Four Queens by Nancy Goldstone

Author:Nancy Goldstone
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2007-04-21T16:00:00+00:00

Sanchia

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Purses, symbols of money.

CHAPTER XIV

A ROYAL WINDFALL

Beauty can be as effective a social or political tool as wealth or breeding, but it must be coupled with another, stronger trait such as determination or ruthlessness. Sanchia had neither Marguerite’s resourcefulness nor Eleanor’s ambition. The queen of England’s campaign to wrest Gascony away from the earl of Cornwall put Sanchia’s position with her new husband on delicate footing. Richard naturally expected his wife to use her relationship with her sister to help further his interests, while Eleanor depended upon her sister to reconcile the earl of Cornwall’s political aspirations with those of the English Crown. It was the sort of balancing act that would have taxed the talents of even the most experienced diplomat, and Sanchia, who had been in England less than five years, was unequal to the task. While doubtless aware of the conflicting expectations of her husband and sister, she had not the skills to resolve the situation to either’s satisfaction. Her inadequacies were a continuing source of frustration and disappointment to Richard, and would later affect their marriage.

Of all the sisters, Sanchia was the only one to have married a man who had been previously married. Richard’s first wife, Isabella Marshal, had been a woman from an extremely important, influential English family whom he had known since childhood. Isabella had grown up with English politics, and had become attuned to the nuances of shifting alliances, the ebb and flow of power. As such, she had been a partner to her husband in the fullest sense of the term, both as a source of emotional strength and as an astute adviser. Her family connections were of enormous strategic value to the earl of Cornwall. Her brothers, leading members of the aristocracy, could be rallied at a moment’s notice to take the earl of Cornwall’s side in any argument, even against his brother the king. Richard had been tied to Isabella by a myriad of shared experiences and a sense of inherited leadership, a vision of the kingdom as it was meant to be. Theirs had been a union so marked by affinity that Richard had taken it for granted.

Now he had married a foreign woman half his age. Sanchia could not be expected to provide the same insights as had Isabella Marshal, and in the beginning Richard did not require this of her. She was an asset to his estate as a particularly impressive castle or a valuable horse would have been. She was stylish and looked well at court functions; she was sweet and impressionable in private. If she was not excessively clever, well, what of it?

Sanchia was pleased when she conceived within a year of her marriage; she hoped that having children of her own would bring her closer to her husband. Already she understood that the difference in their ages and backgrounds was creating a distance between them that Eleanor did not seem to experience with her husband. A family provided a logical way to bridge this gap.

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