But the match was a gamble. He was 19, she was pushing 30. He was relatively inexperienced, Eleanor had seen as much of the ways of the world as it could possibly offer. And yet something rather surprising happened between the teenage Arthur and the mercurial Guinevere, something that wasn't really supposed to happen in a marriage of political convenience. The parties actually fancied each other. Henry found himself at the altar in 1152, beside an older woman described as a graceful, dark-eyed beauty, disconcertingly articulate, strong-minded and jocular. Hardly the veiled damsel in the tower. One likes to think that for her part, Eleanor saw not just the usual feudal spur-clanking bonehead, but beyond a stocky frame and barrel chest, someone who is intriguing peculiarity, the rare prince who looked right with a falcon on one hand and a book in the other.


但这婚姻是场赌博，他只有十九，而她年近三十。他只是初出茅庐，而埃莉诺见多识广，早已历经沧桑，虽然以政治谋利益的婚姻。对于年轻的亚瑟王，与机智的桂妮薇儿，不太可能有什么意外之喜。然而，他们彼此却真一见钟情。1152年，亨利王大婚，身边的女人，年纪稍长，眸子乌黑，形容姣好，举止优雅，才思敏捷，机智善辩，幽默风趣，极有主见，不似养在深闺的懵懂少女。从埃莉诺的角度来看，他并非只懂骑马打仗的凡夫俗子。在健硕的身躯和结实的胸膛之外，有某种难以名状的奇异特质。这位年轻的王子望向右方，一手托着猎鹰，一手则拿着书。