The She Wolf of France by Maurice Druon Read Free Book Online Page A

daughters whose marriages had been a continual source of anxiety to this turbulent, amb itious and prodigal prince, who inevitably used his children for the promotion of his vast intrigues. The seven daughters were by three different marriages for Monseigneur Charles, during the course of his restless life, had suffered the misfortune of twice becoming a widower.
    You needed a clear mind not to lose your way amid this complicated family tree, to know, for instance, when Madame Jeanne of Valois was mentioned, whether the Countess of Hainaut was meant or the Countess of Beaumont, the wife of Robert of Artois. Just to help matters, the two girls had the same name. As for Catherine, heiress to the phantom throne of Constantinople, who was by the second marriage, she had wedded in the person of Philip of Tarantum, Prince of Achaia, an elder brother of her father's first wife. It was, indeed, something of a puzzle!
    And now Monseigneur Charles was proposing that the elder daughter of his third marriage should wed his great-nephew of England.
    At the beginning of the year, Monseigneur of Valois had sent a mission consisting of Count Henry de Sully, Raoul Sevain de Jouy and Robert Bertrand, known as the `Knight of the Green Lion . To curry favour w ith Edward II , these ambassadors had accompanied him on an expedition against the Scots; but, at the Battle of Blackmore, the En glish had fled and allowed the French ambassadors to fall into the hands of the enemy. Their freedom had had to be negotiated and their ransoms paid. When, at last, after a number of unpleasant adventures, they had been released, Edward had replied, evasively and dilatorily, that his son's marriage could not be decided on so quickly, that the matter was of such great importance that he could make no contract without the advice of his Parliament, and that Parliament would be summoned to discuss the matter in June. He wished to link this affair with the homage he was due to pay the King of France for the Duchy of Aquitaine. And then, when Parliament had at last been convoked, the question had not even' been discussed.
    In his impatience, Monseigneur of Valois had taken the first opportunity of sending over the Count de Bouville, whose devotion to the Capet family was undoubted and who, though lacking in genius, had considerable experience of similar missions. In the past, Bouville had negotiated in Naples, on the instructions of Valois himself, the second marriage of Louis X with Clemence of Hungary; he had been Curator of the Quee n's stomach after the Hutin's death, but that was not a period he cared to recall. He had also carried out a number of negotiations in Avignon with the Holy See; and in matters concerning family relationships his memory was faultless, he knew all the infinitely complex interweavings that formed the web of the royal houses' alliances. Honest Bouville was much v exed at having to go back this time with empty hands.
    `Monseigneur of Valois will be very angry indeed,' he said, `since he has already asked the Holy Father for a licence for this marriage.'
    `I've done all I can, Bouville,' the Queen said, `and you can judge from that what weight I carry here. But I do not regret it as much as you do; I do not want another princess of my family to suffer what I have suffered here.'
    `Madame,' Bouville replied, lowering his voice still further, `do you doubt your son? He seems to take after you rather than after his father, thank God. I remembe r you at his age, in the garden of the Palace of the Cite, or at Fontainebleau. ..'
    He was interrupted. The door opened to give entrance to the King of England. He hurried in; his head was thrown back and he was stroking his blond beard with a nervous gesture which, in him, was a sign of irritation, He was followed by his usual councillors, the two Despensers, father and son, Chancellor Baldock, the Earl of Arundel and the Bishop of Exeter. The King's two half- brothers, the Earls of, Kent and Norfolk,