A Proud Taste for Scarlet and Miniver by E. L. Konigsburg Page B
Authors: E. L. Konigsburg
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madam?”
“You and my father are the only men I have ever known who grab God by the throat instead of whispering into His good ear,” she answered.
“One must get His attention first, madam,” Henry said, smiling.
And there, for that moment, the sound of their shared laughter broke through the noise of the storm and the sea.
6
QUEEN ELEANOR was taken to Salisbury. She was allowed to ride in the country, but she was always under guard. She sometimes moved from one castle to another after she had received permission to do so. That, too, was done under guard. She was deprived of the company of her children, and she was deprived of being at the center of affairs. She was deprived of learning of events firsthand and of being the cause of those events.
Not far from Salisbury was the circle of giant stones, called
Stonehenge.
Queen Eleanor loved to ride there and watch the light peek through the openings of the arches made by the stones. The tallest stones were set in an odd pattern of arches, the space between them was too narrow for a horse and rider to pass through.
One day shortly after I had been promoted to marshal, I came to deliver a message. Upon arriving at Salisbury Tower, I was told that the queen had gone to Stonehenge. I rode there to meet her, and I found her sitting astride her horse beside one of the large stones outside the circle.
“My queen seems lost in thought,” I said.
“Lost in time,” she answered. “Now that the present is denied me, I wonder about the past. I wonder how these stones got here. I ride here often and wonder. Surely these giants are not native to this flat pancake of land.”
“It is said, my lady, that Merlin brought these stones from Ireland.”
“Merlin who? And who says?”
“Merlin the magician, the teacher of King Arthur. And Geoffrey Monmouth says. Geoffrey of Monmouth wrote a book called the
Histories of the Kings of Britain;
it tells the story of Merlin and King Arthur.”
“I want a copy of that book,” the queen said.
I promised the queen that she would have a copy of the book before my next visit, and I kept my promise true.
Queen Eleanor did with those histories as she did with everything—she transformed them. She found them interesting, but plain. She thought that they could be improved. Especially the history of King Arthur. She called for her poets and her troubadours; she asked each of them to read the stories and to rewrite them. She asked her writers to dress them up. She suggested that King Arthur’s knights be more noble, that the ladies of the court be more fair, that the manners of the whole court be more courtly, like Poitiers. The work of her poets became popular; people from France to Constantinople began to read and to write of Merlin and of the knights of Arthur’s court. Galahad, Lancelot, and the traitorous Mordred were lifted from the plain pages of a history book and wrapped around with magic and adventure and romance. And that is how people read of them today. All elegantly clothed in honor and seated at a Round Table in Camelot.
Had I not brought Queen Eleanor that book, King Arthur would have stayed dust bound between Geoffrey of Monmouth’s pages, and the people of England would never have had the proud sense of history they have today.
7
MEANWHILE KING HENRY made peace with his sons, giving them little more than they had before except promises; he gave them promises in ever greater numbers. The king continued to be busy with the government of England. He asked Young Henry to join him, and Young Henry did for a while. But I saw the son grow first restless and then bored. The second rebellion began to simmer from the leftover heat of the first.
“I am tired, Father, of being your errand boy. I want something besides titles. I want a court of my own. I have a wife, a queen, and a crown that says that I am King of England, and still I must ask you for spending money. I can do nothing without your knowing. You hold
“You and my father are the only men I have ever known who grab God by the throat instead of whispering into His good ear,” she answered.
“One must get His attention first, madam,” Henry said, smiling.
And there, for that moment, the sound of their shared laughter broke through the noise of the storm and the sea.
6
QUEEN ELEANOR was taken to Salisbury. She was allowed to ride in the country, but she was always under guard. She sometimes moved from one castle to another after she had received permission to do so. That, too, was done under guard. She was deprived of the company of her children, and she was deprived of being at the center of affairs. She was deprived of learning of events firsthand and of being the cause of those events.
Not far from Salisbury was the circle of giant stones, called
Stonehenge.
Queen Eleanor loved to ride there and watch the light peek through the openings of the arches made by the stones. The tallest stones were set in an odd pattern of arches, the space between them was too narrow for a horse and rider to pass through.
One day shortly after I had been promoted to marshal, I came to deliver a message. Upon arriving at Salisbury Tower, I was told that the queen had gone to Stonehenge. I rode there to meet her, and I found her sitting astride her horse beside one of the large stones outside the circle.
“My queen seems lost in thought,” I said.
“Lost in time,” she answered. “Now that the present is denied me, I wonder about the past. I wonder how these stones got here. I ride here often and wonder. Surely these giants are not native to this flat pancake of land.”
“It is said, my lady, that Merlin brought these stones from Ireland.”
“Merlin who? And who says?”
“Merlin the magician, the teacher of King Arthur. And Geoffrey Monmouth says. Geoffrey of Monmouth wrote a book called the
Histories of the Kings of Britain;
it tells the story of Merlin and King Arthur.”
“I want a copy of that book,” the queen said.
I promised the queen that she would have a copy of the book before my next visit, and I kept my promise true.
Queen Eleanor did with those histories as she did with everything—she transformed them. She found them interesting, but plain. She thought that they could be improved. Especially the history of King Arthur. She called for her poets and her troubadours; she asked each of them to read the stories and to rewrite them. She asked her writers to dress them up. She suggested that King Arthur’s knights be more noble, that the ladies of the court be more fair, that the manners of the whole court be more courtly, like Poitiers. The work of her poets became popular; people from France to Constantinople began to read and to write of Merlin and of the knights of Arthur’s court. Galahad, Lancelot, and the traitorous Mordred were lifted from the plain pages of a history book and wrapped around with magic and adventure and romance. And that is how people read of them today. All elegantly clothed in honor and seated at a Round Table in Camelot.
Had I not brought Queen Eleanor that book, King Arthur would have stayed dust bound between Geoffrey of Monmouth’s pages, and the people of England would never have had the proud sense of history they have today.
7
MEANWHILE KING HENRY made peace with his sons, giving them little more than they had before except promises; he gave them promises in ever greater numbers. The king continued to be busy with the government of England. He asked Young Henry to join him, and Young Henry did for a while. But I saw the son grow first restless and then bored. The second rebellion began to simmer from the leftover heat of the first.
“I am tired, Father, of being your errand boy. I want something besides titles. I want a court of my own. I have a wife, a queen, and a crown that says that I am King of England, and still I must ask you for spending money. I can do nothing without your knowing. You hold
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