Chapter 7
‘Look,’ Edward said to his brother John, Duke of Lancaster, ‘if a man loved a woman with all his heart, would you expect him to marry her if he was free to marry and all things were equal?’
Edward had initially absented the court and gone to his manor at Kennington across the river, but following a week of icy silence had returned to await his father’s considered word on his match with Jeanette.
‘That would depend, brother,’ John replied.
Tall and lean with golden-tawny hair and dark blue eyes, his looks were striking.
At twenty, he was already married, to Blanche, Duchess of Lancaster, and had an infant daughter, Philippa, fifteen months old.
‘I assume you are speaking of your match with Jeanette of Kent, and if you expect me to lend weight to your argument, you are mistaken. Why didn’t you consult our father first? ’
Edward flushed. ‘Has he said anything to you?’
‘Yes, but mother told me first. You have always carried a torch for Jeanette, but I never thought you would be mad enough to burn it in public like this – and without consulting father. What does that say of your respect for him and for the Crown? I love you, brother, but I love and honour our family too. You have put all of us in a difficult position – and for what?’
Edward clenched his jaw at John’s plain speaking.
He and his brother were close, and blood was thicker than water, but that closeness sometimes created friction, especially with him being ten years older but John always thinking he knew best. John was rock-steady and dependable in a crisis, and Edward knew he would guard his back to the death, but he could also be stiff-necked and insufferable.
‘I had good reasons even if you do not think so. Yes, I have always loved Jeanette, and if love and loyalty are not a strong basis for a marriage, then what is?’
‘Shared goals,’ John said tautly. ‘Duty and responsibility to your ancestors and future descendants.’
‘Indeed, and I have fulfilled both. I cannot see why anyone objects – unless of course people are envious, or so steeped in their own vision of truth that they wear a blindfold.’
John stood up tall, his gaze level with Edward’s, who straightened too, preparing to do battle. He had no intention of apologising because John was being a supercilious prig.
‘Do you not even understand a little of the way I feel?’
‘Of course I understand the way you feel,’ John snapped. ‘Everyone by now understands. But it is the way you act that matters, and your common sense has flown away. If you truly want this union with Jeanette, then you have some mending to do.’
‘That is exactly why I am here, brother – to mend.’
‘Then I wish you well of it. If it comes to pass, I shall stand by you, but I still think you are mad when you could have begun with a clean slate and a compliant virgin.’
Edward shook his head. ‘There are different kinds of madness. Compliant virgins come with their own set of problems.’
‘Fewer than you are making for yourself at the moment.’
The brothers turned from their impasse as an usher emerged from the King’s chamber and summoned Edward to their father’s presence.
‘Good luck attend you,’ John said. ‘You will need it.’
Edward entered the chamber and crossed the floor to kneel at his father’s chair and kiss his ring – the topaz one from the selection he had been studying last time.
On rising, he presented the King with a bundle of documents, seals attached at the base.
‘The Kent estates and appurtenances, sire – should you wish to peruse them.’
His father’s brows drew together. ‘I am well aware of the Kent holdings,’ he said curtly. ‘Your mother tells me you have something to say to me.’
Edward swallowed. He had to make this right whatever the cost to his dignity. He had walked into the fire, and it was up to him to walk out again. ‘Sire, I deeply regret having offended you in my presumptuousness.’
‘I am glad to hear you say so. If the King’s heir does not abide by the King’s word, then how else will others abide by it? How are we to be seen as the pinnacle of the state and yet be divided like this? It is abhorrent to me that not only did you disobey me, but you went behind my back to do so.’
‘Sire, I did not disobey you, I—’
‘Of course you did, boy! You knew I would disapprove and that is why you did not consult me first! By contracting this match in secret, you have ignored your obligation and made a fool of me. I will not endure this from any son of mine. I expect better of you!’
Although fiercely resentful of his father’s attitude, Edward couldn’t contradict him – because it was the truth. He stayed silent, struggling to find a way through.
‘Have you nothing to say?’
Edward bowed his head. ‘I apologise, sire, my liege lord, and ask in true humility for your forgiveness. I realise now I have been thoughtless and disrespectful.’
His father glared at him. ‘And my forgiveness is not given lightly. I warn you that you are on probation. A single hint of transgression and my hand shall be heavy, and I say this as one grown man to another – a king to a vassal.’
Edward took the blows because it was the only path to reconciliation. ‘Thank you for your clemency, sire,’ he said humbly. ‘I swear upon my life that I have always been your loyal subject as well as your son.’
‘That remains to be seen, but I am giving you another chance – albeit against my better judgement. Your mother and sister say I should allow you the benefit of the doubt, and I have taken their views into account, but there is more to this than the gratification of the heart as you should well know by now.’ He picked up the documents.
‘Now, let us see what we have.’ He began glancing through them, but the way he snatched at the parchment revealed how angry and resentful he still was.
‘Well,’ he said grudgingly after a few moments, ‘I suppose you could not have chosen a wealthier bride. On the other hand, she does not have land and alliances across the sea, which would have been wealth indeed. I hope this choice does not return to bite you in the future. The Countess of Kent has been prepared more than once to absolve herself from marriage for the lightest of reasons, so I caution you to beware of being taken for a cuckold.’
‘That will not happen,’ Edward said, determined to remain calm and implacable. ‘I lay no fault at Jeanette’s door for what happened in the past, nor believe I have any cause to worry on that score.’
His father gave a sceptical snort. ‘If you must put your head in this noose, so be it, but know this. I am giving my consent, but not my approval, and I say again that I question your judgement. Are you certain the Church will allow the match, after what has gone before?’
‘It is but a matter of reconfirming that Jeanette’s first marriage to Thomas Holland was valid.
She has the documents to prove it, with the papal seal.
There is also the issue of Jeanette being related to me in a distant degree, but if you were to write to the Pope supporting my case, he will listen.
’ He thought it better not to mention he had already sent letters to Avignon.
His father’s tone was scathing. ‘If this were a battle campaign, I would call you all manner of fool for not preparing the ground, and charging ahead willy-nilly, hoping on a prayer that your troops are not going to sink in the mud. Dear Christ!’
Edward dipped his head. ‘You rightly castigate me, sire. I know I have not done right by you or my mother, but I swear I am loyal, and willing to learn from my mistakes.’
‘Mistakes that might cost us all dear in the long run,’ his father growled, and then threw up his hands.
‘Well, we have reached a point of no return. If I agree to write to the Pope, it is cast in stone. So now I ask you one final time, is this really what you want and not the result of an infatuation you should have long since outgrown?’
Edward looked him directly in the eye. ‘It is, sire.’
‘Then there is no turning back. You have given your word, and by this, I now give mine. So, we are as one and there is no division. To have us in dispute in public would seriously weaken our position. You are clearly prepared to go out on a limb for this woman. If that limb breaks, it is your own folly, but I will no longer stop you from climbing that tree.’
Edward swallowed a surge of triumph. ‘Sire, I swear, if it is within my power, you will never regret this, and it shall be to our advantage.’
‘That remains to be seen, my son, but I shall draft a letter to the papal court.’
‘Thank you, sire. I cannot tell you how much this means to me.’
‘Then do not,’ his father said grimly. ‘Show me instead, and by God, do not fail me.’
Jeanette stood by the empty hearth in the main chamber at Edward’s manor at Byfleet, a day’s ride from London.
Outside, swallows shrilled above the trees, hunting insects in the still, midsummer heat.
Soon it would be the turn of the bats as the long summer twilight tugged the sun below the horizon and dipped the world into shadow.
She looked at Edward who was leaning against the whitewashed mantel.
He had recently arrived from court and his restless energy was tangible despite his casual posture.
‘I have been thinking it might be better for you to walk away from this marriage,’ she said. ‘I will not force you into something you are doing out of generosity and compassion. I release you from all vows of commitment.’
Edward unfolded his arms and stood upright, his gaze sharpening. ‘Do you want absolving from the vow you made to me? Is that your wish?’
She shook her head. ‘I am just not sure we have done the right thing. I have heard rumours that your father was displeased and I would not cause friction between you.’