The Fatal Crown (77 page)

For Maud, of course, the most significant event had been the death of her beloved Stephen, just two months ago in October. Despite his failings as a king, he had managed to retain the affection of his subjects, many of whom mourned his passing even as they looked forward to the new reign. Although Maud knew she would never cease to miss him, her loss was tempered by the knowledge that their love had created a new beginning: Henry.

That thought reminded her why she was here. Maud looked around the abbey, smiled affectionately at Robert of Gloucester’s two oldest sons, her nephews, William and Roger. There were the de Beaumont twins, nodding their heads to her in a friendly manner.

The Earl of Leicester had already been appointed co-justiciar of Henry’s administration, while the Count of Muelan remained in Normandy.

Maud’s eyes rested uneasily on her cousin Henry, Bishop of Winchester, elegant as always in his ceremonial robes, a gold-encrusted miter atop his head, his gold crosier sparkling with jewels. Maud had been told that he had given Stephen the last rites and heard his final confession. Their eyes met warily across the abbey, each taking the other’s measure. Let the past rest, Maud thought as she gave him a tentative smile which was instantly returned. There was no mistaking now the warmth in those usually cool green eyes, eyes which achingly brought Stephen to mind. Expecting an enemy she had found a friend.

Maud’s gaze passed slowly across the assembled throng, she found herself searching for those who were no longer here, those whose presence should have graced this auspicious day.

Her devoted, selfless Robert; Geoffrey of Anjou, who had fought staunchly in Normandy for Henry’s inheritance; and her loyal Uncle David of Scotland, dead these past twelve months. Maud spared a thought for Alix, also deceased; she, too, had played her part in bringing about this momentous occasion.

Her beloved Aldyth, how happy she would have been this day, and her dearest friend of all, the ever-steadfast Brian FitzCount, somewhere in the Holy Land now.

Most of all, apart from Stephen, her father should have been here. He was the forerunner, the first to break with precedent, impose his will on a resisting nobility, to name a daughter heir to the throne.

Her eyes settled on her son, whose square, substantial figure was almost dwarfed in the gold-embroidered coronation robes. Theobald of Bee had finally come to the end of the consecration. After a brief silence, the Archbishop of York stepped forward carrying a white silk cushion. On it rested the golden crown of England, the very same crown that Maud had first held in her hands when she was a child. Archbishop Theobald lifted the gleaming circlet and walked slowly toward Henry.

Stephen, Maud cried silently, oh my beloved, if only you could stand beside me now. How proud would you be of our son.

At the very instant that the Archbishop reverently placed the crown of England on Henry’s head, her son’s eyes suddenly swiveled toward her with fierce intent. As his gaze met hers, Maud realized that he was intimately sharing the pomp and glory and majesty directly with her, including her in this moment of their joint triumph. For the space of a heartbeat, Maud stood with him, the crown upon her head.

Then a great cry rose up from within the abbey, to be echoed seconds later by the hordes of folk outside:

“Long live Henry, King of England.”

F
OR THE REMAINING THIRTEEN
years of her life, Maud lived quietly outside Rouen. While Henry was away consolidating his empire—which stretched from the border of Scotland to the Pyrenees—Maud was virtually Regent of Normandy. Charters were issued in both her and Henry’s names, and he relied on her to manage his affairs in his absence.

In the last year of her life, as was not uncommon with great ladies of her time, Maud took the vows of a nun at the abbey of Fontrevaud. Before her death on September 9, 1167, she had lived to see her eight grandchildren, two of whom, Richard the Lionheart and John, would become kings of England. One granddaughter became queen of Sicily, another queen of Castile. Her descendants ruled England until the start of the Tudor dynasty at the end of the fifteenth century. It was not until five hundred and eighty-two years after the death of Henry I that a woman, Mary Tudor, ruled as Queen of England.

While I traveled to Normandy, Angers, Le Mans, and England to research this novel, most of the work was done through the Research Library of UCLA. Of the many books consulted, I would gratefully like to acknowledge the following historical works as having particularly stimulated my imagination and upon which I relied most heavily. First and foremost is
Empress Matilda,
by Nesta Paine (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London, 1978), an excellent and sympathetic biography of Maud. (The chroniclers of the time, as well as some modern historians, tend to paint a rather unsympathetic portrait of her.)

Then there are
Daily Living in the Twelfth Century,
by Urban Tigner Holmes, Jr. (University of Wisconsin Press, 1952);
England Under the Angevin Kings,
Vol. I, by Kate Norgate (Macmillan, London, 1887);
Gesta Stephani,
editor and translator K.R. Potter (Nelson Medieval Texts, London, 1955);
Life in a Medieval City,
by Joseph and Francis Gies (Thomas Y. Crowell, Apollo Edition, New York, 1973);
Life in a Medieval Castle,
by Joseph and Francis Gies (Harper & Row, New York, 1974);
The Saxon and Norman Kings,
by Christopher Brooke (B.T. Batsford, Ltd., Great Britain, 1963); and
Sex in History,
by Gordon Rattray Taylor (Vanguard Press, New York, 1954).

For those who wish to know more about this period of the twelfth century, there are numerous other books available.

I
WOULD LIKE TO
acknowledge with gratitude the many caring friends and excellent research facilities that made possible the writing of this book.

I am indebted to the Research and College Libraries of the University of California, the Los Feliz Branch of the Los Angeles Public Library, the Glendale Library, and the Brand Music and Art Library.

Specifically, I would like to thank: Marjorie Miller, whose inspired advice, unfailing support, and encouragement sustained me through many drafts; the gifted writers who belong to my writing group; Eve Caram, of the Writers Program at UCLA Extension, who went through the manuscript and offered invaluable suggestions and changes; Dr. Marie Ann Mayeski, Professor of Theology at Loyola Marymount College, who read the manuscript, corrected any errors, and patiently answered my innumerable questions.

I am also grateful to my agent, Jean Naggar, for taking a chance on an unknown writer and for all her other valuable assistance, and to my editor, Susanne Jaffe, for her warm validation and expert editing.

Finally, I would like to acknowledge all my caring friends, and, most important, my patient, supportive husband, Mark, who not only made it possible for me to write but believed in me through thick and thin. There are no words to express the depth of my gratitude.

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this ebook onscreen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

copyright © 1991 by Ellen Jones

cover design by Heidi North

978-1-4532-8909-9

This edition published in 2013 by Open Road Integrated Media

180 Varick Street

New York, NY 10014

www.openroadmedia.com

FROM OPEN ROAD MEDIA

Available wherever ebooks are sold

Open Road Integrated Media
is a digital publisher and multimedia content company. Open Road creates connections between authors and their audiences by marketing its ebooks through a new proprietary online platform, which uses premium video content and social media.

FIND OUT MORE AT

WWW.OPENROADMEDIA.COM

FOLLOW US:

@openroadmedia
and

Facebook.com/OpenRoadMedia