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

Hubert de Burgh. The Tower of London was in Hubert’s hands, and he had resided there a good deal of the time, but now he built a palatial residence that he called Whitehall on a valuable piece of property close to Westminster. He was castellan of every important castle in England—Dover, Canterbury, Rochester, and Norwich. The king gave into his care the great towns of Carmarthen, Cardigan, and Montgomery along the Welsh border. He was sheriff of seven counties that oversaw everything from inquests to tax collection and the revenues came into his enormous purse.
    The barons grumbled louder. Hubert blithely ignored them and provided Henry with money to build additions to the Tower of London. They added the Water Gate, the Cradle Tower where Hubert’s baby daughter resided, and The Lantern, a new bedchamber for Hubert with a magnificent view of the river. It kept the king’s mind from the frustration of his wedding plans. First he had been turned down by the Austrian princess and then by the Princess of Bohemia. He was now considering the Princess of Provence and asked his brother Richard to go and take a look at her, for he was a connoisseur of beautiful women.
    When he realized that his reputation for being tightfisted was ruining his chances for procuring a bride, Henry made an effort to pay the dowry still owed to Germany. In return his brother-in-law, the Emperor of Germany,
gifted
him with three leopards. With them came the idea to create a menagerie at the Tower of London.
    * * *
    Being the premier Marcher Lord of Wales kept William Marshal busy, and the de Burgh twins soon learned that the Welsh were every bit the wild barbarians that the Irish were. William owned vast holdings in Wales. His principal county of Pembroke overlooking the Irish Sea was administered by Welshmen totally loyal to him. The twins were greatly impressed by William’s Welsh archers and immediately took lessons to become proficient with the longbow. They were able to inspect their father’s castles of Mountain Ash, Skenfrith, and Llantilio. Their uncle Hubert, whom they had favorably impressed, asked them to inspect his new acquisitions at Cardigan and Carmarthen and to give him full reports on the strongholds.
    Within the first year they had earned their knighthoods; within the second they had Welsh castles of their own to command. The high craggy cliffs of the County of Pembroke were only a spitting distance across St. George’s Channel from William Marshal’s Irish holdings in Leinster, and it was nothing for these rugged men to quell an uprising in Ireland and put down insurgence in Wales within the same month.
    It was years before Rickard and Mick de Burgh finally set foot in London. Because they were closely connected to Hubert and were among William Marshal’s best captains, Henry welcomed them with open arms, hoping to lure them into his own service.
    The king insisted his newly returned marshal must see the improvements he had made to the Tower of London. When he arrived Henry and his old comrade-in-arms Hubert proudly gave him the grand tour. Hubert had just shown off his little daughter Megotta in her Cradle Tower, then urged William to visit the menagerie.
    As the men descended the stone steps, they saw a barge had just arrived at the Water Gate. Richard, Duke of Cornwall, helped a breathtaking creature adorned in red velvet edged with sable down the gangplank.
    “Who is the ravishing beauty Richard is courting?” William asked with appreciation.
    The king’s high-pitched laugh caused the new arrivals to glance up. “William,” Henry said with a laugh, “that is your wife.”
    Eleanor waved to Henry and called, “We’ve come to see the elephant.” Then her eyes fell on the broad shoulders of the man beside him and her hand flew to her throat. “William,” she whispered.
    The river breezes snatched his name from her lips and carried it up to the stunned observer. All the other people seemed to recede. He was vaguely