In Guards We Trust

  Chapter 21 – The Confession

  A few days passed before the duke once again requested an urgent audience with Jason and Renate.

  ‘What is it this time, I wonder?’ Renate sighed. ‘I have not suitably recovered from his last visit. Arrange for him to meet us in the Chamber of Knights.’

  ‘Your grace will understand that this urgent visit, coming as it does so hard upon the heels of the previous less than pleasant occasion, serves as a source of some concern to us,’ Jason noted. The duke, Jason and Renate were alone in the Chamber.

  ‘Highnesses it is with regret that it once again falls to me to be the bearer of bad tidings. It concerns a Captain of the royal guard. I refer to the man who gave evidence against the Earl at the recent special summary trial. You will recall that he testified that the crown prince was the victim of an assault of a sexual nature. He apparently suffered a crisis of conscience following the Earl’s execution on the strength of his evidence. He attended at confession this morning. He apparently told a Bishop that his evidence at the summary trial was untrue. He said that the truth was that the Earl and the Prince were, in his view, involved in consensual relations.’

  ‘But Uncle, this is not as bad as it seems.’ Renate’s expression relaxed slightly. ‘The bishop cannot repeat what he has heard in confession. Even if he believes it to be true.’

  ‘I am afraid there is much more to relate,’ the duke countered. ‘The Bishop, realising the importance of the confession, and realising that it was useless to the Church if it remained a confession, apparently advised the Captain that it was his Christian duty to repeat the story to the Cardinal outside of the confessional. The Captain did so. I have now been advised by the Cardinal that when the king dies, the Church will refuse to perform any coronation ceremony involving the crown prince. I trust it is unnecessary for me to deal with the reasons.’

  ‘Indeed so, your grace.’ Jason bowed his head forward slightly, holding it in both hands. The princess interrupted the silence.

  ‘Does this idiot not understand the consequences for this kingdom and its people if the church persists in this view?’ The question posed by the princess was rhetorical.

  Jason, on the other hand, posed a question which urgently required an answer.

  ‘Your grace, do we have any indication as to whether the Church’s pursuit of this matter is motivated by principle or by a desire to advance the interests of republican France?’

  ‘In defence of the Cardinal, the church lost no time in advising me, as a representative of the palace, of its position once this information came to hand. This would at least suggest that the Church is operating in good faith.’

  ‘It could also mean that the Church wishes to be seen to be operating in good faith. A dispatch to France might already have been sent,’ Jason pointed out.

  ‘I of course have no way of knowing whether or not the Church has sent word to anyone in France or elsewhere else.’

  Jason realised that an urgent meeting with the Cardinal was critical. If there were any suitable solutions on offer, the Cardinal’s views on whether or not such any of them might meet with the approval of the Church were essential. A meeting would also assist Jason to ascertain where the Cardinal’s true loyalty lay. Jason summoned the Cardinal to the palace. While his wife and the duke were talking, Jason gestured in the usher’s direction.

  ‘I urgently need to speak to the Cardinal alone - before he joins the three of us. Arrange it, discretely if possible,’ he whispered firmly in the usher’s ear.

  The usher nodded. Not long thereafter, the usher signalled to Jason.

  ‘Excuse me for a moment. I shall return shortly,’ Jason announced as he rose and proceeded to the private waiting room to which Cardinal had been shown. The Cardinal stood in the middle of the waiting room in his robes and headgear. He was a thin, elderly man with pure white hair. Jason had previously concluded that, although the Cardinal preferred to be perceived as amiable and a little indecisive, he was in reality far more ruthless and calculating than he let on.

  ‘Your eminence, how good of you to come,’ Jason announced with a forced smile. The Cardinal bowed to the prince following which the king kissed the sapphire ring of office on the Cardinal’s right hand.

  ‘How good of you to invite me, your highness.’

  No doubt the Cardinal’s smile was an equally forced manifestation, Jason imagined.

  ‘Please sit down,’ he gestured to the Cardinal. Jason closed the door. He then lifted a chair and placed it in from of the Cardinal’s seat. He turned the chair towards the Cardinal and sat down. Jason made sure that they were sitting right on top of each other. Jason noted with some pleasure that the Cardinal was uncomfortable and more than a little apprehensive about this unexpected invasion of his personal space.

  ‘Forgive me your eminence, but what I say is for your ears only.’ He paused for effect. ‘When I say that this is for your ears only that is precisely what I mean. If it comes to my attention that you have repeated anything we have discussed here without my express consent, I will arrange for you to be collected, placed on board one of my ships and taken out to sea. Sometimes when people go to sea they don’t always return.’ Beads of sweat formed on the Cardinals brow. ‘Do we understand each other, your eminence?’

  ‘Yes, your highness, completely.’

  ‘Good. I have been told about the Church’s objection to performing the coronation ceremony in respect of Prince Ruan. It might be useful for you to know that I am not in any way religious at all. If you repeat what I have disclosed outside of this room, I will, of course, deny it. Now whilst the church is not high on my list of priorities, the Princess, Prince Ruan, and this kingdom are of paramount importance to me. I presume that you are aware that if there is no legitimate male heir of the present king, the 1592 treaty dictates that this kingdom will revert to French rule’.

  ‘I appreciate that your highness.’

  ‘Can you imagine any circumstances in which I would permit such a thing to come to pass?’

  ‘I am certain that your highness would wish to prevent it.’

  ‘Incorrect, your eminence. I will prevent it, whatever the cost. And I promise you this: if the church or any bishop so much as hints at a course of action which compromises this country’s independence from France, I will not hesitate to treat the church or each and every non-cooperative bishop as an enemy of the state.’ Jason hesitated for a long time to allow his words to sink in. ‘I believe that I am known as someone who looks after his friends.’ Again he hesitated. ‘But it is less well known, your eminence, that I particularly excel at taking extra special care of my enemies. I trust that, as a man of the cloth, you are not having difficulty in following the thread of this conversation?’

  ‘Not at all your highness.’

  ‘Will I be able to count on your co-operation?’

  ‘Yes your highness. I will ensure that the matter is reviewed by the church and that the result you desire is arrived at.’

  ‘That may be a last resort. I would prefer the matter to be dealt with more subtly. For instance, the King, on his deathbed, could pass an edict declaring me as his successor. I am of noble birth. I am married to the princess and I am already running the country. The king could then declare Princess Renate to be my queen and the present Crown prince could remain as crown prince. This would take care of any questions of the absence of a legitimate male heir. Once the Queen and I produce a male heir, the Crown prince will simply waive his right to succeed next in favour of that heir. Could the church live with that?’

  ‘Yes. I believe it could.’

  ‘Your eminence I trust that I may also rely upon your assurance that there exists no French or republican agenda on your part and on the part of the church?’

  ‘Indeed your highness, you have my assurance that the church was acting purely out of principle. And I assure your highness that if the church should act on such a matter of principle again, your highness’s wise
counsel shall first be sought in order to limit unnecessary inconvenience and any unfortunate misunderstandings.’

  ‘How very far sighted of you, your eminence. That concludes our business for now. May I take it that you have no principles preventing you from joining your next king for a glass of wine?’

  ‘None whatsoever, your majesty.’ The Cardinal grinned sheepishly. ‘Forgive me, I meant your highness.’

  ‘Good. And what will you be conveying to Duke Le Riche or to the other bishops or to anyone else about our little conversation?’

  ‘Forgive me your highness. I do not wish to be at all impertinent. To which conversation is your highness referring. I do not recall any conversation save for your highness’s most generous invitation to join your highnesses for a glass of wine?’

  Jason beamed at the Cardinal. The latter then joined Jason, the princess and the duke on the balcony. He gladly accepted a glass of wine which he quaffed with haste before accepting a refill. The tense expression from earlier had almost completely receded. Jason decided to put his proposal to the floor.

  ‘Your eminence, I have a solution which I suspect may also meet with the approval of all including the church. The treaty of Montuga only requires the return of the principality to France if there is no legitimate male heir. As long as such an heir exists, the treaty cannot be invoked. There is no requirement in the wording of the treaty that requires that the legitimate heir should necessarily ascend the throne. And there is nothing to prevent the king from choosing some other suitable person of noble birth to leapfrog over his heir in the line of succession. All we need is for the king and for Prince Ruan to sign an edict permitting me, a person of noble extraction, and Renate, to leapfrog ahead of Ruan as crown prince. When king Julien passes away I shall become king by joint edict of the king acting with his legitimate successor, and Renate will become queen. Ruan remains Crown prince and the legitimate male heir. If the king and queen have a male heir, the King, Queen and the Crown prince shall again sign a joint edict permitting the heir to leapfrog over the crown prince. That should end the matter.’ As Jason had not previously discussed his possible ascension to the throne with either his wife or the duke, he watched them both carefully to ascertain whether his proposal possibly displeased either of them.

  ‘What do you think, your eminence?’ the duke inquired. ‘Could the church support it?’ If the duke had any reservations about Jason ascending the throne in Ruan’s stead, he did not show it. He raised no indication that the church’s attitude would be at all unfavourable to the novel suggestion.

  ‘I cannot see why not,’ the Cardinal professed enthusiastically.

  Jason glanced at Renate again. She revealed no reaction. She was studying the Cardinal.

  ‘The only way this plan could fail is if there is no male heir from the king and queen and Prince Jason were to die prematurely,’ noted the duke. ‘Heaven forbid such a thing, but then we would be back to the problem with Ruan.’

  ‘I don’t think so,’ Jason intervened. ‘I am sure that by that time, the Church will have had lots of time to consider doctrines of faith such as Christian forgiveness and the like. I am confident that the Church is likely to adopt a stance based less on prejudice and more on Christian forgiveness, love and tolerance. What do you think Cardinal?’

  ‘The Lord has been known to work in mysterious ways.’

  ‘Wonderful. We shall cross the bridge of forgiveness, if necessary, if we come to it.’

  Later, and once the topics of conversation shifted to more mundane matters, Duke Le Riche drew Jason to one side.

  ‘I assume you accosted him inside for a few minutes. What on earth did you say to him?’

  ‘I may have predicted that if Montuga is ever handed back to France as a result of the conduct of the church or due to an omission on its part, the chances of the event being witnessed by any living Montugan clergy would be extremely remote.’

  ‘That was a risky thing to do, your highness. The power of the church and its influence over the people should not be underestimated. I need only mention that the lower levels of the French clergy played a significant role in the downfall of the ancient regime in France’

  ‘I realise that your grace,’ Jason whispered. ‘But the Church is threatening us now. We have to respond now. I have made it most clear that we are more than willing to respond.’ Jason then changed the subject slightly. ‘What is your view on my proposal? I realise that is presumptuous of me to presume to become king in Ruan’s stead.’

  ‘Your proposal has my support, your highness. I am sure it will have the support of the king, the princess and even Ruan, once he finds out what has occurred.’

  Later that evening, and once they alone, Jason canvassed his proposal with Renate.

  ‘I realise that you have assumed the responsibility of ruling this kingdom, and that you do so with the blessing of my father and my brother,’ Renate’s tone was unusually matter of fact.

  ‘And yours too, I trust?’ Jason intervened.

  ‘Mine too,’ Renate responded. She glared at him sternly. Evidently his interruption annoyed her. ‘Never forget, however, that you are married into this family. You are not a Garibaldi by birth. Yet, you dared to propose your ascension to the throne without discussing it first with me, or the king, and most of all, without discussing it the one person whose royal birth right it is to be king next.’ Renate glared intensely at Jason as she spoke. Her use of a controlled and measured tone instead of her characteristic tempestuous outburst served only to emphasize her fury.

  ‘I apologise, my love. I realise that my proposal is presumptuous. It was simply advanced to save the kingdom for us all. I needed to know if the Church could support it, and I needed the Church to know now, not later, that this family will not simply shrivel away. It will fight for its existence. Action had to be taken before the Cardinal could start gossiping to all and sundry about the end of the monarchy once your dear father passes away.’

  Renate’s glare softened. Jason was uncertain whether this was attributable more to his apology or to his explanation.

  ‘I suppose we don’t really have much choice. If Ruan, my father and the duke agree, then I agree.’

  ‘The duke indicated this evening that he supported the proposal. Of course I shall discuss the matter with Ruan, and if he agrees, with your father.’