Stewart Binns - Anarchy

When we reached the farmhouse, the young milkmaids were on their way to the fields and got the shock of their lives as two naked figures bolted past them. Our encounter thus became the talk of the estate for weeks afterwards.

The month of May became one seamlessly blissful carnal interlude, where the long warm days just melded together in a haze of euphoria. Maud had an enchanting body, broad in the hips with strong shoulders. Her breasts were full, with large dark nipples, and she had a taut muscular backside – a faultless frame for the delightful activities in which we engaged and which devoured almost our entire time. Maud was ideally designed for raucous sex, and I could be as forceful as possible without fear of discomforting her – in fact, I was often the one overcome by fatigue. She was a woman of the world who had married an emperor at the age of twelve and lost her virginity only weeks afterwards. She was totally uninhibited and enjoyed sex more than any woman I had ever met. The Emperor had been sixteen years her senior, with vast experience from countless concubines, and had been a kind and thoughtful tutor in the bedchamber – an education from which I was now reaping the benefit.

By the beginning of June, we were living like man and wife and very much in love. Eadmer would have won his bet, had I accepted it.

St Cirq Lapopie was now an even more profound Heaven on Earth than before. But one evening after dinner – at the risk of breaking the spell of our enchanted time together – I raised with Maud what I thought was a crucial question.

‘Darling, we are taking a big risk. You could get pregnant, and that could make things very complicated.’

She looked at me in horror. Tight-lipped and fighting to control her emotions, she pleaded with me.

‘Don’t spoil it… this is such a special time for us both… I don’t want to think about anything else.’

‘I don’t want it to end either. But Lothar and Eadmer will be back soon – and they will bring the real world with them.’

‘I don’t care. The real world can go to Hell!’

I realized that the fantasy we were enjoying, no matter how much of a facade, was so precious to her. The time had not yet come to question it.

‘I understand. I’m sorry, let’s enjoy this for as long as we can.’

She smiled at me with relief, but her expression became thoughtful as she considered my original question.

‘Hal, don’t worry about babies. I am barren – I was married to the Emperor for over ten years, and there was never a hint of a pregnancy. But I know he had at least one bastard child with some mare from Lotharingia and there were rumours of several more.’

‘But isn’t it important that you produce a grandson for the King?’

‘Yes – he told me in no uncertain terms that he wanted a grandson. But I no longer fear his displeasure. If I am barren and he finds a new successor, then I can come back to you and live out my days here.’

She smiled that smile again. Our first lovers’ tiff was over.

But we were to have only a few more days of paradise in our illusory world before a tiny speck in the distance, in the valley of the Lot below, heralded Eadmer’s return to St Cirq Lapopie.

When Eadmer reached the farmhouse, it was almost dusk. He looked gaunt and exhausted.

Maud joined me to greet him, and held my hand as we did so.

‘Welcome back, good friend.’

‘I’m glad to be back, believe me!’

He glanced down at our interlocking hands and whispered to me.

‘I see I’ve won my wager–’

Maud heard his aside and interrupted before I could respond.

‘Which was what?’

Eadmer looked a little timid, which was unusual.

‘Well, my Lady… that you would be in his bed by the time I returned. I’m sorry, my Lady–’

‘Well, you lose, he’s in my bed!’

We all laughed together, and Maud took Eadmer by the arm.

‘Let us eat! And have some wine to celebrate your safe return.’

Eadmer glanced at me. He looked concerned.

‘What about Lothar? Is he not here? He had only half the distance to cover. He should be back by now.’

‘It is worrying, my friend. I fear for him.’

After Eadmer had washed the dust of the road away, we sat with Greta to eat dinner and drink one of Cahors’ better wines, a butt of which I kept for special occasions. Eadmer passed a small piece of vellum to Maud.

‘Here is King Henry’s response, my Lady. I hope it is the answer you want. It was not easy to get. I didn’t trust the pigeonman – I was concerned that such men might operate under licence from the King, making it easy to track me down while I waited for the bird to return. So I bought all the man’s birds and told him to disappear for a few days. I observed his loft from a distance, waiting for the return of my chosen bird. I was right to be cautious. The day after I left the pigeon with your message at the King’s gate at Westminster, a squadron of his men arrived in Southwark and ransacked the pigeonman’s little hovel. Mercifully, I was nowhere to be found! Two days later, my chosen pigeon appeared overhead. Sadly, I had to bring the poor bird down with an arrow, but the King’s message was there, bound to its tiny leg.’

‘You have done well, Eadmer. I am so very grateful to you.’

‘Your father is frantic, my Lady. Every burgh in England is being scoured by his men – and it is the same in Normandy. Every ship leaving port along the length of the south coast of England is being searched. I had to buy passage on a Breton trader from Wareham, in Dorset. The ship’s cargo was such that the captain preferred his crossing of the Channel to be as discreet as I hoped mine would be. I travelled a difficult route – using several ships through the western reaches of Brittany and Poitiers, and eventually down into Aquitaine – before reaching the Lot at Aiguillon. After that, it was familiar territory and home beckoned.’

Maud unravelled the note from the King, written on a minuscule piece of vellum. She was clearly agitated by its contents, and motioned to Greta to accompany her to her chamber.

‘Hal, keep Eadmer company, he deserves several jugs of wine. Let’s talk in the morning.’

She left her father’s response on the table for me to read. I picked up the note and read the tiny but immaculate blackletter Latin.

Darling Maud,

You are a difficult child, but it was ever thus.

The summer of 1131 is agreed. I will ensure that Count Geoffrey is in London to greet you, but the months in between must be spent in Rouen. Your presence will keep Normandy happy, where there is still sympathy for your cousin, William Clito.

I want you in Rouen by Christmas Day, when I will be there for my crown wearing.

Wherever you are, you must now come home.

That night was the first night we had not spent together since we became lovers. Maud wanted to be alone.

I desperately hoped it was just a temporary setback.

When Maud emerged quite late the next morning, she came to find me in the vineyard. She looked bleary-eyed and had clearly spent a sleepless night, but she looked and sounded determined.

‘If you don’t mind accompanying me, I would like to begin the journey to Rouen by the end of the month.’

‘Of course, my Lady. Eadmer and I will make the preparations.’

She smiled wryly at my deliberate formality, then took me by the arm and laid her head on my shoulder.

‘Hal, let’s continue our little dream for a while. And then, when we get to Rouen, we shall see what mood my father is in… Perhaps I can find a way of making sure you stay close to me?’

‘Is that a good idea for both of us – especially when your husband returns?’