not to be a queen.’
Alienor set her jaw. ‘Do as you will, but you will not break me.’
‘You think not? Watch me.’ He walked away, flexing his shoulders like a fighter.
An instant later, Alienor was surrounded by guards who gripped her arms and escorted her from the courtyard in front of everyone who had gathered to bid farewell to Harry, including John and Joanna.
She held her head high because contrary to what Henry said, she would show her daughter how to be a queen, especially under duress.
Withoutceremony, Alienor was bundled into a travelling cart with a plain canvas cover. No horse for her this time, no bright escort, just grim-faced soldiers intent on obeying their lord’s bidding. She had been permitted three weeks in a gilded cage among all the finches and eagles of the court. Now it was back to the windswept coop and solitary confinement. Gazing across the wain to the grimy linen canvas on the other side, she made her mind blank in order to endure. Either she would die or Henry would, and then it would be over.
7
Palace of Sarum, August 1176
Once again Alienor settled into the stultifying routine of life at Sarum. The endless sewing of plain seams, the days confined to her chamber save for rare moments when she was permitted to walk the castle’s precincts or attend services in the cathedral, under strict supervision. Once more news of the outside world was cut off. She made a pet of a white dove and fed it crumbs on her sill, taking pleasure in watching it pirouette and coo, until the day one of the knights hunted it down with a peregrine from the mews. She ceased feeding the doves after that.
Occasionally she would pick up pieces of information but they were like the discarded ends of linen thread on the seat where she sat to sew the interminable pile of shirts and chemises. Henry had gone to his hunting lodge at Clarendon and Richard had won a victory against the Poitevan rebels at Butteville, but the details were scant and passed down through so many hands that they had little value when they came to her ear. Once or twice her days were enlivened by visiting clergy, but always they came on Henry’s behalf, saying if she would only consider becoming the Abbess of Amesbury allthis would end and be beneficial for everyone. In a perverse way Alienor looked forward to such approaches because they gave her an opportunity to exercise her wiles on the men, leaving them discomfited and aware in no uncertain terms that her stance on the matter remained firm.
One parched afternoon in mid-August, Alienor emerged from prayer in the cathedral. The sun struck the stonework like a hammer on a white anvil and the still air was as hot as a forge. Raising her hand to shade her eyes, she started to walk towards the castle, Amiria at her side, guards following at a discreet distance. And then she stopped because Isabel was standing in the courtyard shaking out her skirts, and with her were John and Joanna, and their cousins Belle and William.
Alienor thought for an instant that the blazing heat had created a mirage, but the scarlet-faced soldiers tending to the horses were far too solid to be ephemera. And Isabel, although neatly dressed as always, had the look of a butterfly newly emerged from the chrysalis wings all crumpled.
It took all Alienor’s will not to run to her visitors and to approach them at a measured walk. ‘What a surprise, but it gladdens my heart to see you!’ she said in a voice that was close to cracking. What was Henry up to now?
‘We’re visiting before we leave for Sicily,’ Isabel replied as they embraced. ‘I have permission.’ She showed Alienor a folded piece of parchment in her hand with a seal attached. ‘I have Henry’s safe conduct. Hamelin persuaded him. I know you think I bow to my husband’s every whim, but I asked him at the right time and in the right way and he agreed to intercede. Sometimes it pays to conciliate.’
Alienor was amused and a little irritated.
Alienor set her jaw. ‘Do as you will, but you will not break me.’
‘You think not? Watch me.’ He walked away, flexing his shoulders like a fighter.
An instant later, Alienor was surrounded by guards who gripped her arms and escorted her from the courtyard in front of everyone who had gathered to bid farewell to Harry, including John and Joanna.
She held her head high because contrary to what Henry said, she would show her daughter how to be a queen, especially under duress.
Withoutceremony, Alienor was bundled into a travelling cart with a plain canvas cover. No horse for her this time, no bright escort, just grim-faced soldiers intent on obeying their lord’s bidding. She had been permitted three weeks in a gilded cage among all the finches and eagles of the court. Now it was back to the windswept coop and solitary confinement. Gazing across the wain to the grimy linen canvas on the other side, she made her mind blank in order to endure. Either she would die or Henry would, and then it would be over.
7
Palace of Sarum, August 1176
Once again Alienor settled into the stultifying routine of life at Sarum. The endless sewing of plain seams, the days confined to her chamber save for rare moments when she was permitted to walk the castle’s precincts or attend services in the cathedral, under strict supervision. Once more news of the outside world was cut off. She made a pet of a white dove and fed it crumbs on her sill, taking pleasure in watching it pirouette and coo, until the day one of the knights hunted it down with a peregrine from the mews. She ceased feeding the doves after that.
Occasionally she would pick up pieces of information but they were like the discarded ends of linen thread on the seat where she sat to sew the interminable pile of shirts and chemises. Henry had gone to his hunting lodge at Clarendon and Richard had won a victory against the Poitevan rebels at Butteville, but the details were scant and passed down through so many hands that they had little value when they came to her ear. Once or twice her days were enlivened by visiting clergy, but always they came on Henry’s behalf, saying if she would only consider becoming the Abbess of Amesbury allthis would end and be beneficial for everyone. In a perverse way Alienor looked forward to such approaches because they gave her an opportunity to exercise her wiles on the men, leaving them discomfited and aware in no uncertain terms that her stance on the matter remained firm.
One parched afternoon in mid-August, Alienor emerged from prayer in the cathedral. The sun struck the stonework like a hammer on a white anvil and the still air was as hot as a forge. Raising her hand to shade her eyes, she started to walk towards the castle, Amiria at her side, guards following at a discreet distance. And then she stopped because Isabel was standing in the courtyard shaking out her skirts, and with her were John and Joanna, and their cousins Belle and William.
Alienor thought for an instant that the blazing heat had created a mirage, but the scarlet-faced soldiers tending to the horses were far too solid to be ephemera. And Isabel, although neatly dressed as always, had the look of a butterfly newly emerged from the chrysalis wings all crumpled.
It took all Alienor’s will not to run to her visitors and to approach them at a measured walk. ‘What a surprise, but it gladdens my heart to see you!’ she said in a voice that was close to cracking. What was Henry up to now?
‘We’re visiting before we leave for Sicily,’ Isabel replied as they embraced. ‘I have permission.’ She showed Alienor a folded piece of parchment in her hand with a seal attached. ‘I have Henry’s safe conduct. Hamelin persuaded him. I know you think I bow to my husband’s every whim, but I asked him at the right time and in the right way and he agreed to intercede. Sometimes it pays to conciliate.’
Alienor was amused and a little irritated.
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