Here Be Dragons - 1 Sharon Penman (paper ebook reader .TXT) 📖

worse. But is it true that Llewelyn is making Joanna learn that lunatic language of his?"Richard laughed, before realizing that his father was not joking. "I do believe it was Joanna's idea, Papa," he said mildly, and John frowned."Indeed? It's well and good to be a dutiful wife, but...""Dutiful wife?" Richard echoed, much amused. "Papa, Joanna does""John, love, did you not say you'd promised to spare some moments for AbbotWalter ere we sup?" Isabelle's intercession was adroitly done, her query conveying no more than a commendable wifely concern. But Richard was not slow;he gave his stepmother a probing look, then wandered over to the cradle to study his baby brother.John was in no hurry to depart; it was some moments before he reluctantly went off in search of the Abbot. As soon as the door closed behind him, Richard demanded, "Why did you cut me short like that, Isabelle?""Because, my dearest, you were about to say that Joanna is hopelessly besotted with her husband ... or words to that effect, were you not?""And if I was? It is true enough, after all.""Of course it is true. But to say so would have done neither John nor Joanna a kindness, and least of all Llewelyn."Richard started to protest, stopped, and reflected upon what she seemed to be saying. Isabelle was only a year older than he, and when he'd first begun to feel the sexual stirrings of manhood, he had, for a nme of brief and exquisite torment, believed himself to be in love with nis father's beautiful wife. So shamed had he been by these wayward yearnings that he'd fought them the only way he knew how, by scornlng the object of his sinful lust, by convincing himself that Isabelle was a nv°lous little fool, vain and flighty. As an amputation of the soul, it

260proved to be an effective if drastic cure, and in time he'd outgrown both the desire and the disdain. Within the past year or so, he'd found his sense of perspective returning, and he was once again able to look up0n his stepmother without distortion, to see her for what she was and what she was not.It would never occur to him to discuss with Isabelle the ramifications ofJohn's ongoing quarrel with the Pope. Richard well knew that Isabelle gave little thought to the threat of Interdict and excommunication. But Isabelle knew his father as no one else did, was the first woman to hold his affections, in and out of bed. That was no small feat; it earned her the right to be heard, and he said, "Why do you say that, Isabelle? Papa wants Joanna to be happy; surely you do not doubt that?""Yes, he does," she agreed indulgently. "He wants her to be safe and cared for and content. He does not want her to be utterly and passionately in love withLlewelyn ab lorwerth. Ah, Richard, do you know your father as little as that?Do you not know that John needs ever to come first with those who love him? Is that so surprising? Why do you think John did not attend Joanna's wedding? Oh, I know the reasons he gave why he could not. But if he'd truly wanted to be there, he would have been. He did not, and so he was not."Joining Richard by the cradle, she began to rock it gently back and forth."Trust me, Richard, in this. Do not speak to John of Joanna's abiding love forLlewelyn; he does not want to hear it. I think Joanna must sense that, for her letters to him are unlike those to me. To me alone does she go on at length about the unlikely perfections of her Welsh Prince." She laughed suddenly, giving Richard a look that was amused and affectionate and faintly flirtatious. "If he is half as good as she thinks, she's found herself a rare man indeed, one well worth the keeping! Now tell me . . . we know Joanna's heart. But what of Llewelyn? You've seen them together, Richard; does he love her?""That is a woman's question if ever I heard one! How would I be likely to know that, Isabelle? I can only tell you that he seems fond enough of her." Richard paused, considering. "He has a hunting lodge at Trefriw in the River Conwy valley. The nearest church is at Rhychwyn, about a two-mile walk up a mountain path too steep for horses, and when Llewelyn learned Joanna was with child, he ordered a church built at Trefriw to spare her that walk.""He loves her, then," Isabelle declared with satisfaction, and Richard hid a smile, for he'd known she would be quickest to comprehend tangible expressions of caring."Madame?" One of Isabelle's ladies stood in the doorway. "Ma" dame, the LadyMargaret de Lacy is without, seeks some moments w»tn you."AI:

262Isabella's face was suddenly still, remote. "No," she said. "I do not wish to see her."As the woman withdrew, Richard gave Isabelle a pensive look. Like st people atJohn's court, he had been shocked by William de Brae's abrupt and unexpected fall from favor. The purported reason for the estrangement between John and deBraose was money; de Braose wed the crown a considerable sum, for in 1201 John had allowed de Braose to purchase the Irish honour of Limerick for five thousand marks, yet de Braose had unaccountably ignored the set schedule for payment, paying only a meagre hundred marks to date upon the debt. John had suddenly demanded payment in full, and when de Braose was unable or unwilling to comply, he found himself in political limbo, no longer welcome at John's court.Richard did not doubt that Margaret de Lacy was here on her father's behalf, but what interested him now was the finality in Isabelle's refusal. Although she rarely interceded with John on behalf of petitioners, she generally accorded them a careless courtesy, was willing to hear them out. That she would deny Margaret de Lacy even the briefest audience was in