Lady of the English - By Elizabeth Chadwick Page 0,79
was developing balance, knowledge, and maturity.
“Indeed you look very fine,” she replied proudly. “Every inch a king.”
“I want to gallop!”
“And so you shall, but not quite yet. You have to learn a few more things first and grow a little more.”
“But I’m a big boy now!”
Her lips twitched at the indignation in his voice. “Indeed, but you need to grow bigger yet.”
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The groom led the pony off at a sedate walk. “Faster,” Henry cried. “I want to go faster.” She glanced towards the battlements as she heard a shout.
Moments later, a soldier came running towards her from that direction. “Domina, there is an English lord at the gate begging entrance. Sir Baldwin de Redvers and his company.” Matilda drew a swift breath. Baldwin de Redvers was the sole English baron to have refused to swear to Stephen. He said he had given his oath to support her and would keep it until his dying breath. Stephen had besieged him in his castle at Exeter and de Redvers had been forced to surrender when the wells ran dry in the blistering summer heat. When last heard of, he had been holding out at Carisbrooke Castle on the Isle of Wight and interfering with Stephen’s shipping between England and Normandy.
“Admit him,” she commanded, “and bid him welcome.” The gates opened upon a troop of horsemen on jaded horses.
The men themselves were dusty from their journey and their equipment showed hard wear, but their armour was cared for and the men themselves, although obviously weary, had made an effort to look spruce and proud.
“My queen.” De Redvers dismounted and knelt at her feet with bowed head. His men followed his lead and the women too, for they had brought their wives and children into exile with them.
“Get up,” she said. “All of you.” She raised de Redvers herself and gave him the kiss of peace on his sunburned cheeks.
A swift command sent servants running to prepare food and drink. More orders set others to finding stables and lodgings for the newcomers. She welcomed the rest of the entourage briefly, and beckoned to Henry’s groom to lead over boy and pony.
“This is my son and heir,” she said. “The future Duke of Normandy and king of England. Henry, these are our loyal men. What do you say?”
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“God’s greeting,” Henry piped. “Be welcome.” He bowed in the saddle.
De Redvers knelt again, and his entourage followed suit.
Matilda tapped his shoulder in a wordless command to rise.
The knight’s hard mouth wore the trace of a curve. “My lord is already a fine little knight,” he said.
“Every day he grows nearer to the crown that is his birth-right,” Matilda replied. “One day he will be a well-grown king, and we will not forget the service you do us. Come within, and give me your news.”
ttt
De Redvers washed the dust of the road from his hands and face and drank deeply from his goblet. “I have come to offer you and the Count of Anjou my sword and my services,” he said. “I cannot sustain my position in England. I have lost my lands. All I have is what I have brought with me on the back of my packhorses. But while I have breath in my body, I will fight for you, and for your son.”
“I thank you for your loyalty,” Matilda replied. “As soon as I am in a position to reward you and your men, I will do so.
For the moment, you are welcome to food and lodgings for yourself, and your dependents. I have a skilled armourer in the castle. Your equipment will all be refurbished and replaced.” De Redvers bowed his thanks. “I have heard of the skills of Robert of Argentan,” he said. “And seen his work. The Earl of Gloucester wears hauberks of his fashioning.”
“He has no access to them while he is at court,” Matilda said curtly.
“I think it is only a matter of time before he leaves Stephen, domina. When I was besieged at Exeter, I heard and saw many things. The king is pushed this way and that by those who would be the power behind his rule. He treats the Earl of Gloucester with courtesy, but he shuts him out of his councils. The Beaumont 198
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brothers are the stars in the firmament—and the bishop of Winchester, although there is antagonism between him and the Beaumonts because both want to be Stephen’s right