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

no doubt that it was done at his command But prisoners are often neglected, often sicken and die I truly think that is why he chose starvation and not the axe Not to see Maude suffer To enable him to deny responsibility for her death, to be able to claim it was not of his doing ""Maude's guards misunderstood their orders7 Forgot to feed her7 Chnst Jesus, Richard, who could ever believe such a fable7""Uncle Will believes it He's managed to convince himself that Maude and her son died through neglect He has to believe that How could he continue servingPapa if he did not7""How, then" Joanna stopped herself in mid-sentence, but he finished it for her"can I continue to serve him7 I do not often ask that question And when I do, I tell myself it's because he is still my father Because he is still the KingBecause the only difference between Papa and other men is that he has the power to do what they cannot ""You cannot truly believe that, Richard," she said, and he shrugged "What ofIsabelle7" she asked, after a long silence "Think you that she knows7""About the hostages, yes About Maude, not likely, who'd dare to tell her7 You need not fret about Isabelle She has very selective senses, sees and hears only what she wants to know ""Was I" Joanna swallowed "Was I like that, too7""You loved him, Joanna I doubt that anyone loved him the way you did " Richard hesitated "When Papa decided to delay the invasion of Wales, he moved up intoYorkshire But he expects to be back at Nothngham within the fortnight, wrote and requested that I join him there ' mean to do that, Joanna Would you be willing to go with me7 Mayhap lf you talked to PapaHe felt no surprise, only a sad sense of futility when she said in a ^retched whisper, "I cannot, Richard I cannotI know," he conceded "This is a de Warenne manor You're welcome here as long as you like "111 stay until you return to court After that I shall go to stay at the te Ladies priory in Brewood Forest "ine White Ladies priory was a small Augustiman nunnery in ar ,roPshlre which had occasionally benefited from John's largesse Rich-new Joanna had twice visited it with John, at age eight and then a few months before her marriage to Llewelyn He thought her

400r401choice of santuary a very telling one, and he ached for her, thinking ;t ironic that he, who had always valued competence as the highest virtue should now feel so utterly ineffectual, able to offer such meagre comfort"Joanna . . . you have not left Llewelyn?"She slowly shook her head. "No. I could never leave Llewelyn. But I'm not at all sure, Richard, that he wants me back.""MAMA, look!" Elen balanced precariously on the tree stump, and when she was sure she had Joanna's eye, she dived like an otter into the October leaves heaped about the stump. Joanna hastened to the rescue, anticipating scraped knees and sobbing, but Elen was already sitting up She had dirt on her dress, leaves in her hair, and a satisfied smile on her face."Did you see me jump, Mama, did Ohhh! What is that?" Joanna followed the grubby little finger, saw two twitching ears protruding from a nearby thicket."That is a rabbit or coney, Elen," she said softly. "Be still so you do not frighten it away.""It's smaller than a hare," Elen observed, with the knowing eyes of a country child. "Do we have them back home? Can I pet it, Mama? CanI keep it?""I do not know if there are coneys in Gwynedd, Elen," Joanna admitted. "It is not native to England, was brought over some years back by the Normans for their sport."Elen's other queries now became academic; the rabbit fled as soon as she moved. "Oh, Mama, it's gone!""I'm sorry, sweetheart." Joanna was, sorry for so much. These weeks at Brewood had not been happy ones for her daughter. Not a day passed that Elen did not ask when they were going home. Sometimes she sounded fretful, petulant, at other times unbearably plaintive, and at no time did Joanna have a satisfactory answer for her. "Soon" meant little to a homesick five-year-old who missed her father. It was coming to mean less and less to Joanna, too.Several nuns were passing, lugging heavy oaken buckets of wei water. They paused to beam upon Elen; she was a great favorite with them all, and whenSister Avelina offered to take her into the kitchen for bread and honey, she accepted readily. But she'd taken only a few step when she stopped, whirled, and came running back to Joanna."Kiss me, Mama," she directed, and Joanna knelt, for a morne hugged her tight.Elen grinned, and then she was sprinting after. nuns, while Joanna stood very still, fighting her fear. If Llewelyn c° not forgive her, she'd lose more than his love; she'd lose her ch»d ^ too. When a marriage broke apart, the husband kept the children, a chose to deny his wife the right to see them, she had no legal reurse. Her own plight was even more perilous than that of most re. ted wives, for her husband was a Prince, a Prince with the power to h nish her from his domains, from their children's lives.Joanna did not move until Elen's small figure was no longer in 'eht And then she turned, began to walk away from the priory, under the leafy- rustling clouds of autumn oak and dappled elm. When her grandmother had divorced theFrench King, their two little daughters had remained with Louis. They were six and two then, and Eleanor did not see them again until they were women grown, in their twenties. Eleanor had apparently accepted the loss of her children as the price she must pay for Henry and the crown of England. But Joanna knew her