Saint Agatha.”
Henry smiled and then said, “And your castles? I understand you have at least two projects under construction.” He flashed a grin. “I even heard something about the latrines at one of them.” Will sighed with exasperation. “Who has not heard and mocked?” he asked, but under the influence of good wine and the youth’s genuine interest in the castle buildings, he told Henry not only about Rising, but also discussed the fortress he was building at Buckenham on a more suitable site than the former one, which he had donated to the Benedictine Order as land for a priory. The new castle was a circular shell keep, set on a high mound with walls eleven feet thick. As with Rising, Will was in the process of building a village too and encouraging people to settle and work. Already there was a tannery on the outskirts of the fledgling plots.
Henry listened and absorbed everything like a sponge.
“Are you not afraid that what you are building up will all be destroyed?” he asked.
“Indeed I am,” Will replied, “but if I did not build and have faith in God’s protection, what would remain? Rising is a palace 463
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to honour my wife, not a great fortress, so there is no reason for anyone to attack it, and the new keep at Buckenham poses no threat because it is purely for defence.” He gave Henry a severe look. “All of my castles exist to defend my territory, not as bases to steal or encroach on other men’s. Disputes have never been at my instigation. I serve the king because I am his sworn vassal and I will never go back on my word.”
“But what of the future, my lord?” Henry said. “To whom will your own sons swear their oaths of allegiance?”
“I do not think this is a matter for discussion here,” Will said curtly. “It is not something to be decided over a game of chess.”
“Oh, but it is a game of chess,” Henry said with one of his disarming smiles, “and we are both players.” Will gave him a dark look. “If you take my advice, you will be careful to whom you say such things.”
“I intend to be very careful indeed,” Henry replied with a glint in his eyes that left Will feeling uneasy. The youth had run rings around him but he was not quite certain how.
ttt
The following day, Henry left Stephen’s court, laden with gifts of horses and supplies. Stephen had given him silver for his expenses and paid off the mercenaries in his employ. Many of Stephen’s barons had raised their eyebrows at such leniency and largesse. Some had muttered that it was like the time the empress had landed at Arundel all over again, but Stephen shrugged them off, saying he could not imprison the youth without risking an attack from Anjou and Normandy, and it was too dangerous to keep him here. People might start believing that Stephen was going to accept him as his heir.
Will considered these points as he counted the loss of the ten marks and a packhorse that had been his own contribution to the young Henry’s departure. Everyone had been told by 464
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Stephen to donate towards the youth’s leave-taking so that the royal coffers did not have to stand the entire sum. Will suspected that the damage was done. Men had had a chance to assess the empress’s son and had been impressed by his calibre. Stephen’s own son Eustace had no such charisma to call upon; he was an ordinary youth of small talent, whereas Henry’s personality blazed as brightly as his hair. Stephen was trying to have Rome acknowledge Eustace as the heir to England, but the pope was turning a deaf ear, as was the archbishop of Canterbury. No one here was going to desert Stephen; they had been with him for too long; but many had been given food for thought concerning the succession. Will wagered that the conversation he had held with Henry over the chessboard had been repeated many times throughout the ranks of Stephen’s barons.
“It is suddenly very quiet, isn’t it, Will?” said Robert, Earl of Leicester, joining him in the stable yard, where he was looking at the empty stalls left by the animals Henry had taken with him.
Will glanced at Leicester, whose brother Waleran de Meulan now served the Angevin cause in Normandy. “Stephen is certainly relieved.”
Leicester smiled. “I think we