Michael Jecks - The King of Thieves

‘And now consider this. If she were to be publicly rebuked, how would the King of France view such treatment of his sister? Would you be happy, were she your sister, and you the King of such a land as this? It may well lead to a war, and one which could only have dire consequences for the rest of the Christian world, and which must also delay the possible expeditionary force to the Holy Land to begin a new Crusade. If you were Pope, would you wish for such an eventuality? Or would you prefer to keep the couple separate, perhaps even until the King himself died and his son could take the throne. Then the mother could return.’

Baldwin stopped now and gaped. ‘You do not mean to suggest that the Queen could keep her son here with her, against the express command of her husband?’

‘Why not? Good Christ, man!’ The Cardinal drew away, but then turned back, hissing, ‘Do you think every life is as easy as yours? There are responsibilities . You worry about your Queen and the feelings of your King, but we are talking about the lives of thousands , the souls of perhaps millions . We have more to worry about than merely the strict application of the laws of domestic bliss. If the Queen stays here, she may well persuade her son to remain with her. And then the father becomes really rather irrelevant.’

‘Cardinal, it is your duty to uphold God’s laws, surely.’

‘I have many duties. I have served four Popes now. They each were different men, but the main thing was, they were practical men.’

Baldwin nodded, a curious empty feeling in his belly at the thought of the man’s words.

‘It may be best for you personally if you accepted the realities and remained here with the Queen. That is all I wished to say,’ the Cardinal concluded.

‘I cannot, in all conscience.’

‘That is a great pity. For, remember this: the Queen is the younger. She will live longer than the King. It is her largesse which a man should consider.’

‘I seek nothing. Only to serve my liege lord as I should.’

The Cardinal eyed him doubtfully. ‘In truth? Then I am surprised. You are that rare thing, a knight who is truly chivalric. I have not known many. You are a dangerous man.’

Baldwin ignored that. ‘You have served four Popes, you say?’

‘Yes.’

‘And you say that Boniface VIII was a practical man?’

The Cardinal smiled thinly. ‘He was practical in the things he sought to achieve … although he did not quite know how to apply himself.’

‘I disagree,’ Baldwin said, but without smiling in response. ‘He knew how to apply himself perfectly. He sought wealth. That was why he deposed Celestine V, for the pursuit of his own profit. Celestine was entirely devoted to the Kingdom of Heaven, not to this poor, fractured world. And Boniface had him killed as payment. So you were part of the army that had Boniface killed in his turn?’

‘You are correct about the piety of Celestine, I suppose, but he had little idea of how to achieve anything. He was no manager. The Church is a large organisation, Sir Baldwin. It requires a firm hand on the reins. His successors have all been more. . single-minded. Boniface did have the failings you mention, but he was removed when those failings became clear.’

‘Of course. And so those whom God has seen elected can be removed, deposed, or merely murdered when expedient? You say the others have been more single-minded. I would prefer to call them more ruthless,’ Baldwin said, thinking of Clement V, who had destroyed the Templars. ‘Some of them sought their own reward without concern for those upon whom they might trample.’

‘You accuse the Pope of corruption?’

‘Oh, no!’ Baldwin evaded the suggestion. ‘I accuse no one. I am only a rural knight, with no ambition to be anything else.’

‘Well, Sir Rural Knight, you should understand that the world looks a different place when considered from a position of authority.’

‘And you are the adviser to King Charles?’

‘I am.’

‘And his confessor?’

Cardinal Thomas halted. ‘I am confessor to many, Sir Baldwin.’

‘And you have interests in the French monarchy. You will excuse me, Cardinal. I have interests only in the affairs of my own King. Not yours.’

‘I see. Then I think we know each other’s position, Sir Baldwin. I am sad, though. You would have been a most useful addition to the Queen’s circle of friends.’

‘Does she need another?’ Baldwin said lightly.

‘No,’ the Cardinal said flatly. ‘She needs no one more.’

Tavern at eastern wall near the Seine

Jacquot found Amélie in the same small tavern where he had been before.

‘He has a man there. Did you hear?’ she asked.

‘I had heard that he suffered an embarrassment,’ Jacquot said. He leaned back on his stool and eyed the room behind her.

‘You think I have brought the King’s men with me? That I want to see you dead?’

He kept his eyes on the men in the room. ‘I have no idea.’

‘Jacquot, I want to see you in the King’s place. And I can help you take it.’

‘Oh, really,’ he said.

‘I’ve already begun the process,’ she said, and smiled.

Jacquot looked at her, and slowly an answering smile spread over his own features. He understood her now.

And trusted her not at all.

Bishop’s chamber, Louvre

Simon pulled the door open and almost pushed the Bishop of Exeter inside.

The Bishop turned to protest. ‘Master Puttock, what are you doing?’

Simon ignored him, but spoke directly to Sir Richard, who sat back on a seat, his hands comfortably behind his head, his feet on a stool before him. ‘Sir Richard, has anyone tried to come in here?’

‘No — why?’

‘Never mind that now. Can you please go and see if you can find Baldwin?’

‘I am here, Simon,’ Baldwin said, closing the door behind him and looking about him wearily. The meeting with the Queen, followed by what had felt like a dreadfully intimidating talk with the Cardinal, had left him exhausted. ‘What is the matter?’

‘I have learned why there is so much activity from the Queen and her friends, Baldwin. The Mortimer is here.’

Sir Richard’s feet left the bench where they had been resting, to clatter to the ground. ‘That treacherous dog?’

Baldwin held up his hand. ‘You are sure of this, Simon?’

‘You think I could forget him?’

It was only earlier that year that Sir Roger Mortimer had had Simon captured in Paris and taken to a house so that Baldwin could be persuaded to go there for a talk with Mortimer, the King’s enemy.

‘Of course,’ Baldwin said. Then a thought struck him. ‘My Lord Bishop, do you think that the man who grasped your throat might have been Sir Roger? Do you know Mortimer?’

‘Of course I know him,’ Bishop Walter said. ‘He was the King’s most important military leader for years, and until his fall, I must have met him many times.’ And suddenly his mind was taken back to the figure in the dark, the hissed words that had seemed so familiar. Sir Roger Mortimer … could it have been he who grasped his throat, who threatened his life?

‘How did you get along with him?’

‘With Sir Roger? I would say generally quite well. We were never close companions, but we neither of us had a cause to be angry with each other.’

‘No? Not even when his assets were taken apart?’

Sir Roger Mortimer had been one of those who had been arrested and imprisoned in the Tower after the Marcher Lords were squashed by the King. His lands and belongings were all forfeit to the Crown.

The Bishop looked at him with a haughtily raised chin. ‘I benefited not a whit by his destruction.’