The Reluctant Queen by Freda Lightfoot Read Free Book Online Page A

were I to fall enceinte , or of being soiled goods from losing my virginity, even to a king, if I already had a husband.’
    Henry looked at her in astonishment. ‘Is that the answer then? Is this what you have wished for all along? A husband. Why did you not say?’
    In truth, Jeanne had only recently reached this decision, prompted by her mother. Perhaps she’d secretly hoped that Henry would make her his queen, but now that Queen Margot was actually here, so beautiful and so regal, she’d come to see the impossibility of this dream.
    ‘He must be a man of distinction and wealth, a fine man.’ She dare not say handsome, in case the King took exception. ‘I feel I deserve some respectability.’
    Henry was on his feet in a second, almost as if he meant to dash away and find a candidate that instant. ‘It shall be done. You must have all your heart desires. If you wish for a husband, I will find you one.’
    The man chosen was Francois Leon Charles, Baron de Pardaillan and Count de Pangeas. Henry made him a councillor of state, a royal chamberlain, a knight of the King’s orders, a captain of fifty men-at-arms of the royal companies, commander of the regiment of Guienne and governor of Armagnac.
    ‘Is that respectable enough for you, little one?’
    Jeanne was shocked when first she saw her future husband, for he was fat and old with a grizzled beard, not at all what she had expected or hoped for. He was so big and ponderous that Princess Catherine nicknamed him the big buffalo.
    Fortunately, he was not expected to share her bed or behave as a husband to her, a task which was to be left entirely to the King. And la petite Tignonville proved to be far more accommodating now that she had become Countess de Pangeas, and slipped readily enough now into the King’s bed, where she let him do as he willed with her.
    Nor did her husband complain, for the new count appreciated that he was indebted to his wife for his rise in station. And the King would surely tire of her eventually. Pangeas was a patient man and willing to wait.
    Perhaps that day would come sooner than he’d hoped, as Henry felt just a little disappointed. Sad to say, once he’d tasted this much-longed for prize, la petite Tignonville seemed no different from any other woman. There was nothing Henry wanted more than what he couldn’t have, and in a very short time his visits to Jeanne’s bedchamber became less and less frequent, and his attention once more turned towards Fosseuse.
     
    The elders never dared to criticize their King for his affairs, accepting his infidelities as a natural weakness in a man. Even Aubigné remained passionately loyal to his sovereign. He said not a word as Navarre paid court to his many ladies – to Dayelle in Pau, to la petite Tignonville, and to Fosseuse – as he was well accustomed to the many amours he’d enjoyed in the past.
    He was less indulgent of the Queen of Navarre, who refused to adopt the patient fortitude expected in a wife, as the stoic Jeanne d’Albret had shown when faced with the same dilemma. He strongly disapproved of the fact that the new queen played her husband at his own game. The fact that she too acquired a lover was anathema to the Puritan elders of Nérac.
    Navarre himself had introduced Henri de La Tour, Viscount de Turenne to Margot, and it was obvious from their first meeting that there was an instant attraction between the two. His eyes sparkled with a familiar challenge and Margot was instantly fascinated.
    ‘Have I not seen you about court when you were in France, Monsieur?’ she asked, glancing up at him from beneath her lashes, noting how his gaze swept over her with very evident admiration.
    ‘Indeed, I am flattered you should remember.’
    ‘You were a comrade of my younger brother, Alençon, were you not?’
    ‘We were with the Politiques together for a time, that is true. I remember you at the evening balls, Your Majesty. You always showed great skill on the dance