The Girl Empress (The Chronicle of Maud Book 1) Page 3

  “Lady Mathilda, this is hardly the first time that you have interrupted our lessons. It is wrong for you to behave in such an unseemly manner. While I attempt to instruct you in the ways of God, I find you half the time either lost in some thought of your own or eager to pull your brother into your mischief. I am forced to conclude that you have no regard for the subject at hand, but allow yourself to be controlled by your feminine weakness.”

  “You are incorrect, sir,” I replied, and then tempered my comment as I saw him cast another evil glance my way. “I only mean to say that I hold all the workings of our Lord in the highest regard. After all, do not the Scriptures teach us that God created all the creeping things that creep upon the earth? Surely the fox is such a good creation.”

  “That is beside the point,” he answered. “My concern is that you show a lack of respect for authority, and particularly for the natural order of things. You seem to think that each moment in time is established not for you to learn obedience, but rather to amuse yourself by regaling us all with the latest workings of your overly active mind. This would be a serious enough vice in a male pupil, but in a female . . .”

  Here he seemed to cringe for a moment, upset by the thought of such unfettered feminine speech. I turned to my brother for support, but could see by the look on his face that he was more afraid of the tutor’s rod than he was of any torment he was likely to receive from me. Now Godfrey was speaking again.

  “Perhaps you remember the words of Saint Paul in his first letter to Timothy, when he clearly forbade a woman ‘to speak or to exercise authority over a man,’ but rather to learn from him quietly and in complete submission. He then noted that it was Eve rather than Adam who first tasted the forbidden fruit and through her undue influence was able to draw her husband into sin. Surely even you are familiar with this tale?”

  “Yes, Master Godfrey.”

  “As I said, we have the word from the apostle, which is now confirmed through observation. I have borne your presence here, young lady, because it was the express wish of your great mother, the queen, from whom you ought to be taking a better example. She is all goodness and restraint, and she never seeks to trespass the rights and responsibilities assigned by God. It pains me to see how her hopes for you have been frustrated by your own unwillingness to learn. Not only that, but you would seek to poison the instruction of your brother, on whom the future of this kingdom depends, for he is to follow in the footsteps of his renowned father.”

  “Sir, I would never do anything to hurt my brother . . .”

  “Silence! Again you display your inability to sense the proper time for speech. Rightly did Tertullian say of your kind that you alone sought to pervert the glory and conscience of man, which even Beelzebub was too fearful to assault. ‘You are the devil’s gateway,’ and through this gate you would seek to cast your brother into the fires of hell!”

  Daughter, I do not know what made me do it. Prudence was attempting in that moment to hold my words in check, to help me weather the storm, accept the punishment being meted out, and recover another day. Sadly, I could not brook such abuse, so troubled was my spirit within me. My entire being compelled me to answer him in kind.

  “Master Godfrey, if it be true that I am the devil’s gateway, then I shall be glad to welcome you to your eternal home.”

  As fate would have it, those were the last words I ever spoke in my tutor’s presence. As soon as they had left my mouth, he was too consumed with fury to reply and simply pointed in the direction of the door. My brother granted me a look of pity as I walked past and closed the door behind me, my eyes now free to let loose the tears I had been holding back. For of all the things Master Godfrey had said, I believe none cut so deep as his assertion that I had failed my mother.

  II

  It was Lady Beatrice who found me sitting just outside the entrance to the chamber where I ought to have been with my brother and Master Godfrey for lessons. Instead I was crouched against the wall, rocking back and forth. She had come to verify that all was well, only to find that it clearly was not.

  “Lady Mathilda, what on earth are you doing? Your lesson is not due to finish for another hour, and you know it is not proper for you to wander the halls alone! But what is this? Are you weeping? Has your brother stolen one of your toys again?”

  “No such thing, Lady Beatrice. Master Godfrey commanded me to leave the room.”

  “What madness is this? I have no idea why he would do such a thing, unless you were an undue nuisance.”

  “He said I was misbehaving because I pointed to something I saw out the window. He blamed me for drawing William into sin. He called me the devil’s gateway!”

  Now, Lady Beatrice was the kind of woman who depended on things being a certain way. Normally I suspect she would have ardently supported my tutor if there was a report that I had created disorder, and commanded me to return and beg forgiveness. However, those final words of Godfrey’s seemed to change her mood. She appeared to set aside whatever stern lecture she had been preparing for me and instead grasped my hand and started pulling me down the hall.

  “Where are we going?” I asked her, my short legs struggling to keep up with her own determined stride.

  “To the queen’s audience chamber.”

  This was a blow. I had assumed that I would not be able to prevent my mother from becoming aware of the day’s circumstances for long, but I had hoped that I might have a moment or two longer to ready myself for what was sure to be a most painful business.

  “Please, Lady Beatrice! Would you not prefer to lock me in my bedchamber for a while to ponder my heinous actions?”

  “No.”

  I tried another ploy. “Would you not prefer to punish me yourself rather than taking up the queen’s time?”

  “No, Lady Mathilda. This matter must be taken to your mother directly.”

  My heart sank. We were now within a few paces of the door to the audience chamber.

  “I promise I shall not misbehave again.”

  “Save your apologies. They are neither helpful nor timely.”

  It was too late. The door was opened, and Lady Beatrice dragged me before my mother, who sat in her regal chair working on some stitching while a few of her attendants at a table nearby did the same. My mother looked up and spoke.

  “Lady Beatrice, is all well? I understood that Maud was still to be at her lessons.”

  “And so she was, Your Grace, but Master Godfrey has sent her away.”

  Lady Beatrice shoved me forward so that I was standing directly before my mother. By now all the ladies had set aside their embroidery and were viewing the unfolding spectacle with rapt attention.

  “Tell your mother what Master Godfrey said to you.”

  “All of it, Lady Beatrice?”

  “Yes, not a word left out.”

  For the first time, I looked up into my mother’s eyes. I was somewhat relieved to see that rather than giving me the stern look I had received from my tutor, they seemed to welcome, as if beckoning me to share. My spirit was lifted by the smallest of degrees, and thus I began my tale.

  “Master Godfrey was reading to us from the works of Saint Augustine when I saw a fox out in the yard. I told William to look because I knew how much he likes animals, but then Master Godfrey became upset. He said I was obstinate and always getting my brother and myself into trouble. Then he quoted from Saint Paul and another author whom I cannot remember, and he said that women were the ones who led men into sin and that now I was doing this to William. He told me, ‘You are the devil’s gateway.’”

  Here I paused. I was too afraid to speak the words with which I had replied, but my mother sensed there was something more.

  “What did you say to him? Maud, you must tell me if I am to know the truth.”

  I looked up, my eyes becoming moist once again. “I am sorry, Mother, but I told him that if what he said was true, I would look forward to seeing him in hell.”

  There was much laughter
from my mother’s attendants, and even the queen struggled to suppress a smile.

  “And this is your full account, my daughter? All of it is true?”

  “I swear by the Virgin Mary, these were all the words that were spoken between us, at least as far as my memory serves.”

  My mother nodded in the direction of her attendants, and they silently picked up their stitching and moved into the adjoining room.

  “Lady Beatrice,” Mother said, “I thank you for bringing this to my attention. I must now ask you to go and retrieve Master Godfrey and bring him here. Have one of the girls see that William is taken back to the nursery.”

  “Certainly, my lady. I will do so at once.”

  With a deep bow, she took her leave and shut the door behind her. With only my mother and me in the room, it suddenly seemed a great deal larger. I allowed my eyes to wander for just a moment to the wide hearth that remained unused throughout the summer, then to the fine tapestries on the other three walls, each of which my mother had sent to England from Cologne. The pelt of a brown bear lay on the floor: a goodwill gift from the leader of the Poles, Bolesław. The queen’s chair was made of carved oak and an exquisite red fabric. Everything seemed to blend together in perfect harmony.

  “Come here, Maud.”

  My attention was drawn back to the matter at hand. My mother had moved to a chair near the fire and was beckoning me to come join her. I moved toward her and she pulled me up to sit on her lap, her arms enclosing me.

  “You must understand, Daughter, that what Master Godfrey said to you was very wrong.”

  “It was?” Such an idea had not entered my mind. Certainly my own sense of justice had been offended by his claims, but I’d doubted that any grown person, let alone my pious mother, would agree with me.

  “Yes, of course! He is perhaps right that you ought to lend more attention to your lessons, and I would not be surprised if you caused a distraction from time to time, but he was completely wrong to have said those terrible things about you.

  “Listen to me, Maud,” she continued. “You are my beloved daughter and you have a bright future ahead of you. I know that your heart desires to do the will of God. You must set your mind on what is truly of consequence. One day you will be a queen as I am, and your husband and people will look to you to be strong. This training you now receive is essential for that. Do you understand?”

  “Yes, Mother, but it is hard when he speaks of things that seem to belong to another world. I do so wish that we could have a new kind of lesson.”

  “Ah, thus goes the world, my daughter. We are not always granted that which we would prefer, yet we must make the best of it, for we only have one opportunity to make it right.”

  “I suppose so.”

  “Yes, quite right. Now, Maud, Lady Beatrice must be almost returned with Master Godfrey, and I cannot have you here when I speak to him. Go hide yourself behind one of the tapestries.”

  My eyes must have opened wide at this suggestion. I actually detected some mischief in my mother’s command. Never one to disobey such an order, I ran across the room and hid behind the tapestry that showed a hunting party chasing after a giant stag. No sooner had I concealed myself than the door opened again.

  “My lady, Master Godfrey is here to see you,” I could hear Lady Beatrice say, and then there was the distinct sound of the scholar’s footsteps. I gave a slight shudder.

  “Yes, thank you, Lady Beatrice. That will be all for now,” the queen replied.

  There was a silence in which Master Godfrey must have approached the queen and made a deep bow before saying, “Your Grace, may God bless you and keep you! I declare you grow more lovely every time I see you! To what do I owe the honor of this audience?”

  “Actually, Master Godfrey, it is in regard to my daughter, Maud. I understand that she was sent away from your lecture today after some words were exchanged.”

  There was a slight pause. Godfrey was likely trying to judge the situation and decide how he should proceed.

  “Yes, my lady, what you say is correct.”

  “I do hope that your work has not been adversely affected by any actions of my children, sir.”

  This small dose of flattery seemed to produce a marked change in the scholar’s tone.

  “Well, my queen, all children do tend to err on occasion, as they have not yet reached maturity, but I have full confidence that I can continue in my post without any problems.”

  “That is a relief to hear, Master Godfrey. And your discussion with Maud today; of what nature was this exchange?”

  He paused again. “I am afraid, Your Grace, that she spoke most impertinently. It is difficult to hold her attention during our lessons, and she does cause serious distractions. More to the point, I am certain that she does not care at all for Latin, as she puts little effort into her studies, while her brother seems to flourish.”

  “These are serious charges indeed,” my mother replied. “Yet I am sure you cannot presume that all children would enjoy such a path of study.”

  Godfrey seemed a bit perplexed. “Surely, my lady, you must see that as it is the chief language of the learned, a knowledge of Latin is essential for your children, although I must admit that your daughter will have less use for it than your son.”

  “And why is that?”

  “Because, Your Grace, it is not the place of a woman to take part in such things as a matter of course. I attempted to explain to you when I was first employed that it would be useless to place both your son and daughter under the same training regimen, and now the evidence is before us. I request that I be allowed to continue training the prince, and that the care of the princess be assigned to Lady Beatrice or one of the other ladies in the palace. There, I have said it. I await your judgment.”

  There was now a brief interlude in which neither party spoke, and for the first time I began to regret my position behind the tapestry, as I was trapped and unable to discern what actions might be taking place. Finally my mother broke the silence.

  “Master Godfrey, I understand that you have grown accustomed to conducting your affairs in a certain manner, and that this manner does not involve training women. You were good enough to take my daughter on as a pupil, and I thank you, but I have now decided that, as you say, the situation cannot continue.”

  “Thank you, my queen. I knew that you would see reason.”

  “Not so fast, if you please. I was very troubled to hear from my daughter only a few moments ago that you have slandered her in a most wicked manner, referring to her as an ally of Satan, I believe.”

  “My lady, I was merely employing a device used by the great Tertullian, one of the fathers of our Church . . .”

  “Please take care to hold your tongue, Master Godfrey, for I intend to make this brief. I fail to understand how you could ever suppose that I would be party to such an affront against my own sex, including my precious daughter. The problems you have described are due to a flaw in your system of instruction, not any fault on the part of Maud, who is perhaps unable to show you the same level of patience as her elders are forced to muster. If she is failing in her studies, it is because you believed from the first day that she was either unable or unworthy to learn, and you have continually shown your attentions to William instead. While I love my son and wish his instruction to be of the highest possible quality, this cannot result from abasing his sister. Your own words, sir, have betrayed you. You are not fit to set foot in the presence of my daughter, let alone teach her. I must ask you to go now.”

  The next sound was of the palace guards opening the door to see Master Godfrey out. The tutor made a few attempts at protest as the men came to collect him, saying things such as, “Your Highness, I beg you to see reason!” and then, “I am sure the king would not have mistreated me in such a manner!” But it was all for naught; Master Godfrey was gone, and I would never see him again.

  Godfrey de Bayeux’s departure from Westminster was soon spoken of not only throughout
the royal court, but also on the streets of London. Few had been present during the actions in question, and the tales and rumors proved to be highly contradictory. Some said that he had proven a poor guardian of the royal children, while others went so far as to charge that he had devised ghastly punishments for them: secretly locking them in a chamber with naught to eat or drink, beating them until bloody with his rod, or depriving them of a fire during the winter, and all without the knowledge or consent of Queen Mathilda. Others were certain that he had verbally assaulted the queen herself or been caught in bed with one of her attendants. However, the wisest members of the royal household were able to surmise the true reasons for my tutor’s departure, and to them I think it came as no great surprise.

  About a week after this, my mother received a letter from the king informing her that he was soon to arrive in Westminster to prepare for his return to Normandy. It also contained something of his thoughts on the subject of Master Godfrey’s expulsion. Apparently he believed that the queen had acted quite rashly, but he did not intend to overturn her decision. Instead he had found a position for the scholar in his native Normandy as tutor to the Earl of Leicester’s twin sons, Waleran and Robert de Beaumont, who had some of the French royal blood through their mother. They will come into our story again at a later time, but suffice it to say that I pitied them upon hearing of their fate.

  The court at Westminster was now bracing for the arrival of the king’s party, with all the necessary preparations that accompany such a visit. Rooms were made ready for their noble guests, and more servants were brought in to attend those lords and ladies who would be spending the month in our company. An endless line of boats sailed up and down the Thames, bringing supplies for the king’s kitchens. The king’s hunting party sent fresh game for the great feasts that would ensue.

  At such a time, the members of the queen’s household were far too busy to concern themselves with my brother and me. Whereas we normally could depend on some of the queen’s ladies to include us in their recreation, they now directed all their efforts to readying the queen’s raiment. My mother would generally accompany us on an afternoon walk about the palace gardens, on which we always sought to name the different plants and insects, but we now had only Lady Beatrice for company—and a rather stern companion she was, bombarding us with commands not to touch, not to soil our garments, and not to stray beyond the bounds of the cloister.