BooksBarbecue
Back The Lady of the Rivers Save as PDF
Contents ( 61)
  1. The Lady of the Rivers
  2. CASTLE OF BEAUREVOIR, NEAR ARRAS, FRANCE,
  3. ROUEN, FRANCE,
  4. CASTLE OF ST POL, ARTOIS,
  5. PARIS, FRANCE,
  6. CASTLE OF CALAIS, FRANCE,
  7. WESTMINSTER PALACE, LONDON,
  8. PENSHURST,
  9. PARIS, FRANCE,
  10. GISORS, FRANCE,
  11. ROUEN, FRANCE,
  12. ENGLAND,
  13. GRAFTON, NORTHAMPTONSHIRE,
  14. WESTMINSTER PALACE, LONDON,
  15. GRAFTON, NORTHAMPTONSHIRE,
  16. LONDON,
  17. WESTMINSTER PALACE, LONDON,
  18. GRAFTON, NORTHAMPTONSHIRE,
  19. NANCY, FRANCE,
  20. TITCHFIELD ABBEY, HAMPSHIRE,
  21. LONDON,
  22. WESTMINSTER PALACE, LONDON,
  23. WESTMINSTER PALACE, LONDON,
  24. GRAFTON, NORTHAMPTONSHIRE,
  25. LONDON,
  26. GRAFTON, NORTHAMPTONSHIRE,
  27. PLYMOUTH,
  28. GRAFTON, NORTHAMPTONSHIRE,
  29. LONDON,
  30. THE WEST OF ENGLAND,
  31. GRAFTON, NORTHAMPTONSHIRE,
  32. PALACE OF PLACENTIA, GREENWICH, LONDON,
  33. THE TOWER OF LONDON,
  34. GRAFTON, NORTHAMPTONSHIRE,
  35. CLARENDON PALACE, WILTSHIRE,
  36. WESTMINSTER PALACE, LONDON,
  37. WESTMINSTER PALACE, LONDON,
  38. WINDSOR CASTLE,
  39. WINDSOR CASTLE,
  40. THE PALACE OF PLACENTIA, GREENWICH, LONDON,
  41. HERTFORD CASTLE,
  42. GROBY HALL, LEICESTERSHIRE,
  43. HERTFORD CASTLE,
  44. WESTMINSTER PALACE, LONDON,
  45. GRAFTON, NORTHAMPTONSHIRE,
  46. KENILWORTH CASTLE, WARWICKSHIRE,
  47. ROCHESTER CASTLE, KENT,
  48. WESTMINSTER PALACE, LONDON,
  49. WESTMINSTER PALACE, LONDON,
  50. ON CAMPAIGN,
  51. SANDWICH, KENT, AND CALAIS,
  52. COVENTRY,
  53. NORTHAMPTON,
  54. GRAFTON, NORTHAMPTONSHIRE,
  55. GRAFTON, NORTHAMPTONSHIRE,
  56. ON THE MARCH,
  57. ST ALBANS,
  58. YORK,
  59. GRAFTON, NORTHAMPTONSHIRE,
  60. AUTHOR’S NOTE
  61. BIBLIOGRAPHY

‘I don’t think my lord will be able to rest in the country,’ he says. ‘He will have to meet with the king and persuade him to give him men and arms to continue the campaigns in France. He will have to explain the campaign to parliament to get their support. He will have to deal with his brother, Duke Humphrey, and their uncle, Cardinal Beaufort. He has much to do.’

‘And the king, Henry, will I see him? What is he like?’

He smiles. ‘A very young man still, almost a boy, he is only twelve years old. You will have a state entry into London. The duke is a very great man in England as in France, and the young king will greet you.’ He smiles again. ‘I should think you will like him, he is a charming boy, and he . . .’ He gives a little laugh, almost as if he is embarrassed. ‘I should think he will adore you. He will never have seen anyone quite like you. You will be the most beautiful wond England as well as the greatest.’

WESTMINSTER PALACE, LONDON,

SUMMER 1433

The young king is a disappointment to me. I have no experience of kings since my own county of Luxembourg is not a royal one, my father is a count, our overlords are the Dukes of Burgundy (though they are richer and more powerful than anyone in France) and the last French king, who was said to be most tragically mad, died when I was only a little girl, before I could see him. So I am counting on much from the English boy-king. I hope to see a youth who is the small mirror of his heroic father. After all, my husband’s life is devoted to making this king safe in his lands in France. We are both sworn to his service. I am expecting a great being: something halfway between a boy and a god.

Not so. I first see him on our entry into London when we go through the City gates to the sound of singing choirs, and the cheering of the citizens. My husband is an old friend to the people of London, and I am a novelty they delight to see. The men bellow approval of my youth and looks and the women blow me kisses. The London merchants depend upon trade with the English lands in France and my husband is well known for holding the lands in the keeping of England. The merchants and their wives and their households turn out to greet us and show our standards from their overhanging windows. The Mayor of London has prepared poems and pageants to greet us; in one tableau there is a beautiful mermaid who promises good health, fertility, and ever-flowing waters of happiness. My lord duke holds my hand and bows to the crowd and looks proud of me as they call my name and shout blessings on me.

‘The Londoners love a pretty girl,’ he says to me. ‘I will have their favour forever while you keep your looks.’