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beginning to wear off a little, and Alfred considered Ethelred’s words. “How is it unusual?” he asked.
    “It seems, Alfred, that the marriage between Father and Judith was never consummated.”
    Alfred stared at Ethelred’s profile. “What does ‘consummated’ mean?”
    Ethelred sighed. “I knew you were going to ask that.”
    “But what does it mean, Ethelred?”
    “It means,” Ethelred replied carefully, “that Father and Judith did not live together as man and wife,”
    “Yes, they did,” Alfred said, still puzzled.
    Ethelred said, even more carefully than before, “They did not sleep together, Alfred. They did not have babies together. They were not like Ethelbert and Ebbe.”
    There was a little silence. “Oh,” Alfred said at last.
    “You see, little brother,” Ethelred went on, “the church has a rule that if a marriage is not consummated then that marriage is not valid. Or at least, so Archbishop Hincmar of Reims, Judith’s own metropolitan and an acknowledged authority on canon law, has stated recently. And if Judith was not truly married to Father, then there is nothing to stop her from marrying Ethelbald.”
    “But does Judith want to marry Ethelbald? Has anyone asked her?”
    “That is what Ethelbald was going to do when he went to see her this morning.”
    “She will have to agree,” Alfred said a little belligerently. “I will not allow anyone to make her do what she does not want to do.”
    Ethelred smiled into Alfred’s determined eyes, “Nor will I.”
    They rode in silence for a few minutes, the only sound the clicking of their horses’ hooves on the frozen dirt of the road. Then Alfred said, “If the thanes were not pleased when Father married Judith, why are they willing to see her wedded to Ethelbald?”
    “A good question, little brother,” Ethelred said approvingly. “It has to do with wanting to keep Judith’s bride portion in the hands of the West Saxons. If Judith weds Ethelbald, then the manors left to her by Father will go to her children. If Judith goes back to her father in France, Charles the Bald will doubtless sell the manors to increase his own coffers. No one wants to see either the manors, or West Saxon geld, fall into the hands of the Franks.”
    Silence fell once again, a longer one than before, Then Alfred said, “Ethelbald is splendid-looking. And he is young. Perhaps Judith will want to marry him.”
    “I will be very surprised if she does not, Alfred,” Ethelred replied. “Ethelbald is not the sort of man women refuse.”
    Even at eight years of age, Alfred could understand that.
    “It would be nice for Judith to stay in Wessex,” he said then. “I would miss her if she went back to France.”
    “There will be an outcry in her own country,” Ethelred said. He seemed to be talking more to himself than to Alfred. “She will be marrying without the permission of her father, and Charles the Bald will not be pleased. But we do not think Charles will have the French bishops protest the union. He will not want to alienate Wessex, Or Ethelbald, who, to give him his due, has an excellent record of fighting the Danes.”
    Alfred did not reply, just looked at his brother and tried to understand what Ethelred was saying.
    “To tell the truth, we were all shocked and horrified when Ethelbald proposed the match this morning to the witan,” Ethelred said. “It smacks of incest. But when the truth came out about Father’s marriage … well, it just makes sense, Alfred. The girl is here, she is a royal princess, she has already been crowned and anointed as Wessex’ queen, and we will keep the property and money in the country. Ethelbald could not make a better match.”
    “But,” Alfred said in a small voice, “doesn’t Ethelbald want Judith for herself?”
    Ethelred looked at him. “I am sure he does, Alfred.” He smiled. “Judith is very beautiful. How could any man not want her for herself?”
    For some reason, Ethelred’s answer did not