A QUARTER OF AN hour after Brian had found her, Maud sat huddled before a fire while the Lord of Wallingford explained the details of Robert’s capture. He broke off as the faint sound of hoofbeats was heard in the distance. Instantly alert, Maud and Brian jumped to their feet.
“My lord, the enemy is sure to be in pursuit,” said a knight. “We can do naught for Earl Robert now and in order to save ourselves we should ride at once for Bristol.”
“That’s exactly what the enemy will expect us to do,” said Robert d’Oilli. “May I suggest that we make for Gloucester instead? It will put our foes off the scent and confuse them when they find no trace of us on the road to Bristol.”
“A good thought,” said Brian. “Are you up to the rigors of a harsh journey, Maud? To evade our pursuers we should travel the back roads and avoid the major towns.”
“Of course,” she said, praying that she would prove as good as her word. Already exhausted, the news about Robert had so badly shaken her that she could not even think coherently.
Brian, Maud, Lord d’Oilli, and the five knights accompanying them mounted their horses and began the journey to Gloucester. As the night wore on Maud grew more and more tired; her body became chilled, then so hot she felt she was on fire. By sheer effort of will she forced herself to remain upright in the saddle, her eyes fixed on the figure of Brian who rode just in front of her. She was determined not to allow any physical weakness to endanger all their lives.
As a pale gray dawn broke over the west country, they emerged from a thinly wooded forest into open pasture. Here Brian called a halt by the side of a running brook. Lord d’Oilli lifted Maud from the saddle and set her on her feet. No sooner had she touched the ground than she collapsed upon the grass.
“Fetch some water,” Brian said to one of the men, as he knelt beside her.
“I don’t know what came over me,” Maud said in a faint voice. “In a moment I’ll be quite recovered.”
“Make a litter of branches, place her on the litter, and we’ll carry her the rest of the way,” Brian instructed the knights.
Mortified at the suggestion of a litter, Maud tried to protest that it was unnecessary, but she did not even have the strength to voice her objection. In a daze she felt herself lifted from the ground and placed on a thick cloak that covered a bed of branches tied together at both ends. Another cloak was gently placed over her, the litter was fixed between two horses, and she felt her body suddenly swing back and forth as the horses started to move. It was a little like being on the deck of a ship in a rolling sea, she thought, then knew no more.
Slowly Maud opened her eyes. Her gaze took in the stone walls of the chamber with their dark blue hangings, the blue canopy above her, and the fur-lined coverlet pulled up to her chin. Was she at Gloucester? Cautiously stretching her arms and legs, she was filled with an overwhelming sense of relief that she had survived the journey with nothing worse than a few sore muscles.
“Thank you, Holy Mother,” she murmured aloud. Remembering her captured brother she added: “Please protect Robert from harm.”
There was a soft knock on the chamber door.
“Enter,” she called weakly.
Robert’s wife, Mabel, bustled in, followed by one of her women carrying a wooden tray. “How fare you this morning, Sister-in-law?” she asked, walking over to the bed to peer down at Maud with red-rimmed eyes in a pale face.
“Almost recovered,” Maud murmured. She must be at Bristol, she decided, noting that Mabel’s thin, brittle body was clothed all in black, as if mourning the dead. “How long have I been at Bristol?”
“This is Gloucester and you’ve been here two days. I arrived from Bristol yesterday morning, as soon as I heard the news … about Robert.” Her voice broke as she laid a hand on Maud’s forehead. “The fever is gone. To have survived such an ordeal you must have Our Lord’s blessing, Madam.”
“I only wish Robert were here as well,” Maud said in a low voice, steeling herself for an outburst of anguish as a spasm of pain crossed Mabel’s face. “I deeply regret Robert’s capture and fully share in your loss.” Impulsively, she reached out and gently touched Mabel’s fingers.
As if a snake had bitten her, the Countess quickly withdrew her hand. She turned to the woman behind her and took a steaming goblet off the tray. “Here is a hot posset I’ve made with my own hands. Drink this and your strength shall be restored.”
Mabel took a wool shawl she had been holding, wrapped it around Maud’s shoulders and chest, then helped her prop herself up against the pillows. Gratefully Maud took the goblet in both hands and raised it to her lips. The hot liquid spread through her body, returning warmth and vitality to her sore limbs. She had hoped their mutual loss would create a bond between them, but her sister-in-law remained as prickly as ever.
Much refreshed and alert, Maud drained the posset and handed the goblet back to Mabel. “Thank you. How are Brian and the others?” She paused and dropped her eyes. “Stephen, I trust, is also well?”
Mabel gave her an odd look. “Brian and the others are fully recovered. Stephen is well enough. Oh, Miles arrived last night. Half-naked he was, and like you, raging with fever, his body scratched and bleeding.”
“What happened?”
“Apparently Flemish mercenaries pursued him and he had no choice but to throw down his arms and flee for his life.” Mabel’s lips twitched in resentment. “Perhaps if Robert had behaved in like manner he would be with us today.”
Maud made no retort. The Countess is stricken with grief, she reminded herself, do not judge her.
“Speaking of prisoners, Madam,” Mabel continued in the same breath, “an envoy has arrived from the Countess of Boulogne not an hour since. Robert is well, unhurt, and being held in honorable confinement at Rochester Castle.” The Countess looked away and would not meet Maud’s eyes.
“But that is wonderful news! God be thanked he’s safe.”
“I’ve sent word to William that Stephen is to be moved from his cell into a comfortable chamber and be treated with all the amenities. The envoy said if this were not done Robert would be chained in a cell as well.”
“Of course. We must ensure the best treatment for my half-brother.” Maud wondered why Mabel seemed so evasive, why she had not told her this news immediately. Quite suddenly she understood. “Sweet Marie, Matilda sends to offer terms, doesn’t she? She will free Robert in exchange for Stephen?”
“Yes, that is her offer. I assume your answer will be affirmative. I told the envoy you would act at once.”
Maud had no intention of discussing the matter with the Countess of Gloucester. “You had no right to tell him anything. I’ll do what’s best for our cause. Be so good as to send Brian FitzCount to see me.”
Mabel made no reply, but her eyes burned with resentment; she turned on her heel and stalked out of the chamber, the servant following on her heels.
Maud closed her eyes. She had never felt so weak, so vulnerable. Holy Mother, how could she give up Stephen? On the other hand, she could not let Robert remain a prisoner. The conflict was perfectly balanced, impossible to resolve.
Brian FitzCount soon knocked on the door and entered the chamber. “Mabel tells me the fever has passed, thank the good Lord for that. You look much improved, Lady,” he said.
“I feel much improved,” Maud said.
Brian perched on the edge of the bed. “You heard about the envoy from Matilda?”
“Yes. Please send him away. I don’t agree to Matilda’s terms.”
Brian was nonplussed. “Don’t agree? What choice do you have? I know what a great loss it will be to give up Stephen, but without Robert we can’t go on.”
“I refuse to even consider such an exchange,” Maud said.
“That’s a most foolish attitude,” Brian countered. “Haven’t you yet learned that he is the mainstay of our cause? Half our following will melt away without him.”
“I thought I was the mainstay.”
“Your ascension to the throne is why we fight, but Robert is the linchpin. You are the end, he is the means. Without him you may as well return to Anjou.”
“I know Robert’s worth,” Maud cried. “But I will never, never, never give Stephen up.” She struggled to a sitting position.
“The rigors of the journey have not only left you physically weak but, understandably, affected your wits as well. You’re hardly fit, I think, to make such an important decision at this time.”
“How dare you. Of course I’m fit.” She glared at him.
“Then you will not follow a path that can only lead to disaster. Stephen and Robert must be exchanged.”
Maud had never seen Brian so obstinate before, so unyielding, and his recalcitrant attitude frightened her. In truth, she realized uneasily, she was trapped inside this chamber, at the mercy of Brian, Mabel, and the others. Too weak to fight them. If they refused to obey her there was no way she could force them to her will. She fought down a surge of panic.
“Brian, as my dear friend and loyal supporter, please hear me out. Safe at Bristol, Stephen acts as a check and balance against our enemies. He is all we have now to bargain with. If we give him up, what is left to us?” She forced a smile, her eyes begging him to see her side of it. “We must find another way to buy Robert’s freedom.”
“I’ve always thought you lacked your father’s gift for persuasion, but now I wonder.” Imperceptibly, Brian’s face softened and he rose to his feet. “All right, I’m willing to examine other solutions—for the moment.”
“What will you tell Matilda’s envoy?”
“That he must return to Rochester. No exchange can be discussed at this time,” Brian said, walking to the door. “I leave you to deal with Mabel.” He gave her an ironic smile, bowed, and left the chamber.
Six weeks after her arrival in Gloucester, Maud still had not come up with a means of freeing Robert. Even after receiving a message from her half-brother urging her to execute the exchange, Maud could not bring herself to take the final step that would allow Stephen to resume the throne once more. What would she have to bargain with then? Her cause would be worse off than before the Battle of Lincoln. One afternoon toward the end of October she walked with Brian in the courtyard. A brisk wind sent white clouds scudding across the slate blue sky. Soon it would be winter, she thought, her third winter since she had landed on England’s shores.
“Mabel is beside herself with rage,” Brian told her. “Only yesterday she threatened to find a way to exchange Stephen for Robert whether we agreed or not.”
“An idle threat, surely,” Maud said.
“The point is that others feel as she does, including her sons. No one understands your reluctance to exchange the two, why you go against your own best interests.”
After a quick look, Maud avoided his steady blue gaze. “All is lost if I give him up. We’ve been over this a hundred times.”
Brian shook his head. “All is not lost, Lady, if only you will listen to reason. Now that Geoffrey has successfully recaptured much of Normandy, there is an excellent chance that he will come to England with men and arms.” He took her ice-cold hands in his. “When Robert is freed we can, with Geoffrey’s help, defeat Stephen’s forces. I’m sure of it.” He searched her face. “By God’s death, Madam,” he said in an exasperated voice. “Do you think to fool me? What is the real reason you won’t give Stephen up?”
Maud felt her face flush. “I’ve told you, as well as everyone else, the real reason.”
“Have you?” He took her shoulders and gave her body an impatient shake. “Start behaving like a ruler, not a lovesick maid. Where is the Empress of the Holy Roman Empire! Where is the daughter of the formidable Henry, the granddaughter of the great Conqueror?” He moved his face closer to hers. “Where, Madam, is the Queen of England?”
Twisting free, Maud felt as if Brian had struck her a blow in the belly. How dare he talk to her like that—but she could feel the impact of his words penetrating the armor of her resistance. Only Brian would have guessed the basic reason for her stubborn refusal to let Stephen go, a reason she had never fully confronted until this moment. Her love for her cousin, pervading her entire being like a burning fever, had indeed caused her to act against her own best interests. She now realized that hidden in her heart was the wild belief that as long as Stephen remained a prisoner he still belonged to her; this was the only way in which she could possess him. In her unwillingness to face up to the truth, she had lost sight of the larger issue: what Robert’s freedom combined with Geoffrey’s victory in the duchy could mean in terms of reclaiming England.
Raising her head proudly, Maud squared her shoulders:
“The Queen of England stands before you, my Lord of Wallingford. Thank you for reminding me that Geoffrey is now in a position to aid us. When Robert is freed, I will send him to Normandy for men and arms.”
Brian sighed in relief and kissed her on both cheeks. “Thank God. Shall I send a message to Matilda that we agree, in principle, to the exchange?”
Maud nodded. There was no longer any excuse to hold back Stephen’s release, but oh, how bitterly she resented the fact that he would be free—and once again king.
After several weeks of negotiations between Maud’s advisers and the Bishop of Winchester and the Earl of Leicester, who represented Matilda, a complicated procedure of hostages left on both sides was worked out; the exchange of prisoners was now ready to take place.
On a gray drizzly morning in November, Maud, who had insisted on riding to Bristol, stood in the courtyard of Robert’s castle and watched Stephen mount a chestnut stallion. Although pale and somewhat heavier from lack of exercise, he seemed animated and merry, laughing with Brian, Miles, and William of Ypres, who had ridden to Bristol to accompany his sovereign back to Winchester, where Robert was being held by Bishop Henry. It was just like Stephen, Maud thought, to behave as if they were all about to set out on a merry hunt together.
The rain ceased; a flicker of sun burned through the gray clouds, highlighting Stephen’s features and brushing his tawny hair with gold. He had grown a beard during his confinement, and it leant his face a becoming air of authority. Maud’s heart turned over as she watched him throw back his head and laugh at something said by Miles of Gloucester.
She kept reminding herself how much there was to be gained by Robert’s release. Stephen might resume the throne for a time, but with sufficient strength her forces could topple him again, crushing him absolutely. Yet her senses rebelled; her heart cried out against his imminent departure.
Stephen and his escort approached her. Maud had long anticipated this moment, going over and over what she would say to him—scornful words that would leave him in no doubt as to the contempt in which she held him.
“I bid you farewell, Cousin,” Stephen said with a formal bow of his head.
Their eyes met and held in a long look that neither could break. “A good journey to Winchester, my lord,” Maud stammered, all the accusations she had so carefully rehearsed gone clean out of her mind. Do not leave me, she cried silently, I cannot bear it.
Something flickered deep within Stephen’s green eyes, and a look of anguish passed across his face, so fleeting Maud was not even sure she had seen it. His lips opened as if he would speak, he made a sudden gesture toward her, then with an effort brought himself under control. Wheeling his horse around, he headed toward the stone tunnel that led to the outer bailey. In a state of numb despair, Maud watched his escort trot after him. She felt as if a lifetime had passed, but it was only nine months, almost to the day, since Robert had brought him in triumph to Gloucester.