Tears pricked Joanna’s eyes at the rejection and unfairness. ‘If I could mend this, I would,’ she said.
‘Oh, don’t start sniffling.’
‘I’m not, madam.’
Alienor sighed and held her hand. ‘Oh, in God’s name, it is not really your fault, save that you should have worked harder to bring your husband into the fold as I exhorted you when you married him. I had better expectations from you than this. Never mind. I want you to be very careful what you say to him from now on. I don’t want every conversation held in my chamber to be carried back to him. Do you understand?’
The Queen’s words stunned Joanna, but they also dried her tears. ‘Yes, madam,’ she said with rigid dignity. ‘I understand, but I want you to know I have never carried your conversations back to my husband, nor ever would. May I have your leave to depart to my sister-in-law’s confinement?’
‘You may,’ Alienor said frostily. ‘There is nothing for you in my household after all. I think it for the best.’
Joanna curtseyed and left. She had done all she could, but her stomach was knotted with grief and she was heartsick.
The Queen departed the court within the hour with her baggage train and the King remained shut in his chamber and did not bid her farewell. Joanna set out for Lewes with a heavy spirit.
‘Be very careful,’ she said to William. ‘It is not good to have the Queen against you. Do not antagonise her further, for it is not just your head at stake, but mine.’
‘Of course,’ he said, far too nonchalantly for her liking.
‘I mean it, William.’
‘I will do what is right for all of us,’ he replied with laboured patience. ‘I will not say “do not worry” because it is futile, but I will not let you down … I promise, Joanna.’
He always promised, but she had learned that his promises were not rock solid when faced with a wall of circumstance even if he meant them at the time. She held her tongue on bitter words that would only worsen the situation.
He kissed the children and handed them into the cart. ‘Be good for your mother,’ he told Iohan. ‘I will see you soon when you return at Christmas.’
The cart lurched forward and Joanna waved farewell to William before leaning back against the travelling cushions and closing her eyes. She pressed her hand to her belly. Her flux had not come this month and she suspected that her underlying queasiness and lethargy were more than just a reaction to recent upheaval.
In late December, Joanna returned to court. Aliza had borne a second daughter, baptised Isabelle after Aliza’s mother and other ladies of that name in John’s family. Cocooned in the birthing chamber, the women had received snippets of news from the world outside as a December frost settled over the land and hardened the muddy ruts in the road. The Queen, exiled from the court, had been forced to ask Henry for money because she had exhausted her emergency supply. Archbishop Boniface had read out a sermon of anathema at Oxford where Aymer was studying, and the dispute had continued to rumble for several weeks. However, as Christmas approached a cautious thaw had begun and it seemed that conciliation might be possible.
William helped Joanna down from the travelling cart, swung her round and kissed her. ‘I have missed you! Let me look at you! Hah, you are a better feast for the eyes than all the gold in every shrine in England.’
‘Flatterer!’ she said, laughing, for absence had made her heart grow fonder. ‘You look very fine too.’ He was wearing his marriage robes which still fitted him well, even if a little tight across the shoulders where he had broadened out, but the effect emphasised his height and strength. A single sapphire ring glinted on the index finger of his left hand where usually there would have been many. His eyes were wary with new knowledge and hollows shadowed his cheekbones.
‘I do not feel quite so fine,’ he said, lifting their son into his arms. ‘I swear you have grown again, little man! And you too, young mistress.’ He leaned over to kiss Agnes in her nurse’s arms.
‘How are matters progressing?’ Joanna asked as they entered their lodging.
He shrugged. ‘I have not had to pawn all the jewels yet and the King and Queen are at least talking to each other. We shall come to peace soon enough.’ He noted the way she was looking around. ‘I had to sell the Limoges candlesticks to pay a debt, and a few jewels, but we can buy better ones as soon as everything returns to normal.’ He took her hand. ‘I have been doing my utmost to mend fences with the King and Queen and so has Aymer. Whatever you think, I learn by my mistakes and try not to repeat them.’
‘But you always rush to defend your brothers,’ she pointed out.
‘As they rush to my defence, or why else have a family. Henry is my family too and I know he is in a difficult position. The Queen resents our influence over him and especially over the lord Edward. I am not blind.’ He looked at her sombrely. ‘The Queen is formidable and her power is not only a grindstone, it is the mill that turns the stone. She is a woman to fear.’
Joanna wanted to say that in the past the Queen had always been kind to her, but the Queen had not been a grown woman then, and Joanna had been a little girl with limited prospects. Alienor had given her brooches and ribbons and been fond of her like a pet. When Joanna had unexpectedly become an heiress and married the King’s brother, Alienor had been happy for her and had approved the match. But things were different now. Alienor had matured and begun to wear the crown for herself, and for Edward’s future as much as for Henry. William and his brothers were a danger to her construct of power. At least William had recognised the peril now.
‘Yes, indeed,’ she said. ‘You should not antagonise her.’
‘Even if she is formidable, she cannot rule without the King and he is the source from which she draws her power,’ William replied. ‘She must keep within his favour. She will conciliate because she must. Aymer is going to present her with a gift of silver plate on the Feast of the Circumcision and she will reciprocate with gifts to us.’
‘At least it is a sign of resolution,’ she said, but thought it was smoothing mud over the cracks rather than repairing them. The battle for power would still exist, with plenty of potential to escalate again.
William shrugged pragmatically. ‘The King has to deal with Gascony next and he cannot leave a divided court behind; he and the Queen must be united. She will be responsible for ruling England during his absence, and she knows my brothers and I are essential to any campaign in Gascony, especially now de Montfort is no longer the governor.’
Joanna gave a judicious nod. William had clearly thought about the way forward and what would happen.
‘I told you all would be well.’
