beard until he recovered Lower Lorraine which had belonged to his ancestors. Now his smooth face proclaimed to the world that he had regained that which had been lost to his family.

‘My dear child,' he said, ‘you know that envoys have been arriving here at the castle. They come from England and you may have guessed for what purpose. You are a child no longer and it has long been my wish, and that of your mother, to find a husband for you.'

‘A
suitable
husband,' said the Duchess.

‘He must indeed be worthy of our house, and so we are now well pleased.'

Adelicia waited in trepidation.

‘You have guessed, daughter,' said her mother. ‘They come from England and there is only one whom we could consider.'

Her father put in: ‘The King of England is asking for your hand.'

‘The King of England! But he is an old man.'

‘He is a king,' said her mother reprovingly.

‘Fifty is not so old,' said her father soothingly. ‘And the King of England is a man who has kept his youth.'

She was afraid. An old man! What had she heard of him? He was the son of the Conqueror who was spoken of throughout the land with awed respect.

She wanted to fall on her knees and beg of them to allow her to stay with them, so frightened was she at the prospect of going to England.

She looked from one parent to another but neither would meet her appealing gaze.

‘It is a brilliant match,' said the Duchess. ‘There is to be no delay. The King is very eager for the marriage to take place at once.'

‘He has heard excellent reports of you,' said her father.

‘Of a certainty he has,' reported the Duchess. ‘What else could he hear of such a well brought up girl? The documents will be signed and the wedding take place without delay. That is the wish of the King.'

Adelicia turned to them, her eyes wide, but they pretended not to notice her panic. Her father said: ‘The King was a good husband to his first wife. How much more so will he cherish one who is so much younger and more beautiful.' He came to her and stroked her hair. ‘All will be well, dearest child. It is necessary that you marry and this is an excellent match. It could not be better. You will be happy with the King of England.'

‘You will be his Queen,' said her mother. ‘And I doubt not that you will soon be the mother of his heir.'

That was what frightened her. She had only vague ideas as to what must precede her giving birth to an heir, but what she knew terrified her.

Solemnly her parents kissed her.

It was like the sealing of a bond. This meant that she must be handed over to her husband and that all the ceremonies that must go before that final event, after which there could be no turning back, were about to begin.

So she was to go away to England. Her parents were rejoicing because the King of England on the signing of the contract had promised a magnificent settlement.

‘What a generous man!' cried the Duchess.

Her husband replied that the King of England was known to be one who liked to see every penny accounted for, and even those who admired him most had never called him generous.

‘Then,' replied the Duchess, ‘it is even more admirable, for in this he shows clearly that he appreciates our daughter.'

The King was in no mood to wait for the marriage. He was going to call at the castle and take his bride back to England.

The Duke was wary. ‘Should he be allowed to take our daughter away without first marrying her?' he asked.

‘On such a settlement, yes,' retorted his wife. Did the Duke think that he would have paid so handsomely for a wife when he had no intention of making her such! Besides, all knew
that the King was ageing. He must get an heir soon if he were to get one at all.

So it was arranged. The King should come to Louvaine in person and when he left Adelicia should go with him. His people would insist that the marriage ceremony took place in England, so the Princess would travel back in his train and as soon as they reached England the marriage would be solemnized.

‘Is it to be so soon then?' asked Adelicia.

She was assured that it was, and preparations immediately began throughout the castle.

Her sister had discovered a little about the bridegroom, for there was a great deal of whispering in the castle and she was not averse to keeping her ears alert for what was not intended for them. She wondered whether it would be wiser to tell Adelicia or leave her to discover for herself, but finally decided that it would be better for her sister to be prepared.

Adelicia had always been such a dreamer and as she sat over her needlework had imagined herself as one of the romantic figures which she created with her tiny silken stitches. Adelicia was indeed not unlike them in appearance, for she was the beauty of the family; her long golden hair made a delightful frame for her beautiful features and her wide blue eyes looked out placidly from her oval face. Adelicia had always been the peacemaker in the family. Whatever her fate she would meet it stoically but, reasoned her more worldly-wise though younger sister, she should be made aware of what she might have to face. So as they sat in the window seat looking down to the winding road which led up to the moat and drawbridge, her sister said to Adelicia: ‘I know for whom you look.'

‘He will come soon,' said Adelicia. ‘He will come riding at the head of his company.'

‘Indeed so. That is what all the preparations are for. There will be such a banquet. Our father does not entertain a king every day and one who will be his son-in-law. Why, he must be as old as Father himself. Is that not odd? A son-in-law as old as his father-in-law.'

‘I doubt not it has been so, many times before.'

‘Oh, yes, old men like to marry young girls. I wonder what it will be like, Adelicia, married to an old man.'

‘They say he is young for his years.'

‘But what years! Fifty-two years of age! Oh, Adelicia.'

Adelicia did not answer.

‘They say women like him, and he likes women well. So there is little doubt that he will be fond of you.'

‘I shall hope to please him.'

‘You will. You know you are very beautiful, Adelicia.'

‘Let us hope that he will think so.'

‘He'll be blind if he does not. They say it is time he married for so much does he love women he will get more and more bastards if he does not.'

Adelicia said sternly: ‘You talk with impropriety.'

‘I speak the truth, sister. Listen. Do you hear horses?' She was at the window. ‘It is! I believe it is! Look at the standard!'

Adelicia needed no admonition to look. She could not take her eyes from the riders; they came nearer and she clearly saw the man at the head of them. He was by no means young – had she expected him to be? – but he was not ill-favoured.

Nearer and nearer they came.

There was tension throughout the castle, the sound of running feet and voices shouting to each other.

‘It is the King of England.'

The drawbridge was lowered. Adelicia saw her mother in the courtyard; in her hand the great goblet which was brought out for only the most honoured visitors. The Duke stood beside her. And there was the King of England seated on his horse, looking noble and big in his armour, taking the cup of cheer and welcome from her mother; and her father himself held the King's stirrup while he dismounted.

So the King of England came to the castle of the Duke of Louvaine.

Her women dressed her with greatest care, chattering as they did so. They put on her long blue gown with the hanging sleeves and the beautiful embroidered band which she had wrought herself, around the long skirt; they combed her long hair and she wore it flowing about her shoulders. Never had she looked so beautiful, whispered her women.

Her mother came to the chamber to take her down to the
banqueting hall and there in an antechamber she came face to face with her future husband.

He was less tall than he had seemed from below. He was of medium height and broad-chested; his plentiful black hair was flecked with white; there was a steadiness about his gaze which was comforting. He looked younger than his fifty-two years and there was a charm about him which was reassuring.

Certainly he was not the bridegroom of her dreams; how could he be, this ageing widower? But he was less forbidding than the picture her tortured imagination had conjured up, and she was grateful for that.

He took her hand and bowed; his eyes took in each detail. She is beautiful indeed, he thought. Reports have not lied. But his heart sank a little because she was so young and clearly inexperienced. He was too old, as he had said, for over-much wooing. He preferred a mature woman, eager and passionate as himself. He could name a few. Nesta was at the head of the list – wild incomparable Nesta, Princess of Wales, who long ago had been his beloved mistress even before his first marriage. He would have married Nesta had it been possible; but when he had been a young prince with nothing but his hopes dependent on the generosity of his supporters, he had been in no position to marry, and after he had seized the crown it had been necessary that he should marry his Saxon princess, Matilda of Scotland. He had always been mindful of the fact that he was a king first and his crown must come before all else.

It was for this reason that he must now marry, to get an heir; had he acted according to his inclinations he would have continued to make merry with his mistresses. But he must get a son. He was growing old and there was not much time left for begetting. Moreover, it had been hinted by his priests that, as each day he took a step nearer to that one when he must answer for his sins, he would be well advised to curb the merry life of sexual indulgence which he had followed since his early teens, all through the years of his first marriage until this time.

Dreary old age! When a man must be concerned at having no heir and at the same time curb his pleasures on earth lest he should find himself, through this indulgence, debarred from sharing those of heaven.

He should be grateful that the girl was a beauty. Slender, as young girls were, she did not look like a breeder of men. She must be. That was the purpose of the marriage. She was pleasant to look at; he liked her docile looks in a wife, though he would have cared for more spirit in a mistress.

He kissed her hand tenderly; he felt her tremble slightly. Poor child, she had nothing to fear from him. He wondered if she had heard of his reputation with women. No doubt she had – or would – and be shocked by it. Poor little simpleton, she would not know that he would be kinder to her out of his experience of her sex – and his fondness for it – than a more moral man might have been!

‘You are beautiful,' he said. ‘I am sure we shall be happy.'

She did feel happier.

She sat beside him at the banquet and he talked to her about his Court and life in England. He told her too, of his sorrow when his son William was drowned on the White Ship; he did not mention that two illegitimate children of his were drowned at the same time. Tears filled her eyes and her sympathy made her feel drawn towards him.

‘You will comfort me for my loss,' he said. ‘You and you alone can do it. We will have a fine son ere long and then I shall cease to mourn.'

She nodded and her fear of what this would mean was replaced by her desire to soothe him.

‘Would we could be married this day,' he said. ‘But I am a king and there are times when kings must needs be governed by their subjects. They will wish to see me married. And my Archbishop must perform the ceremony. But have no fear, I shall lose no time in making you my Queen.'

Adelicia's parents were delighted with the impression their daughter was making on her future husband and pleased that she did not regard him with the abhorrence they had feared. Adelicia had always been a good and obedient girl but even she might have felt some rebellion to be taken from her home and given to an old man.

There was much feasting and revelry through the castle and in due course the cavalcade set out for the coast and embarkation to England.

During the journey the King had become more and more enamoured of his bride, but as it would have been most unseemly to take a mistress while his prospective bride was travelling in his suite and he was unaccustomed to going so long without the solace of feminine company, the waiting was indeed irksome.

He had found his bride not unintelligent. She lacked the erudition of Matilda, his first wife, but then few women had received the education she had had. He himself had always favoured scholars and was indeed a scholar himself. He had been the only one of his brothers to take kindly to book learning and because of his proficiency in this field had earned the name ‘Beauclerc'. Adelicia could never be the companion Matilda had been; but she was perhaps more meek. He did not expect she would excite him as his mistresses did; nevertheless lovemaking with her would be a pleasure; and in view of the fact that there would be this dedicated purpose behind it he was eager to begin.