The Heart of the Lion Read Online Free PDF

the crux of the matter! What would he do? Would he burn down the castle? Would he cut off her father’s head? Would he hang him on the nearest tree?
    She was silent, thinking of what she had seen in her bridegroom’s eyes.

    The ceremony was over; they had feasted, the minstrels had sung, and Hadwisa and her bridegroom were conducted to the bridal chamber.
    She was afraid of him.
    Her fear amused him. A virgin! He had had his fill of such and they were interesting only for such a short while. When he had pillaged towns with his followers they had taken the best of the women; that had been good sport. The fear of others always excited him. It soothed him in some way. It made him feel important. He had the power at that moment to rule them absolutely. It made up for the fact that he was the youngest son.
    Hadwisa was afraid of him and that pleased him. Not much else about her person did. But he had to remember the riches she brought him.
    The richest heiress in the kingdom! That was worth a good deal.
    ‘Why,’ he said, ‘you are reluctant. Do I not please you?’
    ‘Why, yes, my lord . . . but . . .’
    ‘But! What buts are these?’
    ‘There is a strong blood relationship between us . . .’
    ‘Ah, indeed our great-grandfather scattered his seed far and wide. I’ll swear that there is many a young girl in this kingdom who could be my cousin. So it is with princes. None daresay them nay.’
    ‘I had thought we should have waited for a dispensation from the Church.’
    ‘’Tis too late . . . the ceremony has taken place. I am your husband now.’
    ‘But I meant to wait for . . .’
    ‘For?’ He raised his eyebrows, taunting her. ‘For what, my reluctant wife?’
    ‘You know to what I refer.’
    He caught her by the wrist and his grip was painful.
    ‘You tell me,’ he said. ‘Come, let us hear it from those innocent lips.’
    She lowered her eyes. ‘The consummation . . .’
    He laughed aloud. Then he seized her and she knew that her fear had not been groundless.

    For five days he stayed at the castle. He terrified her but she knew her ordeal would not last long. He was becoming weary of it already.
    ‘It may well be,’ he said, ‘that I have already planted our son within you. Pray that it may be so for I know not when we may meet again. I shall go now to my brother’s coronation and there may well be much to occupy me.’
    As he was about to leave the castle a messenger arrived from Baldwin, Archbishop of Canterbury. He brought with him a letter for the Earl of Gloucester. When he read it the Earl grew pale.
    ‘The Archbishop forbids the marriage on the grounds of consanguinity,’ he said.
    John burst into loud laughter. ‘He is a little late, is he not?’
    ‘My lord Prince, what can we do?’
    ‘Burn the letter. Forget it. What’s done is done. Your daughter is my wife. Who knows she may already be carrying a boy who could be heir to the throne. I’ll not have the Church interfering in my affairs. Baldwin forbade the marriage when my father lived. My father cared nothing for Baldwin, nor should we.’
    The Earl said: ‘You are right, my lord. There is nothing we can do now.’
    He rode away. Hadwisa had never known relief such as she felt when she saw his party disappear into the distance.

    John arrived in London to find his mother and brother installed in Westminster Palace. There was great excitement in London at the prospect of the coronation; and there seemed little doubt that the new King was popular. By abolishing many of the harsh forest laws Eleanor had paved the way for the King; and with a new reign the people were ever ready to believe that it would be better than the last. Henry II had been a man who had brought much good to the country; many had heard of the state of affairs during the reign of weak Stephen when robbers had roamed the land abducting unwary travellers, holding them to ransom, robbing them and if they had little worldly goods torturing them for sport. Henry with