Chapter Five #2
“I do not know, your grace,” he said. “I do not bother myself with details that do not concern me.”
It was a lie; he knew very well that it was true. Christin de Lohr did serve at Norwich Castle. But John was oblivious to the change in his tone.
“I have been thinking on something,” the king said.
“Monnington gave me the idea. Christopher de Lohr was my brother, Richard’s, champion.
In fact, he held the title of Defender of the Realm until my brother’s untimely death.
After that, he allied with me for a time but that relationship turned sour.
I believe I know how to bring the man back into the fold. ”
“A brilliant idea, your grace?”
John rolled onto his side so he could face Sean. “I have a son in need of a wife.”
Sean’s eyebrows lifted. “Young Henry, your grace? But he is only six years of age.”
John shook his head. “Not him,” he said. “Robert.”
Sean understood. Robert FitzRoy was the illegitimate son of the king, born almost thirty years before from the daughter of John’s old tutor, Ranulf de Glanvil.
Ranulf’s daughter, the fair Isabella, had died in the birth and John’s father had insisted the boy be raised as part of the royal household, so he’d had every advantage.
Another spoiled Plantagenet offspring.
When his father became king, Robert had been given land in Norfolk and a title, Lord Brimington.
He even had a fine manor home in Bishop’s Lynn called Fairstead.
The problem was that Robert was just as cruel, ruthless, and immoral as his father, or so Sean had heard.
He didn’t know the man and didn’t want to, so for John to bring him up was curious.
John usually didn’t give much thought to his first-born.
“I would have thought Robert to have married by now, your grace,” Sean said.
“Not yet. But I believe I have the perfect match.”
“Who?”
“Lady Christin de Lohr.”
Sean struggled not to react outwardly, realizing he should have seen that coming. John had brought up Christopher’s daughter and Robert in the same conversation, so it was only logical he’d meant to merge the two subjects.
But this merger was worse than anything Sean had imagined.
“I see,” he said, hoping his shock wasn’t evident. “And Monnington gave you this idea, your grace?”
John nodded. “He knows de Lohr’s family,” he said. “Monnington’s father was close to Christopher, so Evan knows the children. He mentioned Lady Christin and her younger sister, Lady Brielle. He says they are both beauties.”
Sean shrugged, trying to appear casual. “Given their mother’s comely looks, I would believe that, your grace,” he said. “But marrying Robert to de Lohr’s eldest daughter? Have you spoken to anyone else about this idea?”
“A few.”
“And what did they say, your grace?”
John shook his head. “It does not matter,” he said. “I want to know what you think.”
Sean eyed him. “The truth, your grace?”
“I would expect nothing less.”
“Then I would not consider that plan if I were you, your grace,” Sean said. “Christopher de Lohr probably already has his daughter pledged. Or, at the very least, you will never gain his permission, so it would be futile.”
“Not if you whisk her from Norwich and take her to Bishop’s Lynn,” John said pointedly. “Robert can marry her before de Lohr can regain her and once consummated, not even the church will dissolve the marriage. With de Lohr’s daughter married to my son, we will be family.”
It was a horrific plan. Even Sean thought it was a horrific plan, and he’d heard many a horrific plan coming from John. But this one… it was absurd as well as outlandish. He struggled to remain neutral.
“May I further give my opinion, your grace?”
“Of course.”
Sean didn’t hold back. “Should you marry your son to de Lohr’s daughter without his permission, that will not create an alliance,” he said.
“It will create civil war. De Lohr will march on you, and bring his allies with him, and he will wash over you like a wave upon the sand. You would destroy England with this plan, I fear.”
John eyed him. “Not if I threaten to harm his daughter should he act against me.”
“So you would use her as a hostage disguised as a bride, your grace?”
John had an intense look about him, as if everything in his entire future hinged on the vile scheme he was about to spew.
“If I bring de Lohr to his knees, then I remove not only him, but David de Lohr from any affront against me,” he said. “With the House of de Lohr subdued, do you realize what that means?”
“I realize what you think it means, your grace,” Sean said steadily. “But the reality could be very different. De Lohr is well-respected; even if he stands down because you threaten his daughter, his allies more than likely will not. That will put you in a precarious position.”
“Explain.”
“If you make a threat against Christin de Lohr and de Lohr’s allies move against you, then you will have to act on your threat,” he said.
“If you do not, you will be viewed as weak. But if you do and you harm her, kill her even, then you remove the restraints on her father and he will destroy you. He may even ally with Philip. Imagine thousands of Frenchmen flooding England, allied with de Lohr and his supporters. You will not be able to stand against that.”
Sean painted a bleak picture that was very truthful.
Nothing he said was fabricated or imagined; all of it was true.
John was astute enough to know that. Still, he didn’t like to be denied his wants.
That had historically been an issue with him.
What John wanted, Sean would always, with rare exception, provide.
The only way Sean would discuss an order with the king is if he believed it would hurt John beyond repair.
This was one of those times.
Unfortunately for Sean, John’s quest to restrain or otherwise control Christopher de Lohr was stronger than his fear of the consequences.
“De Lohr would not ally with Philip,” he finally said.
“He would never support France on these shores, not even to destroy me. But I still want his daughter for my son because, as the son of the king, he commands the best bride in England. It will create an alliance that will benefit me. The man would not side against his kin and his daughter would be a duchess.”
Sean was genuinely trying not to argue with the man because it would only look suspicious, but he was greatly troubled by the king’s intentions. The last word in the man’s statement had him confused.
“I was not aware your son was a duke, your grace,” he said.
John shook his head. “He is not at the moment,” he said. “But when he marries Lady Christin, that will change. My wedding gift to them will be the Dukedom of Dersingham. Surely de Lohr cannot object to his daughter becoming a duchess.”
There was so much wrong with that statement that Sean truly didn’t know where to begin. All he knew was that they were headed for some terrible trouble and Christopher knew nothing about it.
Not yet, anyway.
Sean wasn’t certain if he was going to be at Norwich but he knew William Marshal was, and he further knew that William would not be happy to hear this in the least. Years ago, John had set his sights on Christopher’s wife, Dustin, and it seemed that eighteen years later, the man was going after the woman’s daughter.
They were traveling down a road that would only take them to ruin because as fiercely as de Lohr had fought for his wife, he would fight even harder for his daughter.
Desperately, Sean tried to salvage the situation.
“Then mayhap you should propose the marriage to de Lohr, your grace,” he said.
“Mayhap if you ask him to enter into negotiations for his daughter, or send a liaison to negotiate, it might be a much more civilized way to go about it rather than abducting a bride for your son. That will set the situation on end from the very beginning and given your history with the House of de Lohr, mayhap that is not the best way to go about it. De Lohr will kill you and more than likely kill me to get to you, so you will put us both in an impossible situation.”
John did nothing more than lay back on his bed again, arm over his forehead. “Possibly,” he said. “Faithful Sean; always trying to save me from myself. It must be a difficult task.”
Sean smiled weakly. “I serve at the pleasure, your grace. It is an honor.”
John snorted as if he did not believe him. “You are a gracious liar,” he said. “We will speak on this subject again when we arrive at Norwich and I get a look at Lady Christin. But for now, let us speak this evening.”
“What is your wish, your grace?”