Henry grimaced. ‘This commission … I shall need to speak to the Queen and others and send the chosen men as soon as it may be arranged. I shall write to your brother too. He is not directly involved, but a neighbour all the same.’
‘I could go,’ William offered. ‘I know Gascony well.’
‘No. I want you here with me. You are staunch family and I trust you above anyone. There are others who can fulfil the task of finding the truth.’ His face wore a haunted look. ‘All I want is peace, and all I receive is war and strife and discord.’
The commission’s findings against Simon de Montfort were damning, but in the three months that de Montfort had spent in England he had grown a fine crop of supporters among both the clergy and the barons who considered the King weak and who viewed the Gascon deputation as foreign troublemakers – sly, underhand liars who deserved what they received. De Montfort, in their eyes, was a man doing his best in trying circumstances. The findings and testimony of his accusers were hearsay, and who could trust a Gascon to speak the truth? Besides, there were two sides to every story. Each tale of atrocity had a counter-claim of insurrection and rebellion. De Montfort’s oratory, his powerful standing and exemplary military reputation gave him the advantage. The claims of the Gascons were viewed as cunning trumpery. Many believed the King was playing out a grudge against de Montfort and was treating him shabbily.
‘Why should I not act as I have done?’ de Montfort demanded, standing again before Henry, now at Westminster. ‘The King gave me a contract to govern Gascony for six years. He ordered me to put down uprisings and crush rebellious vassals. He was supposed to give me aid and guidance, but not one iota have I received.’ He looked disdainfully at Henry. ‘Keep your promise to me and your agreement, or repay me all the money I have expended in your service to the impoverishment of my estates.’
‘I make no bargains with traitors,’ Henry replied furiously. ‘I know well that you would supplant my authority. It is fully permitted for a man to break his contract with a false partner who deals in shame.’
De Montfort took a step towards him. ‘Were it not for your kingship I would crush you for what you have said to me.’
‘And I will see you in the Tower for this!’
Henry looked round to command his guards. William prepared to step forward again, but the King’s brother Richard intervened, gripping Henry’s shoulder. ‘Brother, if you do this, there is no going back. I counsel caution. Let us all be calm.’ He sent a warning look to William, who eased back.
Henry glared at de Montfort. ‘You speak of the perfidy of foreigners at court, but I should never have permitted you to enter England all those years ago or have given you land and honour and my sister to wife. I will hear no more!’ Henry stormed out of the gathering, his face white with rage.
‘I swear I shall have him in the Tower, I swear!’ Henry shouted to Richard and William as he strode around his chamber, picking things up, putting them down.
‘It would avail you nothing and bring war to the kingdom,’ Richard said with exasperation. ‘De Montfort has too many supporters for you to do such a thing with impunity.’ He held up his hand as William started to protest. ‘The judgement will find in his favour, I can tell you that now, and you will have to agree to it. You asked him to govern Gascony. He has done so after his own fashion. It may not be your fashion and he may have overstepped his bounds, but he has not been as faithless as you say he has. It is because he browbeats you. It is because you are two very different men. And yet, you are brothers by marriage.’
‘Would that such a thing had never come about,’ Henry said bitterly.
‘You agreed to it,’ Richard said pointedly.
‘Only because he had seduced and bedded our sister, and because my heart was moved by the love she had for him. I admit I was a fool.’
‘And now you are saddled,’
Henry paced the room and chewed his thumb. ‘What options do I have?’
‘Well, you cannot throw him in the Tower of London, that much is for certain. You could pay him off.’
‘Money,’ Henry said with exasperation, lifting his hands. ‘It is always about money, especially with the Earl of Leicester. My treasury is not a bottomless pit. Indeed, it is an empty purse half the time.’
‘Men might say it is because you spend it on luxuries and beautifying cathedrals.’
‘Better than spending it on war and strife,’ Henry snapped.
Richard shrugged. ‘You asked what options you had. You can pay him and send him back to Gascony or you can terminate his contract, but you will have to pay him to do that too. What you cannot do is throw him in the Tower.’
Henry grunted and paced. ‘I shall go to Gascony myself.’ He looked meaningfully at William. ‘I have loyal men who will do my bidding gladly. Edward is swiftly growing to adulthood. It will only be until he is ready to take on the role.’
‘But again, you will need money if you choose that route, and it may be difficult to get the lords to pay for it.’
Henry continued to walk back and forth. Usually he did his thinking at prayer and in stillness; this agitation was a different beast, forced out of him by the intensity of the circumstances. ‘Nevertheless,’ he said stubbornly, ‘something must be done.’
Joanna stood beside William on the wall of the Tower of London and looked out over the river. The tide washed brackish green water up the estuary. Their two-year-old son perched on William’s shoulders and bounced with excitement. A crowd had gathered to watch the King’s white bear fishing for salmon in the river. The keeper had attached a harness to the creature to prevent it from escaping as it swam in the choppy water, refreshing itself and, in sudden flashes of silver, catching fish.
‘Look, Papa, look!’ Iohan shouted as the bear swam into the shingle shore with its latest catch and proceeded to devour it. Water streamed from its fur, melting its outline, before the bear shook itself, flinging a spray of droplets.
Joanna smiled, watching her son’s vivid excitement. The bear had been a gift to Henry from the King of Norway. She marvelled at its massive paws and its great head. John and Aliza had accompanied them to see the spectacle with their daughter, Alienor. Joanna had left baby Agnes with her nurse.
‘What a creature,’ Aliza said. ‘Henry is very proud of it, but it is more a spectacle for the people than for him. He has seen it once or twice, that is all.’
‘I suppose he has had other matters to concern him,’ Joanna replied.
