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Authors: Jean Plaidy
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been on the point of arranging another marriage for me. It seemed that I would never have a husband.’
‘And now you are to have the most glorious of them all.’
‘There is still Alice.’
‘Alice is of no account.’
‘Can that be said of the sister of the King of France?’
‘My dear daughter, when you know your husband better you will understand that he can say anything of anyone and make it come to pass.’
‘That must be so, for my father will allow me to leave with you, which he would never do if there were any doubts.’
‘There are no doubts,’ said Eleanor firmly. ‘You will leave with me for Sicily. There we will await the arrival of the King’s fleet and there I doubt not the marriage ceremony will take place. My daughter Joanna who is the Queen of Sicily will welcome us and I am delighted at the prospect of seeing my child again. Poor Joanna is now a widow, for her husband the King died last November. I doubt not she will be in need of comfort and will wish to discuss her future with Richard.’
The years of captivity had by no means diminished Eleanor’s powerful personality and she could still give an impression that her will would be law. Thus she completely dispersed any qualms Berengaria or her father felt over the anomalous situation concerning Alice.
In due course Eleanor with Berengaria and her attendants left Navarre and made the difficult journey across Italy to Naples. The ships which Eleanor had commissioned were waiting there to take them to Sicily, but before they had time to put to sea a messenger arrived with disquieting news.
There was trouble in Sicily. Queen Joanna had been dethroned. They would be unwise to attempt the journey there and King Richard wished them to sojourn in Brindisi until he came to them.
Chafing against delay, asking herself whether there was indeed trouble in Sicily or whether Richard was finding it difficult to break his contract with Alice, Eleanor could do nothing but accept the delay and wait until it could be resolved.
Chapter III
JOANNA
I n the castle at Palermo, Queen Joanna of Sicily was asking herself what would become of her. In the last few months her future had become threatening and she could not know what would happen to her from one day to another. She, the honoured Queen, daughter of Henry Plantagenet and Eleanor of Aquitaine, once beloved of a doting husband now found herself virtually a prisoner.
Who would have believed while William lived that his cousin Tancred could have behaved in such a villainous manner? She had always known Tancred was ambitious – what man was not? And Tancred was a bastard and they always seemed to have an even greater love of power than their legitimate relations. He had seemed loyal but, as soon as William was dead, his true character had emerged and because she had opposed him, here she was a prisoner.
She was not a woman to accept such treatment lightly. She was after all a descendant of the great Conqueror himself; if her father had been alive Tancred would never have dared behave as he did; but in July her father had died and in November of the same year her husband had followed him to the grave. So she had lost two powerful protectors within a few months.
She was twenty-five years of age and comely. She had lived fully those twenty-five years. She had learned to stand on her own feet as members of the royal family must. She scarcely knew her family. She had caught glimpses of her brothers now and then, and it had been comforting to know of their existence. Her father had been a power throughout Europe. Now she felt bereft and lonely.
What could she do in her apartments which were in fact a prison, for she was not allowed to leave them without an escort? She could only think over the past and wonder what the future held.
As a young daughter of the family – only John was younger – she had not seemed of any great account until her marriage. Born in Angers she had been brought up in Fontevraud
‘And now you are to have the most glorious of them all.’
‘There is still Alice.’
‘Alice is of no account.’
‘Can that be said of the sister of the King of France?’
‘My dear daughter, when you know your husband better you will understand that he can say anything of anyone and make it come to pass.’
‘That must be so, for my father will allow me to leave with you, which he would never do if there were any doubts.’
‘There are no doubts,’ said Eleanor firmly. ‘You will leave with me for Sicily. There we will await the arrival of the King’s fleet and there I doubt not the marriage ceremony will take place. My daughter Joanna who is the Queen of Sicily will welcome us and I am delighted at the prospect of seeing my child again. Poor Joanna is now a widow, for her husband the King died last November. I doubt not she will be in need of comfort and will wish to discuss her future with Richard.’
The years of captivity had by no means diminished Eleanor’s powerful personality and she could still give an impression that her will would be law. Thus she completely dispersed any qualms Berengaria or her father felt over the anomalous situation concerning Alice.
In due course Eleanor with Berengaria and her attendants left Navarre and made the difficult journey across Italy to Naples. The ships which Eleanor had commissioned were waiting there to take them to Sicily, but before they had time to put to sea a messenger arrived with disquieting news.
There was trouble in Sicily. Queen Joanna had been dethroned. They would be unwise to attempt the journey there and King Richard wished them to sojourn in Brindisi until he came to them.
Chafing against delay, asking herself whether there was indeed trouble in Sicily or whether Richard was finding it difficult to break his contract with Alice, Eleanor could do nothing but accept the delay and wait until it could be resolved.
Chapter III
JOANNA
I n the castle at Palermo, Queen Joanna of Sicily was asking herself what would become of her. In the last few months her future had become threatening and she could not know what would happen to her from one day to another. She, the honoured Queen, daughter of Henry Plantagenet and Eleanor of Aquitaine, once beloved of a doting husband now found herself virtually a prisoner.
Who would have believed while William lived that his cousin Tancred could have behaved in such a villainous manner? She had always known Tancred was ambitious – what man was not? And Tancred was a bastard and they always seemed to have an even greater love of power than their legitimate relations. He had seemed loyal but, as soon as William was dead, his true character had emerged and because she had opposed him, here she was a prisoner.
She was not a woman to accept such treatment lightly. She was after all a descendant of the great Conqueror himself; if her father had been alive Tancred would never have dared behave as he did; but in July her father had died and in November of the same year her husband had followed him to the grave. So she had lost two powerful protectors within a few months.
She was twenty-five years of age and comely. She had lived fully those twenty-five years. She had learned to stand on her own feet as members of the royal family must. She scarcely knew her family. She had caught glimpses of her brothers now and then, and it had been comforting to know of their existence. Her father had been a power throughout Europe. Now she felt bereft and lonely.
What could she do in her apartments which were in fact a prison, for she was not allowed to leave them without an escort? She could only think over the past and wonder what the future held.
As a young daughter of the family – only John was younger – she had not seemed of any great account until her marriage. Born in Angers she had been brought up in Fontevraud
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