The French King had honoured Arthur, which meant that he was inviting him to take up arms against John. Philip was on the march; he had already harried the borders of Normandy and one or two castles had fallen to his forces. The Lusignans were joining forces with Arthur and Guy de Thouars, and a mighty uprising against John was coming into being.

More news came. Philip was advancing into Normandy within ten miles of Rouen.

How could Eleanor remain at Fontevraud when such disaster was threatening her son? Clear-headed, with the judgement born of long experience, she knew that there was work for her to do. She must hold Aquitaine for John otherwise the Lusignans with Arthur would take it.

The days of peace were over. It mattered not that she was old, her joints stiff, and that her body cried out for rest. She would not have been Eleanor if she had not prepared herself for a journey, and that day set out for Poitiers.

There she proposed to fortify the castle and hold it against intruders.

She forgot that she was old. The fighting spirit was as strong as ever and in her heart she was glad to be at the centre of events again.


Arthur with his stepfather, Guy de Thouars, and with a formidable army behind him had reached the town of Tours, where he rested for a night at the castle. Since his mother had died he had become more self-reliant. Now he must make his own decisions without his mother to remind him that he was after all only a boy. People around him had become more respectful; they came to him whereas once they had gone to his mother and he was realising how important he was and relishing his position. Being so young he was inclined to give himself an aura of authority to remind people of his importance lest they should forget it. Even Guy’s attitude towards him had changed since his mother’s death. His was a great inheritance out of which he had been cheated by his wicked uncle.

‘But we are going to win back that which has been stolen,’ declared Arthur.

‘Rest assured,’ cried Guy, ‘that is our intent. I have promised your mother to serve you with my life and that I will do.’

His sister Eleanor, still grieving for her mother’s death, joined them and asked if there was any news.

‘My dear sister,’ said Arthur, ‘you should not be with us. This is no place for women.’

‘Nonsense, Arthur,’ replied Eleanor, ‘I want to be with you and Guy and so shall I be.’

‘We could forbid you,’ Arthur reminded her; and she smiled and told him that although he might be the Duke of Normandy, Count of Anjou and King of England as well as the Duke of Brittany, he was still her young brother.

Arthur frowned, displeased. Everybody must understand that he had put his childhood behind him. Everybody, he emphasised.

Eleanor slipped her arm through his. ‘What airs you give yourself these days, brother!’ she said.

‘Arthur is growing more aware of his position every day,’ said Guy. ‘From here we shall be going to Poitiers,’ he went on. ‘Eleanor, Arthur is right. You should not be with the army.’

‘Where should I go?’ asked Eleanor. ‘To Brittany? There to wonder what is happening to you all? I couldn’t bear it. Now that Mother is gone I want to be with you and Arthur.’

‘We shall send you away if there are any signs of fighting,’ Arthur told her. ‘I’ll not have my sister in danger.’

Guy smiled at her. Let the boy have his way, he implied. It is right for him to feel his position for he will be a ruler one day and must prepare himself for it.

While they were speaking messengers came with news that Queen Eleanor had left Fontevraud and was on her way to Poitiers.

‘She must not be allowed to get there,’ cried Arthur, ‘for if she does the whole of Aquitaine will rise up to help her. She may be my grandmother but she is no friend of mine.’

‘It is difficult to be a friend of a grandson if it means being an enemy of a son,’ Eleanor reminded him. ‘What a pity that there have to be these rifts in families!’

‘It is no use getting sentimental,’ Arthur told her sharply. He turned to Guy. ‘What are we going to do about my grandmother?’

‘As you say, we have to prevent her reaching Poitiers and that means we must lose no time in going in pursuit of her.’

‘Then why are we wasting time?’ asked Arthur imperiously.


It was a hard journey. With a very few supporters, all she could muster at such short notice, Queen Eleanor had ridden with as much speed as was possible from Fontevraud. She was exhausted at the end of the day and when news was brought to her that Arthur was on pursuit on one hand and the Lusignans were coming up from the South to join Arthur, she said that they must take refuge immediately and if possible defend themselves.

The castle of Mirebeau was near at hand. ‘We will make our way there,’ said Eleanor, ‘and let my son John be told that I am being pursued. I am sure that then he will come to my rescue without delay.’

She was received into the castle by loyal friends, and realising the danger they made ready for a seige. Eleanor was not greatly perturbed.

‘I’m too old for panic,’ she said. ‘If they kill me I shall die, which I expected to do soon in any case, though in my own bed. And if they take me prisoner, well, it will be a short imprisonment. But I know my son will come with all speed when he knows what a predicament I am in.’

She went into the keep and watched from a window. It was not very long before she saw the approaching army led by her grandson.

She knew the castle could not hold out long because it was ill-defended and unprepared for a seige and in a very short time Arthur’s men had broken through to the inner courtyard.

She picked out her grandson. How young he is, she thought. Just a boy! He couldn’t be much more than fifteen. It’s too young to have to take decisions, to have to fight for a crown, she thought.

A noble-looking boy though – one of whom a grandmother could be proud. A little imperious perhaps. That was natural, for too much responsibility had been thrust on him at too early an age and he made good pretence of being able to carry it.

Geoffrey’s son! How like his father he was! And an orphan now. Poor Arthur, what would be his fate, she wondered.

He was the enemy, of course. At any moment now, his men would break into the keep and confront her. She hoped they would let her talk to Arthur and she would try to explain to him how she bore no animosity towards him; she was merely following a principle because she felt her son John had a greater right to the throne.

Arthur looked up and saw her at the window. His formidable grandmother of whom he had heard so much! He wondered what he would say to her when they broke down the last door and he confronted her.

He felt very uncertain. He would ask Guy to take her prisoner perhaps. It would come better from him; and they would shut her up where she could no longer work for John and cause the people of Aquitaine to rise up in support of her.

He called a halt to the fighting. Hugh de Lusignan and Guy asked him what his orders were now that they were on the point of attaining their object.

‘We have captured the Queen Mother,’ he said. ‘But if we break down the door of the keep, what shall we do with her?’

‘We could ride on,’ said Hugh, ‘to one of my castles and hold her there, for we should keep her prison a secret.’

‘This we shall do tomorrow,’ said Arthur. ‘The men are tired now. Let us stay here for the night and leave at dawn.’

Both men agreed that it seemed a good idea and the soldiers were delighted with the decision. They could help themselves to food from the kitchens and wine from the cellars. They had ridden far and fought hard and the object was achieved, the Queen Mother being their prisoner. They were entitled to enjoy a few hours’ respite before going on duty again.

So the night passed.

Eleanor in the keep waited, at first expecting that she would be confronted by her grandson or Hugh or Guy, and told to make ready for the journey to wherever they were going to take her.

Can it be, she thought, that I shall once again be a prisoner? It was ironical when she considered it. First her husband and now her grandson. She would have liked to have had a word with Arthur. Perhaps that would be granted her.

She could not sleep, which in the circumstances was to be expected. In any case she reminded herself the old did not need a great deal of sleep.

Where was John? she wondered. Had he received her cry for help? Would he come with all speed or would he be unable to tear himself away from Isabella? If she were with him the answer would be no.

It would be interesting to see. Life was always full of interest or so it had seemed to her; that was the secret of her ability to enjoy being alive while she was philosophical enough to be prepared for death.

Arthur lay awake only for a short while. This was a victory. To have captured such an important person as his grandmother would show the world that although he was merely a boy he was a general too. He would plan and use his armies to advantage. He had to show them that he knew how to act, because people dismissed him slightingly as a boy. And one day soon he would come into his kingdom and his wicked uncle would be defeated for ever. He had such good friends – his prospective father-in-law, Philip of France; Guy, his stepfather, whom his mother had loved and who had promised to serve him faithfully; and Hugh de Lusignan who had his own special grudge against John.

Arthur slept peacefully.


Hugh de Lusignan was thinking of Isabella. She was never very far from his thoughts. He would go over and over again in his mind that terrible day when he had heard of her marriage to John. He had been stunned, unable to believe there could be such perfidy. And Isabella who must have been willing was only a child really and her father would have pushed her into it. She could not be blamed. He thought of her charming ways, the show of affection, the artless manner in which she had clung to him. He had restrained himself against her beguiling ways, reminding himself of her youth, and then that lecher had taken her and, child that she was, had married her. He had had no respect for her youth. The sly innuendoes had reached him. He knew that they lay abed half the day.