The Marriage Prize (40 page)

friend Gilbert of Gloucester into changing sides?"

Harry shook his head. "Gilbert is Simon's man forever."

"Forever is a long time, Harry. Wel , I am going to try my hand

at persuading John de Warenne, the young Earl of Surrey, to

defect from Simon de Montfort and join us. I believe he is an

ambitious young man who won't be able to resist my fatal

charm."

Rod nodded his agreement. "If you can get John to commit to

us, his brother, Lincoln de Warenne, wil no doubt fol ow."

******************

his face. "My lady, I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive my transgression against you."

"Was Sir Rickard de Burgh harmed in any way?"

"Nay, my lady, de Burgh is too formidable a warrior to fear

aught from me."

"I wil never understand why you fol ow de Leyburn's orders

with such blind devotion, Griffin," she said dryly, "but I am learning to endure what cannot be cured. Thank you for

bringing Nimbus safely home to me."

Griffin hesitated and looked even more worried.

"What is it? Is aught amiss with her?" Rosamond demanded.

"Not amiss exactly, my lady. But I took especial care with her

because she is with foal."

Rosamond was stunned. "How on earth did that happen?"

Griffin flushed. "The usual way, I imagine, my lady."

Rosamond went immediately to Windsor's stables to check

on her beloved palfrey. Every stal in the vast building housed

a warhorse, and suddenly she felt afraid. When she found

Nimbus and ran her hand lightly over her bel y, Rosamond's

heart sank. Indeed her beautiful little mare was in foal. She

damned the male of every species for their impregnating

proclivities. What made matters worse was the fact that as

she looked around the stables, she saw that Lord Edward and

her husband were preparing for war.

That evening she waited for Rodger to tel her about their

immi-

232

nent plans, but to her chagrin he said nothing. It was from Lord

Edward himself that Rosamond learned they were leaving on

the morrow. When she took Chirk to the garden, Edward

approached her.

"Rosamond, I wil be forever in your debt if you wil watch over

Eleanora for me while we are away on this campaign. She

thinks me quite invincible, which is most flattering, but she has

no idea of the very real danger we wil be in, and the last thing

I want to do is frighten her."

"She has become my dear friend; we wil be good company

for each other when you are gone, my lord."

"You are strong and have so much courage, Rosamond. Nora

is far too gentle, sweet, and trusting for her own good, but I

would not change her, in anyway."

Rosamond's brows drew together anxiously. "Lord Edward,

you must promise me that you wil return, for I would never be

able to console Eleanora if aught happened to you."

He squared his shoulders and told her what she wished to

hear. "I promise I shal return."

No sooner did Rosamond arrive back at her own chambers

than Rodger came in and began to pack his things. Stil

clutching Chirk, she turned accusing eyes upon her husband.

"You are going tomorrow, perhaps into battle, yet you have not

said one word about it to me!"

"I didn't want you running to the enemy again the moment my

back was turned, so I kept silent."

"I suppose I deserve that." She searched his face anxiously.

"My God, Rodger, what if you don't return?"

His brows went up in mock surprise. "Chérie, could it possibly

be that you are beginning to love me a little?"

"Nay!" she said quickly—too quickly. "I need you. Whatever wil I do when Chirk has her puppies?"

Rod began to laugh, then he stopped as he realized how

afraid of birth Rosamond was. "Chirk wil be al right,

sweetheart." He patted the Welsh terrier and set her down on

the rug. "Giving birth is part of nature's course. I cannot be

here, but you wil be with her, and if she gets into trouble, you

wil do the right thing."

"But Chirk isn't the only one who is pregnant!" She wanted to tel him about her baby, but found that she could not. "Nimbus

is in foal,

233

and it frightens me that she might die It frightens me that you

might die."

Rod took her in his arms and kissed her brow. "Death is part

of life, Rosamond, but you mustn't let the fear of it stop you

from living. I know you have lost loved ones, but you must let

go of yesterday, and you must accept that you cannot control

tomorrow. Al we have is today . . . tonight."

She gazed up at him, seeing his jet black hair and bril iant

green eyes, whose intensity always startled her. His strong jaw

was darkly shadowed by the day's growth of beard, yet he had

never looked more handsome to her than he did tonight. "Take

me to bed and make love to me, Rod."

His mouth curved with irony. "You real y do expect me to die."

"No, Mother of God, don't say that!"

"Thenyou do love me?" he pressed.

"Nay!" she denied, "I could not bear the guilt if aught happened to you... everyone I love dies!"

"Stop it!" He swung her into his arms and carried her to their bed. "You'l love me, by God, every way a woman can love a

man, and when I return you wil love me al over again."

******************

gathered moved north from Oxford, past the Chiltern hil s,

heading to Northampton. His men covered the thirty-five miles

in just over one day, which was miraculous. He ordered his

soldiers to attack the city of Northampton immediately,

knowing surprise and speed were his greatest al ies.

Edward had no experience of fatigue himself, but his dust-

covered men-at-arms were dog-tired after their long trek, and

the baronial forces easily repulsed them. The prince was

sitting morosely in his war tent that night, when Rodger

entered accompanied by a prior.

"Here is an ardent royalist, Edward. His monastery of St.

Andrew was built at the corner of the wal by the north gate,

and the monks have a tunnel leading under the wal into

Northampton."

By dawn, Prince Edward and his forces were pouring into the

234

streets. Young Simon de Montfort and his cousin Peter, who

garrisoned Northampton, fought valiantly to hold them back,

but were captured, and soon after, Northampton Castle

surrendered. King Henry, stil safely in the Tower of London,

placed his mercenaries in the command of his brother,

Richard of Cornwal , and they now pil aged the country from

Northampton up to Simon de Montfort's city of Leicester,

razing manor houses and burning vil ages.

Edward did not linger; he knew he must fol ow up his victory

without delay. The young barons and Marcher lords who had

joined Edward were in a triumphant mood and marched

south, capturing the town of Winchelsea. The next town was

Tonbridge, where Gilbert of Gloucester's Tonbridge Castle

was located. Alyce de Clare ordered the guards to throw open

the gates to Edward, and for appearances' sake he had to

take her prisoner. Natural y, the unpalatable job of guarding

her fel to Rodger de Leyburn, for he was the only one who

knew of Alyce and Edward's adulterous affair.

That night, Alyce used a douche of alum to tighten her

woman's sheath. Since Edward had developed a taste for

virgins, she used the trick her French mother had taught her.

When she emerged from her bedchamber into the adjoining

chamber, arrayed in a diaphanous robe, she announced

dramatical y, "I am ready."

"Ready for what? " Rod asked blankly, though he knew ful wel she was expecting him to take her to Edward's chamber.

"You bastard, how dare you try to keep me from him!"

"I am only obeying orders, Alyce."

Alyce laughed. "Then let me help you change your mind, my

beautiful Rod." She drew close and put her arms around his

neck; standing on tiptoe, she stil could not reach his mouth

with hers. She felt piqued that he did not dip his head to taste

her mouth, and rubbed her slim body against his, urging him

to intimacy.

Rod felt disgust rise up in him as he looked down at the

woman who had betrayed her husband so blatantly. He could

not keep the contempt from his voice. "You are most tempting,

Alyce, but I do not need to eat the crumbs that fal from the

royal table."

She drew back her hand and slapped him ful in the face.

"That

235

bitch you married has you on a short leash. Let me warn you

that it is most unwise to make an enemy of me ... I know things

about you, Rodger de Leyburn!"

"I happen to love my wife, Alyce, but that is a concept you

wouldn't understand. You hate your husband enough to poison

him— perhaps Gloucester drank wine that was meant for

Gilbert? We could al tel terrible tales, Alyce, if we were fool

enough."

Alyce de Clare, Countess of Gloucester, was sent to reside

with the queen for safekeeping. Though she dwel ed in luxury,

she found the queen's household held as much excitement as

a graveyard under snow. She blamed Rodger de Leyburn for

keeping her from Lord Edward's side and swore to bring him

down, along with Rosamond Marshal, his blond bitch of a wife.

******************

whoever was master of Sussex and Kent, ruled England. If the

royalists control ed the country south of London, they could

keep open the route for forces from France that King Henry

and Queen Eleanor had recruited. Earl Simon's baronial party

stil control ed the Cinque Ports, so Edward's army held the

country behind them and would attempt to take them over one

by one.

Simon de Montfort's army was now out in ful force. The main

road from the coast to the capital went from Dover to

Canterbury, then Rochester to London. The baronial soldiers

had taken the town of Rochester and were now savagely

attacking its castle. When King Henry learned the barons had

taken Rochester, he fled London to join his son in the south.

Edward's army took the road that went from Hastings to

Lewes, then they would go north to London.

Simon de Montfort did not have enough men to guard both

roads, so when his scouts told him the royal army was

marching to London by the western route, he abandoned the

siege of Rochester Castle and moved his men to Fletching,

nine miles from Lewes. There he concealed his soldiers near

the weald and waited like a wolf in its lair.

Edward Plantagenet took his army to Lewes, where he and

his knights were housed in a castle belonging to John de

Warenne. His own spies had told him that his royal army was

larger than the baronial army,

236

and his abundant energy, barely held in check, made him

eager for battle. It was May 13, a month and ten days since

his fighting force had left Oxford.

Under cover of darkness, Simon de Montfort moved his men

beneath a four-hundred-foot ridge of the Downs, just north of

Lewes. The great warlord wore a plain surcoat over his chain

mail, and the barons wore the white cross of the Crusades on

their backs as a symbol of the justice of their cause. There

were two roads that led up the escarpment; one was a steep

incline leading up between the peaks of Black Cap and Mount

Harry. The other road was longer, but rose more gradual y and

wound around Mount Harry. Simon's foot soldiers and archers

scrambled up the steeper incline, while the mounted knights

and heavily armored troops took the latter.

Simon de Montfort was risking al to gain a foothold on the

Downs and engage the royal army before they could be joined

by their foreign mercenaries, who had scattered when he took

control of London. When his army reached the top, dawn was

streaking the gray sky red, and he and the knights in his

vanguard saw they had a clear downward path to Lewes.

The royal army was only just awakening, and Simon de

Montfort's arrival was a total surprise. Edward Plantagenet,

Harry of Almaine, and Rodger de Leyburn were in the saddle

in minutes, marshaling their knights and men-at-arms with

furious energy. By some miracle, Edward had his troops in

battle array before the baronial army was within striking

distance.

Edward's father, King Henry, was adamant that he should

command the center. Both Edward and Richard of Cornwal

tried to dissuade him, but Henry insisted upon his kingly

rights. Prince Edward, fil ed with explosive energy and a

savage wil to fight, knew in his bones it would be better if he

took ful command. Reluctantly bowing to his father's wishes,

however, Edward led the right wing, and Richard led the left,

leaving the center to Henry.

Simon de Montfort had given command of his center to none

other than the new Earl of Gloucester, fiery Gilbert de Clare.

His right flank was commanded by his two sons, Henry and