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

has been rescheduled for next month "Elen's eyes rested pensively upon her mother's face She'd not exaggerated, the strain was telling upon Joanna She sighed, knowing what she had now to say would only lacerate an overburdened conscience even more"I know no other way than to say this straight out, Mama Papa and the deBraose family have decided to honor the plight troth "Joanna stared at her daughter in disbelief "Davydd Davydd is st'll going to wed Will's daughter7"Elen nodded "Papa wrote to Eva de Braose and her brother Pembroke, told them that whilst he'd had no choice but to put Will to death, he was still willing to consider a marital alliance Will's widow and "ernbroke showed themselves to be no less pragmatic than Papa Not °nty did they want the marriage to take place, they wanted it to be

658~;ble despite Isabella's tender years. The wedcelebrated as ^"ggg* M^aelmas week.~ding is to be "eia ai/-r s/ but the sun still burned against her lidsJoanna close a ner iey ^^ ^^ Uewdyn bear to do thig? HQ^ dried the tears on ner en^^ ^ ^ ^.^ Qf wm? ,/And Dayydd could he look at isaoeua w. . . he's willing- ,jInt j think because he wants so"Yoc Mama, it seems "c *° r les, ivia were to SUggest he wed with a mermaid, Imuch to please lapa. 11 rscouring the beaches for one. But there's daresay Davy*1 wou ofttimes misjudge Davydd. He's more like more to it than mat. ic y ^ ^ differences more of style than subPapa than men naive, u knowg wha{ he wantg_ stance. Davyad knows ^J^^ and obviously tha^s Bue^ Davy<; tpn-vear-old daughter. IsaP who sieved for himhis ten-year-old daughter. Isa There was one wno gr rictiye boundaries, a life of absolutes and bella's was a world 01 of,;ntro^vOvarfino Hi^HnlinPs laid downThere was one who grieved for himhis ten-year-old daught- -i.:.Trt V-./-.nr-»^l-jT-icic a lifo r^f aHcr»lnt bella's was a wor d1 of ^ ^ stringent/ exacting discipiines laid down order, subject at an nme Isabella had learned obedience at an by Eva de Braose. A timid

659early age, but she had also learned to fear her mother. Eva was thf bedrock to which their family clung, anchor and mainstay, and sh< ruled her small domain with a tight reinin Will's absences. For intf this cloistered citadel of enforced serenity, Will would burst like a flam ing comet, trailing the real world in his wake like celestial vapors. H< invariably disrupted daily routine, unsettled the servants, and took ma licious pleasure in disobliging his coolly competent wife. Isabellaquit* simply and unknowinglyhe bedazzled.To a child nurtured upon reprimands, starved for affection, it was not difficult to unearth evidence of love in Will's benign neglect, to mag nify his careless kindnesses to epic proportions. Isabella treasured his smiles, the small gifts he would occasionally bestow, kept a lock of his bright blond hair in her birthday locket. His death had devastated her and her grieving was all the greater for its secret, unsanctioned nature That her mother did not mourn Will, the child well knew, and fear made her mute, for she could not risk Eva's disapproval. Now that Will was dead, Eva's favor was all the more precious, was all she had.Eva had spared her eldest daughter none of the sordid circumstances of Will's death, but that account was too brutal, too degrading for the child to accept.In self-defense, she set about weaving Eva's ugl) facts into a softer pattern, one that reflected the colors of romance and high tragedy. All the minstrel tales that so enthralled her celebrated the splendors of illicit passions, celebrated star-crossed lovers like Arthur's Queen and the brave Lancelot, Tristan and the fair Iseult. So it must have been for Papa and the LadyJoanna, she decided, and she found comfort in casting Will as the gallant knight who died for love, Joanna as the tragic beauty who'd loved him as Eva did not. And then her mother called her into the solar at Abergavenny Castle, told her that the plight troth still held, that she must wed Llewelyn's son at summer's end.ALTHOUGH Eva de Braose had no qualms about marrying her daughter to a son of the man responsible for her husband's death, she did feel it would not be seemly for her to attend the wedding. As the Earl of Pembroke was in Brittany, it fell upon his young wife Nell and Gilbert, another of Eva's brothers, to escort Isabella to Cricieth.Nell slowed her mare, dropped back to ride at Isabella's side. "We're but a few miles from Cricieth Castle, will be there by noon." Isabella's was by nature a pale, delicate complexion, but it showed now such a waxy whiteness that Nell grew alarmed. Poor little bird, she thought, and sought for words of cheer. "I shall be your aunt twice over c°me the morrow, for not only is my lord husband brother to your lady Bother, the Lord Davydd is my nephew.Passing strange, I know, for he

660is a full seven years older than I! But he is a good man, Isabella, will treat you kindly." Would he, though? How could she be sure? In truth, she did not know Davydd well at all, could only wonder what had motivated him to make such a marriage as this.Isabella swallowed. "Cricieth ... is this where my father died?""No, lass. That was at Aber.""He's buried there ... at Aber?""Yes," Nell said, all the while heaping mental curses upon the head of her sister-in-law. Whatever ailed Eva? Had she told the child nothing?"Aunt Nell. . . will they let me visit Papa's grave?""Jesu!" Nell turned sharply in the saddle, stared at the child. MercifulChrist, the lass loved her father! Damn Eva de Braose for this! How could she not know? Or was it that she did not care? "Yes, sweeting, I am sure they will," she said hastily, making a silent