Winter Song by Roberta Gellis Read Free Book Online

the dowager Countess of Béarn and her son, whom it would
have been difficult for King Henry to ignore, since the countess was his wife’s
grandmother, “can it be pure accident that the moment Theobold begins to
threaten, Gaston does also?”
    “They are longtime enemies, but of course it is not an
accident. It is natural enough for a sneaking cur to snap only at the helpless.”
    “Could it be that Queen Blanche is stirring both Theobold
and Gaston?” Alys asked. “I have heard that Theobold was quite…quite enamored
of her. Louis would not break a truce, no, but Blanche would not care a pin for
that, and very likely she would not let Louis know what she was doing. And even
if he knew, Louis might look the other way. I believe—Papa has said so very
often—that Louis really desires all the lands on the Continent that speak the
French tongue to be under French dominion.”
    “That is true enough,” James said. “He has swallowed Anjou
and Poitou, setting his brother Alphonse to rule them.”
    Alys shrugged. “It has brought peace, at least.”
    “Perhaps, but that will not recommend Louis’s rule to the
Gascons,” James said bitterly. “They do not desire peace and good governance.
They love Henry because he is far away and does not interfere in their constant
warring. But some will side with Theobold just because they have private
enemies they wish to attack who claim to be loyal to King Henry. However, when
that private war is over, they will break their faith with the king of Navarre
as quickly as they have taken sides with him.”
    “I think you speak the truth,” a new male voice agreed. Alys
looked up and smiled a welcome at her father, and her companion bowed. “What
brings you here from Wales, James?” Sir William asked.
    “More bad news, really bad,” James said, his face darkening
still further. “Ralph and Mortimer have been cut to pieces, Hereford’s men have
been driven back nearly to the border, and the army the king sent with Hubert
Fitz Matthew was taken by surprise and forced to take refuge in the towns after
suffering heavy losses.”
    “Oh God,” William groaned. “Richard will spit blood over
this. He has already quarreled with Henry because the king would not take the
full army from Scotland to Wales.”
    “No,” James said, “he knows what happened already. I went to
him at once, as soon as I left the king. Lord Richard was angry, of course, but
he told me to hold my tongue so that the news should not draw attention from de
Molis’s need.” James smiled and added, “I know he does not mean to keep
anything from you, sir. Lord Richard said there would be no trouble gathering
an army to fight the Welsh, but as soon as the barons knew of the defeats in
Wales, they would use that as an excuse not to give help to Gascony.”
    “They do not need any excuse for that,” Sir William pointed
out caustically, “and if it were not for the fact that I have a private reason
to wish Gascony quiet and well ruled, I would agree with all my heart. The
devil should be given every chance to fly away with that whole province.”
    “You cannot mean that, William,” a soft voice reproved. “Where
would you get your wine if Bordeaux fell into the devil’s hands?”
    “This is my wife, Lady Elizabeth,” Sir William said, as Sir
James bowed to a tall, graceful woman with large green eyes. “I would drink ale
instead,” he replied to her remark, smiling.
    “Perhaps,” Elizabeth sighed, “but then I would have to
listen to you complain about it.” Her voice was so soft and her smile so sweet
that what might have been a bitter gibe became an intimate caress. William
laughed, but Elizabeth shook her head. “I think it more reasonable, especially
in view of our private reasons to wish for peace in Gascony, to try to think of
some way to help.”
    “Easier said than done,” William said with a shrug, but he
narrowed his eyes in thought as he looked down at Alys. “Raymond has