The Red Rose of Anjou by Jean Plaidy Read Free Book Online Page B

they must herald some important event, so Margaret went to the meeting in a state of excitement mingled with trepidation.
    She curtsied to her grandmother aware that those alert eyes watched every movement and that it would be noted if the curtsey was anything but perfect.
    ‘Come here, child,’ said Yolande, and when Margaret approached, she took her hand and bade her sit on a stool at her feet.
    ‘I have bad news,’ she said.
    Margaret wanted to cry out for she thought of her father at once, then almost immediately afterwards of her mother and brothers and sister.
    ‘Your uncle Louis is dead.’
    Great waves of relief swept over Margaret. Uncle Louis was a vague figure. She had never met him. She merely knew that he was her father’s eldest brother.
    ‘As you know, he was in Italy fighting for the crown of Naples which is his by rights.’
    Margaret said: ‘Yes, my lady.’
    ‘He died of a fever. He had a wife, Margaret like yourself, and the daughter of the Duke of Savoy, but they had no children. Do you see what this means?’
    Margaret knew that it was something to do with the crown of Naples. It was always some crown or castle which was the cause of controversy when someone died. So she guessed this was too.
    ‘It means that the crown of Naples will go to...’ began Margaret.
    ‘His nearest of kin. You are right,’ Yolande nodded with approval. ‘And who is the nearest of kin as he has no son and his wife cannot inherit? It is your father, René. Your father is now the King of Naples, Jerusalem and Sicily.’
    ‘But...he is in prison...’
    ‘That makes no difference. Your mother will now have to assert your father’s claim to Naples as he cannot do it himself.’
    ‘But he has not got it. He has to fight for it.’
    ‘You will learn that most things in this life have to be fought for, my child. What you have to understand is what this means to you . You are the daughter of a King now instead of being merely the daughter of a Duke. You are a Princess, Margaret.’
    ‘Oh,’ said Margaret overawed.
    ‘Pray close your mouth,’ said Yolande, ‘and always remember that you are royal.’
    ###
    In spite of becoming a Princess, Margaret found that life went on very much as it had before. She saw little of her grandmother who spent her time between the castle of Angers and that of Saumur. Margaret herself now and then travelled between these two castles for Angers was less than thirty miles from Saumur and easily accessible. Both castles were magnificent fortresses and if the English were to attempt to take them could withstand a long siege.
    Margaret was growing into a handsome girl. She was not tall but well formed, very slender and her features were well defined. She had beautiful blue eyes and a firm mouth.
    ‘It’ll not be difficult to find a husband for her,’ Theophanie confided to one of the attendants. ‘A Princess and even if her father has yet to regain his kingdom, she has looks enough to make some gallant young suitor forget that.’
    She was clever, too, said her teachers. She had a sharp wit and was growing up (Theophanie again) to be another such as her grandmother.
    Some would have liked to see her grow taller but Theophanie was not so sure. Petite women often had a way of getting what they wanted more easily than their larger sisters. They could be feminine and appealing when the need arose. Theophanie reckoned that Margaret had the best of both sides of the coin. She was going to be as strong-willed as her mother and grandmother and with her dainty looks she was going to appeal to the masculinity of the men she had to do battle with.
    All things considered, mused Theophanie, she would not have had her Princess any other than the way she was.
    Margaret had passed her ninth birthday when a great occasion occurred.
    She was at her lessons, as she was every morning, when a clatter in the courtyard announced the arrival of visitors. They must be friendly or the alert would have been