The Follies of the King (39 page)

Edward was approaching fifteen years old— an outstandingly handsome boy, already tall for his age, long-legged, fair-haired and blue-eyed.

The girls, the eldest of whom was about his own age and the youngest not so much younger for they had quickly followed each other in getting born, were clearly intrigued by such a handsome boy and Edward was amused by them and their efforts to please him.

The Countess was eager to show that they could entertain their guests at Hainault as lavishly as they could in France which she remembered as a girl and a great many feasts, banquets and general entertainments were given.

Meanwhile Edward was left a great deal with the four girls. They rode together, played games, introduced each other to the customs of their countries and it was an enjoyable time for them all. Edward felt he had been lifted out of the fearful doubts which beset him. He knew that his mother was working against his father. He loved her dearly but he was uneasy; and to rest awhile in the rather simple but honest court of Hainault, where the Count and Countess were devoted to each other and their four merry daughters had no conception of family conflict, was for him a wonderful respite.

Of the four girls Edward selected Philippa as his favourite but he was too polite to show his preference. However when they rode out into the forest together he did contrive to get Philippa to himself.

‘Let us lose the others,’ he said.

Philippa’s habitually rosy cheeks were a shade deeper. ‘Do you think we can?’ she asked.

‘If you would wish it,’ answered Edward. ‘Would you?’

‘Oh yes,’ she cried, too honest to say anything but the truth.

‘Follow me,’ he told her.

He heard her high-pitched laugh as he spurred his horse. She obeyed and very soon they had galloped away and had come to a clearing in the forest. He pulled up and they were silent for a moment, smiling at each other.

‘Are you glad we came here?’ asked Edward.

‘Oh yes. It was so dull before you did. Do you find it dull here, Edward?’

‘Not when I am with you.’

She blushed charmingly and smiled at him shyly. ‘Do you really mean that?

But you must, must you not, since you say it? You mean the others as well, I suppose. Margaret is much cleverer than I and Joanna and Isabel prettier.’

‘That is quite untrue,’ he answered.

She looked astonished and he realized that she had really meant it, and was finding it hard to accept the fact that he really preferred her to her sisters.

‘What strikes me most about you,’ he told her, ‘is your honesty. Do you never say what you do not mean?’

‘What would be the point of that?’ she asked. ‘Speech is to express what we feel.’

‘I like you, Philippa,’ he said. ‘You are different from other people. I begin to fear that I live in a world of deceit.’

He was frowning. He could not tell innocent Philippa that he believed Mortimer was his mother’s lover and that his father had treated her badly because he would surround himself with favourites whom he loved better than he loved her.

‘What do you mean, Edward?’ asked Philippa, but he shook his head.

‘Never mind,’ he said. ‘It is too beautiful a morning to talk of such things.

Tell me about your childhood here. It was a happy one, I know. Your father and mother love you and each other dearly.’

‘But of course. We are all one family.’

He felt an impulse to lean forward and kiss her which he did.

She drew back blushing a little.

‘I like you so much,’ he explained.

‘I like you too, Edward.’

‘As a girl,’ he went on, ‘you will have to leave your home and marry one day.’

Her brow clouded. ‘I know my parents think of it sometimes. I heard my father say to my mother that she wanted to keep us all children forever.’

‘And do you want to stay a child forever?’

She was thoughtful. ‘No,’ she said. ‘Not now. Besides it would be no use, would it? I dare swear one day I shall have to go away. Margaret will go first because she is the eldest.’

‘Boys are more fortunate, especially heirs to crowns. They do not have to leave their countries.’

‘No. You will stay in England and your bride will come to you. But she will have to leave her home of course. She will not mind that, though.’

‘How do you know?’

‘I know she won’t mind once she sees you.’

‘Philippa, would
you
mind?’

She shook her head. ‘No,’ she said, ‘I should be glad.’

Then she feared she had said too much for his eyes had taken on a deeper shade of blue and he was smiling.

It seemed as though there was a sudden silence in the forest. Then Philippa said: ‘You will be a King and a King of England. They will have to find you a very grand princess to be your Queen.’

His mouth was firm and his shining eyes rested on her as he said: ‘I shall choose my own.’

Philippa was a little afraid. Instinct warned her that she should not be alone here with the Prince. Her mother would say it was wrong for her to allow herself to be led away. She had always obeyed her mother.

Instinctively she turned away, urging her horse forward. Edward walked his horse beside her and soon they were out of the clearing.

Before they returned to the castle they had joined the rest of the party.

* * *

The Queen knew that she could not stay too long even when offered such hospitality. The Count and Countess treated her like an honoured guest and Sir John hovered adoringly, but, as she said to Mortimer, they must move on.

However, she had a notion that coming to Hainault was going to prove one of the best courses they could have taken. She was going to speak to the Count of her predicament but first she would confer with Sir John. Sir John was only too delighted to enjoy a tête-á-tête with her, and posing as the pathetic lady in distress— which was the role in which he liked her best, she fancied she gave him a long account of her sufferings during her life with Edward and how it had come to the point when she could endure it no longer. He turned pale with horror when she mentioned the fear she had of the wicked Despensers and how she believed that if she set foot in England that would be an end of her.

‘You must not go back without adequate protection,’ he declared.

‘You are right of course, my dear good friend, but how can I find that protection?’

‘I will go with you.’

‘You are so good to me, but one man alone, however valiant, could not save me.’

‘I shall not go alone. I shall take an army with me.’

Isabella’s heart leaped in triumph. ‘You would do that?’

‘It would be my joy and my privilege.’

‘An army―’ she began.

‘Yes, an army to join your own. We would march on Westminster and force the King to offer up those despicable men. I shall not rest until we have their heads for I see that you will be unsafe while they live.’

‘I cannot believe anyone could be so good to me as you are.’

‘You will see,’ he promised. ‘You will see.’

‘Do you realize, my dear Sir John, that this means going to a foreign country and fighting someone’s else’s cause?’

‘It is fighting your cause, my dear lady, and I ask nothing better than that.’

‘You would have to have your brother’s consent.’

‘Fear not, I shall speak to him.’

Her heart sank. This was a romantic young man. His brother, the more mature Count who controlled Sir John and his armies, might not consent.

‘Do you think he will agree?’

‘I shall beg and implore him and continue to do so until he becomes so weary of my importunings that he will be glad to be rid of me.’

‘Oh how I thank God for throwing me into your path.’

He kissed her hand. He would go at once to his brother, he said, and tell him that he proposed to go to England with her in order to set her son on the throne and depose that Edward who had lost the confidence of his people― and most heinous sin of all had ill-treated the most wonderful woman in the world.

* * *

While he was sympathetic, the Count was far from enthusiastic at the project.

‘My dear brother,’ he said, ‘you are proposing to go into a foreign country and embark on a war which is really no concern of yours.’

‘The fact that Edward of England has ill-treated a lady is surely of concern to any knight.’

‘You are young and romantic,’ replied the Count. ‘That is not good politics.’

‘What would you suggest I do?’

‘Escort the lady to the coast. Wish her well. Offer her friendship but not an army.’

‘I could not do that.’

‘You cannot involve Hainault in English affairs.’

‘It is not a matter of politics. It is one of chivalry.’

‘Oh, brother, I fancy the Queen of England is a very astute lady. She will know how to look after herself. No, I cannot give you permission to take an army to England.’

‘
I
should raise that army. It would be my responsibility.’

‘You are my brother, remember. No, I could not give my consent.’

Sir John’s lips were stubborn. For the first time there was a coolness between him and his brother. The Count thought:
If I do not give my consent, he will act without it. That much is certain.

Isabella, knowing that the interview had taken place, was eager to know the result. She waylaid Sir John and was immediately struck by his dismal looks.

‘You have spoken to your brother?’ she asked anxiously.

Sir John nodded gloomily. ‘He is against it. Oh, believe me, he has the utmost sympathy for your predicament. He would do a great deal to help you―’

‘But his generosity would stop at sending an army.’

‘That is what he says. But I do not despair. I shall persuade him―’

‘And if he will not agree―’

He kissed her hand. ‘I should never desert you,’ he answered.

Isabella sought an opportunity of talking to the Count alone, but she did not mention the fact that his brother had spoken to him.

She said: ‘It has been a great pleasure to rest awhile under your roof, Count, and do you know what has pleased me as much as anything? It is to see the friendship which has sprung up between our children. Edward is quite enchanted by your delightful daughters and I fancy they are not displeased with him.’

The Count was alert. He had a great respect for Isabella’s strategies. ‘He is a charming boy. Handsome, tall, strong and of noble character. That much is clear.’

‘It is gratifying,’ she answered, ‘to perceive these qualities in the heir to a great crown.’

‘He is indeed kingly in his bearing.’

‘I am eager that he should make a good marriage,’ went on the Queen, ‘and by that I mean a happy one. I shall never forget my own arrival in a strange country and what was revealed to me when I came.’ She shuddered. ‘I want Edward to have a little choice when it comes to his marrying. I would like him to have met his bride first and found that he was fond of her before the ceremony.’

The Count’s heart had begun to beat fast. Was she suggesting one of his daughters might be Queen of England? It was a dazzling prospect. He and Jeanne wanted good marriages for their girls but happy ones at the same time and it was clear that all four girls were already a little enamoured of the handsome Edward.

He came straight to the point: ‘My lady, do you mean that you would consider one of my daughters as a bride for your son?’

‘That was what was in my mind,’ answered Isabella. ‘I believe you would consider it a worthy match.’

‘I will not pretend, my lady, that I should not have thought of looking so high. I have heard however that the King of England is in progress of arranging a match for the Prince with Aragon.’

‘What the King arranges will be of no moment when justice is done. It is I who will decide whom my son shall marry. When I take an army to England my aim will be to remove the villain Despensers from the King and if he protests, then it will be my duty to my son and to England to transfer the crown from the worthless father to the worthy son. Oh rest assured, my lord Count, it will not be Edward, at present King of England, who will decide whom my son shall marry.

I shall do that. My son will listen to me, not his father; and if the lady is one of his choice― believe me, there will be no difficulty.’

‘I confess,’ said the Count, ‘that your suggestion has taken me by surprise.’

The Queen bowed her head. Indeed it must have done. The future King of England to marry the daughter of a Count of Hainault! But anything― anything for an army.

‘I should like to discuss this with the Countess,’ went on the Count. ‘She has always been most concerned about our girls’ future.’

‘Do so,’ said Isabella. ‘But remember that this happy state of affairs could only come about if I were successful in ridding the country of the Despensers.’

She did not add:
And by deposing the King and setting my son on the throne
.