Here Be Dragons - 1 (40 page)

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a step toward her, she more than met him halfway, flung herself into his arms with a choked cry.
"I thought you'd never forgive me, never. Llewelyn, I am so sorry. I had not the right to speak to you as I did, no right to reproach you. It is not a wife's place to question her husband's actions. I know that. But I... I was so jealous, so very jealous . . ."
Llewelyn stroked her hair, tightened his arms around her. "Joanna, you had every right. Let's sit on the settle and talk about it."
Joanna accepted a cupful of mead and, when urged by Llewelyn, even took a few bites of a cheese-filled wafer, but she tasted none of it. She still could not quite believe Llewelyn was here, sitting beside her on the settle, sharing her mead cup, for the first time calling her "love" as if he meant it.
"I think you need to know how we look upon women. It is true, lass, that a
Welshwoman cannot inherit her father's lands, whereas she would have a right of inheritance in England. But that is for the same reason that our laws do exclude men maimed, deaf, crippled, or stricken with leprosy. It was feared, you see, that women and such men could not hold their lands against attack.
But we do not claim that womanly weakness on the battlefield should make her subordinate in all else, too, as you Normans do. Our women cannot be wed against their will, and a Welsh wife has no less right to walk away from an unhappy marriage than does her husband."
"But Llewelyn . . . the Church does recognize only three grounds for voiding a marriage: a previous plight troth, kinship within the seventh degree, or spiritual affinity such as acting as godparent."
"Well, to tell you true, Joanna, when the Church's teachings conflict with the old customs, we tend to go our own way. As in our preference for marrying cousins. We have a saying, love: 'Marry in the kin and fight the feud with the stranger.' So when it comes to interpreting the marriage bond, we follow Hywel the Good rather than the Pope."
Llewelyn laughed suddenly. "I've been told that some Norman churchmen see my success as divine proof of the power of legitimacy. My father lorwerth was a child of Owain Fawr's first marriage; when Owain later married his cousin
Crisiant, the Church refused to recognize the union, and when he would not abjure Crisiant, Thomas a Becket excommunicated him. So they see my triumph over my uncle5 Davydd and Rhodri as ordained, they being sons of the so-called incestuous marriage. The only flaw in that theology is that my mother and father were themselves first cousins!"
He handed Joanna back the mead cup, said, "But we were talking ° how we end a marriage. It may always be done by mutual consent. An then, a husband may disavow his wife if she claims to be a virgin and

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d'scovers on their wedding night that she was not, or if he finds her promising circumstances with another man, of course, or if her mi . e portion fell short of what was promised."
Llewelyn had been, for some moments now, playing with her ha fne feel of his fingers on her throat was so delightfully distracting i Joanna that she was not fully concentrating upon what he was sayin But at that, she smiled up at him, murmuring, "Then you do have « for better or worse, since my father handed Ellesmere Castle over to y« months ago, I would never be unfaithful, and I am indeed a virgin."
"For much too long, I think," he said softly, dark eyes promising enough to bring a blush to Joanna's face. "But do you not want to knot how a wife may shed an unwanted husband? There are four grievanc that will gain her freedom:
if the man contracts leprosy, if he has fd breath, if he is incapable in bed
... or if he does three times dishorn their marriage vows."
Joanna all but choked on her mead. "Now you are teasing me!"
"No," he said, "I am not, love. The first two times that a Welsh wif discovers her husband has bedded with another woman, she has tit right to demand from him payment of a gowyna fine, if you willfi his adultery. With his third fall from grace, she may leave him, althouji if she does not, she then has no further cause for complaint."
Llewelyn paused. "There is one more reason for ending a marriagi Joannaif a husband does ever bring another woman under his wife' roof."
"As you did with Cristyn?" Joanna whispered, and he nodded.
"Yes, as I did with Cristyn. Amongst our people, that is one of th three great scandals, and the wife may at once disavow the marriagi disavow the husband who has so wronged her."
"I. . I would never do that, Llewelyn." Joanna was stunned; in he world, laws such as these were more than radical, they were revolution ary. She was silent for a time, trying to take in this astonishing ne» insight, that Llewelyn, not she, had been in the wrong.
"I thank you for telling me. You did not have to, you know . . ."It came to her then, the reason for Llewelyn's remarkable restraint, and e cried, "Now I
do understand why, as angry as you were this morn you did not touch me! It was because I was in the right, was it not?"
Joanna, I've never hit a woman in my life. You've not been listen
8 to me, love. Did I not tell you we do not treat our women as th °nnans do?
Amongst my people, we do not take out our bad temper P°n our wives just because they happen to be handy. Welsh law doe w a husband the right to discipline his wife for three offenses only: it
15 unfaithful, if she gambles away the family goods, or if she cast

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a step toward her, she more than met him halfway, flung herself into his arms with a choked cry.
"I thought you'd never forgive me, never. Llewelyn, I am so sorry ] had not the right to speak to you as I did, no right to reproach you. It ;s not a wife's place to question her husband's actions. I know that. But I... I was so jealous, so very jealous ..."
Llewelyn stroked her hair, tightened his arms around her. "Joanna you had every right. Let's sit on the settle and talk about it."
Joanna accepted a cupful of mead and, when urged by Llewelyn even took a few bites of a cheese-filled wafer, but she tasted none of it She still could not quite believe Llewelyn was here, sitting beside her on the settle, sharing her mead cup, for the first time calling her "love" as if he meant it.
"I think you need to know how we look upon women. It is true, lass, that a
Welshwoman cannot inherit her father's lands, whereas she would have a right of inheritance in England. But that is for the same reason that our laws do exclude men maimed, deaf, crippled, or stricken with leprosy. It was feared, you see, that women and such men could not hold their lands against attack.
But we do not claim that womanly weakness on the battlefield should make her subordinate in all else, too, as you Normans do. Our women cannot be wed against their will, and a Welsh wife has no less right to walk away from an unhappy marriage than does her husband."
"But Llewelyn . . . the Church does recognize only three grounds for voiding a marriage: a previous plight troth, kinship within the seventh degree, or spiritual affinity such as acting as godparent."
"Well, to tell you true, Joanna, when the Church's teachings conflict with the old customs, we tend to go our own way. As in our preference for marrying cousins. We have a saying, love: 'Marry in the kin and fight the feud with the stranger.' So when it comes to interpreting the marriage bond, we follow Hywel the Good rather than the Pope."
Llewelyn laughed suddenly. "I've been told that some Norman churchmen see my success as divine proof of the power of legitimacyMy father lorwerth was a child of Owain Fawr's first marriage; when Owain later married his cousin
Crisiant, the Church refused to recognize the union, and when he would not abjure Crisiant, Thomas a Becket excommunicated him. So they see my triumph over my uncle Davydd and Rhodri as ordained, they being sons of the so-called in cestuous marriage. The only flaw in that theology is that my mother an father were themselves first cousins!" /
He handed Joanna back the mead cup, said, "But we were talk"1? how we end a marriage. It may always be done by mutual consent. A then, a husband may disavow his wife if she claims to be a virgin an

249
, coVerS °n their wedding night that she was not, or if he finds her in mprorrusing circumstances with another man, of course, or if her marge portion fell short of what was promised "
Llewelyn had been, for some moments now, playing with her hair, the feel of his fingers on her throat was so delightfully distracting to loanna that she was not fully concentrating upon what he was saying But at that, she smiled up at him, murmuring, "Then you do have me for better or worse, since my father handed Ellesmere Castle over to you months ago, I would never be unfaithful, and I am indeed a virgin "
"For much too long, I think," he said softly, dark eyes promising enough to bring a blush to Joanna's face "But do you not want to know how a wife may shed an unwanted husband7 There are four grievances that will gam her freedom if the man contracts leprosy, if he has foul breath, if he is incapable in bed or if he does three times dishonor their marriage vows "
Joanna all but choked on her mead "Now you are teasing me1"
"No," he said, "I am not, love The first two times that a Welsh wife discovers her husband has bedded with another woman, she has the nght to demand from him payment of a gowyna fine, if you willfor his adultery With his third fall from grace, she may leave him, although if she does not, she then has no further cause for complaint "
Llewelyn paused "There is one more reason for ending a marriage, Joannaif a husband does ever bring another woman under his wife's roof "
"As you did with Cristyn7" Joanna whispered, and he nodded
"Yes, as I did with Cnstyn Amongst our people, that is one of the three great scandals, and the wife may at once disavow the marriage, disavow the husband who has so wronged her "
"I I would never do that, Llewelyn " Joanna was stunned, in her world, laws such as these were more than radical, they were revolutionary She was silent for a time, trying to take in this astonishing new 'nsight, that Llewelyn, not she, had been in the wrong
"I thank you for telling me You did not have to, you know " It came to her then, the reason for Llewelyn's remarkable restraint, and e cr>ed, "Now I
do understand why, as angry as you were this morn, u did not touch me1 It was because I was in the right, was it not7"
Joanna, I've never hit a woman in my life You've not been hsten-
S to me, love Did I not tell you we do not treat our women as the u mians> do7 Amongst my people, we do not take out our bad tempers ajj n OUr Wives just because they happen to be handy Welsh law does
^ a "Usband the nght to discipline his wife for three offenses only if ur>faithful, if she gambles away the family goods, or if she casts

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slurs upon his manhood. Should he strike her for any other reason, he then obligated to pay her a sarhaed or honor-price."
Joanna had been listening in astonishment. " 'A woman, a serf, and a willow tree, the more you beat them, the better they be/" she quoted and shook her head. "But do men truly abide by these laws, Llewelyn?"
"Not all men, love. More do than not, however. You see, an abused wife has the right to appeal to her male kinsmen for succor, and if they fail to protect her, the shame then falls upon them. Knowing a careless slap will bring down upon his head the wrath of his wife's kin, and might even give rise to a blood feud . . . well, that does act to curb all but the most heedless of men."
Llewelyn drew her still closer, and Joanna shifted so that she could pillow her head against his chest. "I begin to think the greatest gift the Almighty could give any woman would be for her to be born Welsh!"
"Or to marry a Welshman," Llewelyn suggested, and kissed her. For Joanna, it was as it had been on that November noon at Rhosyr; she experienced again sensations exciting and unfamiliar, found her body responding to his touch like a flower starved for sun. All her senses seemed suddenly to have intensified, and when he slid his hand into the bodice of her gown, began to caress her breast, she gave a gasp, sought his mouth with hers.
Llewelyn was delighted. Brushing aside her fall of thick ebony hair, he put his lips to the pulse in her throat, with his free hand unfastening the side lacings of her bliaut. "Sweet. . . very sweet. I must have been well and truly out of my mind not to take you to my bed ere this," he murmured, utterly taken aback when Joanna abruptly went rigid in his embrace, then recoiled as violently as on that day at Rhaeadr Ewynol.
For a startled moment, Llewelyn did not move, staring up at her in amazement.
He could not have mistaken her willingness, the way her body warmed under his caresses. She was not merely acquiescent, she was eager. That had been no pretense, he'd wager his life on it. Yet there was no pretense, either, in the stricken look on her face, no denying her sudden fear. He could only assume he'd gone too fast, fondled her too intimately, too soon. Coming to his feet, he said, "What is it, love? You've no cause for fear, Joanna, not with me."
"But you do not know what I've done!"
"What you've done?" Whatever Llewelyn might have been expecting to hear, that was not it.
On the verge of tears, Joanna nodded. "I did go to your chambers this morning to ask your forgiveness. She . . . Cristyn was there, and I... oh, Llewelyn, I
burned your bed!"
Llewelyn bit down on his lower lip, pulled her back into his arms"Yes, love, I
know."

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"You know?" she said incredulously. "And you're not angry?" "Well/ I'd rather you not make a habit of it." But with that, Llewe, gravity shattered into a multitude of mirthful splinters, and he bed until he, too, was on the verge of tears.
giddy with relief, Joanna began to laugh, too, until Llewelyn kissed again.
"Now," he said, with a grin that caught at her heart, "ere I . you to bed, have you any other sins to confess?"
Joanna found herself longing to admit how much she loved him.
BUt she did not, for it was not fair to burden him with a love he might ever be able to return. She shook her head, looking up at him with eyes soft and glowing, such utterly trusting eyes, that Llewelyn caught his breath.
"It will be good for you, Joanna," he promised. "I'll give you as much time as you need; we do have all night."
"DO you know what Isabelle told me? That a woman will find the greatest pleasure in an older man's bed. She says a youth of twenty or so will pounce upon a girl like a dog on a bone, will be done and dying away almost ere he begins. But a man of a more seasoned age knows well how toin her words, not minemount a mare and prolong the ride!"
"I'm almost afraid to ask, but how did Isabelle come to be so worldly, so knowing in carnal matters? John gave her a crown; did she give him horns?"
"Of course not! She knows that older men make better lovers because Papa did tell her so. Llewelyn . . . why are you laughing at me?"
"Because I suspect, my darling, that you're three swallows short of tipsy."
Joanna peered into her half-empty cup of mead, trying to remember whether this was her second or third. "I believe," she said thoughtfully, "that you might well be right. I do feel. . . strange."
Llewelyn moved his hand caressingly up her thigh. "How, Joanna?"
"Feather-light, as if all the bone and marrow in my body weighed no more than gossamer, as if your arms alone did anchor me to the earth." She shivered as
Llewelyn tugged at the bodice of her chemise, 'feeing her breasts. His breath was hot on her skin, and she watched w'th fascination as her nipples swelled, became hard and taut. "Oh, LleWe'yn, love, you're right, I am tipsy! What I do not know is whether it is the mead, or whether it is you."
"Let's find out," he said, and when she put her arms around his e°k/ he lifted her from the settle, carried her across the chamber to the bed.