The Shadow of the Pomegranate (23 page)

There must not be another disaster. If such a calamity should befall her, all the affection of the last weeks, all the love
and devotion which the King had sworn he bore her, would be as lightly swept away as the gaudy paper decorations after a masque.

Chapter VIII

B
y the time the King’s fleet had reached Calais the rain had begun to fall. This was disappointing as the cloth of gold and rich brocade trappings lost some of their dazzle in the downpour.

Henry was cheerful, however, determined to show his men that he was ready for any adversity, so certain of success that he was not going to be downcast by a little rain.

Then tents were set up; the army encamped; and on that first night, the King, his garments soaked, made the rounds of the camp like a practised commander. He laughed at the rain and he made his men do the same.

‘We are not the men to let a wetting disturb our spirits. We’ll snap our fingers at the weather as we will at that old rogue, the King of France.’

The men were cheered by the sight of him – pink-cheeked, ruddy-haired and full of health and high spirits.

Nor was this the end of his endeavours for when he returned to his tent he did not take off his clothes.

‘If this rain continues to fall,’he told his companions, ‘the Watch will be in poor spirits as the night progresses. I have
heard how Henry V before Agincourt went among his men to comfort them. I will show my soldiers that they have as good a leader in me as the victors of Agincourt had in that other Henry.’

It was three o’clock when the King, still in his damp clothes, made the rounds of the camp.

He found the Watch disconsolate. In the darkness they did not recognise the figure on horseback immediately and Henry heard them, cursing the weather and talking of the warm beds in England which might have been theirs.

‘Ay,’ said the King, ‘warm English beds sound even more inviting than they are in reality – when remembered under the rain of other lands.’

‘Your Grace!’

‘Have no fear,’ said Henry. ‘I myself was thinking of my own bed and the comforts and pleasures I might have been enjoying there. We are of a kind, my friends. Men, all of us. It is understandable that our thoughts turn to the comforts of home. But be of good cheer. You see, I, like you, am damp from the rain. I suffer all that you suffer. That is how I would have it. My men and their King are together in this war. He never forgets it; nor should you; and if we have been made to suffer in the beginning, fortune promises us better things, God willing.’

‘Amen,’ murmured the men. And then: ‘God bless Your Grace!’ Smiling, Henry rode back to his own tent. He was not displeased with the rain which had enabled him to show his men that he was with them to take part in their misfortunes and give them a share in his triumphs.

In the morning the rain was over and the sun shone brilliantly. The King was in high spirits and he told himself that he could not leave his good people of Calais before he had made them gay with certain masques and joustings, so that they might see something of the skill which their King and his men would display in battle.

So there in Calais there was jousting and tilting; and the King won the admiration of all by his skill with the bow.

Henry, however, was impatient to be done with mock battles and begin the real fighting, but it was necessary to await the arrival of his ally against the French, the Emperor Maximilian.

There was much talk of Maximilian who was known as one of the greatest soldiers of Europe. Henry was delighted to have him as a friend in this struggle against the French. With the help of Maximilian he could afford to snap his fingers at that other dubious ally, Ferdinand.

It was while he was showing his skill at archery that a message came to him from Maximilian.

He discarded his bow and read it immediately.

The Emperor believed that the first steps in the conquest of France should be the taking of those two towns, Thérouanne and Tournai. Once these were in the hands of the allies, Maximilian pointed out, there would be no difficulty in pouring men in from Flanders. He wanted the King of England to know that he merely proffered the advice of an old campaigner and he was the happiest general in Europe to serve under the banner of the King of England.

Henry, whose plans had been not to go so far from the main object – Paris – as towns on the Flemish border, was so charmed by the Emperor’s last words that he succumbed immediately to his suggestions and set out for Thérouanne.

The Emperor Maximilian – that hardened old campaigner – had been in communication with Ferdinand concerning the aspirations of the King of England.

‘This young colt will become a menace to all if he is not curbed,’ wrote Maximilian. ‘I am mindful of his recent expedition as your ally. He has a conceit which makes it unnecessary to deceive him because he so obligingly is ever ready to deceive himself.’

The Emperor had no great desire to make war on the King of France, but rather to make an alliance with him as Ferdinand had done; he was, as was Ferdinand, in secret negotiations with Louis.

The three great European rulers – Louis, Ferdinand and the Emperor – did not take very seriously the cavortings of the young King of England, who had too much money to squander; but they were all ready to make use of him, and Maximilian had been offered a bargain which was irresistible. His treasury was empty and he desperately needed to fill it; therefore he was eager to come to terms with the English King. He would place at Henry’s service the cavalry of Burgundy and as many German
Lanzknechts
as he wanted. It would be necessary of course for Henry to pay for the hire of these men, because, while the Emperor had the men, he had not the means to keep them on the battlefield.

As for the Emperor himself, he would place himself under the command of Henry. ‘I shall be honoured to serve under such a banner . . .’were words calculated to bring such satisfaction to the King of England that he would leap at the bargain without considering the cost. Such a general as the
Emperor Maximilian must be paid for, and the King of England must understand that his personal expenses would be considerable. But all he would ask was a hundred crowns a day; and the King would naturally be expected to shoulder the expenses of the Emperor’s household guards.

‘We are invincible,’Henry had cried, ‘now we have one of the greatest soldiers in Europe fighting under our banner.’

The three experienced old warriors now prepared to watch the antics of the young cockerel who believed that war was a superior – though more expensive – kind of masque.

Cynically Ferdinand waited. Louis was preparing to make peace with Maximilian and Ferdinand. Maximilian was telling himself that the conquest of Thérouanne and Tournai were all he needed, and he saw no reason why Henry should not pay him for winning them for himself.

Louis had given his instructions that his soldiers were to avoid battle with the English. They were merely to harry them and make their stay in France mildly uncomfortable.

Dorset’s campaign was remembered; so nobody took the English seriously . . . except themselves.

What a glorious moment when the Emperor simply dressed in black – because he was mourning the death of his second wife – rode into the camp to pay homage to the dazzling young King.

Henry embraced the Emperor and would not let him kneel; but the glitter of triumph was in his eyes for all to see.

Maximilian, who cared not at all for cloth of gold but only for making his Empire great, was quite ready to kneel if by so doing he could deceive this young man.

There were tears in Henry’s eyes. ‘This is the greatest moment of my life,’he declared, ‘to fight side by side with your Imperial Highness.’

‘Who is happy at this time to be your general,’ answered the Emperor glibly.

‘The capture of these towns should be an easy matter,’Henry told him. ‘And then . . . to Paris!’

‘My daughter Margaret has written to me urging me to insist on your visiting her before you leave this land. She has heard of your fame and says that she will hold it hard against me if I allow you to depart without being her guest for a while.’

Henry smiled. He had heard that Margaret of Savoy was not uncomely, and the thought of shining in feminine company was very attractive.

‘I desire to see the lady as much as she does to see me,’he declared.

‘Then we must insist on that visit. My grandson has also heard of you. Charles – as you know he is being brought up by his aunt, my daughter Margaret – has said he wishes to see the King of England because he has heard that he is a young King possessed of all the virtues; and as he himself will be a ruler over great dominions he feels that to study the grace and prowess of great Harry of England would be a lesson to him.’

‘I’ve heard excellent reports of that boy.’

‘Ay, he’ll make a good King. He’s a serious young fellow.’

‘I can scarce wait to see him . . . and his aunt. But first there is a war to be won.’

The Emperor agreed, and turned the conversation to plans for the first battle.