easily. The horses drew to a halt and the crowds cheered. Peering through the window, she saw Henry walking down the steps of the cathedral towards her. In an unusual gesture, he was coming to her.
She smiled and allowed the others to climb down first to assist her. As they moved a few steps away, Henry appeared with his hand outstretched to her. He smiled and bowed to her and her people cheered loudly. His garments were of the finest cloth and he wore a heavy gold chain around his neck. A signet ring was his only other jewellery but the large ruby in it spoke of its value. His red hair gleamed in the bright sunshine and his eyes sparkled as he helped her out and gathered her at his side.
He kept his arm around her waist and guided her up the stairs to the door of the large church. It was inappropriate and daring, but she loved the gesture. She, the Duchess of Aquitaine, did not enter as a supplicant to this marriage. They entered together, as equals, and he even had the audacity to pause at the doorway, turn to face the crowd and then kiss her before them!
Eleanor was still laughing and breathless when they reached the altar and, try as she might, it was difficult to regain the composure expected of a duchess on such an occasion. Instead she and Henry shared glances and even gentle touches as the ceremony commenced. Although this wedding was nothing when compared to her first one, there were sufficient witnesses of significant standing to ensure its validity. And the Bishop of Poiters and several others attested to the lack of obstacles in making this marriage.
Eleanor found herself nervous just then, as the last clause of the marriage agreement was read aloud and it was time to exchange vows with this man… vows that would make her his property, under his control and no other’s. Her throat tightened for a moment and she swallowed against it.
‘Here now, Your Grace,’ Henry whispered. ‘Be of stout heart and take me as your own.’
He squeezed her hand then and nodded and it both relieved her fears and warmed her heart. He’d noticed the unaccountable nervousness and tried to assist her. If he would continue to do that, she had great hopes for their life together.
Henry felt her hand tremble ever so slightly and squeezed it, willing her to look at him. Eleanor of Aquitaine, a woman who had travelled the world and seen a holy crusade, was nervous about marrying him? He would never have thought it possible. But then, until just a few months ago, he would never have believed such a marriage possible either. Now, as she smiled at him and he saw some softer emotion flicker deep in her blue eyes, he was glad his beliefs had been so misplaced.
When she’d arrived before the church and he’d heard the people chanting her name and his, his heart had raced with excitement and anticipation of their joining. He watched as she prepared to climb from the carriage, smoothing the blue gown that matched the colour of her eyes and adjusting the shimmering veil that covered her long hair, hair left unbound as though a virgin bride.
The blatant desire in her eyes as their gazes met only served to confirm that virginity could be overrated and that a woman of experience had much to offer. The passion that awaited them both would be as exquisite as she was and his body shook from the power of his response to her. Only hours remained until they were one in name and in body and he hoped he could resist acting the barbarian and carrying her off to his bed before the festivities concluded!
Her boldness, her vitality, her sense of humour and adventure, all called to him. Her beauty and her innate passion riled his blood. She would be a fitting wife for him and he was glad of it. The bishops, surrounded by the wafting smell of burning ashes and candles, consecrated their union by praying blessing after blessing for them and offering a seemingly endless litany of prayers. Henry grew anxious to reach the end of this ceremony. ‘Twas sacrilegious possibly, but he wanted her called wife so that he could have her to himself—and that could only happen when they were declared married.
With each passing prayer, he drew her closer, enjoying the feeling of her body near his and the knowledge that she was minutes away from being his. At last, the final benediction was prayed and, as they knelt next to each other, Eleanor squeezed his hand in response.
She was a fitting match for him and would be the wife he would need at his side during these next crucial years as he claimed England at last and forged his own kingdom. Everything he needed in a helpmeet, everything he wanted in a future queen and everything he wanted in a woman he found in Eleanor.
As he helped her stand and listened to the bishop’s words declaring them man and wife before God, Henry felt the laughter bubbling up from within and he let it out. It echoed through the large open spaces in the cathedral and then hers joined his as they raced down the long centre aisle towards the doors and the rest of their lives together.
Reaching the doors, he paused only long enough for the guards to open them before drawing Eleanor into his arms and kissing her the way he wanted to, beginning to make her his and to claim her passion for himself. Then, waving off those who would help, he lifted her onto one of the matching horses that stood waiting for them and climbed onto the other.
Trumpets flared and drums beat. Their names were chanted by the crowds and echoed down the cobbled streets of Poitiers as they made their way slowly back to the castle where they would celebrate with a feast and dancing for the rest of the day. Eleanor’s every move was filled with elegance and grace, as she nodded to her people, now his, and accepted their adulation as though it was more than simply that expected of a people for their liege. She was accepting their love.
Though his men surrounded them as their honour guard, Eleanor’s own troops led their way along the streets. An example of what their marriage meant, this merging of Normandy and Aquitaine, Angers and Poitou, would create something new and different among the powers on the continent. Henry smiled and waved as people called out his name.
As he turned back, he caught sight of Eleanor smiling at him and, for a moment, they were not duke and duchess or count and countess. They were not heirs or heiresses. Instead they were simply Henry and Eleanor, a man and a woman, married and beginning the rest of their lives together. In that instant, Henry offered up a prayer for all those things every man must wish for at such a time—many years together, a happy life and the blessing of children.
Eleanor nodded at him, seeming to understand and share his feelings, and Henry knew all would be well between them. Reaching over, he held out his hand and took hers. They rode the rest of the way with hands joined.
‘Twas hours later when Henry announced an end to the feast and sent Eleanor off with her ladies to prepare for their marriage bed. Though his men and those he called friends called out bawdy words and offered challenges to him, he brushed them off and arrived at Eleanor’s chambers alone. A formal bedding ceremony was expected, but Henry had ordered there be none. She would be his wife for the rest of their lives, for Henry had no intention of repeating Louis’s mistake in letting such a treasure escape. He would never repudiate their marriage or the woman herself and he had no intention of exposing her loveliness to the gawking gazes of others.
As arranged, she was alone when he entered, her women leaving just as he closed the door behind him. Uncertain of what to expect or where he would find her, Henry lifted the candle he carried and saw her in the bed. He lost the ability to think in that moment, for the sight of her sitting there among silken pillows and sheets, with only her hair covering the creamy flesh and feminine curves, was too alluring to resist.
What should not have surprised him was the way she watched him as he walked across the bedchamber to stand before her. If he thought she would watch him with less intensity or interest than he watched her, Henry discovered differently in a very short time. He remembered the moment he caught her staring at him in Louis’s court last autumn and saw the frank assessment in her knowing eyes. The same gaze greeted him now and he wondered how bold she could be.
Henry
