Duchess of Aquitaine

A slim young girl with leaves in her tangled hair came boldly into the room without asking permission. "No, no." The girl waved away Archbishop Geoffrey's proffered list of names as if they were a tray of honey cakes. "I have had an excellent idea, my lord archbishop." "If it's about the May Day pageant," said Geoffrey du Lauroux, "I fear it would not be wise for you to go out into the town at this time, my dear--" ""No."" Somehow the girl stood a few inches taller, and the reverend archbishop stopped in mid-sentence. Instead of being turned politely around and told to go finish her needlework, she was commanding them all. "No man in my realm is strong enough to hold Aquitaine without the agreement of my other vassals," Eleanor pronounced. "And if I marry outside Aquitaine--if we ally with Normandy or Toulouse, or even Geoffrey of Anjou--Louis of France will perceive the joining of our lands as a threat and may make war on us.... "Then," said Eleanor with a dazzling smile that suggested, somehow, how dull must be anybody who failed to appreciate her conclusion, "there is but one marriage possible, is there not? The king of France has a son...." ---from "Duchess of Aquitaine"Ball, Margaret is the author of 'Duchess of Aquitaine' with ISBN 9780312205331 and ISBN 0312205333.