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

aware of Richard helping his sister Isabella Marshal from the barge, but William had eyes only for Eleanor. He was rooted to the spot so she came to him and sank into a graceful curtsy, which sent her velvet skirts billowing out across the gray stones. The crimson color made her seem so vibrantly alive, like an exotic bird of paradise captured for Henry’s menagerie and totally out of place in cold, gray London.
    “Well come, my lord,” she greeted him graciously in soft tones as her deep, sapphire-blue eyes shone with joy.
    “Splendor of God, Marshal, I bet you’re kicking yourself for wasting your time in Wales while your bride languishes for you in London.” Hubert de Burgh gave Eleanor a hearty buss on the cheek. “You are grown
into
a beautiful woman, my dear. You look exactly like your mother, who at one time was reputed to be the most beautiful woman in the world.”
    William had to stifle an urge to smash his old friend in the face. He had seen the startled shock on Eleanor’s face when de Burgh had handled her, and a rush of protective feeling almost overwhelmed him.
    Bluff Hubert kept at her. “How old are you now?” he asked, frankly assessing the swelling curves of her young breasts.
    “Fifteen, milord, an’ it please you,” she said breathlessly.
    “It would please any man with blood in his veins. Fifteen is just the perfect age for a bride, I always think.” He nudged William suggestively.
    Her lashes swept to her cheeks. She hoped William thought so too.
    “That is exactly the age of my bride-to-be, Eleanor of Provence,” the king announced. “We’ll celebrate. Tonight you shall all dine with me at Windsor and I will show you the new wing I’m having decorated for my queen.”
    William raised Eleanor’s hand to his lips and heard Richardsay “Lady Isabella, you must join us; you haven’t had a chance to visit with your brother in years.”
    Isabella blushed and moved forward to kiss William. He smiled at her warmly to thank her for the exceptional job she had done with his countess.
    Henry was all boyish enthusiasm as he showed them his menagerie. There were strange shaggy beasts known as buffalo, Barbary apes, lions, leopards, and finally the elephant. Henry insisted upon entering its cage to feed it an apple. “Look! Only look how it takes it to its mouth with its great trunk.”
    Hubert seemed quite tickled, but Richard caught the marshal’s eye and shrugged apologetically as if to say “When will he grow up?”
    Hubert was pleasantly surprised to be invited to dine with the king. Usually it was the other way about; Henry’s nobles and the wealthier London families were expected to wine, dine, and entertain their young monarch so his own household would not have to bear the expense.
    William Marshal looked on with amused tolerance as the king showed them a new diadem he had had designed for his queen-to-be, studded with precious gems at a cost of thousands of pounds. He had also ordered her a complete wardrobe with chaplets, rings, and jewel-encrusted girdles. Henry’s inconsistencies were unbelievable; he pinched pennies with one hand and spent lavishly with the other.
    A wedding date hadn’t even been set, but the Bishop of Lincoln had been dispatched with orders to finalize the arrangements no matter how small the dowry might be. Richard had just returned from Provence and had told Henry bluntly that its ruling family was penniless, although its princesses were every bit as lovely as they were reputed to be. He warned his brother that the Provençals were grasping and so wily they had just married one beautiful princess to Louis of France without providing a dowry at all.
    Henry, however, had set his mind on Eleanor, the princess they called “La Belle,” and nothing would alter it. The Plantagenets were very open in front of their justiciar and marshal, realizing the two kingmakers knew every detail of their lives since they’d been born anyway.
    “Where did the money for