Windsor Castle September 1172 I had no time to recover from my meeting with Alais, for the meal in the great hall would take place, whether I willed it or no. And I did will it, for it was the only chance that day that I would have to see Henry, to remind him of our old alliance, and of his love for me. Whatever Alais did for him behind the curtains of his bed, I had done more and done better in my time. I had borne him living sons, and daughters to shore up his power, and the power of the realm. Henry and I had been partners on the throne of England far longer than Alais had been alive. I knew that even now he might still be brought to reason. I was late coming to the hall, but when I stepped inside, I saw that all my arrangements had taken place just as I had ordered them. Jugglers and musicians performed below the high table, careful to include the king in their revelry, but always keeping their focus on the foot of the table, where Richard and I would sit. Richard was waiting for me. He had never found such things amusing, and as he sat across from Henry, gazing at the woman who would have been his, he drank bitter dregs along with his mead¹. But I had coached him well, and he knew his role. He stood when I entered, and bowed to me, as if I were an empress. The rest of my people took up his gesture, bowing as if they had never seen me before and I had just come down to earth from the right hand of God. They did not kneel, for that would have been pushing things too far. As it was, Henry raised a sardonic² eyebrow³ at me, meeting my gaze above everyone’s heads. Some of Henry’s own men took up the conceit⁴, and bowed to me as well, though not as low or as long. Henry almost laughed to see them do it, and to see their confusion as they rose once more, looking first to one another and then to him for guidance. Never before had our court been so openly divided.No one but my own people knew how to handle it gracefully⁵, and they knew only because I had instructed them. Just when it would have begun to seem defiance⁶ of the king and not love of me, my people rose from their

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