The de Montfort Histories - The Dove and the Devil Read Online Free

estates in northern France.
    Simon felt a bump on his shoulder and turned sharply in irritation,
fearing, as most people did, the attentions of a pickpocket. His face cleared
as he saw that it was only his friend Geoffrey de Joinville, who had tapped him
on the shoulder.
    “Geoffrey my friend, it’s good to see you, but why are you up and about
so early? I’d have thought you’d still be abed with that beautiful wife of
yours.” Simon grinned as he spoke. Geoffrey’s new wife was the latest beauty to
join this elite gathering of the flowers of French knighthood.
    Geoffrey looked glum. “I’ve drawn one of the short straws so I am to
ride this afternoon. I was just looking at the destriers Gauthier has brought
with him.   It’s him I’m to tilt
against first.”
    “You’ve drawn Gauthier, have you?” Simon laughed. “A bit of family pride
involved, is there?” (Gauthier was Geoffrey’s cousin.) “Well, being older he’s
had a bit more practice than you, and there’s no doubt at all that he’s good,
but then, my friend, so are you.” Geoffrey looked gratified by the unsolicited
praise. “You will need to watch him carefully, that’s all. You know how strong
his left arm is. I recall a few falls you took from him in the tilt yard. He
used to knock you about quite a lot, didn’t he? Do you remember, he used to
laugh at you? He’s no mean swordsman if he unhorses you, but he tires easily on
account of his age. But what am I saying? You know this already! Just watch his
left arm carefully; he is as strong with that as he is with his right. I have
jousted with him before and he is beatable as long as he stays mounted. He’s
never beaten me yet!”   Simon pulled
his beard reflectively. “His best horse is certainly inferior to yours and will
wind quicker, so stay mounted at all costs and don’t give him a chance to fight
on the ground.”
    Geoffrey looked relieved. He certainly felt more comfortable with a
lance than with the great swords he would need if he were fighting on the
ground. “Have you heard that Fulques de Neuilly is here?” he said.
    Simon grunted. “What does he want?”
    “Who knows?” Geoffrey looked pensive. “I heard that Thibaut invited him
here specially, but for what I don’t know.”   Simon looked sceptical. “I’ve heard that a large part of the
money the old reprobate collected to help pay for the last Crusade went
mysteriously astray and then he built himself a fine new palace. I ask you,
where does a preacher get the money to do that?”
    “He’s well liked by His Holiness the Pope, so I suppose that’s all that
matters,” Geoffrey said. “He arrived late last night direct from Rome, and has
been closeted with Thibaut for several hours already.”
    “I understand he performs miracles.” Simon couldn’t help grinning.
“Perhaps that’s how he managed to build a palace on a preacher’s stipend.”
    “He does spend a great deal of his time in Rome now,” Geoffrey said
cynically. “There must be something afoot because he has been talking with
Thibaut and that Marshall of his, Villehardouin, since prime this morning.”
    “I’d say it’s a good thing Thibaut is not to joust today. He’d be a
first class target for one of us!”
    “He would not like being beaten here on his own ground, that’s a
certainty,” Geoffrey said. “Still, I suppose we’ll know soon enough why the old
goat is here. They say he comes directly from Rome, but surely he doesn’t
intend to beg for more money after the last fiasco.”
    “Well, he’s surely won’t want to miss preaching to this crowd. There
must be close to a thousand people here now, so heaven knows what it will be
like this afternoon!” Simon surveyed the crowd. “You haven’t seen Walter about,
have you?”
    Walter was Simon’s most trusted squire and Amaury’s greatest hero (after
his father, of course)—a young man who ached to win his spurs on the
field of battle. Related to the de Montmorency