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.It had not occurred to me before, but now that Henry pointed it out, I wondered.Perhaps Eleanor had a hand in that, too.“She keeps Richard always in arms against me, fighting with me when he should be in the south, protecting our lands in France.”Henry watched me, but my face revealed nothing.I allowed him to see my intelligence so that he would know I was not too simple to understand him, but that I kept my own counsel.He smiled, pleased with my self-control.“I have it on good authority that not only did Eleanor watch while my eldest son and heir made an alliance with your father, but that she brokered the alliance herself.”A chill moved up my spine that had nothing to do with the afternoon breeze.Here was my chance.I would bide my time, and then I would take it.“My lord, surely you are wrong.”“One of the horrors of being king, Alais, is that I rarely am.Especially when it comes to seeing treachery”I crossed myself against the evil he spoke.Henry caught my hand, and held it in his.He looked at me, his gray eyes seeing me as if for the first time.“Trust me, Alais.Trust me to find a way to keep the peace.”“How, my lord?”“Let me think on it, and I will tell you.”I would let him think, and hope that he might draw his own conclusion without me having to lead him to it.I saw in that moment that Henry remembered the words he had spoken to me by the riverside, when he had placed that crown of flowers on my head.It was all I could do not to crow in triumph.We might yet make a new treaty, one that would hold as long as we both should live.After we finished our picnic and rode on, I knew that I had the strength to draw Henry where I wanted him to go, if he did not go there himself.Perhaps we were more alike than I knew, for as I brought my horse alongside his, Bijou in one arm, it seemed I saw my own thoughts in his eyes, mirrored back at me.But Henry did not talk politics with me again that afternoon.He was attentive, and always watching me.He wanted me as much as I wanted him, but he did not reach for me, and his eyes held a calculating look.We rode into the gates of his hunting lodge at Deptford before midafternoon.Henry himself helped me down before Sampson was led away.He did not leave me even then, but took me into his lodge himself, a rustic place even by English standards.I could see that Eleanor had no power here, if she had ever been here at all.That was why he had brought me.Henry kissed me and showed me the bed that I would sleep in.Some woman had been there before us, for the room was clean if very plain, and the tapestries on the wall had been beaten so that there was very little dust.I looked at the bed, and crossed the room to open a window, letting Bijou loose among the rushes.She loved playing in straw.Eleanor did not keep rushes on the floor in the private rooms at court, so it was a new treat for my little dog.Henry’s eyes were on me when I looked up from Bijou’s antics.I thought he might cross the room and take me against the windowsill; his eyes were so full of fire.He did not approach me, though.“I will send wine and refreshment to you, Alais.Don’t eat too much, for you and I will dine alone tonight.”“And where is your room, my lord? Will you send for me or must I come and find you?”The fire in his eyes warmed me where I stood.I felt my own lust rise unbidden.I had always thought of myself as a quiet, modest girl before I first met Henry.Eleanor had taught me my strength, but I was beginning to see that there was more to me than even she had dreamt of.“This is my room, Alais.You will share it with me.”Lust flamed in me when he said that, so that my legs weakened.I needed to sit down, but I stayed on my feet out of pride.I had not known what it was to want something as much as I wanted him.Henry seemed to see this in my face, for he groaned and backed away from me.“I must go, Alais, and arrange the hunt for the morrow, or neither of us will leave this room until past dawn.”I simply stared at him.“Come back soon,” I said.He laughed, but I could see that his hunger for me was rising.He left without another word.I stood, breathing as hard as if I had taken a flight of stairs.I needed to have my wits about me, to ask the king for the boon I craved, to lead Henry down the path that I would have him walk.I leaned my head against the stone casement of the window.I said a prayer, knowing that the Holy Mother would hear me, whether I was shriven or not.The cool stone soothed me like the touch of Her hand, until I was calm again.I played with Bijou on the floor as if I were a simple girl, a girl with no thought for tomorrow, an obedient woman who always did her duty.I was not the woman I had been raised to be [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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.It had not occurred to me before, but now that Henry pointed it out, I wondered.Perhaps Eleanor had a hand in that, too.“She keeps Richard always in arms against me, fighting with me when he should be in the south, protecting our lands in France.”Henry watched me, but my face revealed nothing.I allowed him to see my intelligence so that he would know I was not too simple to understand him, but that I kept my own counsel.He smiled, pleased with my self-control.“I have it on good authority that not only did Eleanor watch while my eldest son and heir made an alliance with your father, but that she brokered the alliance herself.”A chill moved up my spine that had nothing to do with the afternoon breeze.Here was my chance.I would bide my time, and then I would take it.“My lord, surely you are wrong.”“One of the horrors of being king, Alais, is that I rarely am.Especially when it comes to seeing treachery”I crossed myself against the evil he spoke.Henry caught my hand, and held it in his.He looked at me, his gray eyes seeing me as if for the first time.“Trust me, Alais.Trust me to find a way to keep the peace.”“How, my lord?”“Let me think on it, and I will tell you.”I would let him think, and hope that he might draw his own conclusion without me having to lead him to it.I saw in that moment that Henry remembered the words he had spoken to me by the riverside, when he had placed that crown of flowers on my head.It was all I could do not to crow in triumph.We might yet make a new treaty, one that would hold as long as we both should live.After we finished our picnic and rode on, I knew that I had the strength to draw Henry where I wanted him to go, if he did not go there himself.Perhaps we were more alike than I knew, for as I brought my horse alongside his, Bijou in one arm, it seemed I saw my own thoughts in his eyes, mirrored back at me.But Henry did not talk politics with me again that afternoon.He was attentive, and always watching me.He wanted me as much as I wanted him, but he did not reach for me, and his eyes held a calculating look.We rode into the gates of his hunting lodge at Deptford before midafternoon.Henry himself helped me down before Sampson was led away.He did not leave me even then, but took me into his lodge himself, a rustic place even by English standards.I could see that Eleanor had no power here, if she had ever been here at all.That was why he had brought me.Henry kissed me and showed me the bed that I would sleep in.Some woman had been there before us, for the room was clean if very plain, and the tapestries on the wall had been beaten so that there was very little dust.I looked at the bed, and crossed the room to open a window, letting Bijou loose among the rushes.She loved playing in straw.Eleanor did not keep rushes on the floor in the private rooms at court, so it was a new treat for my little dog.Henry’s eyes were on me when I looked up from Bijou’s antics.I thought he might cross the room and take me against the windowsill; his eyes were so full of fire.He did not approach me, though.“I will send wine and refreshment to you, Alais.Don’t eat too much, for you and I will dine alone tonight.”“And where is your room, my lord? Will you send for me or must I come and find you?”The fire in his eyes warmed me where I stood.I felt my own lust rise unbidden.I had always thought of myself as a quiet, modest girl before I first met Henry.Eleanor had taught me my strength, but I was beginning to see that there was more to me than even she had dreamt of.“This is my room, Alais.You will share it with me.”Lust flamed in me when he said that, so that my legs weakened.I needed to sit down, but I stayed on my feet out of pride.I had not known what it was to want something as much as I wanted him.Henry seemed to see this in my face, for he groaned and backed away from me.“I must go, Alais, and arrange the hunt for the morrow, or neither of us will leave this room until past dawn.”I simply stared at him.“Come back soon,” I said.He laughed, but I could see that his hunger for me was rising.He left without another word.I stood, breathing as hard as if I had taken a flight of stairs.I needed to have my wits about me, to ask the king for the boon I craved, to lead Henry down the path that I would have him walk.I leaned my head against the stone casement of the window.I said a prayer, knowing that the Holy Mother would hear me, whether I was shriven or not.The cool stone soothed me like the touch of Her hand, until I was calm again.I played with Bijou on the floor as if I were a simple girl, a girl with no thought for tomorrow, an obedient woman who always did her duty.I was not the woman I had been raised to be [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]