The Winter Crown: A Novel of Eleanor of Aquitaine, by Elizabeth Chadwick
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The Winter Crown: A Novel of Eleanor of Aquitaine, by Elizabeth Chadwick
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As Queen of England, Eleanor has a new cast of enemies―including the king.
Eleanor has more than fulfilled her duty as Queen of England-she has given her husband, Henry II, heirs to the throne and has proven herself as a mother and ruler. But Eleanor needs more than to be a bearer of children and a deputy; she needs command of the throne. As her children grow older, and her relationship with Henry suffers from scandal and infidelity, Eleanor realizes the power she seeks won't be given willingly. She must take it for herself. But even a queen must face the consequences of treason...
In this long-anticipated second novel in the Eleanor of Aquitaine trilogy, bestselling author Elizabeth Chadwick evokes a royal marriage where love and hatred are intertwined, and the battle over power is fought not with swords, but deception.
The Winter Crown: A Novel of Eleanor of Aquitaine, by Elizabeth Chadwick- Amazon Sales Rank: #55321 in Books
- Brand: Sourcebooks Landmark
- Published on: 2015-09-01
- Released on: 2015-09-01
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 7.97" h x 1.05" w x 5.33" l, .0 pounds
- Binding: Paperback
- 496 pages
Review "A fabulous, engrossing and rollicking read that takes the reader into the very heart of the Angevin royal court with all of its schemes, plots and drama... This is a brilliant book and a veritable treat for fans of historical fiction – Elizabeth Chadwick's writing creates a vividly compelling and richly flamboyant Medieval world that readers can really immerse themselves in." - Madame Guillotine"Elizabeth Chadwick still manages to weave a gripping story which I found unputdownable. Her characters, both the real and the imagined minor ones, live and breathe and have distinct personalities of their own... Highly recommended." - Historical Novel Society"Moving, touching and historically accurate – a marvelous read for Chadwick fans. 4 1/2 Stars" - RT Book Reviews
About the Author "A star back in Britain, Elizabeth Chadwick is finally getting the attention she deserves here,"-USA Today. Chadwick is the bestselling author of over 20 historical novels, including The Greatest Knight, The Scarlet Lion, A Place Beyond Courage, Lords of the White Castle, Shadows and Strongholds, The Winter Mantle, and The Falcons of Montabard, four of which have been shortlisted for the Romantic Novelists' Awards.
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
1
Westminster Abbey, London, December 1154
At the precise moment Theobald, Archbishop of Canterbury, placed the golden weight of a crown on Alienor's brow, the child in her womb gave a vigorous kick that resonated throughout her body. Clear winter light rayed from the abbey's Romanesque windows to illuminate the Confessor's tomb in the sacrarium and cast pale radiance upon the dais where Alienor sat beside her husband, the newly anointed King Henry II of England.
Henry gripped the jeweled orb and the sword of sovereignty with confident possession. His mouth was a firm, straight line and his gray gaze purposeful. In the mingling of gloom and light, his beard glinted copper-red, and he exuded all the glow and vigor of his twenty-one years. He was already duke of Normandy, count of Anjou, and consort duke of Aquitaine and had been a force to be reckoned with ever since leading his first battle campaign at the age of fourteen.
The archbishop stepped to one side, and Alienor felt the full focus of the congregation strike her with the intensity of a fixed beam of light. Every bishop, magnate, and English baron was gathered to bear witness, to pay homage, and to usher in an era of peace and prosperity during which the wounds suffered by decades of civil war might be healed by the young king and his fertile queen. An air of anxious optimism filled the air. Everyone was eager to seek favor and advantage from their new sovereign. In the months to come, she and Henry would have to pluck the jewels from the piles of common stones and discard the dross.
This was the second time Alienor had worn a crown. For almost fifteen years she had been queen of France until her marriage to Louis had been annulled on grounds of consanguinity. The latter had been a convenient box in which to conceal the true reasons for parting, not least that she had only borne Louis two daughters of their union and not the all-important sons. That she was more closely related to Henry than to Louis gave Alienor cause for sardonic amusement. Money, influence, and human imperatives always spoke more loudly than conscience and God. In two years of marriage with Henry, she had produced one healthy son and expected another child before winter's end.
Henry rose from King Edward's carved throne, and all knelt to him and bowed their heads. He extended his hand to Alienor, who sank in a curtsy, her silk skirts a flood of gold around her feet. Henry raised her up by their clasped fingers, and they exchanged glances bright with exultation and a mutual awareness of how significant this moment was.
Cloaked in ermine, hand in hand, they paced down the abbey's great nave, following the archbishop's jeweled processional cross. Frankincense-perfumed smoke and the vapor of icy breath swirled heavenward. Alienor held her head high and walked with a stately tread and straight spine in order to balance the weight of the jeweled crown and the swollen curve of her womb. Her gown shone and flared with each step, and the choir sang triumphant praise, their voices soaring to twine with the smoke and carry all to God. Within her the child tumbled joyously, flexing and testing his limbs. It would be another boy; all the signs were auspicious. Their firstborn son, sixteen months old, was being cared for at the Tower with his nurse, but one day, God willing, he too would be anointed king in this cathedral.
Outside the abbey, crowds had gathered in the sharp December cold to watch the spectacle and to fete England's new king and queen. Ushers and marshals held the throng at a distance, but the mood was cheerful, the more so when servants of the royal household showered the gathering with fistfuls of silver pennies and small loaves of bread. Alienor watched the scramble, heard the cries of blessing and approbation, and although she barely understood a word of English, the sentiments were clear and made her smile.
"We have made an auspicious beginning," she said to Henry.
"Given what has gone before, it would be impossible not to do so." His own smile was wide, but Alienor saw his glance flick across from the abbey to the palace of Westminster and harden for an instant. Once a grand residence, it had become ruinous during the later years of King Stephen's reign and needed urgent repairs to make it habitable. For now he had set up his administration at the Tower and his domestic quarters across the river at the manor of Bermondsey.
"But you are right," he said. "We have made a favorable start. Long may it flourish." He placed his hand on her rounded womb, deliberately displayed to their subjects through the parting in her cloak. Being fruitful was a vital part of queenship and never more than now at the start of their reign. He gave a delighted chuckle to feel the baby's firm kick against his palm. "This is our time. We should make the most of every moment." Taking a handful of coins from an attendant, he flipped them into the crowd. A young woman standing near the front with a small child caught one in midair and sent him a dazzling smile.
• • •
Alienor was tired but still bright with excitement as the barge bumped against the jetty on the river entrance to the Tower. A crewman cast a rope around a mooring stake and hauled the vessel closer in to the steps. Attendants hastened with lanterns to illuminate the winter night and escort the royal party from landing stage to apartment. Splintered gold reflections spilled across the dark waters of the Thames, heavy with the salt scent of the estuary. Alienor's teeth chattered despite her fur-lined cloak. She had to step carefully on the frost-rimed paths, wary of slipping in her thin kidskin shoes.
Talking animatedly to a group of courtiers, including his half brother, Hamelin, Vicomte de Touraine, Henry strode ahead, his voice ringing out in the clear night. He had risen long before dawn, and Alienor knew he would not retire until the small hours. Their domestic use of candles and lamps was a major item of expenditure in winter; no one could keep up with him.
Entering the Tower keep, she slowly climbed more stairs to their chambers, pausing for a moment to rest her hand on her womb. A swift peek into a partitioned alcove reassured her that the heir to the new throne was sound asleep in his crib tucked under soft fleeces and blankets, his hair a burnished gold flicker in the light of a single lamp. The nurse smiled at her with an expression that said all was well, and Alienor turned to the main chamber where she and Henry would spend the night before crossing the river to Bermondsey the next day.
The shutters were secured against the bitter winter's night, and a fine red fire blazed in the hearth. Alienor went to stand within the arc of heat and let the comforting warmth envelop her and banish the chill left by the icy gusts from the river. The reflection of the flames danced hypnotically on the surface of her gown, inscribing stories in the silk.
Her senior maid, Marchisa, came to disrobe her, but Alienor shook her head. "No," she said, smiling. "I want to savor the day for a little longer; there will never be another like it."
Henry's half sister Emma handed Alienor a cup of wine, her hazel eyes shining. "I shall remember this all my life."
Until Alienor's marriage to Henry, Emma had dwelled at the abbey of Fontevraud in the hall for laywomen. She and her brother Hamelin were Henry's illegitimate half siblings, and both had places in the household.
"We all shall," Alienor said and kissed her. She was fond of Emma, valuing both her gentle company and her embroidery skills.
Henry arrived, his energy still bubbling like a cauldron over a hot fire. He had exchanged his coronation robes for a tunic of everyday wool and donned a favorite pair of boots that were worn to the shape of his feet.
"You look as if you are ready to spit on your hands and begin work." Giving him a knowing look, Alienor eased herself carefully into a chair before the hearth and arranged her gown in a full sweep around her feet.
"I am." Henry went to fiddle with an ivory chess set arranged ready for play on a small bench near the window. "Unfortunately, I am constrained by the sleeping habits of others. If I don't let them rest, they become as dull as blunt knives." He shifted the pieces about to create a scenario of checkmate.
"Perhaps you should take the opportunity to sleep for a few hours too."
"What use is there in being dead to the world?" Abandoning the board, he sat on the bench facing her and purloined her goblet for a swallow of wine. "The archbishop of Canterbury will attend me at first light. He has a candidate to put forward for the position of chancellor."
Alienor raised her brows. The business of bargaining for favor and position was hard apace. She had already deduced from their brief exchanges before the coronation that Theobald of Canterbury was a wily one. His benign, myopic expression concealed the fact that the man himself was as strong as sword steel. He had defied King Stephen and prevented Stephen's eldest son Eustace from being acknowledged heir to England, for which he had been exiled for a time. His stand had kept Henry's cause afloat, and favors were owed. Theobald's reputation for gathering around him men of rare and keen intellect was renowned.
"Thomas Becket, his archdeacon and protégé," Henry said. "London born but educated in Paris and eager to demonstrate his skills as a fiscal genius."
"How old is he?"
"Thirties, so not in his dotage like half of them. I have spoken to him in passing but have not garnered any particular impression yet."
"Theobald must have a reason for putting him forward." She retrieved her wine from him.
"Naturally he does. He wants one of his own in my household because he thinks to influence the way I govern and promote the interests of the Church. And the man will have a keen brain, I am certain." He gave a taut smile. "But if I choose this Thomas Becket, he will have to change allegiance. I do not mind men in my service seeking advancement, but never at my expense."
Hearing the edge in his voice, she gave him a searching look.
He stood up, restless as a dog in a strange place. "Loyalty is a virtue rarer than hens' teeth. My mother told me to trust no one, and she is right."
"Ah, but you trust her, do you not?"
He sent her an evaluating glance. "I trust her with my life, and I trust that she always has my best interests at heart, but I do not always trust her judgment."
There was a small, difficult silence. Alienor did not ask if he trusted his wife's judgment, because she suspected his reply would disappoint her.
The child kicked again, and she stroked her womb. "Quiet, little one," she murmured and gave Henry a rueful smile. "He is like you-barely sleeps and is always restless, especially in church. I think he was running a race during the coronation!"
Henry chuckled. "Doubtless he was excited at the notion of being born the son of a king. What children we shall make between us." He came to crouch at her side and took her smooth hands in his calloused ones, bridging the gap that had briefly opened between them. He strengthened the repair by sitting on the floor at her feet like a squire, while he shared her wine and asked her opinion upon matters pertaining to the appointment of other court officials. It was mostly him talking while she listened, because these were English affairs and concerned men she barely knew, but she was pleased to be asked and ventured opinions here and there. They agreed that Nigel, Bishop of Ely, a former royal treasurer, should be persuaded out of retirement and his expertise used to set the exchequer to rights and start revenues flowing again. Richard de Lucy, a former official of King Stephen, would take up a senior administrative role together with Robert Beaumont, Earl of Leicester.
"It does not matter to me where men have sided in the past," Henry said. "It is their abilities I seek and their good service now. I said I trust no one, but I am willing to give men of backbone and intelligence a chance to prove their loyalty. Both de Lucy and Beaumont know where their best interests lie."
Alienor gently ruffled his hair with her fingertips, loving the way firelight played over the red-gold waves. She must cultivate these men too. When Henry was absent from England, she would have to deal with them, and better as allies than enemies.
"Stephen's son I shall keep where I can see him," Henry continued. "Even though he has rescinded his claim to the crown, he may still prove a rallying point for dissent."
Alienor cast her mind over the courtiers she had met in recent weeks. King Stephen's surviving son, William de Boulogne, was a pleasant, unremarkable young man a couple of years younger than Henry. He walked with a limp from a broken leg and was hardly the stuff of which great leaders were made. The only threat, as Henry said, was from those who might use him as a spear on which to nail their banners. "That seems prudent," she agreed, her words ending on a stifled yawn. The long day was catching up with her; the fire was warm, and the wine had gone pleasantly to her head.
Henry rose to his feet. "Time to bid you good night, my love."
"Are you not coming to bed for a while?" she asked with a note of entreaty. She wanted to end this glorious day wrapped in his arms.
"Later. I still have business to attend to." He kissed her tenderly on the mouth and briefly laid his palm over her womb. "You are everything a queen should be. I have never seen a woman look as beautiful and regal as you did today."
His words softened her disappointment and filled her with a warm glow. She watched him go to the door, his tread still as buoyant as it had been that morning. On the threshold he turned and gave her a melting smile, and then he was gone in a draft of cold air.
After a moment Alienor summoned her ladies and prepared to retire for the night, regretful to be alone, but still with a deep contentment in her heart.
• • •
Henry's squire tapped softly on the door of the rented house in Eastcheap, a short walk from the Tower. The bolt slid back, and a maidservant quietly admitted the young man and his royal master before closing the door and kneeling.
Henry ignored her and fixed his gaze on the young woman who had dropped in a curtsy as he entered the room. Her head was bowed, and all he could see was the heavy ripple of her ash-brown hair against the pale linen of her chemise. He went to her and lifted her chin on his forefinger so that he could look into her face.
"My king," she said, and her full lips parted in a smile that stole his heart. "Henry."
He raised her to her feet, crushed her against him, and kissed her passionately. She circled her arms about his neck and made a soft kitten sound. Feeling all the warm points of her body against his, he buried his face in her abundant hair, inhaling scents of new grass and sage. "Ah, Aelburgh." His voice caught. "You're sweet as a meadow."
She nuzzled his throat. "I did not think you would come to me tonight. I thought you would be too busy."
"Hah, I am busy, but I have time for this."
"Are you hungry? I have bread and wine."
He shook his head and cupped her breast. "I have eaten a surfeit today. There is only one appetite I need to sate just now."
Aelburgh gave a soft laugh and eased from his embrace. Taking a lamp from a trestle, she led Henry up the steep stairs to the sleeping loft.
• • •
The lamp was guttering by the time Henry reached for his clothes and prepared to leave.
"You could stay." Aelburgh stroked his naked back with languid fingers.
He gave a regretful sigh. "I have too much business to attend to, my love. The archbishop of Canterbury is visiting me in a few hours' time, and it would not be fitting to greet him still warm from the bed of my mistress, no matter how enticing that bed may be." He raised her hand to his lips. "I will come again soon, I promise."
"The queen looked very beautiful today," she said quietly.
"She did indeed-but she is not you."
Aelburgh sat up a little straighter and preened.
"My love, you are a different part of my life." He tucked a tress of her hair behind her ear. "There are duties...and then there are pleasures, and you are surely of the second sort." Especially while Alienor was great with child and he could not bed her.
From a small curtained-off section beyond the bed came the soft wail of a child waking from slumber. Aelburgh donned her shift and disappeared behind the hanging, returning a moment later with a red-haired infant boy cuddled in her arms. "Hush, little man, hush now," she crooned. "See, your papa is here."
The child stared at Henry, and his chin wobbled, but when Henry made a face at him, he giggled and hid his face against his mother's soft white neck before turning to peep at Henry again out of round blue eyes. Henry was amused and delighted. There was nothing worse than a screaming child that kept on screaming.
"I will provide for him," he said. "He is the son of a king, and he will have everything he needs to make his way in the world."
Fear flashed in Aelburgh's eyes. "You will not take him from me? I could not bear that."
"Don't be a foolish wench." Henry ducked around their son to kiss her again. "A child belongs with its mother in the early years." Of course, once intellect, reason, and physical strength had progressed sufficiently for his son to be educated, then the maternal ties would be severed, but he was not going to say that now. "I must go." He tugged a strand of her hair, kissed his son, and, on his way out, deposited a fat pouch of silver pennies on the table in the main room to join the silver piece she had caught outside the cathedral earlier.
The dark winter morning was nowhere near dawn, and he thought he might doze in a chair for a couple of hours and then prepare for the archbishop's visit. As he set out for the Tower, his thoughts were all on the business of government, and Aelburgh was already pushed to the back of his mind.
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16 of 16 people found the following review helpful. Strong woman way before her time. By gw After having read the Summer Queen, I knew I would have a strong woman to learn about. But in the Winter Queen, Eleanor comes forward as not only strong, but occasionally ruthless. She has her agenda, and neither husband, brother, or a reigning King is going to prevent her from putting her son on the throne. In a way she reminds me of Margaret Beaufort. She has evolved from the Summer Queen, and sometimes in questionable ways. However, this book reads easily, and keeps you turning pages, or swiping as fast as you can. It was nice to read of someone from another period as so many rest with the Tudor period.
12 of 13 people found the following review helpful. The Winter Crown By J. Hamby Elizabeth Chadwick continues her take on Eleanor of Aquitaine in The Winter Crown. This is a strong contender as being able to be read as a stand alone. I don't recommend it. First because I have a weird reading dysfunction which makes reading books out of order (order written by the author), even books not in a series, simply a crime against nature. It gives me the willies. A sort of reading compulsion I guess.Second, because there is so much wonderful writing in both the first book and here, it would be a bit of a cheat to yourself.Now I do have the ittiest bittiest issue. And it is all mine. As a little kid I found my mother's Jean Plaidy books and they helped shaped not just my general love of historical fiction, but also perhaps the tone. I grew into reading Mary Renault and later even Dorothy Dunnett, Sharon Kay Penman and Colleen McCullough. It is hard for me to see past my addiction to Sharon Kay Penman and her style of writing. Is that fair to Ms. Chadwick. No it is not. But there you are. If you discovered the glory that is pizza in thin New York Style, no matter how delicious you find your first Chicago Deep Dish, it still remains outside of your immediate definition in some ways. And of course vice versa for any Deep Dish fanatics. Same thing with the early Plantagenets. Kay has a particular voice and style that is her own. And to be fair, so does Chadwick. But Chadwick is a bit, just an itty bitty bit, detail oriented in terms of historical detail. Not that Penman is weak in this regard.But with Chadwick sometimes the details are a bit distracting. It shows incredible research. And in Chadwick's favor, it also lets her show not just her research abilities, but also her understanding of what she finds. Too many authors find the facts but don't bother to actually understand all the whys and wherefores of the matter (take historical writers having no clue why Augustus might have been called Octavian but it was not a name he would used himself, instead Octavius, but I digress).Sometimes the type of shoe or the type of tableware can simply vanish into the overall story. But sometimes its inclusion seems intrusive. Again this is my taste on the matter and simply should not be held against her or her work. I suspect more than most will either enjoy the greater level of mundane detail or simply not notice.Eleanor of Aquitaine is hardly a new subject to tackle. But Chadwick does a wonderful job of giving Eleanor a compelling and authentic voice. Sometimes it is not new. But that is not an issue when dealing with a historical character. Instead it rings true. And yet in a very enjoyable way, as Eleanor struggles to come to grips with a marriage she feels is finally worthy of her and yet still limiting in a way that seems downright ridiculous and even a bit treacherous on Henry's part. Eleanor in Chadwick's hands never comes across too modern or imbued with too perfect characteristics. She is allowed to make mistakes that are her fault. She can have pride that gets in the way. And she can be pragmatic in ways that probably might chase away readers looking for a thoroughly modern defense of women being equals (they ARE, its just back then even most privileged women might not see it that way -- Chadwick does a good strong job at balancing the social inequities by gender with the natural abilities that are equal to the most competent male leaders). In fact what Chadwick does best here is illustrate both the frustration at Eleanor feeling so limited at times with the satisfaction of being a unique and skilled female individual of her times.For fans of historical fiction that is strongly rooted in research and written with a smooth and gripping narrative, Chadwick is hardly going to be a wrong pick for most I suspect. This is an author that will have history buffs looking up new facts instead of feeling frustrated with yet another author who either never did the research or couldn't be bothered to understand it.
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful. Wonderful read - took me back, way back and I enjoyed it!!! By deb This was my first historical fiction book going back that far. The farthest I've read was the late 1800's. I wouldn't wanted to have lived then and I definitely wouldn't have wanted to live during this era either.While I realize a lot of this was made up, it seems all the men did was fight over territory and all the women did was have babies. What a life, NOT! Anyway, the author is not responsible for their lifestyles. But the author is responsible for the story and she did a wonderful job. I was really into this story. What a horrible, horrible man this Henry II was. Fighting anyone who threatened his kingdom, even his sons? He had some serious issues.But that's not all the book was about. There were friendships, every day lives, tragedies, miracles, laughter, tears and the struggles of being an intelligent woman who was queen with a stupid man as a husband who was king.I really found the story interesting and sped through the pages. It's not easy to do so as it is about 500 pages and for it to keep my interest for that long, I'd say it was a pretty daggone good book. I know that I did not want to put it down last night to go to bed as I only had like 1 1/2 hours to go.This was definitely not my genre, but I would definitely recommend it. While I did not read the first one in this series, I had no problem with the second one. There were references made to Alienor's previous life, but they were explained and I felt I missed out on nothing. Now I have to wait for the next one. Ugh! But, I've found a new author to follow, one I highly recommend!I would like to thank Sourcebooks and Net Galley for providing me this free e-galley in exchange for an honest review. I loved this book!
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