The Dragon and the Jewel by Virginia Henley Read Free Book Online

for learning. She practiced her writing far into the night until her companions begged her to snuff the candles. The blotted pages she produced gave her such a disgust of herself that she doggedly persevered until her words flowed across the page in beautiful script. Only then did she begin to correspond with her beloved husband.
    She was superstitious about the name Eleanor, preferring to be addressed as Countess of Pembroke, but sometimes she went for weeks answering only to her second name, Kathe.
    She had a natural ability to learn languages. She soon mastered French, leaving her companions struggling far behind, while she studied Gaelic with one of the Irish nuns. She devoured history and developed a fascination for religion, realizing that the latter had played a paramount role along the path of history, shaping and molding it, sometimes for better, more often for worse. The Mother Superior of St. Bride’s began to visit with her, passing on theology and her wealth of nursing skills and knowledge of medicinal herbs. She was a stern, no-nonsense woman who scoffed at the physicians and the quacks who came to London in noisy droves. She pointed out to Eleanorthat only ignorance could account for hanging red curtains about the bed of a smallpox victim, placing coral in the mouth to cure heart problems, or hanging asses’ hoofs about the legs to cure gout.
    The rich were given powdered pearls, emerald dust, or finely ground gold, and Mother Superior told Eleanor in no uncertain terms the jewels would do the patient more good if they were donated to the church. Eleanor disagreed with Mother Superior on one point. The nun believed that all major ailments came from God and it was sacrilege to interfere, so the two of them enjoyed many lively arguments.
    She was soon allowed to be tutored by the Franciscan, Adam Marsh, whenever he visited with Henry. The learned monk soon realized Eleanor’s intellect put the king’s in the shade.
    She learned to play the harp and the lute and to imitate Lady Isabella Marshal’s exquisite manners and pretty gestures. William Marshal supplied them with the finest Thoroughbreds from Ireland and falcons and hawks from Wales, and whenever Richard returned from Cornwall, they joined him in the hunt.
    As Richard’s visits became more frequent, Lady Isabella had begged Eleanor never to leave the two alone. Eleanor realized Isabella loved Richard and sympathized with her lovely companion’s plight. Like her own love for William, it must remain unrequited. A lady’s reputation must be without blemish. In fact, the very first lesson Eleanor’s nuns and chaperons instilled in her was that, without virginity, a girl had no value for marriage. Her husband would repudiate her, ruining her, if he found her unpure.
    And so it was that the Countess of Pembroke grew into young womanhood with a vast knowledge of the world, yet not worldly in any way. She grew up innocent and ignorant of all venal matters. In fact, she was the antithesis of her mother at the same age. The only things Queen Isabella had passed along to her youngest child was her breathtaking beauty and an inordinate love of elegant, exquisite clothes in vibrant colors, encrusted with silvery thread or precious gems. Luckily her husband’s wealth allowed her the luxury of acquiring anything her heart desired.
    * * *
    The day Henry turned eighteen he called a special meeting of the council and presided over it. He announced he would assume the full powers of his kingship. Hubert de Burgh, who had been regent up to this day, wisely decided not to earn the king’s hatred by thwarting him. In return Henry made him Earl of Kent and told him to set about filling the royal coffers. As a result all owners of land and castles by royal patent were ordered to bring their proofs to Westminster to secure confirmation. A fee was charged and Henry stood to raise a hundred thousand pounds by this plan.
    The great barons of England were unhappy and blamed