CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN

Brother Endfeld gazed calmly at the King. He had heard of the Angevin temper before. It had been equally fierce and indeed feared in Henry, John’s father and, of course, in John’s brothers Richard and Jeffrey when they were roused. King John Lackland could be like the Devil when cut to the quick, the most terrifying storm of thunder and lightning could seem like a tranquil lake compared with the monarch in his worst throes of anger.

“How in Heaven could this have happened to me?” he stormed. “Am I cursed by all the saints?”

“I think not, my gracious Liege,” replied the young monk. “The Capricious nature of the weather is well recorded and is a constant threat to our well-ordered lives.”

“I don’t want a philosophy lesson from you” almost spat out the King “I have enough with your master, Abbot Roger. Still” added John “I should be grateful, Roger has been a good help to me, and I have forgotten my manners, thank-you Endfeld for informing me of the latest disaster.”

Brother Endfeld bowed slightly. He could understand John’s rage. Acting on information that Prince Louis was preparing to embark from Calais, the King had ordered his fleet to gather at the mouth of the Thames. The plan was to attack Louis’ vessels before they could set-out and destroy them completely. Sadly throughout the entire night of the 18th May a monumental gale arose and smashed most of John’s ships to smithereens, some were still in repairable order but others were scattered out to sea. Now three days later French sail had been detected from the coast of Thanet.

“Damn good job Roger and his Benedictines had a Conference near-by. Always involved in some learned matter or other” muttered the King. “Anyway Brother Endfeld you have ridden here speedily, it is for us now to settle upon some stratagem to defeat the pious Louis. My whole life seems to have been involved in trying to outwit his father, now I’ve got the young pup to contend with as well.”

“Sire the Marshal is here to see you.”

The monarch together with Brother Endfeld looked steadfastly at the servant who had entered upon their discussion.

“God, what does the old fellow want at this stage?” muttered the King. “Still he has pulled our apples out of the fire on many occasions before now, let’s see what he can do at this major crisis.”

“A new expression, your grace ‘apples out of the fire’?” enquired Endfeld somewhat blandly.

“You pedantic young prig!” half laughed, half snorted John Lackland “Well it shows that you’ve a cool head on your shoulders even when one disaster after another is tumbling all over us - and don’t pick me up on my grammar either!”

“No, my Liege” smiled the young monk “mine is but to obey, I was schooled in discipline from an early age, working alongside Abbot Roger has taught me that much.”

“Anyway we are keeping the good William Marshal waiting. Sirrah send in our eminent guest, we value his counsel and he may well be one of the few people who can come to our aid with a really effective plan of action.”

“Sire I present William Marshal, Earl of Pembroke” announced the servant.

“My dear Marshal, the guide and protector of my youth and much else thereafter” greeted the King.

“My Liege I came as fast as I could. There are rumours .....”

“More than rumours” interrupted John. “This good monk here has told me of the progress of Prince Louis’ fleet.”

“Have you any instructions your Grace? As you know I am always at your service, no matter what task you have for me I am here to serve the Plantagenets.”

“A difficult job indeed!” grinned the King “We spent so much time squabbling amongst ourselves in the Old Days that your prime role was to keep us in check, see that we did not destroy the Devil’s Brood entirely.”

“If I may make so bold, sire” recommenced the Marshal sternly “We need troops along the coast, but if Louis has a large contingent then we need an alternative plan to fall back into the heartland of your Kingdom.”

“Yes, you have a point Marshal” mused John. “Winchester is as good a location as any. I could hold there with reinforcements from Savary de Mauléon and his staunch Poitevans.”

“I would support that approach, sire. Only if Louis flounders off the coast, or if his force is merely a small detachment of troops then we can go on the offensive. Otherwise discretion is the better part of valour. After all the Dauphin already has some of his soldiers here in England.”

“Right, but first let’s test the water, we need to see just how strong Louis is before we start to back-track on the little weasel. Confronted by real men he may well run back to France with his tail between his legs, I’ve seen similar things before now.”

“Quite so, my Liege. I will start to marshal everyone together.”

“Hence your name” smiled the King.

“Indeed so, your Grace” smiled the Earl of Pembroke somewhat weakly “I think that we can still rely on a number of trusted friends.”

“The Devil’s face we can” snarled John. “We have my new Justiciar Hubert de Burgh at Dover, he is a firm, stubborn man. Whatever his failings, he is as honest as the day is long and integrity is his middle name.”

“Hubert I would trust with my Life, if I could trust anyone at all” suggested the Marshal.

“Yes, and, of course, there is my half-brother William. He would never desert me. He may have been a by-blow of the great Henry but he is more reliable and more brotherly towards me than any of the legitimate Angevins.”

“I know your family well” mused the Marshal “Let us put our trust in God and pray that He ensure a successful outcome. We are living in very difficult times, in fact in some respects more uncertain than when Stephen and Matilda were battling it out when I was but a child.”

“I would have thought that was the worst period in this Country’s history” Interposed John. “It was said that Christ and the angels slept and no-one was safe from pillage and rape, the land was in turmoil.”

“That is something of an exaggeration, sire” responded Pembroke “King Stephen did have good control over most of England, and inspite of criticisms of his rule, he could be firm at times. Those who knew him as a man liked him and many were loyal. He was accused at times of being over-kind although a brave and gallant
soldier. Life was not all that bad in many parts of the realm.”

“Well thank-you for the history lesson, Marshal” grinned John somewhat sardonically. “What with Brother Endfeld here and his philosophy I have some fine tutors. God above I should be the most learned monarch on Earth. I only hope it does me some good, I certainly need all the help I can get at the moment.”

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