‘Pray, my lord, tell me more.’

‘I see you have adventure in your eyes, my lord Edward. Ours was no glorious victory for Christianity. We took Damietta with the utmost ease. We should have moved on. We had tarried too long in Cyprus and now we waited at Damietta. I believed more crusaders would join us. There was a great deal of revelry. Those who had helped to take Damietta wanted to rest there. They feasted, they lived on the booty they had taken. They took the women and the riches of the city. I protested but they would not heed me. Soldiers who have fought and won a victory demand their rewards. That is what the soldiers did at Damietta. By the time we were ready to march the Musselmans were ready for us. There was a battle at Mansourah – some twenty leagues from Damietta. My brother Robert, Count of Artois, led the advance forces.’

Louis put his hands over his eyes and turned away.

‘Pray go on, my lord,’ urged Edward.

‘But you do not want to hear these sorry tales, I am sure. They are not valiant hearing.’

‘I do want to know,’ said Edward, ‘I long to hear of your crusade.’

‘At first my brother had an easy victory. Alas, he was overconfident. I ordered him to wait for me with the rest of my forces, but he was impatient. He went on in pursuit of the enemy, but the Saracens had re-formed and rallied and they had been joined by others. My brother was surrounded. He fell pierced with wounds. He had ever been impetuous. And so I lost a brother.’

‘But you beat the Saracens.’

Louis shook his head. ‘We managed to defend ourselves … nothing more. We had to retreat and give up Damietta. It was no glorious victory. My men were sick and dying. There was news from France. My kingdom was in danger from the English. If I left the Holy Land many Christians who were living there would be in danger. So I asked those who were with me what decision they thought I should make.’

‘You are the King. You make the decisions,’ said Edward.

‘I have always felt that those who shared my defeats and victories should have their say. But their opinion was divided as was my own and in the end I made up my mind to stay a little longer. It was my great dream to win back Jerusalem to Christianity. So I stayed, and for four years I passed along the coasts of Palestine and Syria and I made it my task to succour the sick and make life possible for the population there. All I was doing was keeping the Christian stronghold. My dream of capturing Jerusalem passed me by as it did your great uncle Richard Coeur de Lion who came very near to bringing it to Christianity and just failed. Then news came to me that my mother had died and I knew then that I must return to France.’

‘My lord,’ said Edward, ‘I am going on a crusade.’

‘It is the dream of many a young man.’

‘For me it will be a dream fulfilled,’ said Edward fervently; and it was as though he had taken a vow.

THE UNHAPPY QUEEN OF SCOTLAND

While the English party was in Paris Pope Innocent IV sent a message to Henry which gave him immense satisfaction. Innocent who was in conflict with Manfred, the King of Sicily, the illegitimate son of the Emperor Frederick II, needed money to carry on his war and was determined to depose Manfred. Henry seemed to have a way of raising money when he needed it and Innocent thought that he could be of help in the Sicilian conflict. Of course Henry must be rewarded for his help; and it was this reward which caused Henry such pleasure.

He took the news to Eleanor without delay.

‘My dear, look at this ring which the Pope has sent.’

Eleanor took it and held it in the palm of her hand. ‘Why does he send it?’ she asked.

‘Ah, my dear, it has a special significance. It is for the King of Sicily. You look puzzled, as indeed you may. The Pope is at war with Sicily. He will dethrone Manfred. In return for help he sends me this ring which will be put on the finger of the newly appointed King of Sicily.’

‘And who … ?’

‘One of my sons, he says.’

Eleanor smiled. ‘Edward …’ she began.

‘My dearest, Edward has England. He will regain much of France. I thought Sicily for Edmund. You will have two Kings for sons then, my dear.’

Eleanor laughed.

‘You are right,’ she said. ‘It must be Sicily for Edmund.’

Henry immediately gave a special banquet to celebrate his son’s elevation to the throne of Sicily. There was a certain murmuring among members of his entourage as to how the crown of Sicily was going to be paid for. More taxes. Would the people endure it? That was the question. The King did not seem to realise that they were growing dangerously restive.

Meanwhile there was a splendid celebration. Eleanor insisted on her younger son’s wearing the Sicilian costume and everyone declared how well it became him.

At last it was time to return to England. The King and Queen of France with their Court accompanied them for a day and the English party then continued its way to the coast. On a cold January day they crossed to Dover and prepared to make the journey to London.

There was a ceremonial entry into the capital where the traditional present of one hundred pounds was made to the King. It seemed, complained Henry to the Mayor, a very small appreciation when it was considered that he had been absent so long on the country’s business. The Mayor consulted with the merchants and a fine piece of plate was produced. The beauty of this pleased him but he was still disgruntled.

‘Trust the people of London to spoil my welcome,’ he grumbled to Eleanor.

Both Henry and Eleanor, much as they had enjoyed the homage paid to them by the Court of France, were delighted to be home.

The first thing Eleanor did was rush to the nursery to see her little daughter Katharine. The child was very pretty and healthy and she wondered why the nurses had a somewhat apprehensive air.

‘What is wrong,’ demanded the Queen. ‘Is the child ill?’

‘Not exactly, my lady, but …’

A fearful anxiety came to the Queen. While she had been enjoying life in France all was not well with her baby.

‘Come,’ she cried sharply, ‘tell me. Don’t dare hold anything back.’

‘My lady, the child does not speak.’

‘You mean … she cannot …’

‘It would seem, my lady, that she is dumb.’

Eleanor took the child and held her tightly in her arms.

She crooned over her. ‘My baby Katharine … This to be … and I not to know.’

She kissed the child fervently. Katharine smiled back at her, gently loving but dumb.

The Queen shed many tears. She reproached herself.

‘My dearest,’ said Henry, ‘there was nothing you could have done had you been here.’

Eleanor could not be comforted. That her child should be less than perfect shocked her; and while she mourned over Katharine she began to feel uneasy about her eldest daughter Margaret.

‘It is long since we heard of her. She was so young to go away. Alexander is only a boy. Henry, I must see Margaret. Coming home and finding Katharine thus has frightened me.’

Henry was ready to soothe her.

‘I will send to Scotland without delay and tell them that Margaret is to visit us. Perhaps we could travel up to York and be together there.’

‘Let us do that without delay. I shall not know a moment’s peace until I have seen our daughter.’

‘You have allowed yourself to be fearful because of this …’

‘Perhaps. But I have a feeling for the children. I believe that if any of them is in danger I should be aware of it. And I am very uneasy about Margaret.’

‘The messengers shall leave without delay.’