Free The Revolt of the Eaglets by Jean Plaidy

his daughter Marguerite a prospective Queen of England and nothing would please the King more than if Louis’s daughter Alice were to be one, too.
    The rift between Louis and Henry, which had been widened by the quarrel with Thomas à Becket, had by Henry’s show of penitence been partially removed. Louis received the King with honours.
    They did not mention the Archbishop but Henry knew what Louis’s feelings were on that matter. Hadn’t he given shelter to Thomas in his realm and done everything to provoke the King of England by the attention he paid to his rebel priest?
    Louis had not done this out of spite towards Henry. He merely had a natural indulgence towards anyone connected with the Church and for that reason he had supported Thomas against the King. Louis had wanted to be a monk and by God’s eyes, thought Henry, it would not have been a bad thing if he had been, except of course that if he had been he would never have sired the charming Alice. No, no, it was better that Louis should have been forced out of the pious life he craved by the death of his brother.
    How much enmity did Louis still bear towards him for having taken his wife? Doubtless, thought Henry grimly, he was glad to be rid of her. He himself would be glad to be rid of her now. But that had happened many years ago and here they were two kings, natural enemies in a way because Louis must always resent the fact that Henry was lord of a greater part of France than he was himself since his marriage, and Henry could not forget that for the lands he possessed in France he must pay homage to the king of that country.
    Normandy, Anjou, Maine, Aquitaine, Brittany, they were all vassal states of the King of France and even though he was their ruler (though his sons were nominally so) still he must swear fealty to Louis.
    They were wary with each other and talked of State affairs. But at length Louis began to complain because, although Henry’s son had been crowned King of England, Louis’s daughter Marguerite, who was the wife of young Henry, had never been accorded this honour.
    ‘What means this?’ he asked. ‘Is it that you do not regard my daughter as the young King’s wife?’
    ‘It is nothing of the sort. I have always said she shall be crowned at a convenient moment and crowned she shall be.’
    ‘Then why has this coronation not taken place?’
    ‘Because the moment has not been ripe.’
    ‘I see not why this should be.’
    Henry surveyed Louis – father of his dear little Alice. What would Louis say if he told him that he loved his young daughter, the betrothed of his son Richard, that he had already deflowered the girl and was determined to keep her as his mistress and if possible marry her?
    He laughed inwardly at the thought and at the memory of that lovely childish form.
    ‘It shall be as you wish,’ said Henry. ‘I will send the young people to England without delay. Henry shall be crowned again and this time Marguerite with him.’
    Louis nodded. The King of England was in an acquiescing mood.
    ‘I should like the Archbishop Rotrou to accompany them to England and perform the ceremony.’
    ‘My dear brother, a foreign Archbishop to perform such a ceremony? It has never been done.’
    ‘The alternative would be Roger of York would it not?’
    ‘Roger of York crowned my son.’
    ‘He was a traitor to the Archbishop of Canterbury,’ said Louis firmly. ‘I would not wish my daughter to be crowned by one who had played false such a great good man.’
    Henry was silent; his fingers had begun to twitch. So this one-time monk, this husband of Eleanor at whom she had jeered in the first days of her marriage to Henry, this rival king would tell him how to run his kingdom! By God’s eyes … he thought and then: But he is the father of my little Alice. I must go carefully. When I divorce Eleanor and openly take Alice to my bed I shall need the support of her father.
    ‘I would not wish Roger of York even to attend the