The She Wolf of France

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

Book: The She Wolf of France by Maurice Druon Read Free Book Online
Authors: Maurice Druon
who had French blood since their mother was the sister of Philip the Fair, formed part of his entourage, but rather against their will so it seemed; and this was also true of Henry of Leicester. The last was a square-looking man, with bright, rather protruding eyes, who was nicknamed `Crouchback' owing to a malformation of the neck and shoulders which compelled him to hold his neck completely askew, and gave the arm ourers who had to forge his cui rasses a good deal of difficulty. A number of ecclesiastics and local dignitaries also pressed into the doorway.
    `Have you heard the news, Madame?' cried King Edward, addressing the Queen. `It will doubtless please you. Your Mortimer has escaped from the Tower.'
    Lady Despenser, at the chessboard, gave a start and uttered an exclamation of indignation as if the Baron of Wigmore's escape were a personal insult.
    Queen Isabella gave no sign, either by altering her attitude or expression; only her eyelids blinked a little more rapidly over her beautiful blue eyes, and her hand, beneath the folds of her dress, furtively sought that of Lady Jeanne Mortimer, as if encouraging her to be strong and calm. Fat Bouville had got to his feet and moved a little apart, feeling himself unwanted in this matter which purely concerned the English Crown.
    'He is not my Mortimer, Sire,' replied the Queen. `Lord Mortimer is your subject, I should have thought, rather than mine; and I am not accountable for the actions of your barons. You kept him in prison; he has escaped; it's the common form.'
    `And that shows you approve him! Don't restrain your joy, Madam. In the days when Mortimer deigned to appear at my Court, you had no eyes except for him; you were continually extolling his merits, and you have always put down the crimes he has committed against me to his greatness of soul.'
    'But was it not you, yourself Sir e, my husband, who taught me to love him at the time he was conquering, on your behalf and at the peril of his life, the Kingdom of Ireland, which indeed you had great difficulty in holding without him? Was that a crime? '7
    Put out of countenance by this attack, Edward looked spitefully at his wife and found some difficulty in replying.
    `"Well, your friend's on the run now, running hard towards your country, no doubt!'
    As he talked, the King was walking, up, and down the room, working off his useless agitation. The jewels hanging from his clothes quivered at every step he took. The rest of the company followed him with their eyes, turning their heads from side to side, as if they were watching a game of tennis. There was no doubt that King Edward was a fine-looking man, muscular, lithe and alert. He kept himself fit with games and exercises and had so far resisted any tendency to stoutness though his fortieth birthday was close at hand; he had an athlete's constitution. But if you looked closer, you were struck by the fact that his forehead was utterly unlined, as if the anxieties of power had failed to mark him, by the pouches beginning to form beneath his eyes, by the uncertain line of the curve of the nostril, and by the long chin beneath the thin, curled beard. It was not an energetic or author itative chin, nor even a really sensual one, but merely too big and too elongated a chin. There was twenty times more determination in the Queen's little chin than there was in this ovoid jaw whose weakness the silky beard could not conceal. And the hand he passed from time to time across his face was flaccid; it fluttered aimlessly and then tugged at a pearl sewn to the embroidery of his tunic. His voice, which he hoped and believed was imperious, merely suggested lack of control. His back, which was wide enough, curved unpleasantly from the neck to the waist, as if the spine lacked substance. Edward had never forgiven his wife for having one day advised him to avoid showing his back if he wished to gain the respect of his barons. His knee was shapely and his leg well turned; indeed, these

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