Two Gentlemen of Touraine

[Dramatis Personae

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Act III:

     [Blue and grey smoke trail VALAN MONTAGUE and GUILLAUME d'ANGEVIN unnoticed as it dissipates against the night sky. Both men are walking again, though much more slowly. They keep time only with their steps. Mortals zoom by them, on foot, in cars, in cabs. The two gentlemen of Touraine walk and smoke, the air electric around them.]

Valan: It was a wonderful dinner, Gui. I will have to take Edward there, or remind him it exists. And thank you for introducing me to Juliet. [Smiles.] Did I detect some... history there?

Guillaume: [Smiles.] There is always history, Montague.

Valan: [Leans in.] It is okay, you do not want to tell me. You can tell me No, Gui. I don't bite.

Guillaume: [Laughs.] No? [Looks to Valan, grinning.] I am going to get in so much trouble with Eduard. He is going to say to me: William, why did you let my boy smoke that shite? And I am going to say No to you now, even though you are flirting with me. I should drag it out, but I will let you off easy this time, Montague.

Valan: Are you sure you want to do that? You know what they say: spare the rod and spoil the child...

Guillaume: [Laughs.] I'm not going to comment, Valan Montague.

Valan: Alright, alright. I give, you win. You like to get your way, I see.

Guillaume: I do. Mais oui. And no more cigarettes for you. You will have to live vicariously off of my second-hand smoke.

Valan: [Leans in, grinning.] Okay, Guillaume. [Straightens and goes back to smoking.] You were saying earlier, before nibbling on Juliet's Nipples, that there was another version to your story. One that was happening around you. What did you mean? Just the politics of before?

Guillaume: [Looks ahead to the smoke he is making and to the way ahead of them, the river now at their backs.] When I said my wife had died, I meant to say that she was murdered. When I told you that it was a miracle that Ian found me, I should have said it was all but decreed. When I spoke of Ian's... determination and strength, I should have also told you that he was given no choice but to be determined, no choice but to be strong. When I told you that the clans were fighting amongst themselves, I meant to say that there was no Camarilla and that the world was a free-for-all for Them. They took what they wanted, when they wanted it. Without penalty, without recompense, without a consideration to mortal lives.

Valan: [Stunned.] This... sounds like a very different story, Guillaume... very different. Murdered? [Looks horrified.] I am so sorry, Gui. I did not know.

Guillaume: [Nods.] There is no fairytale in this, Montague. The only happy ending is the one walking here with you. I got to live, you see. Though, incidental to my own story, at times, my fate and destiny not my own, I am the only one with the happy ending...

[They walk toward Kensington. They pass through the residential areas, lined with trees, stately homes.]

Guillaume: It is true that Ian saw me in the crib along with a number of other vampires and officials. The occasion was not a joyous one. The last thing anyone in France needed was for Henry to have another son. In truth, it was the last thing Henry himself needed. Not just another mouth to feed but another infant king to make his life miserable. His sons would grow to be like him. Greedy, insistent warriors, too quick-minded for their own good, even John whom we and history discount as a fool. He was foolish, that was no lie and history is right to condemn him for it. But he was far from stupid. There were never better heads for law coupled with such lustful hands constantly seeking to break it than the men of my family, myself included. Though these future usurping princes were only children then, five sons for Henry was simply three too many as far as most were concerned.

Valan: Why were the vampires present? Were they there to preside over the presentation, was your birth the sealing of a deal even then?

Guillaume: There were vampires in the human courts, even as there are vampires walking in this city among mortals every night. At that time, to my knowledge anyway, there was no deal being made. But any birth by Aelinor of Aquitaine was a momentous event. After my birth, some of them dispersed. Ian certainly did. I wasn't interesting to him. [Smiles.] Not yet. I became very interesting to him when I was fifteen.

Valan: [Grins.] I would have been too if you looked like this at fifteen.

Guillaume: [Chuckles. Passes the rest of his cigarette to Valan.] I didn't, believe me. Though, to my mother's credit she did give birth to beautiful children. He saw me then, at my investiture as Duke of Normandy. They were already calling me Lancelot to Richard's Arthur. He saw me ride in a contest in France, I think it was. I think he saw a tavern rendezvous or two as well.

Valan: [Laughs, taking the cigarette. He begins to finish it off.] I can just imagine. You, looking like you, an heir to an empire, jousting and all of that? [Pauses for a smoke.] I am sure you never lacked for attention.

Guillaume: [Smirks.] I will just say that I made the most of my youth, mais oui. So... as I was saying... [Pauses to light another cigarette.] ... Ian came to France and, seeing me, took interest in the new Duke of Normandy. And when I was invested, and with an eye to current family tensions and drama, deals were hastily being made in darkness. A young woman of Navarre, Alexandra of Navarre, had befriended Ian. They were both young, though she was older and more influential than he. She loved Ian, was in love with him, but Ian did not return her affection in the... manner in which she wanted. Ian has always been in the World of Men, without looking back, with no real feminine influence in his universe at all. Alexandra was the only woman in his life. And she betrayed him. She betrayed his trust. She knew where his heart lay, that he wanted me. I am convinced that she divulged this to Henri of Gascony. Henry of Gascony was also a Ventrue but this is less important than his connection to Gascony.

Valan: [Finishes the cigarette and looks to Guillaume as they slowly stroll through Kensington neighborhoods.] You have mentioned the Gascons before. It must be significant, Gui. What is the importance of Gascony? How did they fit into what was done?

Guillaume: [Looks to Valan.] At that time, there was no Camarilla, no ... confederation of vampires with any binding agreements, covenants or laws. The laws that you were taught, the princes, the courts, none of this existed as today. Though the clans are far from cohesive units even now, they were even more fractious then. In France and England, Ventrue was split Norman against Frank, Frank against Norman, Norman against Gascon, Gascon against everybody. This doesn't even take into account the internecine rivalries between Ventrue factions and Toreador factions. In my personal history, Gascony was a province of the empire. Gascon vassals were continually problematic. Gascony was a hotbed -- of music, poetry and politics. Henri of Gascony was one of the most influential vampires on the continent at that time and it was by his hand that my brothers and I had to so frequently visit that territory to put down insurgence after insurgence.

Valan: And Gascony shares a border with Navarre, correct? So, this Alexandra needed you for some... piece or some plan with Henri of Gascony? Was she hoping to make you her lover or protector?

Guillaume: I have never been sure. She wanted me as her first childe, to move into political circles in more grownup and independent fashion. I was to be her way to do that. I'm sure that she ... in fact, I know it, because she told me...

Valan: Oh, so you knew her? I mean, even though Ian embraced you, even though she betrayed him, you met her?

Guillaume: [Smiles a little.] I thought I knew her very well. I didn't like her frequently, but I knew her. The... understanding of the betrayal ... this is not something either Ian or I knew at the time. She told me that she, too, had seen me. That she desired me for her own. In truth, I think she only desired me because Ian did, and having me, having sex with me would be a way to ... somehow have Ian. So I was to be her coming out present, so to speak, with the courts of Europe.

Valan: Wow.

Guillaume: [Nods.] Mais oui. Wow, as you say. Navarre was its own nation, separate from Spain but Iberian in mindset -- and, yes you are correct, most importantly was the next door neighbor of Gascony. No one knew then that my brother Richard would be married to Berengaria of Navarre, the daughter of the King of Navarre, in 1191, putting us in a position to squeeze Gascony in between, Richard and I, had I lived. But that is getting ahead. The moral of the story is, Alexandra sold Ian's desire for her own benefit. She told Henri that she wished to embrace someone of the Plantagenet line, someone from the Great Court.

Valan: You had four other brothers, older brothers, at least they were all living at that time. How is it that your name rose to the surface? Was it because you were the youngest and therefore the most expendable, Gui?

Guillaume: When she told Henri of her wish to embrace someone of the Plantagenet line, someone from the Great Court, her initial desire -- at least this is what she has said -- was a sister of mine, Eleanor. But Eleanor was too valuable to other courts, other factions. Richard was being watched by others. But Oc et Non as some called my brother, was volatile. I think, in truth, they feared to do it. Besides, Richard was doing a good job of keeping Henry in check, and this was of interest to the Gascon and Frankish factions who loved nothing more than seeing Norman fight Norman -- a situation they encouraged, too, by their control of the Valois Phillippe Auguste. Geoffrey was needed where he was. John was... John. No one wanted the drama. So, it fell to me, the one they called the Fifth of Five, the youngest of Henry's sons. But Ian had his sights on me, she knew that. So, Henri of Gascony devised a way to occupy, distract Ian -- and to render him useless. This would pave the way for Alexandra to take me instead. This is the 'fucking miserable' fate I mentioned earlier that I was, thankfully, able to avoid.

Valan: Jesus, sounds like it. If they had thought of you as a choice... had anyone else? It sounds like you were at the center of a storm, Gui, unknown to you. God, I can't even imagine that. [Looks to Guillaume, leans in to him, grabbing at his suit and laughing.] I need another cigarette. Please?

Guillaume: [Shakes his head, grinning.] I think we should have a drink instead. We'll go to my place, it's not far. I will try to find the other cigarettes for you.

Valan: [Looks up and around.] You have a home in London?

Guillaume: [Grins, points to Kensington Palace.] I don't, but Ian does. I am just a well-kept man.

Valan: [Grins.] Me too. That is Ian's?

Guillaume: He leases it out, makes a bundle, everyone's happy. We're so rarely here, but it gives us adequate lodging when we have to be here. We may use it...hmmm... two days out of a year? [Grins.] In a good year...

Valan: And you're just down the way from Knightsbridge. I can call Edward to come pick me up after.

[The gates open as Guillaume arrives on foot with a friend. The exterior is well lit, and the interior shows the evidence of habitation.]

Valan: Is Ian home?

Guillaume: I'm not sure. I told him I was going out. He might be meeting with Robert LeGrasse, a friend of his. You may know of him? He is fairly active, or at least well known, in London.

Valan: I have heard of the name, but I do not believe I have met him.

Guillaume: I am sure you will one day. He is a nice man. With all of the...things I have been telling you, untrustworthy vampires, vampires of one's own clan or family selling one out, I should tell you that there are others who can be trusted. Who are good at their core. Robert LeGrasse is one of these... few people.

     [GUILLAUME d'ANGEVIN and VALAN MONTAGUE enter Kensington Palace. Guillaume leads him to a salon hall, a gathering room. He removes his overcoat and sets it down over a settee. He crosses over to the bar and pours two whiskeys.]

Guillaume: You asked me earlier who else had designs for me. You are correct. Alexandra was not the only one who was watching me. Mithras, the prince of London -- and for all intents and purposes the vampire king of the island -- was watching, too. He wanted me to produce heirs first, but his ultimate plan was to embrace me as a feather for the Ventrue Norman cap and -- by marrying Catherine -- quieting his western front. He fed the Welsh struggle and paved the way for my, not Richard's, commanding of the campaign. In 1189, Mithras must have rejoiced to hear the news of Catherine's pregnancy. He was getting his way, which of course always pleased him. But you remember how 1189 unfolded, yes? [Hands a short glass to Valan.]

Valan: [Takes the drink.] Matilda, Henry and then Catherine ...died... [He pauses on that term, looking to Guillaume, then finally taking a drink.]

Guillaume: In 1189, Henri had Ian kidnapped by the Knights of the Blood. Those vampires were some of the most powerful in England then, and some are the most powerful in this nation to this day. They did so and at Henri's bequest. Some to get out of debts owed, others to gain in an alliance with the powerful vampire of the southern courts. What was Ian to them? An unknown Scottish vampire with an insane sire. They did not know him. They did not need to care. They took him and held him in Westminster Abbey. They put it in his mind that he could not live without me. That Guillaume XI of Poitou, that William of Normandy, was to be his sun and his moon in the sky, the sky too, and that he had to have me. They planted the seed of obsession and it set on his interest like a fire in dry brush.

Valan: [Looks confused.] How did they do that? Put it into his mind. I can understand how they may have apprehended him. But... how is it you can make someone believe such? Brainwashing?

Guillaume: [Takes a seat across from Valan, holding his drink. He then sets it aside in favor of another smoke. He considers Valan for a moment, inclining his head.] Each clan or family has a group of ... powers... abilities, rather, that separate them from the others. Ventrue are able to ... mold the thoughts of others, supplant suggestions, even domination to achieve their aim.

Valan: [Sitting forward.] What? You mean, you could do that to me, Guillaume? As we are sitting here, you could make me... think or... feel ... whatever you like?

Guillaume: [Lights a cigarette.] It is a little more complicated than that, but... there are things that I can do, oui. And they were certainly able to do this. Ian is of ... old blood. Those who kidnapped him were more powerful, older than he. That is the only reason they were able to do such.

Valan: And where were you? Rouen? It was after the death of Henry, yes?

Guillaume: [Nodding.] Oui, Catherine and I were in Rouen. It was September. She was seven months pregnant. Really big by then. She had a tiny frame. She looked like a snake who had swallowed an elephant. [Smiles a little.] I spent hours with her whenever I could -- it was not easy, commanding two provinces with some distance between them. But then... I was home for a spell. I would lie with her, feel it move. It was very strange to put your hand on your wife's belly and to feel the hand of your son or daughter pushing back. It amazed me. I had never really been around a woman who was pregnant before. And it was mine. They were both mine.

Valan: And Alexandra and Henri? [Takes another swallow of the whiskey.]

Guillaume: Unknown to me, unknown to Ian, they were also in Rouen, my Norman capitol. I was in a meeting with my commanders there, tending to business about Poitou and Poitiers and the latest from Gascony and Navarre. It appeared that I was going to have to return to my southern borders in the spring. [Pauses to take another breath of smoke. Smoke thereafter tendrils upward from his parted mouth.] Henri managed to get into my woman's chamber, kill her maid, and then he strangled Catherine. Her body went into labor, to save the child. The child did not survive. I discovered the maid's body when I came late to my woman's chamber. I then found my wife and baby on the floor. There was no evidence of forced entry. I shut the castle down. I shut down the city. I turned over every house and stone. No one saw anyone enter. No one saw anyone leave. In my anger and my grief I set fire to the cathedral in Rouen.

Valan: Dieu... [Sinking into his chair, he rests his chin in his hand, fingers covering his mouth for a moment.] Gui... I am ... I do not know what to say. That is horrible. The whole thing is horrible...

Guillaume: [Nodding.] It was horrible. It was a long time ago, however. I have made my peace with the ghosts. I do not mean to ... shock you or upset you by shocking you with this. It is ...just the truth, as simply as I may express it.

Valan: And Ian?

Guillaume: [Taps the ash off the end of his cigarette and sits back.] In England, those holding Ian whispered to him, to his mind, his heart and his soul, that he had killed the Duke's wife in order to possess him. That he absolutely had to possess me. Ian left England for France when he was released. He found me in Rouen, grieving and angry. And for the betrayal of a friend, truly of a sister, and of the deeds and acts of Ventrue, he began his journey through eight-centuries of wracking guilt for a crime ... he never committed.

Valan: I just... can't believe this. It is just incredible. So... Ian chased after you on Crusade. He was all but... forced to, in a way it seems. And when he saw you wounded on the battlefield... I can see why it happened that way. I can see how he was able to do all of those things. Truly, because in his soul and in his mind he had to.

Guillaume: No one was expecting the Third Crusade to be mounted when it was. It was foolhardy from the beginning. No one, particularly Henri, was expecting Ian to do what he did. Alexandra was in the Holy Land. She tried to persuade Ian to let her take me. Ian won. Surprisingly, when Mithras realized his plans had been usurped, he did not kill us as he had massacred others for domination of the island previously. Instead, in order to bring Wales under his sway and stop the Toreador insurgence of the time, he embraced Davydd ap Owain, called Llywelyn for the family that sprung at his heels. That is how Davydd began and that is his story. At the time, I had no idea. By then, I was in Scotland, newly deceased. Nor did he have any inclination that I lived. It is said the great prince of Wales wept to hear I had died upon the sands of Arsuf. That Jupiter should be so struck down by the Saladin, I believe was his epitaph to me. The embrace, you know. It was as I told it.

Valan: You were saying that the story had a happy ending, Gui. I would like to know what that could be, how that happened with such a beginning.

Guillaume: [Smiling, extinguishing the cigarette.] From the moment we were on that ship, Ian and I, it was just him and me, alone in the world. We have had a lot of trying years, I won't go into that, but that we could come through that, through our first years together, that we have come through the modern age to be here on this planet and still in one another's company -- and ... more in love than ever in our past -- I consider this a happy ending. And a vindication. We have been given our justice. We have wealth beyond measure, we have love beyond reckoning. Despite the evil of other men and women. Despite the deception and betrayal of those we once loved.

Valan: [Straightens, finishes the whiskey.] How was this all resolved? How did Ian find out that he did not do that horrible thing? Did you at any time know that he was responsible, or thought himself responsible for the death of your wife and child? You said in the beginning that you... only recently came to understand some of this. What happened?

Guillaume: [Folding his hands at his stomach.] The full truth of this, Valan, we were not to learn until... just a few short years ago. Right before we left America to return home. Alexandra, who had been in Ian's life for those eight centuries, who had tied her business to his, who had his love, who was truly the third person in a weird sort of three-way marriage, kept it to herself all along, letting him believe he did that. I can forgive her for Catherine's murder. It was a long time ago, I have a different perspective, and she was young and easily led. And truly what resolution could there be for that? But never what she did to Ian. That betrayal. To quote Shakespeare: it was like another fall of man.

Valan: [Behind his hand.] Is she still alive, Gui? Alexandra...

Guillaume: [Nods.] She is. The clan has made a ... nominal reparation to Ian. Ian has had his missing memories returned to him and, yes, to answer your question, he received the truth of what happened from Henri of Gascony himself, who is still alive as far as I know. Alexandra has lost a lot of her prestige and coinage in the world, Ian has control of her assets. It is ... just. Truly, after so long, what would have been enough? It is enough for him, it seems. As for... did I know about his guilt with Catherine. I did. Some ten or so years ago...

Valan: When things began to change... you said.. the last ten years have been... incredible, I think you said. Amazing...

Guillaume: [Looks at Valan for a time.] Yes, that is when things began to change. Ian came to me and he confessed his guilt. I forgave him. I loved him. He forgave me all of the trespasses I made against him. And there were many. It is enough to say that we both had guilt and we both had made mistakes. But we both asked one another for help, for forgiveness, and each one of us granted that forgiveness. We were...generous with one another. Not generous with our enemies. [Smiles.]

Valan: I can... just imagine. I don't want to imagine that.

Guillaume: [Leans in.] You have nothing to worry about, Montague. Do you have... any other questions? You have me, you might as well use it to your best advantage...

Valan: [Quietly.] No more questions, Guillaume, non. I appreciate you being so open and honest with me.

Guillaume: You're welcome. I hope the information is useful to you, in some way. It was hard-earned, I do not mind sharing it. [Rises.] For now, mais oui, you look like you could use some fresh air.

Valan: [Rises.] Fresh air would be good, actually. I think I will call Eduard, also. [Pauses at the salon entrance. He smiles a little.] Guillaume, donnez à l'Arabe d'or mon respect.

Guillaume: [Laughing.] Je lui dirai. Je suis certain que l'Arabe d'or l'apprécierait.

[Exeunt.] Posted by rowan at December 07, 2003 05:43 PM