Here Be Dragons - 1 by Sharon Penman (best inspirational books txt) 📕

vow that she'd somehow see to it."I dared not ask Mama about her . . . about the Lady Joanna. Aunt Nell, will you tell me what befell her? Will she . . . will she be at Cricieth?"Nell was getting in over her depth. She ought never to have agreed to this.She may be the child's aunt, but she was also Joanna's sister. At least, though, she could reassure the lass on this one point. "No, dearest, Joanna is not at Cricieth. You need not see her, not ever, for she has been sent away in disgrace.""Oh ..." An involuntary sound, a quavering sigh that communicated to Nell the unlikeliest of emotions, disappointment. Nell subsided into a baffled silence.She pitied Isabella, but was perplexed by her, too. She'd never known her own father, for John had died before her first birthday. But she had tried to imagine how she'd feel if she were being forced to marry into a family responsible for her brother Henry's death, and that only showed her how deep and divergent were the differences between her and Isabella de Braose, for she would never have agreed to the wedding, would have had to be dragged kicking and screaming to the altar.She glanced reflectively at Isabella's profile. A pity the lass did not have more pluck. A lamb to the slaughter, in truth, and what could she do to help?"Isabella, I'm going to speak right plainly. As you're to be Davydd's wife, all you can do now is seek to make the best of it.""Will they ..." Isabella's voice was tremulous, faltering. "Will they hate me?""No, of course not," Nell said, somewhat impatiently, for that was a question she'd never have asked. The hatred would have been hers. But she could sense in Isabella only fear.

662As they entered the great hall, Isabella balked suddenly, and Nell slipped a supportive arm around her waist. "When we reach the dais, remember to make your curtsy. Lord Davydd is the one at Lord Llewelyn's right, and those areDavydd's sisters, the Lady Elen, Countess of Huntingdon, and the Lady Gwladys de Mortimer. Come forward now, Isabella, and greet them." Still Isabella did not move; she was trembling so violently that Nell could only hope she'd not shame them by fainting. She murmured soothing words of reassurance, and when they had no effect, she hissed, "Isabella, show some spirit!" And that worked;Isabella had been taught unquestioning obedience. She followed Nell toward the dais, clinging to her arm.It did not surprise Llewelyn that Isabella was so fair, for both Will and Eva de Braose had flaxen hair. Still, the sight of the child's blonde braids triggered a sudden, sharp memory. He could see again her father standing on the gallows, the sun gilding his hair with a silvery sheen. He'd never looked so young, so vital and alive as he did then, in his last moments of life. And as Llewelyn had watched, all he could see was that blond head cradled inJoanna's lap. He shook off the past with difficulty, moved down the steps of the dais."Look at me, child," he said quietly. Isabella did as he bade. To his relief, she did not have Will's smoke-grey eyes; hers were a soft misty blue. "You are very welcome at my court, Isabella. I hope in time you'll come to feel at home with us." But his words sank like stones into the depths of the child's fear, left no impression, not even a ripple.Davydd had no better luck. He was not particularly at ease with children, and found himself at a loss now. Feeling rather foolish, he murmured conventional words of welcome, handed Isabella her bride's gift, an opal pendant set in silver; it might better, he thought, have been a doll. Isabella mumbled an all but inaudible "Thank you." She did not even unfasten the velvet wrapping until prompted by Nell."Look, Isabella, how lovely it is. Here, let me clasp it about your neck."Llewelyn was faintly amused by Nell's purposeful, take-charge manner, so at variance with her ethereal blonde beauty. For she was a beauty, as young as she was, was very much Isabelle d'Angouleme's daughter. But he could see nothing in her of John or Joanna. Never had he been so aware how fleering time was, how unfairly and heartrendlngly finite, looking now at Nell and realizing she was the same age as Joanna at the time of their wedding."Should you like to see the chamber made ready for you, Isabella?"suggest^ and Isabella nodded quickly. She was, he suspected, so anxious to escape their company that she'd have acquiesced no less ea-

662gerly had he offered a tour of the stables. But when Gwladys volunteered to take her, she hung back, blue eyes imploring Nell not to desert her, not to forsake her so soon."I'll be along shortly, Isabella. I promise," Nell said, and the adults watched in troubled silence as Gwladys led the girl away. Nell's eyes, no less blue than Isabella's but a good deal more vivid, flicked from face to face. Adeal struck in theory could prove to be quite different in fact, in the flesh-and-blood embodiment of a terrified ten-year-old. Did they she wondered, still think Buellt Castle was worth the price of purchase?Gilbert Marshal cleared his throat, said with overly hearty assurance, "Idaresay she just needs a little time. She's a gentle, biddable lass, and it's not as if she had a particular attachment to her father""That's simply not so," Nell interrupted. "The girl thought the world of Will.And you need not glower at me like that, Gilbert. Better that they know the truth. Davydd, you will bear that in mind, and watch what you say to her?"Her tone was a shade too peremptory for Davydd's liking. "Yes ... Aunt Nell,"he said dryly, but Nell was oblivious to the sarcasm, so single-minded was she in the pursuit of her own ends."Llewelyn, I must talk with you . . . about Joanna."She at once felt the