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

floor.’
    Margot laughed. ‘As you do with your compliments.’
    She noticed that he seemed almost to be blushing, yet he was a true gentleman: chivalrous, charming and handsome. ‘I feel sure, monsieur, that you and I will be great friends.’
    They became very much more than that. Soon it was the handsome Turenne occupying her bed, and he showed far more grace in it than did her own husband. The Court of Nérac was awash with gossip concerning the respective love affairs of both the King and Queen. The tittle-tattle did not trouble Margot in the slightest, only served to amuse her, and she paid no attention to the narrow minded bigots.
    What amazed everyone the most was the complete lack of jealousy or discord between the couple, as they each enjoyed their respective dalliances without let or hinder. Navarre with Fosseuse, who, because of her lack of experience in court etiquette was assisted by Margot’s maid Xaintes, herself a former mistress of the King; and Margot with Turenne, all of them great friends together. A right royal tangle!
    Only la petite Tignonville showed any sign of jealousy, poor child, stuck with a fat old husband and now out of favour with the King.
    To Margot, the situation was perfectly straightforward. If her husband felt free to take lovers, why should not the same rules apply to her? She would enjoy her liaison with Turenne for a time, as his charm, good looks, and devotion to her were really most diverting. She would be completely faithful to him, as she was to all her lovers, for as long as the affair lasted. Not that she could ever love him truly, of course. Her heart would ever belong to Guise.
     
    In Paris, at the salon of the Duchesse de Montpensier, Guise’s sister, the most eloquent, wealthy and powerful men of the day were made welcome. These included Nevers, Cheverny, Mayenne, and others involved in attempting to overthrow the dynasty of the Valois. She would recline upon her couch, due to a slight lameness, and applaud their daring, her contempt for the King all too evident. Madame de Montpensier’s husband had been one of Admiral Coligny’s sworn enemies. She too was a zealot, fiercely Catholic, known as the Fury of the League, and had no good word to say for Henri Trois as she denounced the debauchery and dissipation of his court.
    Her brother, standing close by, could only agree. ‘We cannot allow this situation to go on indefinitely, or the nation will be bankrupt, if not by his profligacy, then by war.’
    An impressive figure with his fair, curled hair, his beard neatly trimmed, and eyes bright with passion and ambition, those present never failed to listen with respect to every word Guise spoke. Even the scar he now carried, like his father before him, seemed to mark him as a man to follow and revere, and he now bore the same name, Le Balafré .
    ‘ Vive Guise !’ were words called out to him whenever he went about in the city.
    ‘The people would rise up and follow you, brother. They are weary of being exploited, their hard earned money used merely to feather the fancy nests of Henri’s mignons . He is giving away bishoprics now to Epernon and Joyeuse, and they are selling them for a fortune. He’s even talking of procuring a rich bride for each of these favourites. I dread to think what the cost of such a wedding would be.’
    Guise winced, giving a growl of anger deep in his throat. ‘Yet the King gives no thought to the needs of the realm, to the steady progress being made by the Huguenots. He may parade through the streets as a penitent, but it’s all smoke and mirrors with no substance to his beliefs. For all he claims to be a good Catholic, he thinks only of his own dissolute fops, his lap dogs and his extravagant gowns. Dear God, what an affliction the Valois have been upon France. There hasn’t been one good male in the entire bunch that Catherine de Medici produced.’
    ‘Have you heard anything lately from her daughter, the Queen of Navarre?’ the