She straightened her dress and tidied her wimple, and then holding the casket as if it was a holy relic, opened the door and went with slow dignity down the stair and out to the waiting ship.
HISTORICAL NOTE
Eleanor spent the rest of her life in the convent at Montargis living on a small pension from Henry. Simon and Guy eventually escaped to the continent and in 1271 murdered their cousin Henry of Almaine at Viterbo in Italy while he was at Mass. They could not forgive his betrayal of their father. Simon died in hiding and Guy in prison a few years later, leaving only daughters of his marriage to an Italian lady.
The Demoiselle was married by proxy to her Welsh Prince shortly before her mother's death in 1272, but on her way to join him her ship was captured by her cousin, now King Edward I, and it was not until three years later that he made terms with Llewellyn and allowed the marriage to take place in fact. She and Llewellyn were happy together but sadly she died in childbed four years later. Her daughter was taken to England to the nuns at Sempringham; like the Maid of Brittany she could be considered a danger and was never allowed her freedom. The line of Simon de Montfort died with her.
THE PLANTAGENET LINE CONTINUES
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The Royal Griffin (The Plantagenents Book 2) Page 22