Whatever our differences, you are my sons, of my blood, and nothing is more important than that.”
Henry signaled, then, to his men, swung his stallion in a circle, and rode away without looking back.
Henry was staying at Gisors Castle, and Louis had chosen to lodge at Chaumont-en-Vexin, a formidable royal fortress just six miles away. Not long after their return, Raoul de Faye was standing on the steps of the great hall, his eyes roaming the bailey. When he finally saw his brother, the Viscount of Chatellerault, emerging from the stables, he shouted “Hugh!” so urgently that the other man looked around in alarm. By then, Raoul was halfway across the bailey. He pulled Hugh aside, his fingers biting into his brother’s arm, but Hugh did not protest, for he’d never seen Raoul so angry, so agitated.
“Have you spoken yet to Richard or his brothers?”
Hugh shook his head. “No…have you?”
“I had just a few words with Hal. I did speak with Louis, though, and that gutless weasel wants to accept Harry’s peace terms and skulk back to Paris. When I reminded him that Harry had not said a word about Eleanor’s fate, do you know what he told me? He said very piously that it was not for him to meddle in the sacrament of matrimony, that what happened in a marriage was between a husband and his wife and the Almighty. He has no stomach for continuing the war and is willing to let Eleanor pay the price for his blundering, God curse his craven, sanctimonious soul!”
“Lower your voice,” Hugh warned. “You’re attracting attention. What of Hal? What did he say?”
“Enough to make me suspect he wants to take Harry’s bait. Did you see how his eyes lit up when Harry offered him half the crown revenues? I’d wager he’s already planning how to spend the money. He and Louis are together in the solar now, and if he has any doubts, you may be sure Louis will argue them away.”
“He does not have a brain in that handsome head of his, does he?” Hugh said bitterly. “Does he not realize that-Wait, there’s Geoffrey!”
Geoffrey looked startled to see both his great-uncles bearing down upon him with such haste; he hadn’t realized men their age could move so fast. When Raoul demanded to know if he was willing to accept his father’s offer, he did not answer at once; he was learning to be wary even with family. He’d talked it over with Hal and he was leaning toward acceptance, for he knew that he could not hope for more than Henry had offered, not at fifteen. He also knew that these men would not be happy to hear that, and so he temporized, saying only, “I admit it is tempting, but I have not made up my mind.”
His evasion did not work, though, for they began to berate him for his indecision, but then Raoul spotted Richard coming around the corner of the mews. They immediately called out his name, hurrying to intercept him. Geoffrey was forgotten, but he was accustomed to being utterly overshadowed by his elder brothers, and he chose to overlook the slight and follow them, sure that this would be a conversation he ought to hear.
Richard had halted, although he made no attempt to meet them halfway. As soon as they’d reached him, Raoul put to him the question he’d just demanded of Geoffrey. Richard answered readily. “No, I am not willing. He offered money, and much more than I expected, but only money. Nor did he make any mention of my mother and the part she played in the rebellion.”
Raoul heaved a great, gusty sigh. “Thank God Jesus that someone else noticed that! His offer is a bribe, a lavish, tempting bribe, but a bribe all the same. It is a bribe, though, that your brother seems willing to take. He and Louis are meeting even as we speak, laying their plans for the morrow-”
“Where?”
When Raoul said the solar, Richard spun around and headed across the bailey, so swiftly that the others were hard pressed to keep up with him. The great hall was crowded, and several intense discussions were going on, the most heated one led by the Count of Dreux, Louis’s volatile younger brother. Robert was gesturing emphatically, his face a mottled shade of red, and those gathered around him seemed to be in agreement, for they were nodding and murmuring among themselves. The Earl of Leicester was pacing back and forth by the open hearth. As soon as he saw Richard, he swerved toward him.
“Richard! We need to talk. Your father said nothing about your allies. If you make peace with him, what happens to me or Hugh of Chester?”
Richard brushed by him as if he’d not spoken, and plunged into the stairwell. Taking the stairs two at a time, he did not pause before the solar door, shoved it open, with Raoul and Hugh on his heels and Geoffrey a few steps behind. Louis and Hal were seated at a trestle table with Henri of Blois, the Count of Champagne, his brother Etienne, the Count of Sancerre, and Louis’s youngest brother, the Archbishop of Rheims. There were other men there, too, but Richard did not know their names, clerks and priests who labored anonymously for the French king since his chancellor had resigned the year before. They turned startled faces toward the door as Richard burst into the chamber.
“I am sorry I am late. The messenger you sent to fetch me must have gotten waylaid or lost. Surely you did send someone to find me, for this is as much my decision as it is Hal’s.”
It did not take much effort for Louis to imagine those barbed words coming from Henry’s mouth. He was genuinely fond of Hal, but he’d never warmed to Richard, and he realized now how easily that indifference could turn into active dislike. Forcing a smile, he said, “Come in, Richard. I assure you that we were not trying to keep anything from you.”
Richard ignored him as completely as Henry had done just hours earlier. “Hal, is it true you mean to accept the offer?”
Hal was irked by his peremptory tone. He chose to let it go, though, for too much was at stake for their usual brotherly squabbles. “If he’d made this offer to me at Christmas, I’d never have rebelled. So, yes, I am accepting it. Why would I not?”
“I can understand that you’d not want to be burdened with any real authority. Having to govern would interfere with your tournament time. But did you spare even a thought for our mother’s safety?”
Angry color scorched Hal’s skin. “Of course I did! That was the first thing my father-by-marriage and I discussed. He pointed out that she has not taken an active part in the rebellion. All that our father knows for certes is that she let you and Geoffrey go to Paris with me, and that is easily explained. If I assure him that she did not know of my plans, that none of it was her doing, I am sure-”
“Christ on the Cross! I cannot believe we came from the same womb, for you do not have the sense God gave a goat!”
Hal shoved his chair back, coming quickly to his feet. “How dare you-”
“Enough!” Raoul shouted, loudly enough to drown out Hal’s outraged response. “If you do not want to hear it from Richard, hear it from me, then, Hal. You know I have a spy at your father’s court. He has reported that Harry does not believe you or your brothers would have rebelled if you’d not been beguiled into it, and he has no doubt who bears the responsibility-the French king and your mother. He does not just think she aided and abetted you. He is convinced that she was the instigator, for as long as he can blame Eleanor, he need not blame himself.”
“You exaggerate,” Louis said sharply. “I have spies, too, at his court, Hal, and they tell me something quite different.”
Hal looked from Louis to Raoul to Richard, then back to his father-in-law. “If my mother is to bear the blame for this-”
He got no further, for the door banged open again. This time the intruder was Louis’s brother Robert. His suspicions flared as soon as he saw Henry’s sons, and he glowered at Louis. “What is going on up here? Why are we not discussing this in council, Louis?”
Louis glared back at him. “It is not for you to question me, my lord count,” he said coldly, making use of his brother’s title as a pointed reminder of their respective status as sovereign and subject. “It was my intent to summon them once I’d spoken with my son-in-law.”
Robert was not impressed by Louis’s assumption of kingly authority. “I am gladdened to hear that,” he said, and smirked. “I shall go back to the hall and tell the others that we are about to hold a council meeting.” And he exited the solar before Louis could stop him. Louis was furious, but Robert had maneuvered him into a corner and he saw no other option than to hold a council. Rising, he gathered his dignity about him as if he were donning robes of state, and strode from the solar. The others were quick to follow.
Raoul lingered behind, though, and stepped in front of the Count of Champagne as he started toward the door. Henri of Blois and his brother Thibault were the most influential of Louis’s lords, his sons-in-law by their marriages to his daughters by Eleanor, Marie and Alix, and brothers-in-law by his marriage to their sister, Adele.
