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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Lord of Dynevor, by Evelyn Everett-Green
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Lord of Dynevor
+
+Author: Evelyn Everett-Green
+
+Release Date: August 20, 2004 [EBook #13227]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LORD OF DYNEVOR ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Martin Robb
+
+
+
+
+
+  THE LORD OF DYNEVOR:
+
+A Tale of the Times of Edward the First
+
+by Evelyn Everett-Green.
+
+
+
+    CHAPTER I. DYNEVOR CASTLE.
+
+
+"La-ha-hoo! la-ha-hoo!"
+
+Far down the widening valley, and up the wild, picturesque ravine, rang
+the strange but not unmusical call. It awoke the slumbering echoes of
+the still place, and a hundred voices seemed to take up the cry, and
+pass it on as from mouth to mouth. But the boy's quick ears were not to
+be deceived by the mocking voices of the spirits of solitude, and
+presently the call rang out again with greater clearness than before:
+
+"La-ha-hoo!"
+
+The boy stood with his head thrown back, his fair curls floating in the
+mountain breeze, his blue eyes, clear and bright and keen as those of a
+wild eaglet, fixed upon a craggy ridge on the opposite side of the
+gorge, whilst his left hand was placed upon the collar of a huge
+wolfhound who stood beside him, sniffing the wind and showing by every
+tremulous movement his longing to be off and away, were it not for the
+detaining hand of his young master.
+
+The lad was very simply dressed in a tunic of soft, well-dressed
+leather, upon the breast of which was stamped some device which might
+have been the badge of his house. His active limbs were encased in the
+same strong, yielding material, and the only thing about him which
+seemed to indicate rank or birth was a belt with a richly-chased gold
+clasp and a poniard with a jewelled hilt.
+
+Perhaps the noble bearing of the boy was his best proof of right to the
+noble name he bore. One of the last of the royal house of Dynevor, he
+looked every inch a prince, as he stood bare-headed in the sunlight
+amidst the everlasting hills of his well-loved home, too young to see
+the clouds which were settling so darkly and so surely upon the bright
+horizon of his life -- his dreams still of glory and triumph,
+culminating in the complete emancipation of his well-loved country from
+the hated English yoke.
+
+The dog strained and whined against the detaining clasp upon his neck,
+but the boy held him fast.
+
+"Nay, Gelert, we are not going a-hunting," he said. "Hark! is not that
+the sound of a horn? Are they not even now returning? Over yon fell they
+come. Let me but hear their hail, and thou and I will be off to meet
+them. I would they heard the news first from my lips. My mother bid me
+warn them. I wot she fears what Llewelyn and Howel might say or do were
+they to find English guests in our hall and they all unwarned."
+
+Once more the boy raised his voice in the wild call which had awakened
+the echoes before, and this time his practised ear distinguished amongst
+the multitudinous replies an answering shout from human lips. Releasing
+Gelert, who dashed forward with a bay of delight, the lad commenced
+springing from rock to rock up the narrowing gorge, until he reached a
+spot where the dwindling stream could be crossed by a bound; from which
+spot a wild path, more like a goat track than one intended for the foot
+of man, led upwards towards the higher portions of the wild fell.
+
+The boy sped onwards with the fleetness and agility of a born
+mountaineer. The hound bounded at his side; and before either had
+traversed the path far, voices ahead of them became distinctly audible,
+and a little group might be seen approaching, laden with the spoils of
+the chase.
+
+In the van of the little party were three lads, one of whom bore so
+striking a resemblance to the youth who now hastened to meet them, that
+the relationship could not be for a moment doubted. As a matter of fact
+the four were brothers; but they followed two distinct types -- Wendot
+and Griffeth being fair and bright haired, whilst Llewelyn and Howel
+(who were twins) were dark as night, with black hair and brows, swarthy
+skins, and something of the wildness of aspect which often accompanies
+such traits.
+
+Wendot, the eldest of the four, a well-grown youth of fifteen, who was
+walking slightly in advance of his brothers, greeted Griffeth's approach
+with a bright smile.
+
+"Ha, lad, thou shouldst have been with us! We have had rare sport today.
+The good fellows behind can scarce carry the booty home. Thou must see
+the noble stag that my bolt brought down. We will have his head to adorn
+the hall -- his antlers are worth looking at, I warrant thee. But what
+brings thee out so far from home? and why didst thou hail us as if we
+were wanted?"
+
+"You are wanted," answered Griffeth, speaking so that all the brothers
+might hear his words. "The mother herself bid me go in search of you,
+and it is well you come home laden with meat, for we shall need to make
+merry tonight. There are guests come to the castle today. Wenwynwyn was
+stringing his harp even as I came away, to let them hear his skill in
+music. They are to be lodged for so long as they will stay; but the
+manner of their errand I know not."
+
+"Guests!" echoed all three brothers in a breath, and very eagerly; "why,
+that is good hearing, for perchance we may now learn some news. Come
+these strangers from the north? Perchance we shall hear somewhat of our
+noble Prince Llewelyn, who is standing out so boldly for the rights of
+our nation. Say they not that the English tyrant is on our borders now,
+summoning him to pay the homage he repudiates with scorn? Oh, I would
+that this were a message summoning all true Welshmen to take up arms in
+his quarrel! Would not I fly to his standard, boy though I be! And would
+I not shed the last drop of my blood in the glorious cause of liberty!"
+
+Llewelyn was the speaker, and his black eyes were glowing fiercely under
+their straight bushy brows. His face was the least boyish of any of the
+four, and his supple, sinewy frame had much of the strength of manhood
+in it. The free, open-air life that all these lads had lived, and the
+training they had received in all martial and hardy exercises, had given
+them strength and height beyond their years. It was no idle boast on the
+part of Llewelyn to speak of his readiness to fight. He would have
+marched against the foe with the stoutest of his father's men-at-arms,
+and doubtless have acquitted himself as well as any; for what the lads
+lacked in strength they made up in their marvellous quickness and agility.
+
+The love of fighting seemed born in all these hardy sons of Wales, and
+something of warfare was known to them even now, from the never-ending
+struggles between themselves, and their resistance of the authority,
+real or assumed, of the Lords of the Marches. But petty forays and
+private feuds with hostile kinsmen was not the kind of fighting these
+brothers longed to see and share. They had their own ideas and
+aspirations, and eager glances were turned upon Griffeth, lest he might
+be the bearer of some glorious piece of news that would mean open
+warfare with England.
+
+But the boy's face was unresponsive and even a little downcast. He gave
+a quick glance into the fierce, glowing face of Llewelyn, and then his
+eyes turned upon Wendot.
+
+"There is no news like that," he said slowly. "The guests who have come
+to Dynevor are English themselves."
+
+"English!" echoed Llewelyn fiercely, and he turned away with a smothered
+word which sounded like an imprecation upon all the race of foreigners;
+whilst Howel asked with quick indignation:
+
+"What right have English guests at Dynevor? Why were they received? Why
+did not our good fellows fall upon them with the sword or drive them
+back the way they came? Oh, if we had but been there --"
+
+"Tush, brother!" said young Griffeth quickly; "is not our father lord of
+Dynevor? Dost think that thou canst usurp his authority? And when did
+ever bold Welshmen fall upon unarmed strangers to smite with the sword?
+Do we make war upon harmless travellers -- women and children? Fie upon
+thee! it were a base thought. Let not our parents hear thee speak such
+words."
+
+Howel looked a little discomfited by his younger brother's rebuke,
+though he read nothing but sympathy and mute approbation in Llewelyn's
+sullen face and gloomy eyes. He dropped a pace or so behind and joined
+his twin, whilst Wendot and Griffeth led the way in front.
+
+"Who are these folks?" asked Wendot; "and whence come they? And why have
+they thus presented themselves unarmed at Dynevor? Is it an errand of
+peace? And why speakest thou of women and children?"
+
+"Why, brother, because the traveller has his little daughter with him,
+and her woman is in their train of servants. I know not what has brought
+them hither, but I gather they have lost their road, and lighted by
+chance on Dynevor. Methinks they are on a visit to the Abbey of Strata
+Florida; but at least they come as simple, unarmed strangers, and it is
+the boast of Wales that even unarmed foes may travel through the breadth
+and length of the land and meet no harm from its sons. For my part I
+would have it always so. I would not wage war on all alike. Doubtless
+there are those, even amongst the English, who are men of bravery and
+honour."
+
+"I doubt it not," answered Wendot, with a gravity rather beyond his
+years. "If all our mother teaches us be true, we Welshmen have been
+worse enemies to one another than ever the English have been. I would
+not let Llewelyn or Howel hear me say so, and I would fain believe it
+not. But when we see how this fair land has been torn and rent by the
+struggles after land and power, and how our own kinsman, Meredith ap
+Res, is toying with Edward, and striving to take from us the lands we
+hold yet -- so greatly diminished from the old portion claimed by the
+lords of Dynevor -- we cannot call the English our only or even our
+greatest foes. Ah, if Wales would but throw aside all her petty feuds,
+and join as brothers fighting shoulder to shoulder for her independence,
+then might there be some hope! But now --"
+
+Griffeth was looking with wide-open, wondering eyes into his brother's
+face. He loved and reverenced Wendot in a fashion that was remarkable,
+seeing that the elder brother was but two years and a half his senior.
+But Wendot had always been grave and thoughtful beyond his years, and
+had been taken much into the counsels of his parents, so that questions
+which were almost new to the younger lad had been thought much of by the
+eldest, the heir of the house of Dynevor.
+
+"Why, brother, thou talkest like a veritable monk for learning," he
+said. "I knew not thou hadst the gift of such eloquent speech. Methought
+it was the duty of every free-born son of Wales to hate the English tyrant."
+
+"Ay, and so I do when I think of his monstrous claims," cried Wendot
+with flashing eyes. "Who is the King of England that he should lay claim
+to our lands, our homage, our submission? My blood boils in my veins
+when I think of things thus. And yet there are moments when it seems the
+lesser ill to yield such homage to one whom the world praises as
+statesman and soldier, than to see our land torn and distracted by petty
+feuds, and split up into a hundred hostile factions. But let us not talk
+further of this; it cuts me to the heart to think of it. Tell me more of
+these same travellers. How did our parents receive them? And how long
+purpose they to stay?"
+
+"Nay, that I have not heard. I was away over yon fell with Gelert when I
+saw the company approach the castle, and ere I could find entrance the
+strangers had been received and welcomed. The father of the maiden is an
+English earl, Lord Montacute they call him. He is tall and soldier-like,
+with an air of command like unto our father's. The damsel is a
+fair-faced maiden, who scarce opens her lips; but she keeps close to our
+mother's side, and seems loath to leave her for a moment. I heard her
+father say that she had no mother of her own. Her name, they say, is
+Lady Gertrude."
+
+"A damsel at Dynevor," said Wendot, with a smile; "methinks that will
+please the mother well."
+
+"Come and see," cried Griffeth eagerly. "Let us hasten down to the
+castle together."
+
+It was easy work for the brothers to traverse the rocky pathway.
+Dangerous as the descent looked to others, they were as surefooted as
+young chamois, and sprang from rock to rock with the utmost confidence.
+The long summer sunlight came streaming up the valley in level rays of
+shimmering gold, bathing the loftier crags in lambent fire, and filling
+the lower lands with layers of soft shadow flecked here and there with
+gold. A sudden turn in the narrow gorge, through which ran a brawling
+tributary of the wider Towy, brought the brothers full in sight of their
+ancestral home, and for a few seconds they paused breathless, gazing
+with an unspeakable and ardent love upon the fair scene before them.
+
+The castle of Dynevor (or Dinas Vawr = Great Palace) stood in a
+commanding position upon a rocky plateau overlooking the river Towy.
+From its size and splendour -- as splendour went in those days -- it had
+long been a favourite residence with the princes of South Wales; and in
+a recent readjustment of disputed lands, consequent upon the perpetual
+petty strife that was ruining the land, Res Vychan, the present Lord of
+Dynevor, had made some considerable sacrifice in order to keep in his
+own hands the fair palace of his fathers.
+
+The majestic pile stood out boldly from the mountain side, and was
+approached by a winding road from the valley. A mere glance showed how
+strong was the position it occupied, and how difficult such a place
+would be to capture. On two sides the rock fell away almost sheer from
+the castle walls, whilst on the other two a deep moat had been dug,
+which was fed by small mountain rivulets that never ran dry; and the
+entrance was commanded by a drawbridge, whose frowning portcullis was
+kept by a grim warder looking fully equal to the office allotted to him.
+
+Lovely views were commanded from the narrow windows of the castle, and
+from the battlements and the terraced walk that ran along two sides of
+the building. And rough and rude as were the manners and customs of the
+period, and partially uncivilized as the country was in those far-off
+days, there was a strong vein of poetry lying latent in its sons and
+daughters, and an ardent love for the beautiful in nature and for the
+country they called their own, which went far to redeem their natures
+from mere savagery and brute ferocity.
+
+This passionate love for their home was strong in all the brothers of
+the house of Dynevor, and was deepened and intensified by the sense of
+uncertainty now pervading the whole country with regard to foreign
+aggression and the ever-increasing claims upon Welsh lands by the
+English invaders. A sense as of coming doom hung over the fair
+landscape, and Wendot's eyes grew dreamy as he stood gazing on the
+familiar scene, and Griffeth had to touch his arm and hurry him down to
+the castle.
+
+"Mother will be wanting us," he said. "What is the matter, Wendot?
+Methinks I see the tears in thine eyes."
+
+"Nay, nay; tears are for women," answered Wendot with glowing cheeks, as
+he dashed his hand across his eyes. "It is for us men to fight for our
+rightful inheritance, that the women may not have to weep for their
+desolated homes."
+
+Griffeth gave him a quick look, and then his eyes travelled lovingly
+over the wide, fair scene, to the purple shadows and curling mists of
+the valley, the dark mysterious woods in front, the clear, vivid
+sunlight on the mountain tops, and the serried battlements of the
+castle, now rising into larger proportions as the boys dropped down the
+hillside towards the postern door, which led out upon the wild fell.
+There was something of mute wistfulness in his own gaze as he did so.
+
+"Brother," he said thoughtfully, "I think I know what those feelings are
+which bring tears to the eyes of men -- tears of which they need feel no
+shame. Fear not to share with me all thy inmost thoughts. Have we not
+ever been brothers in all things?"
+
+"Ay, truly have we; and I would keep nothing back, only I scarce know
+how to frame my lips to give utterance to the thoughts which come
+crowding into my brain. But see, we have no time for communing now. Go
+on up the path to the postern; it is too narrow for company."
+
+Indeed, so narrow was the track, so steep the uncertain steps worn in
+the face of the rock, so deep the fall if one false step were made, that
+few save the brothers and wilder mountaineers ever sought admission by
+the postern door. But Wendot and Griffeth had no fears, and quickly
+scaled the steps and reached the entrance, passing through which they
+found themselves in a narrow vaulted passage, very dark, which led, with
+many twists and turns, and several ascending stairs, to the great hall
+of the castle, where the members of the household were accustomed for
+the most part to assemble.
+
+A door deeply set in an embrasure gave access to this place, and the
+moment it was opened the sound of a harp became audible, and the
+brothers paused in the deep shadow to observe what was going on in the
+hall before they advanced further.
+
+A scene that would be strange and picturesque to our eyes, but was in
+the main familiar to theirs, greeted them as they stood thus. The castle
+hall was a huge place, large enough to contain a muster of armed men. A
+great stone staircase wound upwards from it to a gallery above. There
+was little furniture to be seen, and that was of a rude kind, though not
+lacking in a certain massiveness and richness in the matter of carving,
+which gave something baronial to the air of the place. The walls were
+adorned with trophies of all sorts, some composed of arms, others of the
+spoil of fell and forest. The skins of many savage beasts lay upon the
+cold stone flooring of the place, imparting warmth and harmony by the
+rich tints of the furs. Light was admitted through a row of narrow
+windows both above and below; but the vast place would have been dim and
+dark at this hour had it not been that the huge double doors with their
+rude massive bolts stood wide open to the summer air, and the last beams
+of the westering sun came shining in, lying level and warm upon the
+group at the upper end of the hall, which had gathered around the
+white-haired, white-bearded bard, who, with head thrown backwards, and
+eyes alight with strange passions and feelings, was singing in a deep
+and musical voice to the sound of his instrument.
+
+Old Wenwynwyn was a study in himself; his flowing hair, his fiery eyes,
+his picturesque garb and free, untrammelled gestures giving him a weird
+individuality of his own. But it was not upon him that the eyes of the
+brothers dwelt, nor even upon the soldier-like figure of their stalwart
+father leaning against the wall with folded arms, and eyes shining with
+the patriotic fervour of his race. The attention of the lads was
+enchained by another and more sumptuous figure --that of a fine-looking
+man, approaching to middle life, who was seated at a little distance
+from the minstrel, and was smiling with pleasure and appreciation at the
+wild sweetness of the stream of melody poured forth.
+
+One glance at the dress of the stranger would have been enough to tell
+the brothers his nationality. His under tunic, which reached almost to
+the feet, was of the finest cloth, and was embroidered along the lower
+border with gold thread. The sur-tunic was also richly embroidered; and
+the heavy mantle clasped upon the shoulder with a rare jewel was of some
+rich texture almost unknown to the boys. The make and set of his
+garments, and the jewelled and plumed cap which he held upon his knee,
+alike proclaimed him to be English; yet as he gazed upon the noble face,
+and looked into the clear depths of the calm and fearless eyes, Wendot
+felt no hostility towards the representative of the hostile race, but
+rather a sort of reluctant admiration.
+
+"In faith he looks born to command," he whispered to Griffeth. "If all
+were like unto him --"
+
+But the lad did not complete the sentence, for he had suddenly caught
+sight of another figure, another face, and he stopped short in a sort of
+bewildered amaze.
+
+In Dynevor Castle there had never been a girl child to share the honours
+with her brothers. No sister had played in its halls, or tyrannized over
+the lads or their parents. And now when Wendot's glance fell for the
+first time upon this little fairy-like creature, this lovely little
+golden-haired, blue-eyed maiden, he felt a new sensation enter his life,
+and gazed as wonderingly at the apparition as if the child had been a ghost.
+
+And the soft shy eyes, with their fringe of dark lashes, were looking
+straight at him. As he gazed the child suddenly rose, and darted towards
+the brothers as if she had wings on her feet.
+
+"Oh, you have come back!" she said, looking from one to the other, and
+for a moment seeming puzzled by the likeness; "and -- why, there are two
+of you," and the child broke into the merriest and silveriest of laughs.
+"Oh, I am so glad! I do like boys so much, and I never have any to play
+with at home. I am so tired of this old man and his harp. Please let me
+go somewhere with you," and she thrust her soft little hand confidingly
+into Wendot's, looking up saucily into his face as she added, "You are
+the biggest; I like you the best."
+
+Wendot's face glowed; but on the whole he was flattered by the attention
+and the preference of the little maiden. He understood her soft English
+speech perfectly, for all the Dynevor brothers had been instructed in
+the English tongue by an English monk who had long lived at the castle.
+Res Vychan, the present Lord of Dynevor, foresaw, and had foreseen many
+years, the gradual usurpation of the English, and had considered that a
+knowledge of that tongue would in all probability be an advantage to
+those who were likely to be involved in the coming struggle. The boys
+all possessed the quick musical ear of their race, and found no
+difficulty in mastering the language; but neither Llewelyn nor Howel
+would ever speak a single word of the hated tongue if they could help
+it, though Wendot and Griffeth conversed often with the old monk right
+willingly.
+
+So as Wendot looked down into the bright little upturned face, he was
+able to reply readily and smilingly:
+
+"Where would you like to go, little lady, and what would you like me to
+show you?"
+
+"Oh, everything -- all out there," said the little girl, with a wave of
+her hand towards the front door. "I want to go and see the sun. I am
+tired of it in here."
+
+Wendot led the child through the hall, and out upon the great terrace
+which overlooked the steep descent to the valley and away to the glowing
+west. Griffeth followed, glad that his elder brother had been preferred
+before himself by the little maiden, yet half fascinated by her nameless
+charm. Wendot lifted her up in his strong arms to see over the wide
+stone balustrade, and she made him set her down there and perch himself
+by her side; for she seemed loath to go back to the hall again, and the
+boys were as willing as she to remain out in the open air.
+
+"It is pretty here," said the child graciously; "I think I should like
+to live here sometimes, if it was always summer. Tell me your name, big
+boy. I hope it is not very hard. Some people here have names I cannot
+speak right."
+
+"They call me Res Wendot," answered the lad; "generally Wendot at home
+here. This is Griffeth, my youngest brother. Those are not hard names,
+are they?"
+
+"No, not very. And how old are you, Wendot?"
+
+"I am fifteen."
+
+"Oh, how big you are!" said the little lady, opening her eyes wide; "I
+thought you must be much older than that. I am twelve, and you can lift
+me up in your arms. But then I always was so little -- they all say so."
+
+"Yet you travel about with your father," said Wendot.
+
+"I never did before; but this time I begged, and he took me. Sometimes
+he says he shall have to put me in a nunnery, because he has nobody to
+take care of me when he has to travel about. But I don't think I should
+like that; I would rather stay here."
+
+Wendot and Griffeth laughed; but the child was not at all disconcerted.
+She was remarkably self possessed for her years, even if she was small
+of stature and infantile in appearance.
+
+"What is your name?" asked Wendot; and the little maid answered, with
+becoming gravity and importance:
+
+"I am called Lady Gertrude Cherleton; but you may call me Gertrude if
+you like, because you are kind and I like you. Are there any more of
+you? Have you any sisters?"
+
+"No; only two brothers."
+
+"More brothers! and what are their names?"
+
+"Llewelyn and Howel."
+
+"Llewelyn? Why, that is the name of the Prince of North Wales that the
+king is going to fight against and conquer. Do you think when he has
+done so that he will come here and conquer you, too?"
+
+Wendot's cheek burned a sudden red; but he made no reply, for at that
+moment a head suddenly appeared round an angle of the wall, and a heavy
+grip was laid upon the shoulder of the child. A wild face and a pair of
+flashing black eyes were brought into close proximity with hers, and a
+smothered voice spoke in fierce, low accents.
+
+
+
+    CHAPTER II. THE BROTHERS
+
+
+"What is that you dare to say?"
+
+The voice was harsh, the words were spoken with a rough accent, unlike
+the gentler tones of Wendot and Griffeth. The child uttered a little cry
+and shrank back away from the grip of the strong hand, and might have
+been in some danger of losing her balance and of falling over the
+balustrade, had not Wendot thrown a protecting arm round her, whilst
+pushing back with the other hand that of the rude interloper.
+
+"Llewelyn! for shame!" he said in his own tongue. "Art thou a man, and
+claimest the blood of princes, and yet canst stoop to frighten an
+inoffensive child?"
+
+"She spoke of conquest -- the conquest of our country," cried Llewelyn
+fiercely, in the hated English tongue, scowling darkly at the little
+girl as he spoke. "Thinkest thou that I will stand patiently by and hear
+such words? What right hath she or any one besides to speak of that
+tyrant and usurper in such tones?"
+
+"He is not a tyrant, he is not a usurper!" cried the little Lady
+Gertrude, recovering herself quickly, and, whilst still holding Wendot
+by the hand, turning fearlessly upon the dark-faced lad who had startled
+and terrified her at the first. "I know of whom you are speaking -- it
+is of our great and noble King Edward. You do not know him -- you cannot
+know how great and good he is. I will not hear you speak against him. I
+love him next best to my own father. He is kind and good to everybody.
+If you would all give your homage to him you would be happy and safe,
+and he would protect you, and --"
+
+But Llewelyn's patience was exhausted; he would listen no more. With a
+fierce gesture of hatred that made the child shrink back again he turned
+upon her, and it seemed for a moment almost as though he would have
+struck her, despite Wendot's sturdy protecting arm, had not his own
+shoulder been suddenly grasped by an iron hand, and he himself
+confronted by the stern countenance of his father.
+
+"What means this, boy?" asked Res Vychan severely. "Art thou daring to
+raise thine arm against a child, a lady, and thy father's guest? For
+shame! I blush for thee. Ask pardon instantly of the lady and of her
+father. I will have no such dealings in mine house. Thou shouldst be
+well assured of that."
+
+The black-browed boy was crimson with rage and shame, but there was no
+yielding in the haughty face. He confronted his father with flashing
+eyes, and as he did so he met the keen, grave glance of the stranger's
+fixed upon him with a calm scrutiny which aroused his fiercest rage.
+
+"I will not ask pardon," he shouted. "I will not degrade my tongue by
+uttering such words. I will not --"
+
+The father's hand descended heavily upon his son's head, in a blow which
+would have stunned a lad less hardy and hard-headed. Res Vychan was not
+one to be defied with impunity by his own sons, and he had had hard
+encounters of will before now with Llewelyn.
+
+"Choose, boy," he said with brief sternness. "Either do my will and obey
+me, or thou wilt remain a close prisoner till thou hast come to thy
+senses. My guests shall not be insulted by thy forward tongue. Barbarous
+and wild as the English love to call us, they shall find that Res Vychan
+is not ignorant of those laws which govern the world in which they live
+and move. Ask pardon of the lady, or to the dungeon thou goest."
+
+Llewelyn glanced up into his father's face, and saw no yielding there.
+Howel was making vehement signs to him which he and he alone could
+interpret. His other brothers were eagerly gazing at him, and Griffeth
+even went so for as to murmur into his ear some words of entreaty.
+
+It seemed as though the silence which followed Res Vychan's words would
+never be broken, but at last the culprit spoke, and spoke in a low,
+sullen tone.
+
+"I meant no harm. I would not have hurt her."
+
+"Ask her pardon then, boy, and tell her so."
+
+"Nay, force him no more," said the little lady, who was regarding this
+curious scene with lively interest, and who began to feel sorry for the
+dark wild boy who had frightened her by his vehemence before; "I was to
+blame myself. I should not have spoken as I did.
+
+"Father, tell them how my tongue is always running away with me. Hast
+not thou told me a hundred times that it would get me into trouble one
+of these days? It is right that he should love his country. Do not think
+ill of him for that."
+
+"Ay, let the lad go now, good friend," quoth Lord Montacute. "No doubt
+this little witch of mine was at the bottom of the mischief. Her tongue,
+as she truly says, is a restless and mischievous possession. She has
+found a stanch protector at least, and will come to no harm amongst thy
+stalwart lads. I could envy thee such a double brace of boys. I would it
+had pleased Providence to send me a son."
+
+"Nay, father, say not so," cried little Lady Gertrude coaxingly. "I
+would not have a brother for all the world. Thou wouldst love him so
+well, if thou hadst him, that thou wouldst have none to spare for thy
+maid. I have seen how it ever is. I love to have all thy heart for mine
+own."
+
+The father smiled, but Res Vychan's face was still severe, and he had
+not loosed his clasp upon Llewelyn's arm.
+
+"Say that thou art sorry ere I let thee go," he said, in low but very
+stern tones; and after a moment's hesitation, Llewelyn spoke in audible
+tones.
+
+"I am sorry," he said slowly; "I am sorry."
+
+And then as his father's clasp upon his arm relaxed he darted away like
+an arrow from the bow, and plunged with Howel through a dark and gloomy
+doorway which led up a winding turret stair to a narrow circular
+chamber, which the brothers shared together.
+
+"Sorry, sorry, sorry!" he panted fiercely; "ay, that indeed I am. Sorry
+that I did not wring her neck as the fowler wrings the neck of the bird
+his shaft hath brought down; sorry I did not cast her headlong down the
+steep precipice, that there might be one less of the hated race
+contaminating the air of our pure Wales with their poisonous breath.
+Sorry! ay, that I am! I would my hand had done a deed which should have
+set proud Edward's forces in battle array against us. I would that this
+tampering with traitors were at an end, and that we warriors of South
+Wales might stand shoulder to shoulder, firmly banded against the
+foreign foe. I would plunge a dagger in the false heart of yon proud
+Englishman as he lies sleeping in his bed tonight, if by doing so I
+could set light to the smouldering flame of national hatred.
+
+"What sayest thou? Can we do nought to bring upon us an open war, which
+is a thousand times better than this treacherous, hollow peace? Our
+father and mother are half won over to the cause of slavery. They --"
+
+Llewelyn paused, choking back the fierce tide of passion which went far
+to unman him. He had not forgotten the humiliation placed upon him so
+recently, when his father had compelled him to sue for pardon to an
+English maiden. His heart was burning, his soul was stirred to its
+depths. He had to stop short lest his passion should carry him away.
+
+Howel seemed to understand him without the medium of words. The links
+which bound the twin brothers together were very subtle and very strong.
+If Llewelyn were the more violent and headstrong, Howel was more than
+his equal in diplomacy. He shared every feeling of his brother's heart,
+but he was less outspoken and less rash.
+
+"I know what thou wouldst do," he said thoughtfully: "thou wouldst force
+upon our father a step which shall make a rupture with the English
+inevitable. Thou wouldst do a thing which should bring upon us the wrath
+of the mighty Edward, and force both ourselves and our neighbours to
+take arms against him. Is not that so?"
+
+"Ay, truly; and could such a thing be, gladly would I lay down my life
+in the cause of liberty and freedom."
+
+Howel was pondering deeply.
+
+"Perchance it might be done," he said.
+
+Llewelyn eagerly raised his head.
+
+"Thinkest thou so? How?"
+
+"I know not yet, but we shall have time for thought. Knowest thou that
+the maid will remain here beneath our mother's charge for a while,
+whilst our father goes forward as far as the Abbey of Strata Florida
+with yon stranger, to guide him on his way? The maid will remain here
+until her father's return."
+
+"How knowest thou that?"
+
+"I had it from Wenwynwyn's lips. He heard the discussion in the hall,
+and it seems that this Lord Montacute would be glad to be free of the
+care of the child for a while. Our mother delights in the charge of a
+little maid, and thus it will be as I have said."
+
+A strange fire gleamed in Llewelyn's eyes. The brothers looked at each
+other a good while in silence.
+
+"And thou thinkest --" said Llewelyn at last.
+
+Howel was some time in replying, and his answer was a little
+indeterminate, although sufficiently significant.
+
+"Why, the maid will be left here; but when her father returns to claim
+her, perchance she will not be found. If that were so, thinkest thou not
+that nought but open war would lie before us?"
+
+Llewelyn's eyes glowed. He said not a word, and the darkness gathered
+round the boys in the narrow chamber. They thought not of descending or
+of asking for food, even after their day's hunting in the hills. They
+were hardy, and seasoned to abstemious ways, and had no room for
+thoughts of such a kind. Silence was settling down upon the castle, and
+they had no intention of leaving their room again that night. Dark
+thoughts were their companions as they undressed and made ready for bed;
+and hardly were they settled there before the door opened, and the old
+bard Wenwynwyn entered.
+
+This old man was almost like a father to these boys, and Llewelyn and
+Howel were particularly attached to him and he to them. He shared to the
+full their ardent love for their country and their untempered hatred of
+the English race. He saw, as they did, nothing but ill in the
+temporizing attitude now to be found amongst the smaller Welsh
+chieftains with regard to the claims made by the English monarch; and
+much of the fierce hostility to be found in the boys had been the result
+of the lessons instilled into their mind by the wild-eyed, passionate
+old bard, one of the last of a doomed race.
+
+"Wenwynwyn, is it thou?"
+
+"Ay, boys, it is I. You did well to abstain from sitting at meat with
+the stranger tonight. The meat went nigh to choke me that was swallowed
+in his presence."
+
+"How long stays he, contaminating our pure air?"
+
+"He himself is off by sunrise tomorrow, and Res Vychan goes with him. He
+leaves behind the little maid in the care of thy mother."
+
+A strange smile crossed the face of the old man, invisible in the darkness.
+
+"Strange for the parent bird to leave the dove in the nest of the hawk
+-- the eyry of the eagle."
+
+"Ha!" quoth Llewelyn quickly, "that thought hath likewise come to thee,
+good Wenwynwyn."
+
+The old man made no direct response, but went on speaking in low even tones.
+
+"The maid has dwelt in the household of the great king. She has played
+with his children, been the companion of the young princesses. She is
+beloved of them and of the monarch and his wife. Let them but hear that
+she is lost in the fastness of Dynevor, and the royal Edward will march
+in person to her rescue. All the country will rise in arms to defend
+itself. The north will join with the south, and Wales will shake off the
+hated foreign yoke banded as one man against the foreign foe."
+
+The boys listened spellbound. They had often talked together of some
+step which might kindle the conflagration, but had never yet seen the
+occasion. Hot-headed, rash, reckless as were the youths; wild, tameless,
+and fearless as was the ancient bard; they had still been unable to hit
+upon any device which might set a light to the train. Discontent and
+resentment were rife all over the country, but it was the fashion rather
+to temporize with the invader than to defy him. There was a strong party
+gathering in the country whose policy was that of paying homage to
+Edward and retaining their lands under his protection and countenance,
+as being more truly patriotic and farsighted than continuing the old
+struggle for supremacy among themselves. This was a policy utterly
+incomprehensible both to the boys and the old man, and stirred the blood
+of the lads to boiling pitch.
+
+"What can we do?" asked Llewelyn hoarsely.
+
+"I will tell you," whispered the old man, approaching close to the bed
+whereon the brothers lay wide-eyed and broad awake. "This very night I
+leave the castle by the postern door, and in the moonlight I make my way
+to the commot of Llanymddyvri, where dwells that bold patriot Maelgon ap
+Caradoc. To him I tell all, and he will risk everything in the cause. It
+will be very simply done. You boys must feign a while -- must feign
+friendship for the maid thus left behind. Your brothers have won her
+heart already; you must not be behind them. The dove must have no fear
+of the young eaglets. She has a high courage of her own; she loves
+adventure and frolic; she will long to stretch her wings, and wander
+amid the mountain heights, under the stanch protection of her comrades
+of Dynevor.
+
+"Then listen, boys. The day will come when the thing is to be done. In
+some of the wild fastnesses of the upper Towy will be lurking the bold
+bands of Maelgon ap Caradoc. Thither you must lead the unsuspicious
+maid, first by some device getting rid of your brothers, who might try
+to thwart the scheme. These bold fellows will carry off the maid to the
+safe keeping of Maelgon, and once let her be his prisoner, there is no
+fear of her escaping from his hands. Edward himself and all his forces
+at his back will scarce wrest away the prize, and the whole country will
+be united and in arms ere it suffer the tyrant to march through our fair
+vales."
+
+Whilst within this upper turret chamber this plot was being concocted
+against the innocent child by two passionate, hot-headed boys and one of
+the ancient race of bards, the little maiden was herself sleeping
+soundly and peacefully within a small inner closet, close to the room
+where Gladys, the lady of the castle, reposed; and with the earliest
+streak of dawn, when the child opened her eyes upon the strange bare
+walls of the Welsh stronghold, the first thing that met her eyes was the
+sweet and gentle face of the chatelaine bending tenderly over her.
+
+Although the present lady of Dynevor was the sister of the bold and
+fierce Llewelyn, Prince of North Wales, who gave more trouble to the
+King of England than did anybody else, she was herself of a gentle and
+thoughtful disposition, more inclined to advocate peace than war, and
+more far-seeing, temperate, and well-informed than most persons of her
+time, and especially than the women, who for the most part had but very
+vague ideas as to what was going on in the country.
+
+She had had many thoughts herself during the still hours of this summer
+night, and when she bent over the sleeping child and wakened her by a
+kiss, she felt a strange tenderness towards her, which seemed to be
+reciprocated by the little one, who suddenly flung her arms about her
+neck and kissed her passionately.
+
+"Is my father gone?" she asked, recollection coming back.
+
+"Not gone, but going soon," answered the Lady of Dynevor, smiling; "that
+is why I have come to waken thee early, little Gertrude, that thou
+mayest receive his farewell kiss and see him ride away. Thou wilt not be
+grieved to be left with us for a while, little one? Thou wilt not pine
+in his absence?"
+
+"Not if I have you to take care of me," answered the child confidingly
+-- "you and Wendot and Griffeth. I am weary of always travelling on
+rough roads. I will gladly stay here a while with you."
+
+There was the bustle of preparation going on in the hall when the lady
+descended with the child hanging on to her hand. Gertrude broke away and
+ran to her father, who was sitting at the board, with Wendot standing
+beside him listening eagerly to his talk. The boy's handsome face was
+alight, and he seemed full of eager interest in what was being said.
+Lord Montacute frequently raised his head and gave the lad a look of
+keen scrutiny. Even whilst caressing his little daughter his interest
+seemed to be centred in Wendot, and when at parting the lad held his
+stirrup for him, and gently restrained little Gertrude, who was in
+danger of being trampled on by the pawing charger, Lord Montacute looked
+for a moment very intently at the pair, and then let his glance wander
+for a moment over the grand fortress of Dynevor and the beautiful valley
+it commanded.
+
+Then he turned once more to Wendot with a kindly though penetrating smile.
+
+"In the absence of your father, Wendot, you are the master and guardian
+of this castle, its occupants and its treasures. I render my little
+daughter into your safe keeping. Of your hands I shall ask her back when
+I return in a week's time."
+
+Wendot flushed with pleasure and gratification. What boy does not like
+the thought of being looked upon as his father's substitute? He raised
+his head with a gesture of pride, and clasped the little soft hand of
+Gertrude more closely in his.
+
+"I will take the trust, Lord Montacute," he said. "I will hold myself
+responsible for the safety of Lady Gertrude. At my hands demand her when
+you return. If she is not safe and well, take my life as the forfeit."
+
+Lord Montacute smiled slightly at the manly words and bearing of the
+lad, but he did not like him the less for either. As for little
+Gertrude, she gazed up into the bold bright face of Wendot, and clasping
+his hand in hers, she said:
+
+"Am I to belong to you now? I think I shall like that, you are so brave
+and so kind to me."
+
+The father gave the pair another of his keen looks, and rode off in the
+bright morning sunshine, promising not to be very long away.
+
+"I shan't fret, now that I have you and the Lady of Dynevor," said the
+child confidingly to Wendot. "I've often been left for a long time at
+the palace with the ladies Eleanor and Joanna, and with Alphonso and
+Britton, but I shall like this much better. There is no governess here,
+and we can do as we like. I want to know everything you do, and go
+everywhere with you."
+
+Wendot promised to show the little lady everything she wanted, and led
+her in to breakfast, which was a very important meal in those days. All
+the four brothers were gathered at the board, and the child looked
+rather shyly at the dark-browed twins, whom she hardly knew one from the
+other, and whom she regarded with a certain amount of awe. But there was
+nothing hostile in the manner of any of the party. Llewelyn was silent,
+but when he did speak it was in very different tones from those of last
+night; and Howel was almost brilliant in his sallies, and evoked many a
+peal of laughter from the lighthearted little maiden. Partings with her
+father were of too common occurrence to cause her much distress, and she
+was too well used to strange places to feel lost in these new
+surroundings, and she had her own nurse and attendant left with her.
+
+Full of natural curiosity, the child was eager to see everything of
+interest near her temporary home, and the brothers were her very devoted
+servants, taking her everywhere she wished to go, helping her over every
+difficult place, and teaching her to have such confidence in them, and
+such trust in their guidance, that she soon ceased to feel fear however
+wild was the ascent or descent, however lonely the region in which she
+found herself.
+
+Although Wendot continued her favourite, and Griffeth stood next, owing
+to his likeness to his eldest brother, the twins soon won her favour
+also. They were in some respects more interesting, as they were less
+easily understood, wilder and stranger in their ways, and always full of
+stories of adventure and warfare, which fascinated her imagination even
+when she knew that they spoke of the strife between England and Wales.
+She had a high spirit and a love of adventure, which association with
+these stalwart boys rapidly developed.
+
+One thing about Llewelyn and Howel gratified her childlike vanity, and
+gave her considerable pleasure. They would praise her agility and
+courage, and urge her on to make trial of her strength and nerve, when
+the more careful Wendot would beg her to be careful and not risk herself
+by too great recklessness. A few days spent in this pure, free air
+seemed to infuse new life into her frame, and the colour in her cheeks
+and the light in her eyes deepened day by day, to the motherly
+satisfaction of the Lady of Dynevor and the pride of Wendot, who
+regarded the child as his especial charge.
+
+But in his father's absence many duties fell upon Wendot, and there came
+a bright evening when he and Griffeth were occupied about the castle,
+and only Llewelyn and Howel had leisure to wander with the little guest
+to her favourite spot to see the red sun set.
+
+Llewelyn was full of talk that evening, and spoke with a rude eloquence
+and fire that always riveted the attention of the child. He told of the
+wild, lonely beauty of a certain mountain peak which he pointed out up
+the valley, of the weird charm of the road thither, and above all of the
+eagle's nest which was to be found there, and the young eaglets being
+now reared therein, which he and Howel meant to capture and keep as
+their own, and which they purposed to visit the very next day to see if
+they were fit yet to leave the nest.
+
+Gertrude sat entranced as the boy talked, and when she heard of the
+eagle's nest she gave a little cry of delight.
+
+"O Llewelyn, take me with you. Let me see the eagle's nest and the
+little eaglets."
+
+But the boy shook his head doubtfully.
+
+"You could not get as far. It is a long way, and a very rough walk."
+
+The child shook back her curling hair defiantly.
+
+"I could do it! I know I could. I could go half the way on my palfrey,
+and walk the rest. You would help me. You know how well I can climb. Oh,
+do take me -- do take me! I should so love to see an eagle's nest."
+
+But still Llewelyn shook his head.
+
+"Wendot would not let you go; he would say it was too dangerous."
+
+Again came the little defiant toss.
+
+"I am not Wendot's slave; I can do as I choose."
+
+"If he finds out he will stop you."
+
+"But we need not tell him, need we?"
+
+"I thought you always told him everything."
+
+The child stamped her little foot.
+
+"I tell him things generally, but I can keep a secret. If he would stop
+us from going, we will not tell him, nor Griffeth either. We will get up
+very early and go by ourselves. We could do that, could we not, and come
+back with the young eaglets in our hands? O let us go! let us do it
+soon, and take me with you, kind Llewelyn! Indeed I shall not be in your
+way. I will be very good. And you know you have taught me to climb so
+well. I know I can go where you can go. You said so yourself once."
+
+Llewelyn turned his head away to conceal a smile half of triumph, half
+of contempt. A strange flash was in his eyes as he looked up the valley
+towards the crag upon which he had told the child the eyry of the eagles
+hung. She thought he was hesitating still, and laid a soft little hand
+upon his arm.
+
+"Please say that I may go."
+
+He turned quickly and looked at her. For a moment she shrank back from
+the strange glow in his eyes; but her spirit rose again, and she said
+rather haughtily: "You need not be angry with me. If you don't wish me
+to come I will stay at home with Wendot. I do not choose to ask favours
+of anybody if they will not give them readily."
+
+"I should like to take you if it would be safe," answered Llewelyn,
+speaking as if ashamed of his petulance or reluctance.
+
+"Howel, could she climb to the crag where we can look down upon the eyry
+if we helped her up the worst places?"
+
+"I think she could."
+
+The child's face flushed; she clasped her hands together and listened
+eagerly whilst the brothers discussed the plan which in the end was
+agreed to -- a very early start secretly from the castle before the day
+dawned, the chief point to be observed beforehand being absolute
+secrecy, so that the projected expedition should not reach the ears
+either of Wendot, his mother, or Griffeth. It was to be carried out
+entirely by the twins themselves, with Gertrude as their companion.
+
+
+
+    CHAPTER III. THE EAGLE'S CRAG.
+
+
+"Where is the maid, mother?"
+
+"Nay, I know not, my son. I thought she was with thee."
+
+"I have not seen her anywhere. I have been busy with the men."
+
+"Where are the other boys?"
+
+"That I know not either. I have seen none since I rose this morning. I
+have been busy."
+
+"The maid had risen and dressed herself, and had slipped out betimes,"
+said the Lady of Dynevor, as she took her place at the board. "Methought
+she would be with thee. She is a veritable sprite for flitting hither
+and thither after thee. Doubtless she is with some of the others. Who
+knows where the boys have gone this morning? They are not wont to be
+absent at the breakfast hour."
+
+This last question was addressed to the servants who were at the lower
+end of the board, and one of them spoke up in reply. By what he said it
+appeared that Griffeth had started off early to fly a new falcon of his,
+and it seemed probable that his brothers and little Lady Gertrude had
+accompanied him; for whilst he had been discussing with the falconer the
+best place for making the proposed trial, Llewelyn had been to the
+stables and had saddled and led out the palfrey upon which their little
+guest habitually rode, and there seemed no reason to doubt that all the
+party had gone somewhere up upon the highlands to watch the maiden essay
+of the bird.
+
+"She would be sure to long to see the trial," said Wendot, attacking the
+viands before him with a hearty appetite. "She always loves to go with
+us when there is anything to see or hear. I marvel that she spoke not of
+it to me, but perchance it slipped her memory."
+
+The early risers were late at the meal, but no one was anxious about
+them. When anything so engrossing as the flying of a young falcon was in
+the wind, it was natural that so sublunary a matter as breakfast should
+be forgotten. The servants had finished their meal, and had left the
+table before there was any sign of the return of the wanderers, and then
+it was only Griffeth who came bounding in, his face flushed and his eyes
+shining as he caressed the hooded bird upon his wrist.
+
+"He is a beauty, Wendot. I would thou hadst been there to see. I took
+him up to --"
+
+"Ay, tell us all that when thou hast had something to eat," said Wendot.
+"And where is Gertrude? she must be well-nigh famished by this time."
+
+"Gertrude? Nay, I know not. I have not seen her. I would not have
+wearied her with such a tramp through the heavy dews."
+
+"But she had her palfrey; Llewelyn led it away ere it was well light.
+Were you not all together?"
+
+"Nay, I was all alone. Llewelyn and Howel were off and away before I was
+ready; for when I sought them to ask if they would come, they were
+nowhere to be found. As for the maid, I never thought of her. Where can
+they have taken her so early?"
+
+A sudden look of anxiety crossed Wendot's face; but he repressed any
+exclamation of dismay, and glanced at his mother to see if by any chance
+she shared his feeling. But her face was calm and placid, and she said
+composedly:
+
+"If she is with Llewelyn and Howel she will be safe. They have taken her
+on some expedition in secret, but none will harm her with two such stout
+protectors as they."
+
+And then the lady moved away to commence her round of household duties,
+which in those days was no sinecure; whilst Wendot stood in the midst of
+the great hall with a strange shadow upon his face. Griffeth, who was
+eagerly discussing his breakfast, looked wonderingly at him.
+
+"Brother, what ails thee?" he said at length; "thou seemest ill at ease."
+
+"I am ill at ease," answered Wendot, and with a quick glance round him
+to assure himself that there was no one by to hear, he approached
+Griffeth with hasty steps and sat down beside him, speaking in a low,
+rapid way and in English, "Griffeth, tell me, didst thou hear aught last
+night ere thou fell asleep?"
+
+"Ay, I heard Wenwynwyn singing to his harp in his own chamber, but
+nought beside."
+
+"I heard that too," said Wendot, "and for his singing I could not sleep;
+so when it ceased not, I rose and stole to his room to ask him to
+forbear, yet so wild and strange was the song he sang that at the door I
+paused to listen; and what thinkest thou was the burden that he sang?"
+
+"Nay, I know not; tell me."
+
+"He sang a strange song that I have never heard before, of how a dove
+was borne from safe shelter -- a young dove in the absence of the father
+bird; not the mother bird, but the father -- and carried away to the
+eagle's nest by two fierce young eaglets untamed and untamable, there to
+be left till the kites come down to carry off the prize.
+
+"Ha! thou startest and changest colour! What is it thou fearest? Where
+are Llewelyn and Howell and what have they done with the maid? What
+kuowest thou, Griffeth?"
+
+"I know nought," answered Griffeth, "save that Wenwynwyn has been up to
+the commot of Llanymddyvri, and thou knowest what all they of that place
+feel towards the English. Then Llewelyn and Howel have been talking of
+late of the eagle's nest on the crag halfway thither, and if they had
+named it to Gertrude she would have been wild to go and see it. We know
+when Wenwynwyn sings his songs how he ever calls Maelgon ap Caradoc the
+kite, and the lords of Dynevor the eagles. But, Wendot, it could not be
+-- a child -- a maid -- and our father's guest. I cannot believe it of
+our own brothers."
+
+"I know not what to think, but my heart misgives me. Thou knowest what
+Llewelyn ever was, and Howel is but his shadow. I have mistrusted this
+strange friendship before now, remembering what chanced that first day,
+and that Llewelyn never forgives or forgets; but I would not have
+dreamed of such a thing as this. Yet, Griffeth, if the thing is so,
+there is no time to lose. I am off for the crag this very minute. Thou
+must quietly collect and arm a few of our stanchest men, together with
+the English servants left here with their young mistress. Let all be
+done secretly and quietly, and come after me with all speed. It may be
+that we are on a fool's errand, and that our fears are groundless. But
+truly it may be that our brothers are about to betray our guest into the
+hands of one of England's most bitter foes.
+
+"Oh, methinks were her father to return, and I had her not safe to
+deliver back to him, I would not for very shame live to see the day when
+I must avow to him what had befallen his child at the hands of my brethren!"
+
+Griffeth was fully alive to the possible peril menacing the child, and
+eagerly took his orders from his elder brother. It would not be
+difficult to summon some dozen of the armed men on the place to
+accompany him quietly and secretly. They would follow upon Wendot's
+fleet steps with as little delay as might be, and would at least track
+the fugitive and her guides, whether they succeeded in effecting a
+rescue that day or not.
+
+Wendot waited for nothing but to give a few directions to his brother.
+Scarce ten minutes had elapsed from the moment when the first
+illumination of mind had come to him respecting some plot against the
+life of an innocent child, before he had armed himself, and unleashed
+two of the fleetest, strongest, fiercest of the hounds, and was speeding
+up across the moor and fell towards the lonely crag of the eagle's nest,
+which lay halfway between the castle of Dynevor and the abode of Maelgon
+ap Caradoc.
+
+There was one advantage Wendot possessed over his brothers, and that was
+that he could take the wild-deer tracks which led straight onward and
+upward, whilst they with their charge would have to keep to the winding
+mule track, which trebled the distance. The maiden's palfrey was none
+too clever or surefooted upon these rough hillsides, and their progress
+would be but slow.
+
+Wendot moved as if he had wings to his feet, and although the hot summer
+sun began to beat down upon his head, and his breath came in deep,
+laboured gasps, he felt neither heat nor fatigue, but pressed as eagerly
+onwards and upwards as the strong, fleet hounds at his side.
+
+He knew he was on the right track; for ever and anon his path would
+cross that which had been trodden by the feet of the boys and the horse
+earlier in the day, and his own quick eyes and the deep baying of the
+hounds told him at once whenever this was the case. Upwards and onwards,
+onwards and upwards, sprang the brave lad with the untiring energy of a
+strong and righteous purpose. He might be going to danger, he might be
+going to his death; for if he came into open collision with the wild and
+savage retainers of Maelgon, intent upon obtaining their prey, he knew
+that they would think little of stabbing him to the heart rather than be
+balked. There was no feud so far between Llanymddyvri and Dynevor, but
+Wendot knew that his father was suspected of leaning towards the English
+cause, and that it would take little to provoke some hostile
+demonstration on the part of his wild and reckless neighbour. The whole
+country was torn and rent by internecine strife, and there was a chronic
+state of semi-warfare kept up between half the nobles of the country
+against the other half.
+
+But of personal danger Wendot thought nothing. His own honour and that
+of his father were at stake. If the little child left in their care were
+treacherously given up to the foes of the English, the boy felt that he
+should never lift up his head again. He must save her -- he would. Far
+rather would he die in her defence than face her father with the story
+of the base treachery of his brothers.
+
+The path grew wilder and steeper; the vegetation became more scant. The
+heat of the sun was tempered by the cold of the upper air. It was easier
+to climb, and the boy felt that his muscles were made of steel.
+
+Suddenly a new sound struck upon his ear. It was like the whinny of a
+horse, only that there was in it a note of distress. Glancing sharply
+about him, Wendot saw Lady Gertrude's small white palfrey standing
+precariously on a ledge of rock, and looking pitifully about him, unable
+to move either up or down. The creature had plainly been turned loose
+and abandoned, and in trying to find his way home had stranded upon this
+ledge, and was frightened to move a step. Wendot was fond of all
+animals, and could not leave the pretty creature in such a predicament.
+
+"Besides, Gertrude may want him again for the descent," he said; and
+although every moment was precious, he contrived to get the horse up the
+steep bank and on to better ground, and then tethered him on a small
+grassy plateau, where he could feed and take his ease in safety for an
+hour or two to come.
+
+That matter accomplished, the lad was up and off again. He had now to
+trust to the hounds to direct him, for he did not know what track his
+brothers would have taken, and the hard rocks gave no indications which
+he could follow. But the dogs were well used to their work, and with
+their noses to the ground followed the trail unceasingly, indicating
+from time to time by a deep bay that they were absolutely certain of
+their direction.
+
+High overhead loomed the apex of the great crag. Wendot knew that he had
+not much farther to go. He was able to distinguish the cairn of stones
+which he and his brothers had once erected on the top in honour of their
+having made the ascent in a marvellously short space of time. Wendot had
+beaten that record today, he knew; but his eyes were full of anxiety
+instead of triumph. He was scanning every track and every inch of
+distance for traces of the foe he felt certain were somewhere at hand.
+Had they been here already, and had they carried off the prey? Or were
+they only on their way, and had he come in time to thwart their purpose yet?
+
+Ha! what was that?
+
+Wendot had reached the shoulder of the mountain; he could see across the
+valley -- could see the narrow winding track which led to the stronghold
+of Maelgon. The Eagle's Crag, as it was called, fell away precipitously
+on the other side. No one could scale it on that face. The path from the
+upper valley wound round circuitously towards it; and along this path,
+in the brilliant sunshine, Wendot saw distinctly the approach of a small
+band of armed men. Yes: they were approaching, they were not retreating.
+Then they had not already taken their prey; they were coming to claim
+it. The boy could have shouted aloud in his triumph and joy; but he held
+his peace, for who could tell what peril might not lie in the way?
+
+The next moment he had scaled the steep, slippery rock which led to the
+precipitous edge of the crag. Not a sign could he see of his brothers or
+the child, but the hounds led right on to the very verge of the
+precipice, and for a moment the boy's heart stood still. What if they
+had grown afraid of the consequences of their own act, and had resolved
+to get rid of the child in a sure and safe fashion!
+
+For a moment Wendot's blood ran cold. He recalled the traits of fierce
+cruelty which had sometimes shown themselves in Llewelyn from childhood,
+his well-known hatred of the English, his outburst of passion with
+Gertrude, so quickly followed by a strange appearance of friendship.
+Wendot knew his countrymen and his nation's characteristics, and knew
+that fierce acts of treachery were often truly charged upon them. What
+if -- But the thought was too repellent to be seriously pursued, and
+shaking it off by an effort, he raised his voice and called his brothers
+by name.
+
+And then, almost as it seemed from beneath his very feet, there came an
+answering call; but the voice was not that of his brothers, but the cry
+of a terrified child.
+
+"Oh, who are you? Do, please, come to me. I am so frightened. I know I
+shall fall. I know I shall be killed. Do come to me quickly. I don't
+know where Llewelyn and Howel have gone."
+
+"I am coming -- I am Wendot," cried the boy, his heart giving a sudden
+bound. "You are not hurt, you are safe?"
+
+"Yes; only so giddy and frightened, and the sun is so hot and burning,
+and yet it is cold, too. It is such a narrow place, and I cannot get up
+or down. I can't see the eagle's nest, and they have been such a long
+time going after it. They said they would bring the nest and the young
+eagles up to me, but they have never come back. I'm afraid they are
+killed or hurt. Oh, if you would only help me up, then we would go and
+look for them together! Oh, I am so glad that you have come!"
+
+Wendot could not see the child, though every word she spoke was
+distinctly audible. He certainly could not reach her from the place
+where he now stood; but the hounds had been following the tracks of the
+quarry they had been scenting all this way, and stood baying at a
+certain spot some fifty yards away, and a little lower down than the
+apex of the crag. It was long since Wendot had visited this spot, his
+brothers knew it better than he; but when he got to the place indicated
+by the dogs, he saw that there was a little precipitous path along the
+face of the cliff, which, although very narrow and not a little
+dangerous, did give foothold to an experienced mountaineer. How the
+child had ever had the nerve to tread it he could not imagine, but
+undoubtedly she was there, and he must get her back, if possible, and
+down the mountainside, before those armed men from the upper valley
+could reach them.
+
+But could he do this? He cast an apprehensive glance over his shoulder,
+and saw to his dismay how quickly they were approaching. From their
+quickened pace he fancied that his own movements had been observed.
+Certainly there was not a moment to lose, and leaving the dogs to keep
+guard at the entrance, he set his foot upon the perilous path and
+carefully pursued his way.
+
+The face of the cliff jutted outwards for some yards, and then made a
+sharp turn round an angle. At the spot where this turn occurred, a sort
+of natural arch had formed itself over the narrow ledge which formed the
+path, and immediately behind the arch there was a small plateau which
+gave space to stand and move with some freedom, although a step over the
+edge would plunge the unwary victim into the deep gulf beneath. The
+cliff then fell away once again, but the ledge wound round it still,
+until it ended in a shallow alcove some eight feet deep, which lay just
+beneath the highest part of the crag, which overhung it by many yards.
+
+And it was crouched up against the cliff in this little alcove that
+Wendot found Gertrude; cowering, white-faced, against the hard rock,
+faint from want of food, terrified at the loneliness and at her own
+fears for the safety of her companions, and so overwrought by the
+tension of nerve she had undergone, that when Wendot did stand beside
+her she could only cling to him sobbing passionately, and it was long
+before he could even induce her to let him go, or to attempt to eat the
+contents of a small package he had had the forethought to bring in his
+wallet.
+
+He heard her tale as she sobbed in his arms. They had come here after
+the eagle's nest. Llewelyn and Howel had been so kind! They had not
+minded her being so slow, but had brought her all the way; and when she
+wanted to follow them along the ledge to get a better view of the nest,
+they had blindfolded her that she might not get giddy, and had put a
+rope round her and brought her safely along the narrow ledge till she
+had got to this place. But the nest could not be seen even from there,
+and they had left her to see where it really was. They said they would
+soon be back, but they had not come, and she had got first anxious and
+then terrified about them, and then fearful for her own safety. At last
+when faintness and giddiness had come upon her, and she could get no
+answer to her repeated shouts, her spirit had altogether given way; and
+unless Wendot had really come to her rescue, she was certain she should
+have fallen down the precipice. She did not know now how she should ever
+get back along the narrow ridge, she was so frightened and giddy. But if
+Llewelyn and Howel would come, perhaps she might.
+
+Did Wendot know where they were? Would he take care of her now, and
+bring her safe home?
+
+"I will if I can," answered the boy, with a strange light in his blue
+eyes. "Griffeth is on his way with plenty of help. He will be here soon.
+Do you think you could walk along the ridge now, if I were to hold you
+up and help you? We should get home sooner if you could."
+
+But the child shrank back and put her hand before her eyes.
+
+"Oh, let us wait till Griffeth comes. I am so giddy still, and I am so
+afraid I should fall. Hark! I'm sure I hear voices. They are coming
+already. Oh, I am so glad! I do want to get home. Wendot, why do you
+look like that? Why do you get out that thing? You are not going to fight?"
+
+"Lady Gertrude," said Wendot, speaking in a grave, manly way that at
+once riveted the child's attention, "I am afraid that those voices do
+not belong to our friends, but to a band of men who are coming to try
+and take you prisoner to a castle up the valley there. No: do not be
+frightened; I will save you from them if I can. There is help coming for
+us, and I think I can hold this path against them for some time to come.
+You must try and keep up heart and not be frightened. You may see some
+hard blows struck, but you can shut your eyes and not think about it. If
+they do kill me and carry you off, do not give up hope, for Griffeth and
+our own men will be after you to rescue you. Now let me go, and try not
+to be afraid. I think we can hold them at bay till we are more equally
+matched."
+
+The child's eyes dilated with horror. She caught Wendot by the hand.
+
+"Give me up," she said firmly. "I will not have you killed for me. I
+would rather go with them. Give me up, I say!"
+
+"No, Gertrude; I will not give you up," answered Wendot very quietly,
+but with an inflexibility of tone which made his voice seem like that of
+another person. "Your father placed you in my hands; to him I must
+answer for your safety. What is life to a man without honour? Would you
+have me stain my name for the sake of saving my life? I think not that
+that is the English code of honour."
+
+Child as she was, little Gertrude understood well what was implied in
+those words, and a new light flashed into her eyes. Something of the
+soldier spirit awoke within her, and she snatched at a small dagger
+Wendot carried in his belt, and drawing her small figure to its full
+height, she said:
+
+"We will both fight, Wendot; we will both fight, and both die rather
+than let them take us."
+
+He smiled, and just for a moment laid his hand upon her head; then he
+drew on his mailed gloves and looked well to the buckles of the stout
+leathern jerkin, almost as impervious to the stabs of his foes as a suit
+of mail itself. The temper of his weapon he well knew; he had no fear
+that it would play him false. He had not the headpiece of mail; he had
+started in too great a hurry to arm himself completely, and speed was
+too much an object for him to willingly encumber himself needlessly. But
+as he skirted the narrow ledge, and placed himself beneath the
+protecting arch, he smiled grimly to himself, and thought that the stone
+would be as good a guard, and that here was a place where a man could
+sell his life dear, and send many a foe to his account before striking
+his own colours.
+
+Scarcely had he well established himself in the commanding position he
+had resolved upon, when the sound of voices became more distinct. The
+party had plainly arrived at the appointed place, and Wendot could hear
+them discussing who was best fitted for the task of traversing the
+dangerous ledge to bring back the captive who was to be found there. The
+wild Welsh was unintelligible to Gertrude, or she would have known at
+once what dark treachery had been planned and carried out by her trusted
+companions; but Wendot's cheek glowed with shame, and he set his teeth
+hard, resolved to redeem the honour of his father's name to the last
+drop of his blood if he should be called upon to shed it in the cause.
+
+He heard the slow and cautious steps approaching along the path, and he
+gripped his weapon more tightly in his hand. The red light of battle was
+in his eyes, and the moment he caught sight of the form of the stalwart
+soldier threading his perilous way along the path he sprang upon him
+with a cry of fury, and hurled him into the gulf beneath.
+
+Down fell the man, utterly unprepared for such an attack, and his sharp
+cry of terror was echoed from above by a dozen loud voices.
+
+Cries and shouts and questions assailed Wendot, but he answered never a
+word. Those above knew not if it had been an accident, or if an ambushed
+foe had hurled their comrade to destruction. Again came a long pause for
+consideration -- and every moment wasted was all in favour of the pair
+upon the ledge -- and then it became plain that some course of action
+had been determined upon, and Wendot heard the cautious approach of
+another foe. This man crept on his way much more cautiously, and the
+youth held himself ready for a yet more determined spring. Luckily for
+him, he could remain hidden until his opponent was close to him; and so
+soon as he was certain from the sound that the man was reaching the
+angle of the rock, he made another dash, and brought down his sword with
+all the strength of his arm upon the head of the assailant.
+
+Once again into the heart of the abyss crashed the body of the
+unfortunate soldier; but a sharp thrill of pain ran through Wendot's
+frame, and a barbed arrow, well aimed at the joint of his leather
+jerkin, plunged into his neck and stuck fast.
+
+The first assailant whom he had disposed of was but one of a close line,
+following each other in rapid succession. As his face became visible to
+the man now foremost a shout of surprise and anger rose up.
+
+"It is Res Wendot! It is one of the sons of the house of Dynevor!
+
+"Wendot, thou art mad! We are the friends of thy house. We are here at
+the instigation of thine own kindred. Give us the maid, and thou shalt
+go free. We would not harm thee."
+
+"Stir but one step nearer, and I slay thee as I have slain thy two
+comrades," cried Wendot, in a voice which all might hear. "I deal not in
+treachery towards those that trust us. I will answer for the safety of
+the maid with mine own life. Of my hand her father will demand her when
+he comes again. Shall we men of Wales give right cause to the English to
+call us murderers, traitors, cowards? Take my life if you will, take it
+a thousand times over if you will, it is only over my dead body that you
+will reach that child."
+
+"Down with him -- traitor to the cause! He is sold to the English! He is
+no countryman of ours! Spare him not! He is worthy of death! Down with
+every Welshman who bands not with those who would uphold his country's
+cause!"
+
+Such were the shouts which rent the air as the meaning of Wendot's words
+made itself understood. As for the brave lad himself, he had plucked the
+arrow from his neck, and now stood boldly on guard, resolved to husband
+his strength and keep on the defensive only, hoping thus to gain time
+until Griffeth and the armed men should arrive.
+
+He had all the advantage of the position; but his foes were strong men,
+and came on thick and fast one after another, till it seemed as if the
+lad might be forced backwards by sheer weight and pressure. But Wendot
+was no novice at the use of arms: as his third foe fell upon him with
+heavy blows of his weighted axe, he stepped backwards a pace, and let
+the blows descend harmlessly upon the solid rock of the arch; until the
+man, disgusted at the non-success of his endeavours to tempt his
+adversary out of his defended position, threw away his blunted axe, and
+was about to draw his sword for a thrust, when the boy sprang like
+lightning upon him, and buried his poniard in his heart.
+
+Over went the man like a log, almost dragging Wendot with him as he
+fell, and before the youth had had time to recover himself, he had
+received a deep gash in his sword arm from the foe who pressed on next,
+and who made a quick dash to try to get possession of the vantage ground
+of the arch.
+
+But Wendot staggered back as if with weakness, let his adversary dash
+through the arch after him; and then, hurling himself upon him as he
+passed through, pushed him sheer off the ledge on the other side into
+the yawning gulf beneath.
+
+The comrades of this last victim, who had just sent up a shout of
+triumph, now changed their note, and it became a yell of rage. Wendot
+was back in his old vantage ground, wounded by several arrows, spent by
+blows, and growing faint from loss of blood, but dauntless and resolute
+as ever, determined to sell his life dearly, and hold out as long as he
+had breath left in him, sooner than let the helpless child fall into the
+clutches of these fierce men, goaded now to madness by the opposition
+they had met with.
+
+Hark! what was that? It was a shout, a hail, and then the familiar call
+of the Dynevor brothers rang through the still air.
+
+"La-ha-boo!"
+
+It was Griffeth's voice. He had come at last. It was plain that the foe
+had heard, and had paused; for if they were menaced from another
+quarter, it was time to think of their own safety.
+
+Summoning up all his strength, Wendot sent back an answering hail, and
+the next moment there was the sound of fierce voices and the clashing of
+weapons overhead on the summit of the cliff; and in quick, urgent
+accents Wendot's foes were ordered to retreat, as there was treachery
+somewhere, and they had been betrayed.
+
+Wendot saw his antagonists lower their weapons, and return the way they
+had come, with fearful backward glances, lest their boy foe should be
+following them. But he had no wish to do that. He was spent and
+exhausted and maimed. He turned backwards towards the safer shelter of
+the little alcove, and sank down beside the trembling child, panting,
+bleeding, and almost unconscious.
+
+
+
+    CHAPTER IV. WENDOT'S REWARD.
+
+
+"Father, father, father!"
+
+The shrill, glad cry broke from the lips of little Gertrude almost at
+the same moment as Wendot sank at her feet, spent and fainting; and the
+lad, making a great effort, opened his dim eyes to see the tall form of
+the English noble stooping over his little daughter, gathering her in
+his arms with a gesture of passionate endearment.
+
+Wendot fancied he must be dreaming; perhaps it was all a strange,
+terrible dream: everything was swimming before his eyes in a sort of
+blood-coloured mist. He gave up the effort to try to disentangle the
+maze in which he seemed to be moving, and was sinking into
+unconsciousness again when a sharp cry from his brother aroused him.
+
+"Wendot, Wendot! -- O father, see --they have killed him!"
+
+"Nay, lad, not that. Here, let me get to him.
+
+"Griffeth, run thou and tell the fellows to let down ropes from above to
+draw him up. He cannot return along that narrow ledge. He and the child
+had best be drawn up by those above. Tell them to lose no time. The boy
+must be taken home to his mother's care. This narrow ledge is growing
+like an oven. Bid one of the men run to the brook for a draught of water."
+
+Wendot's lips framed themselves to the word "water" as he heard it
+spoken. If he had but a draught of water, perhaps he could speak again
+and understand what was passing. As it was, he only heard the sound of a
+confusion of voices, the clear tones of little Gertrude being the most
+continuous and the most distinct. She seemed to be pouring some tale
+into the ears of her listeners, and Wendot was certain, from the quick,
+sudden movements of his father, who was supporting him as he lay, that
+the story heard was exciting in him feelings of indignation and
+amazement, although the boy's brain was too much confused to tell him
+the reason for this displeasure.
+
+But the sense of rest and safety inspired by his father's presence was
+very comforting; and when the wounded lad had been drawn to the summit
+of the cliff by the strong, willing arms of the retainers, and his hurts
+rudely dressed by kindly hands, and his parched throat refreshed by deep
+draughts of cold water, he began to shake off the sense of unreality
+which had made him feel like one in a dream, and to marvel at the
+unexpected appearance on the lonely fell of his father and Lord Montacute.
+
+A sure-footed mountain pony was bearing him gently down the steep slope,
+and his questioning look called Griffeth to his side.
+
+"What means all this, Griffeth?" he whispered. "Whence came they? and
+what do they know? And Llewelyn and Howel, where are they? Can it be
+that they --"
+
+He could not frame his lips to speak the words, but Griffeth understood
+him without, and his cheek flushed.
+
+"I fear me it is indeed as we thought. She went with them, and they left
+her alone on the ledge, where once the eagle's eyry used to be.
+Maelgon's men came to carry her off thence. Had it not been for thee,
+Wendot, she would have been in their hands ere now. I would I had stood
+beside thee, brother. I would I had shared thy perils and thy hurts."
+
+"Thou didst better than that," answered Wendot, faintly smiling, "for
+thou broughtest aid in the very nick of time. And how came it that our
+father and our guest were with thee? Methought it must surely be a dream
+when I saw them."
+
+"Ay, we met them journeying towards the castle when we had but made a
+short mile from it. They would have reached last night but for an
+accident to one of the beasts, which detained them on the road; but they
+had started ere the sun rose, and were hard by when we encountered them.
+Hearing our errand, some went forward as before, but others joined our
+party. It was well we were thus reinforced, for Maelgon's men fight like
+veritable wolves."
+
+"What knoweth our father of the matter? Spakest thou to him of Llewelyn
+and Howel?"
+
+"I had perforce to do so, they questioned me so closely. I know not what
+they thought. Our guest's face is not one that may be read like a book,
+and our father only set his lips in his stern fashion, as though he
+would never open them again. I trow he is sore displeased that sons of
+his should thus act; but perchance it may not be so bad as we think."
+
+Wendot made no reply. He was growing too spent and weary to have words
+or thoughts to spare. It seemed as if the long and weary descent would
+never be accomplished; and the beat of the sun beating down upon them
+mercilessly as they reached the lower ground turned him sick and faint.
+Little Gertrude, mounted now upon her palfrey, was chattering
+ceaselessly to her father, as he strode on beside her down the hillside;
+but Lord Montacute was grave and silent; and as for the face of Res
+Vychan, it looked as if carved out of marble, as he planted himself by
+the side of the sturdy pony who carried his son, and placed his arm
+round the lad to support him during that long and weary ride.
+
+It was plain that the thoughts of both men were of a very serious
+complexion, and gave them food for much reflection and consideration.
+
+Griffeth bounded on a little ahead of the cavalcade, excited by the
+events of the day, anxious for his brother, yet intensely proud of him,
+envying him the chance of thus displaying his heroic qualities, yet only
+wishing to have shared them -- not that anything should be detracted
+from the halo which encircled Wendot. He had reached a turn in the path,
+and for a moment was alone and out of sight of the company that
+followed, when the hounds who had accompanied Wendot, and were now
+returning with them, uttered a deep bay as of welcome, and the next
+moment two dark and swarthy heads appeared from behind the shelter of
+some great boulders, and the faces of Llewelyn and Howel looked
+cautiously forth.
+
+In a moment Griffeth was by their side, various emotions struggling in
+his face for mastery; but the tie of brotherhood was a strong one, and
+his first words were those of warning.
+
+"It is all known -- our father knows, and hers. I know not what your
+punishment will be. I have never seen our father look so stern. Do as
+you will about returning home, but I wot not how you will be received."
+
+Llewelyn and Howel exchanged glances; and the former asked eagerly, "And
+the maid?"
+
+"Is safe with her father and ours. Wendot risked his life to save her
+from Maelgon's men. Nay, linger not to hear the tale, if you would fly
+from the anger of those who know that you sought to betray her. It will
+be no easy thing to make peace with our father. You know his thoughts
+upon the sacredness of hospitality."
+
+But even as he spoke Griffeth saw the change that came over his
+brothers' faces as they looked past him to something behind; then as he
+himself turned quickly to see what it was, he beheld their father and
+two of the servants approaching; and Res Vychan pointed sternly to the
+two dark-leaded boys, now involuntarily quailing beneath the fiery
+indignation in his eyes, and said:
+
+"Bind them hand and foot and carry them to the castle. They shall be
+dealt with there as their offence shall warrant."
+
+Then turning on his heel, he rejoined the company; whilst Llewelyn and
+Howel were brought captive to the paternal halls of Dynevor.
+
+Wendot knew very little of the occurrences of the next few days. He was
+carried to the chamber that he shared with Griffeth, and there he lay
+for several days and nights in a dreamy, semi-conscious state, tended by
+his mother with all the skill and tenderness she possessed, and, save
+when the pain of his wounds made him restless and feverish, sleeping
+much, and troubling his head little about what went on within or without
+the castle. He was dimly aware that little Gertrude came in and out of
+his room sometimes, holding to his mother's hands, and that her gentle
+prattle and little caressing gestures were very soothing and pleasant.
+But he did not trouble his head to wonder how it was he was lying there,
+nor what event had crippled him so; and only in the fevered visions of
+the night did he see himself once again standing upon the narrow ledge
+of the Eagle's Crag, with a host of foes bearing down upon him to
+overpower and slay both him and his charge.
+
+But after a few days of feverish lassitude and drowsiness the lad's
+magnificent constitution triumphed -- the fever left him; and though he
+now lay weak and white upon his narrow bed, his mind was perfectly
+clear, and he was eager and anxious to know what had happened whilst he
+had been shut out from the life of the castle.
+
+His mother was naturally the one to whom he turned for information. He
+saw that she was unwontedly pale and grave and thoughtful. As she sat
+beside his bed with some needlework in her hands one bright afternoon,
+when the sunlight was streaming into the chamber, and the air floating
+in through the narrow casement was full of scent and song, his eyes
+fixed themselves upon her face with more of purpose and reflection, and
+he begged her to tell him all that had passed.
+
+"For I know that our guests are still here. Gertrude comes daily to see
+me. But where are Llewelyn and Howel? I have not seen them once. Is my
+father angry with them still? or have they been punished and forgiven?"
+
+"Your brothers are still close prisoners," answered the mother with a
+sigh. "They have been chastised with more severity than any son of ours
+has needed to be chastised before; but they still remain sullen and
+obdurate and revengeful, and thy father will not permit them to come out
+from their retirement so long as our guests remain. Perchance it is best
+so, for it would but cause trouble in the house for them to meet. I
+would that they could see matters differently; and yet there are many
+amongst our people who would say that the true patriotism was theirs."
+
+"And our guests, mother -- why linger they still? Methought they Would
+leave so soon as Lord Montacute returned."
+
+"So they purposed once; but he has wished to remain till thou art sound
+once more, my son. He hath a very warm feeling towards thee, and would
+speak to thee of something that is in his heart ere he quits Dynevor. He
+has spoken of it to thy father and to me, but he wishes thee to hear it
+from his own lips."
+
+Wendot's interest was aroused. Something in his mother's expression told
+him that the thing of which she spoke was a matter of some importance.
+As an eldest son and forward for his years, and of a reflective and
+thoughtful turn, he had often been consulted by his parents, and
+particularly by his mother, in matters rather beyond his comprehension,
+and had shared in discussions which many youths of his age would have
+shunned and despised. Now, therefore, he looked eagerly at his mother
+and said:
+
+"What is it he wishes to say Canst thou not tell me thyself?"
+
+The Lady of Dynevor paused awhile in thought; and when she spoke, it did
+not appear to be in direct reply to her son's question.
+
+"Wendot," she said gravely, "thou hast heard much talk of the troubled
+state of these times and of the nation's affairs. Thou hast lived long
+enough to see how hopeless some amongst us feel it ever to hope for
+unity amongst ourselves. We are torn and distracted by faction and feud.
+Families are banded together against families, and brothers strive with
+brothers for the inheritance each claims as his own. Each lord of some
+small territory tries to wrest from his weaker neighbour that which
+belongs to him; and if for a moment at some great crisis petty feuds are
+forgotten, and a blow is struck for national liberty, scarce has peace
+been proclaimed again before the old strife breaks out once more, and
+our fair land is desolated by a more grievous war than ever the English
+wage."
+
+Wendot bent his head in voiceless assent. He knew something of his
+country's history, and that his mother spoke only the sad truth.
+
+"My son," continued she after a pause, "it chances sometimes in this
+troubled life of ours that we are called upon to make choice, not
+between good and evil, but between two courses, both of which are beset
+with difficulties and obstacles, both of which mingle together evil and
+good, for which and against which much may be argued on both sides, and
+many things that are true be said for and against both. To some such
+choice as this has our poor country now come. Experience has taught us
+that she is incapable of uniting all her forces and of making of herself
+one compact, united kingdom. That course, and that alone, would be her
+true salvation; but that course she will not take, and failing that, she
+has to choose between being torn and rent by faction till she is an easy
+prey to the English king, who will then divide her territories amongst
+his own hungry and rapacious barons, or for the princes to submit to pay
+him the homage for their lands which he (possibly with injustice)
+demands, but which if paid will make of him their friend and protector,
+and will enable the country to live in peace and prosperity, assured
+that the king will support those who acknowledge him, and that he will
+not deprive of their ancestral rights any who will bring their homage to
+him, and hold their territory as it were from him. Understandest thou
+thus much?"
+
+"Ay, mother, I understand it well; and though there is something in the
+thought that stirs my blood and sets it coursing through my veins in
+indignation -- for I see not by what right the English king lays claim
+to our fair lands -- still I know that conquest gives to the conqueror a
+right, and that if he chose to march against us with his armies, he
+might well find us too much weakened by our petty feuds to resist his
+strong veterans. And the English are not all bad. I have learned that
+these many days whilst our guests have been with us. I have thought at
+times that they would be true friends and allies, and that we might do
+well to copy them in many ways. In truth, if the choice lies betwixt
+being rent in pieces by each other and giving homage to the great
+Edward, who can be merciful and just, I would rather choose the latter.
+For there must be something grand and noble about him by what our little
+maid says; and to pay homage is no such hard thing. Why, does not he
+himself pay homage to the King of France for the lands he holds in his
+kingdom?"
+
+A look of relief crossed the face of the mother as she heard these words
+from her first-born son. She took his hand in hers and said earnestly:
+
+"Wendot, I am glad to hear thee speak thus, for thou art the heir of
+Dynevor, and upon thee much may fall some day. Thou knowest what thy
+brothers are -- I speak of Llewelyn and Howel. I cannot but fear for
+them -- unless, indeed, the rapacious greed I sometimes see in Llewelyn
+proves stronger than his fierce hatred to the English, and he prefers to
+do homage for his lands rather than lose them. But thou art the head of
+the family, and the chief power will rest with thee when thy father is
+gone. I counsel thee, if the time comes when thou must make thy choice,
+be not led away by blind hatred of the English. They may prove less
+cruel foes than thine own countrymen are to one another. If Wales may
+not be united under one native king, let her think well ere she rejects
+the grace held out to all who will yield fealty to the English monarch.
+That is what I wished to say to thee. Remember that the English are not
+always cruel, always rapacious. There are generous, noble, honourable
+men amongst them, of whom I am sure our guest is one."
+
+"Ay, he has a grand face," said Wendot. "A face one can both love and
+trust. And all that the little one tells me of the king and his family
+inclines my heart towards him and his. I will remember what you have
+said, mother, and will ponder your words. Methinks it is no lovely thing
+to hate as Llewelyn and Howel hate; it makes men act rather as fiends
+than as honourable soldiers should."
+
+The conversation ended there, and was not renewed; but the very next day
+Lord Montacute sought Wendot's room, when the lad was lying alone,
+wearying somewhat of his own company, and the light sprang into his eyes
+as he saw the guest approach, for in his own boyish way he had a great
+admiration for this man.
+
+"Well, lad, I am glad to see thee looking something more substantial and
+like thine own self," said Lord Montacute, seating himself upon the edge
+of the bed and taking Wendot's hand in his. "This hand has done good
+service to me and mine -- good service, indeed, to the King of England,
+who would have been forced to chastise with some severity the outrage
+planned upon a subject of his, and one dear to him from association with
+his children. Tell me, boy, what can I do for thee when I tell this tale
+to my lord of England? What boon hast thou to ask of him or of me? For
+thou needest not fear; whatever it be it shall be granted."
+
+"Nay, I have no boon," answered Wendot, his cheek flushing. "I did but
+do my duty by any guest beneath my father's roof. I was responsible for
+the safety of the maid. I had taken that duty on myself. I want nothing;
+she is safe, and that is enough. Only if you would speak to my father
+for my brothers Llewelyn and Howel. I know they have merited deep
+displeasure; yet they are but lads, and doubtless they were led away by
+evil counsels. He would hear pleading better from you than from me."
+
+"It shall be done," said Lord Montacute, still regarding Wendot
+steadily; "and now, boy, I would speak to thee seriously and gravely as
+man to man, for thou hast proved thyself to be a man in action, in
+courage, and in foresight. And thy parents tell me that thou art
+acquainted with the burning questions of the day, and that thy brothers'
+headstrong hatreds and prejudices do not blind thee."
+
+Wendot made no reply, but fixed his bright eyes steadily on Lord
+Montacute's face. He on his side, after a brief silence, began again in
+clear, terse phrases:
+
+"Lad, if thou livest thou wilt some day be Lord of Dynevor -- master of
+this fair heritage, the fairest, perhaps, in all South Wales. Thou hast
+noble blood in thy veins -- the blood of princes and kings; thou hast
+much that men covet to call their own; but thou art surrounded by foes
+who are jealous of thee, and by kinsmen who have already cast covetous
+eyes on thy possessions."
+
+"Ay, that traitorous Meredith ap Res, whose mother is English, and who
+would -- But pardon me. I would not willingly speak against your nation.
+Indeed, I feel not bitter as others do; only --"
+
+"Boy, thou art right to be loyal and true. I like thee none the less for
+the patriotic fervour which breaks out in thee. But I am glad that thou
+shouldest see both sides of this matter, that thou shouldest see the
+peril menacing thy brothers from thine own kinsman, who has strengthened
+himself by an English alliance. It is useless to blind thine eyes to
+what is coming. They tell me thou art not blind; and I come to thee,
+lad, because I think well of thee, to ask if it would please thee to
+strengthen thy position in thine own land and in Edward's sight by an
+alliance with an English maiden of noble birth. Hast thou ever thought
+of such a thing?"
+
+Wendot's wide-open eyes gave answer enough. Lord Montacute smiled
+slightly as he said:
+
+"Ah, thou art full young for such thoughts; and thou livest not in the
+atmosphere of courts, where babes are given in marriage almost from
+their cradles. But listen, Res Wendot; I speak not in jest, I am a man
+of my word. Thou hast risked thy life to save my little maid. Thou art a
+noble youth, and I honour both thee and thy parents. The maid has told
+me that she loves thee well, and would be well pleased to wed thee when
+she is of the age to do so. These are but childish words, yet they may
+prove themselves true in days to come. It is in the interests of all
+those who have the peace and prosperity of this land at heart to
+strengthen themselves in every way they can. My little daughter will
+have an ample dower to bring her husband; and I will keep her for thee
+if thou wilt be willing to claim her in days to come. I should like well
+to see her ruling in these fair halls; and thou hast proved already that
+thou art a knightly youth, whose hand she may well take with confidence
+and pride.
+
+"Thy parents are willing; it waits only for thee to say. What thinkest
+thou of a troth plight with the little maid?"
+
+Wendot's face glowed with a sort of boyish shame, not unmingled with
+pride; but the idea was altogether too strange and new to him to be
+readily grasped.
+
+"I have never thought of such things," he said shyly, "and I am too
+young to wed. Perchance I may grow into some rough, uncouth fellow, who
+may please not the maiden when she reaches years of discretion. Methinks
+it would scarce be fair to plight her now, at least not with such a
+plight as might not be broken. If our nations meet in fierce conflict,
+as they yet may, it would be a cruel thing to have linked her hand with
+that of a rebel, for such we are called by the English monarch, they
+say, when we rise to fight for our liberties bequeathed by our ancestors.
+
+"Nay, noble lord, frown not on me. There be moments when methinks two
+spirits strive within me, and I am fearful of trusting even myself. I
+would not that grief or sorrow should touch her through me. Let me come
+and claim her anon, when I have grown to man's estate, and can bring her
+lands and revenues. But bind her not to one whose fate may be beset with
+perils and shadows. There be those amongst our bards who see into the
+future; and they tell us that a dark fate hangs over the house of
+Dynevor, and that we four shall be the last to bear the name."
+
+Lord Montacute was looking grave and earnest. There was something in his
+face which indicated disappointment, but also something that spoke of
+relief. Possibly he himself had offered this troth plight with something
+of hesitation, offered it out of gratitude to the noble lad, and out of
+respect to his parents, who, as he saw, would prove valuable allies to
+the English cause, could they but be induced to give their allegiance to
+it. Yet there was another side to the picture, too; and Wendot was too
+young for any one to predict with certainty what would be his course in
+the future. The hot blood of his race ran in his veins; and though his
+judgment was cool, and he saw things in a reasonable and manly light, it
+would be rash to predict what the future might have in store for him.
+
+"Well, lad, thou hast spoken bravely and well," said the Englishman,
+after a pause for thought. "Perchance thy words are right; perchance it
+will be well to let matters rest as they are for the present. We will
+have no solemn troth plight betwixt ye twain; but the maid shall be
+promised to none other these next four years, so that if thou carest to
+claim her ere she reaches woman's estate, thou shalt find her waiting
+for thee. And now I must say thee farewell, for tomorrow we ride away
+the way we came. I trust to see thee at the king's court one of these
+days, and to make known to his royal majesty the noble youth of Dynevor."
+
+Wendot was left alone then for some time, pondering the strange offer
+made to him, and wondering whether he had been foolish to refuse the
+promised reward. He had never seriously thought of marriage, although in
+those days wedlock was entered upon very young if there were any
+advantage to be gained from it. A lad of fifteen is seldom sentimental;
+but Wendot was conscious of a very warm spot in his heart for little
+Gertrude, and he knew that he should miss her sorely when she went, and
+think of her much. Would it have been a sweet or a bitter thing to have
+felt himself pledged to a daughter of England? He felt that he could not
+tell; but at least the decision was made now, and his words could not be
+recalled.
+
+Just ere the sun set that summer's day there came down the stone
+corridor which led to his room the patter of little feet, and he leaned
+up on his elbow with brightening eyes as the door opened and little
+Gertrude came dancing in.
+
+"I thought I was to have been married to you, Wendot, before we went
+away," she said, looking into his face with the most trusting expression
+in her soft dark eyes; "but father says you will come to marry me some
+day at the king's court. Perhaps that will be better, for I should like
+Eleanor and Joanna to see you. They would like you so, and you would
+like them. But do come soon, Wendot. I do so like you; and I shall want
+to show you to them all. And I have broken my gold coin in two -- the
+one the king gave me once. I got the armourer to do it, and to make a
+hole in each half. You must wear one half round your neck, and I will
+wear the other. And that will be almost the same as being married, will
+it not? And you will never forget me, will you?"
+
+Wendot let her hang the half of the coin round his neck by a silken
+thread, strange new thoughts crowding into his mind as he felt her soft
+little hands about him. Suddenly he clasped them in both of his and
+pressed warm kisses upon them. Gertrude threw her arms about his neck in
+a childish paroxysm of affection, saying as she did so between her kisses:
+
+"Now, it's just like being husband and wife; and we shall never forget
+one another -- never."
+
+
+
+    CHAPTER V. THE KING'S CHILDREN.
+
+
+"Dynevor --did you say Dynevor? O Eleanor, it must be he!"
+
+A tall, slim, fair-faced maiden, with a very regal mien, looked up
+quickly from an embroidery frame over which she was bending, and glanced
+from the eager, flushed face of the younger girl who stood beside her to
+that of a tall and stalwart English youth, who appeared to be the bearer
+of a piece of news, and asked in her unconsciously queenly way:
+
+"What is it, Sir Godfrey, that you have told this impetuous child, to
+have set her in such a quiver of excitement?"
+
+"Only this, gracious lady, that certain youthful chieftains from the
+south have come hither to Rhuddlan to pay their homage to your royal
+father. In his absence at Chester they have been lodged within the
+castle walls, as becomes their station. It has been told me that amongst
+them are four sons of one Res Vychan, lately dead, and that he was Lord
+of Dynevor, which honour has descended to his eldest son. I was telling
+what I knew to Lady Gertrude when she broke away to speak to you."
+
+"Eleanor, it must be he -- it must be they!" cried Gertrude, with
+flushing cheek and kindling eye -- "Res Vychan, Lord of Dynevor, and his
+four sons. It could be none else than they. O Eleanor, sweet Eleanor,
+bid them be brought hither to see us! Thou hast heard the story of how
+we went thither, my father and I, two years agone now, and of what
+befell me there. I have never heard a word of Wendot since, and I have
+thought of him so oft. Thou art mistress here now; they all heed thy
+lightest word. Bid that the brothers be brought hither to us. I do so
+long to see them again!"
+
+Gertrude was fairly trembling with excitement; but that was no unusual
+thing for her, as she was an ardent, excitable little mortal, and ever
+in a fever of some kind or another. The young knight who had brought the
+news looked at her with unmistakable admiration and pleasure, and seemed
+as though he would gladly have obeyed any behest of hers; but he was
+fain to wait for the decision of the stately Eleanor, the king's eldest
+and much-beloved child, who in the temporary absence of her parents
+occupied a position of no little importance in the household, and whose
+will, in the royal apartments at any rate, was law.
+
+But there were other listeners to Gertrude's eager words. At the far end
+of the long gallery, which was occupied by the royal children as their
+private apartment, a group of three young things had been at play, but
+the urgency of Gertrude's tones had arrested their attention, and they
+had drawn near to hear her last words. One of these younger children was
+a black-eyed girl, with a very handsome face and an imperious manner,
+which gave to onlookers the idea that she was older than her years.
+Quick tempered, generous, hasty, and self willed was the Lady Joanna,
+the second daughter of the king; but her warm affections caused all who
+knew her to love her; and her romantic temperament was always stirred to
+its depths by any story that savoured of chivalry or heroism.
+
+"What!" she cried; "is Wendot here -- Wendot of Dynevor, who held the
+Eagle's Crag against half a hundred foemen to save thee, sweetest
+Gertrude, from captivity or death? -- Eleanor, thou knowest the story;
+thou must bid him hither at once! Why, I would thank him with my own
+lips for his heroism. For is not Gertrude as our own sister in love?"
+
+"Ay, Eleanor, bid him come," pleaded Alphonso, a fragile-looking boy a
+year younger than Joanna, whose violet-blue eyes and fair skin were in
+marked contrast to her gipsy-like darkness of complexion; and this
+request was echoed eagerly by another boy, a fine, bold-looking lad,
+somewhat older than Alphonso, by name Britten, who was brought up with
+the king's children, and treated in every way like them, as the wardrobe
+rolls of the period show, though what his rank and parentage were cannot
+now be established, as no mention of him occurs in any other documents
+of that time.
+
+The Princess Eleanor, as she would now be called, although in those
+far-back days the title of Lady was generally all that was bestowed upon
+the children of the king, did not attempt to resist the combined
+entreaties of her younger playfellows. Indeed, although somewhat mature
+both in mind and appearance for her years, she was by no means devoid of
+childish or feminine curiosity, and was as willing to see the hero of
+Gertrude's oft-told tale as her more youthful companions could be.
+Moreover, it was her father's policy and pleasure to be generous and
+gracious towards all those who submitted themselves to his feudal
+sovereignty; and to the young he ever showed himself friendly and even
+paternal. The stern soldier-king was a particularly tender and loving
+father, and his wife the best of mothers, so that the family tie in
+their household was a very strong and beautiful thing. When the monarch
+was called away from his own royal residences to quell sedition or
+rebellion in this turbulent country of Wales, his wife and children
+accompanied him thither; and so it happened that in this rather gloomy
+fastness in North Wales, when the rebellion of the warlike Llewelyn had
+but just been crushed, the king's children were to be found assembled
+within its walls, by their bright presence and laughter-loving ways
+making the place gay and bright, and bringing even into political
+matters something of the leniency and good fellowship which seems to be
+the prerogative of childhood.
+
+Thus it was that one powerful and turbulent noble, Einon ap Cadwalader,
+had left as hostage of his good faith his only child, the Lady Arthyn,
+to be the companion of the king's daughters. She had been received with
+open arms by the warm-hearted Joanna, and the two were fast friends
+already, although the Welsh girl was several years the elder of the
+pair. But Joanna, who had been educated in Spain by her grandmother and
+namesake, and who had only recently come to be with her own parents, had
+enjoyed abroad a liberty and importance which had developed her rapidly,
+and her mind was as quick and forward as her body was active and energetic.
+
+Intercourse with Arthyn, too, had given to the younger princess a great
+sympathy with the vanquished Welsh, and she was generously eager that
+those who came to pay homage to her father should not feel themselves in
+a position that was humiliating or galling. The gentle Eleanor shared
+this feeling to the full, and was glad to give to the young knight Sir
+Godfrey Challoner, who was one of her own gentlemen-in-waiting, a
+gracious message for the young Lord of Dynevor to the effect that she
+would be glad to receive him and his brothers in her father's absence,
+and to give them places at the royal table for the evening meal shortly
+to be served.
+
+Great was the delight of Gertrude when the message was despatched. Her
+companions crowded round her to hear again the story of her adventure on
+the Eagle's Crag. Gertrude never knew how she had been betrayed by
+Wendot's brothers. She believed that they had been accidentally hindered
+from coming to her rescue by the difficulties of the climb after the
+eagle's nest. There was a faint, uncomfortable misgiving in her mind
+with regard to the black-browed twins, but it did not amount to actual
+suspicion, far less to any certainty of their enmity; and although
+Eleanor had heard the whole story from her parents, she had not
+explained the matter more fully to Gertrude.
+
+An invitation from royalty was equal to a command, and the eager
+children were not kept waiting long. The double doors at the end of the
+long gallery, which had closed behind the retiring form of Godfrey,
+opened once again to admit him, and closely in his wake there followed
+two manly youths -- two, not four -- upon whose faces every eye was
+instantly fixed in frank and kindly scrutiny.
+
+Wendot had developed rapidly during these two last years, although he
+retained all his old marked characteristics. The waving hair was still
+bright and sunny, the open face, with its rather square features, was
+resolute, alert, manly, and strong. The fearless blue eyes had not lost
+their far-away dreaminess, as though the possessor were looking onward
+and outward beyond the surroundings visible to others; and beneath the
+calm determination of the expression was an underlying sweetness, which
+shone out from time to time in the sunny smile which always won the
+heart of the beholder. The figure was rather that of a man than a lad --
+tall, strongly knit, full of grace and power; and a faint yellow
+moustache upon the upper lip showed the dawn of manhood in the youth.
+There was something in his look which seemed to tell that he had known
+sorrow, trial, and anxiety; but this in no way detracted from the power
+or attractiveness of the countenance, but rather gave it an added charm.
+
+Griffeth retained his marked likeness to his brother, and was almost his
+equal in height; but his cheek was pale and hollow, while Wendot's was
+brown and healthy, his hands were slim and white, and there was an air
+of languor and ill-health about him which could not fail to make itself
+observed. He looked much younger than his brother, despite his tall
+stature, and he blushed like a boy as he saw the eyes of the ladies
+fixed upon them as they came forward, bowing with no ungraceful deference.
+
+"Wendot, Wendot. don't you know me?"
+
+The young man started and raised his eyes towards the speaker. So far,
+he had only been aware that there were a number of persons collected at
+the upper end of the long gallery. Now he found himself confronted by a
+pair of eager, dancing eyes, as soft and dark as those of a forest deer,
+whilst two slim hands were held out to him, and a silvery voice cried
+softly and playfully:
+
+"O Wendot, Wendot, to think you have forgotten!"
+
+"Lady Gertrude!"
+
+"Ah, I am glad you have not forgotten, though methinks I have changed
+more than you these past years. I should have known you anywhere. But
+come, Wendot; I would present you to my friends and companions, who
+would fain be acquainted with you. They know how you saved my life that
+day, I have told the tale so oft.
+
+"Let me present you first to our sweetest Lady Eleanor, our great king's
+eldest daughter. You will love her, I know -- none can help it. And she
+lets me call myself her sister."
+
+Young things have a wonderful faculty of growing intimate in a very
+brief space, and the formalities of those simpler times were not
+excessive, especially away from the trammels of the court. In ten
+minutes' time Wendot and his brother had grasped the names and rank of
+all those to whom they had been presented, and were joining in the eager
+talk with ease and with enjoyment. Joanna stood beside Wendot,
+listening, with unfeigned interest, to his answers respecting himself
+and those near and dear to him; whilst Alphonso had drawn Griffeth to
+the embrasure of a window, and was looking up into his face as they
+compared notes and exchanged ideas. It seemed from the first as though a
+strong link formed itself between those two.
+
+"Your brothers would not come. Was that fear or shame or pride?" asked
+Joanna, with a laughing look into Wendot's flushed face. "Nay, think not
+that we would compel any to visit us who do it not willingly. Gertrude
+has prepared us to find your brothers different from you. Methinks she
+marvelled somewhat that they had come hither at all with their submission."
+
+Wendot hesitated, and the flush deepened on his face; but he was too
+young to have learned the lesson of reticence, and there was something
+in the free atmosphere of this place which prompted him to frankness.
+
+"I myself was surprised at it," he said. "Llewelyn and Howel have not
+been friendly in their dealings with the English so far, and we knew
+they aided Llewelyn of North Wales in the revolt which has been lately
+quelled. But since our parents died we have seen but little of them.
+They became joint owners of the commot of Iscennen, and removed from
+Dynevor to the castle of Carregcennen in their own territory, and until
+we met them some days since in company with our kinsman Meredith ap Hes,
+coming to tender their homage, as we ourselves are about to do, we knew
+not what to think of them or what action they would take."
+
+"Are both your parents dead, then?" asked Gertrude, with sympathy in her
+eyes. "I heard that Res Vychan was no longer living, but I knew not that
+the gentle Lady of Dynevor had passed away also."
+
+Wendot's face changed slightly as he answered:
+
+"They both died within a few days of each other the winter after you had
+been with us, Lady Gertrude. We were visited by a terrible sickness that
+year, and our people sickened and died in great numbers. Our parents did
+all they could for them, and first my father fell ill and died, and
+scarce had the grave closed over him before our mother was stricken, and
+followed him ere a week had passed. Griffeth was also lying at the point
+of death, and we despaired of his life also; but he battled through, and
+came back to us from the very gates of the grave, and yet methinks
+sometimes that he has never been the same since. He shoots up in height,
+but he cannot do the things he did when he was two years younger.
+
+"What think you of him, sweet Lady Gertrude? Is he changed from what he
+was when last you saw him, ere the sickness had fastened upon him?"
+
+Several eyes were turned towards the slim, tall figure of the Welsh lad
+leaning against the embrasure of the window. The sunlight fell full upon
+his face, showing the sharpness of its outlines, the delicate hectic
+colouring, the tracery of the blue veins beneath the transparent skin.
+And just the same transparent look was visible in the countenance of the
+young Prince Alphonso, who was talking with the stranger youth, and more
+hearts than that of Wendot felt a pang as their owners' eyes were turned
+upon the pair beside the sunny window. But Wendot pressed for no answer
+to his question, nor did Gertrude volunteer it; she only asked quickly:
+
+"Then Griffeth and you live yet at Dynevor, beautiful Dynevor, and
+Llewelyn and Howel elsewhere?"
+
+"Ay, at Carregcennen. We have our respective lands, though we are minors
+yet; and our kinsman Meredith ap Res is our guardian, though it is
+little we see of him."
+
+"Meredith ap Res! I know him well," cried a girlish voice, in accents
+which betrayed her Welsh origin. "He has ever been a traitor to his
+country, a traitor to all who trust him; a covetous, grasping man, who
+will clutch at what he can get, and never cease scheming after lands and
+titles so long as the breath remains in him."
+
+They all turned to see who had spoken, and Arthyn -- the headstrong,
+passionate, patriotic Arthyn, who, despite her love for her present
+companions, bitterly resented being left a hostage in the hands of the
+English king -- stood out before them, and spoke in the fearless fashion
+which nobody present resented.
+
+"Wendot of Dynevor, if you are he, beware of that man, and bid your
+brothers beware of him, too. I know him; I have heard much of him. Be
+sure he has an eye on your fair lands, and he will embroil you yet with
+the English king if he can, that he may lay claim to your patrimony. He
+brings you here to the court to make your peace, to pay your homage. If
+I mistake not the man, you will not all of you return whence you came.
+He will poison the king's mind. Some traitorous practices will be
+alleged against you. Your lands will be withheld. You will be fed with
+promises which will never be fulfilled. And the kinsman who has sold
+himself body and soul to the English alliance will rule your lands, in
+your names firstly perchance, until his power is secure, and he can
+claim them boldly as his own. See if it be not so."
+
+"It shall not be so," cried Alphonso, suddenly advancing a step forward
+and planting himself in the midst of the group.
+
+His cheek was crimson now, there was fire in his eyes. He had all the
+regal look of his royal father as he glanced up into Wendot's face and
+spoke with an authority beyond his years.
+
+"I, the king's son, give you my word of honour that this thing shall not
+be. You are rightful Lord of Dynevor. You took not up arms against my
+father in the late rebellion; you come at his command to pay your homage
+to him. Therefore, whatever may be his dealings with your brothers who
+have assisted the rebels, I pledge my princely word that you shall
+return in peace to your own possessions. My father is a just and
+righteous king, and I will be his surety that he will do all that is
+right and just by you, Wendot of Dynevor."
+
+"Well spoken, Alphonso!" cried Joanna and Britton in a breath, whilst
+Wendot took the hand extended to him, and bent over it with a feeling of
+loyal gratitude and respect.
+
+There was something very lovable in the fragile young prince, and he
+seemed to win the hearts of all who came within the charm of his
+personal presence. He combined his father's fearless nobility with his
+mother's sweetness of disposition. Had he lived to ascend the throne of
+England, one of the darkest pages of its annals might never have been
+written.
+
+But this hot discussion was brought to an end by the appearance of the
+servants, who carried in the supper, laying it upon a long table at the
+far end of the gallery. No great state was observed even in the royal
+household, when the family was far away from the atmosphere of the court
+as it was held at Westminster or Windsor.
+
+A certain number of servants were in attendance. There were a few
+formalities gone through in the matter of tasting of dishes served to
+the royal children, but they sat round the table without ceremony; and
+when the chaplain had pronounced a blessing, which was listened to
+reverently by the young people, who were all very devout and responsive
+to religious influences, the unconstrained chatter began again almost at
+once, and the Welsh lads lost all sense of strangeness as they sat at
+the table of the king's children.
+
+"Our father and mother will not return for several days yet," said
+Joanna to Wendot, whom she had placed between herself and Gertrude; "but
+we have liberty to do what we wish and to go where we like.
+
+"Say, Gertrude, shall we tell Wendot on what we have set our hearts? It
+may be he would help us to our end."
+
+"I would do anything you bid me, gracious lady," answered Wendot with
+boyish chivalry.
+
+The girls were eying each other with flushed faces, their voices were
+lowered so that they should not reach the ears of the Lady Edeline,
+Joanna's governess, who was seated at the board, although she seldom
+spoke unless directly addressed by Eleanor, who seemed to be on friendly
+terms with her.
+
+"Wendot," whispered Joanna cautiously, "have you ever hunted a wolf in
+your mountains?"
+
+"Ay, many a time, though they be more seldom seen now. But we never rid
+ourselves altogether of them, do as we will."
+
+"And have you killed one yourself?"
+
+"Yes, I have done that, too."
+
+"And is it very dangerous?"
+
+"I scarce know; I never thought about it. I think not, if one is well
+armed and has dogs trained to their duties."
+
+Joanna's eyes were alight with excitement; her hands were locked
+together tightly. Her animated face was set in lines of the greatest
+determination and happiest anticipation.
+
+"Wendot," she said, "there is a wolf up yonder in that wild valley we
+can see from yon window, as you look towards the heights of Snowdon.
+Some of our people have seen and tracked it, but they say it is an old
+and wily one, and no one has got near it yet. Wendot, we have set our
+hearts on having a wolf hunt of our very own. We do not want all the men
+and dogs and the stir and fuss which they would make if we were known to
+be going. I know what that means. We are kept far away behind everybody,
+and only see the dead animal after it has been killed miles away from
+us. We want to be in the hunt ourselves -- Britten, Alphonso, Arthyn,
+Gertrude, and I. Godfrey would perhaps be won over if Gertrude begged
+him, and I know Raoul Latimer would -- he is always ready for what turns
+up -- but that would not be enough. O Wendot, if you and your brothers
+would but come, we should be safe without anybody else. Raoul has dogs,
+and we could all be armed, and we would promise to be very careful. We
+could get away early, as Gertrude did that day she slipped off to the
+Eagle's Crag.
+
+"Wendot, do answer -- do say you will come. You understand all about
+hunting, even hunting wolves. You are not afraid?"
+
+Wendot smiled at the notion. He did not entirely understand that he was
+requested to take part in a bit of defiant frolic which the young
+princes and princesses were well aware would not have been permitted by
+their parents. All he grasped was that the Lady Joanna requested his
+assistance in a hunt which she had planned, and with the details of
+which he was perfectly familiar, and he agreed willingly to her request,
+not sorry, either for his own sake or for that of his more discontented
+brothers, that the monotony of the days spent in waiting the return of
+the king should be beguiled by anything so attractive and exciting as a
+wolf hunt.
+
+The Dynevor brothers had often hunted wolves before, and saw no special
+peril in the sport; and Joanna and Gertrude felt that not even the most
+nervous guardian could hesitate to let them go with such a stout protector.
+
+"I do like him, Gertrude," said Joanna, when Wendot and his brother had
+retired. "I hope if I ever have to marry, as people generally do,
+especially if they are king's daughters, that I shall find somebody as
+brave and handsome and knightly as your Wendot of Dynevor."
+
+For Gertrude and Joanna both took the view that the breaking of the
+king's gold coin between them was equivalent to the most solemn of troth
+plights.
+
+
+
+    CHAPTER VI. WELSH WOLVES.
+
+
+The Princess Joanna was accustomed to a great deal of her own way. She
+had been born at Acre, whilst her parents had been absent upon Edward's
+Crusade, and for many years she had remained in Castile with her
+grandmother-godmother, who had treated her with unwise distinction, and
+had taught her to regard herself almost as a little queen. The
+high-spirited and self-willed girl had thus acquired habits of
+independence and commanding ways which were perhaps hardly suited to her
+tender years; but nevertheless there was something in her bright
+vivacity and generous impetuosity which always won the hearts of those
+about her, and there were few who willingly thwarted her when her heart
+was set upon any particular thing.
+
+There were in attendance upon the king and his children a number of
+gallant youths, sons of his nobles, who were admitted to pleasant and
+easy intercourse with the royal family; so that when Joanna and Alphonso
+set their hearts upon a private escapade of their own, in the shape of a
+wolf hunt, it was not difficult to enlist many brave champions in the
+cause quite as eager for the danger and the sport as the royal children
+themselves. Joanna was admitted to be a privileged person, and Alphonso,
+as the only son of the king, had a certain authority of his own.
+
+The graver and more responsible guardians of the young prince and
+princesses might have hesitated before letting them have their way in
+this matter; but Joanna took counsel of the younger and more ardent
+spirits by whom she was surrounded, and a secret expedition to a
+neighbouring rocky fastness was soon planned, which expedition, by a
+little diplomacy and management, could be carried out without exciting
+much remark.
+
+The king and queen encouraged their family in hardy exercises and early
+hours. If the royal children planned an early ride through the fresh
+morning air, none would hinder their departure, and they could easily
+shake off their slower attendants when the time came, and join the
+bolder comrades who would be waiting for them with all the needful
+accoutrements for the hunt on which their minds were bent.
+
+One or two of the more youthful and adventurous attendants might come
+with them, but the soberer custodians might either be dismissed or
+outridden. They were accustomed to the vagaries of the Lady Joanna, and
+would not be greatly astonished at any freak on her part.
+
+And thus it came about that one clear, cold, exhilarating morning in
+May, when the world was just waking from its dewy sleep of night, that
+Joanna and Alphonso, together with Gertrude and Arthyn, and young Sir
+Godfrey and another gentleman in attendance, drew rein laughingly, after
+a breathless ride across a piece of wild moorland, at the appointed
+spot, where a small but well-equipped company was awaiting them with the
+spears, the dogs, and the long, murderous-looking hunting knives needed
+by those who follow the tracks of the wild creatures of the mountains.
+
+This little band numbered in its ranks the four Dynevor brothers; a
+tall, rather haughty-looking youth, by name Raoul Latimer; and one or
+two more with whose names we have no concern. Britten, who accompanied
+the royal party, sprang forward with a cry of delight at seeing the
+muster, and began eagerly questioning Raoul as to the capabilities of
+the dogs he had brought, and the possible dangers to be encountered in
+the day's sport.
+
+Gertrude and Joanna rode up to Wendot and greeted him warmly. They had
+seen him only once since the first evening after his arrival, and both
+girls stole curious glances at the dark faces of the two brothers
+unknown as yet to them. They were almost surprised that the twins had
+come at all, as they were not disposed to be friendly towards the
+English amongst whom they were now mingling; but here they were, and
+Gertrude greeted both with her pretty grace, and they answered her words
+of welcome with more courtesy than she had expected to find in them.
+
+Llewelyn and Howel were submitting themselves to the inevitable with
+what grace they could, but with very indignant and hostile feelings
+hidden deep in their hearts. Their old hatred towards the English
+remained unaltered. They would have fought the foe tooth and nail to the
+last had they been able to find allies ready to stand by them. But when
+their uncle of North Wales had submitted, and all the smaller chieftains
+were crowding to the court to pay homage, and when they knew that
+nothing but their own nominal subjection would save them from being
+deprived of their lands, which would go to enrich the rapacious Meredith
+ap Res, then indeed did resistance at that time seem hopeless; and
+sooner than see themselves thus despoiled by one who was no better than
+a vassal of England, they had resolved to take the hated step, and do
+homage to Edward for their lands. Indeed, these brothers had to do even
+more; for, having been concerned in the late rebellion, they had
+forfeited their claim upon their property, only that it was Edward's
+policy to restore all lands the owners of which submitted themselves to
+his authority. The brothers felt no doubt as to the result of their
+submission, but the humiliation involved was great, and it was hard work
+to keep their hatred of the English in check. Those wild spirits had not
+been used to exercising self-control, and the lesson came hard now that
+they were springing up towards man's estate, with all the untempered
+recklessness and heat of youth still in their veins.
+
+Perhaps there was something in the expression of those two dark faces
+that told its tale to one silent spectator of the meeting between the
+Welsh and English; for as the party united forces and pushed onwards and
+upwards towards the wild ravine where the haunt of the wolf lay, the
+twin brothers heard themselves addressed in their own language, and
+though the tones were sweet and silvery, the words had a ring of
+passionate earnestness in them which went straight to their hearts.
+
+"Methinks I am not mistaken in you, sons of Dynevor. You have not
+willingly left your mountain eyry for these halls where the proud foeman
+holds his court and sits in judgment upon those who by rights are free
+as air. I have heard of you before, Llewelyn and Howel ap Res Vychan.
+You are not here, like your brethren, half won over to the cause of the
+foe; you would fight with the last drop of your blood for the liberty of
+our country."
+
+Turning with a start, the brothers beheld the form of a slight and
+graceful maiden, who was pushing her palfrey up beside them. She
+appeared to be about their own age, and was very beautiful to look upon,
+with a clear, dark skin, large, bright eyes, now glowing with the
+enthusiasm so soon kindled in the breast of the children of an oppressed
+people -- a people thrilling with the strange, deep poetry of their
+race, which made much amends for their lack of culture in other points.
+
+Llewelyn and Howel, learning caution by experience, scarce knew how to
+respond to this appeal; but the girl met their inquiring glances by a
+vivid smile, and said:
+
+"Nay, fear me not. I am one of yourselves -- one of our country's own
+children. Think not that I am here of my own free will. I deny not that
+I have learned to love some amongst our conqueror's children and
+subjects, but that does not make me forget who I am nor whence I have
+come. Let us talk together of our country and of the slender hopes which
+yet remain that she may gird herself up and make common cause against
+the foe. Oh, would that I might live to see the day, even though my life
+might pay the forfeit of my father's patriotism. Let Edward slay me --
+ay, and every hostage he holds in his hand -- so that our country shakes
+off the foreign yoke, and unites under one head as one nation once again."
+
+These words kindled in the breast of the twin brothers such a glow of
+joy and fervour as they had not known for many a weary day. They made
+room for Arthyn to ride between them, and eager were the confidences
+exchanged between the youthful patriots as they pursued their way
+upwards. Little they heeded the black looks cast upon them by Raoul
+Latimer, as he saw Arthyn's eager animation, and understood how close
+was the bond which had thus quickly been established between them and
+the proud, silent girl whose favours he had been sedulously trying to
+win this many a day.
+
+Raoul Latimer was a youth with a decided eye to the main chance. He knew
+that Arthyn was her father's heiress, and that she would succeed at his
+death to some of the richest lands in Wales. Possibly her father might
+be deprived of these lands in his lifetime, as he was a turbulent
+chieftain, by no means submissive to Edward's rule. If that were the
+case, and if his daughter had wedded a loyal Englishman of
+unquestionable fidelity, there would be an excellent chance for that
+husband of succeeding to the broad lands of Einon ap Cadwalader before
+many years had passed. Therefore young Raoul paid open court to the
+proud Welsh maiden, and was somewhat discomfited at the small progress
+he had made.
+
+But he was a hot-headed youth, and had no intention of being thrown into
+the shade by any beggarly Welshmen, be they sons of Dynevor or no, so
+that when the party were forced by the character of the ground to
+dismount from their horses and take to their own feet, he pressed up to
+Arthyn and said banteringly:
+
+"Sweet lady, why burden yourself with the entertainment of these wild,
+uncivilized loons? Surely those who can but speak the language of beasts
+deserve the treatment of beasts. It is not for you to be thus --"
+
+But the sentence was never finished. Perhaps the flash from Arthyn's eye
+warned him he had gone too far in thus designating the youths, who were,
+after all, her countrymen; but there was a better reason still for this
+sudden pause, for Llewelyn's strong right hand had flown out straight
+from the shoulder, and Raoul had received on the mouth a stinging blow
+which had brought the red blood upon his lips and the crimson tide of
+fury into his cheeks.
+
+With an inarticulate cry of rage he drew his dagger and sprang upon the
+young Welshman. Swords were drawn in those days only too readily, and in
+this case there had been provocation enough on both sides to warrant
+bloodshed. The youths were locked at once in fierce conflict, striking
+madly at each other with their shining blades, before those who stood by
+well knew what had occurred.
+
+It was only too common at such times that there should be collision
+between the sons of England and Wales; and the suffering and the penalty
+almost invariably fell upon the latter. This fact was well known to the
+children of the king, and possibly prompted the young Alphonso to his
+next act.
+
+Drawing the small sword he always carried at his side, he threw himself
+between the combatants, and striking up their blades he cried in tones
+of such authority as only those can assume who feel the right is theirs:
+
+"Put up your weapons, gentlemen; I command you in the king's name.
+
+"Raoul, this is your doing, I warrant. Shame on you for thus falling
+upon my father's guest in his absence, and he a stranger and an alien!
+Shame on you, I say!"
+
+But scarce had these words been uttered before a shrill cry broke from
+several of the girls, who were watching the strange scene with tremulous
+excitement. For young Llewelyn, maddened and blinded by the heat of his
+passion, and not knowing either who Alphonso was or by what right he
+interposed betwixt him and his foe, turned furiously upon him, and
+before any one could interpose, a deep red gash in the boy's wrist
+showed what the Welsh lad's blade had done.
+
+Wendot, Griffeth, and Godfrey flung themselves upon the mad youth, and
+held him back by main force. In Raoul's eyes there was an evil light of
+triumph and exultation.
+
+"Llewelyn, Llewelyn, art mad? It is the king's son," cried Wendot in
+their native tongue; whilst Joanna sprang towards her brother and
+commenced binding up the gash, the lad never for a moment losing his
+presence of mind, or forgetting in the smart of the hurt the dignity of
+his position.
+
+Llewelyn's fierce burst of passion had spent itself, and the sense of
+Wendot's words had come home to him. He stood shamefaced and sullen, but
+secretly somewhat afraid; whilst Arthyn trembled in every limb, and if
+looks would have annihilated, Raoul would not have existed as a
+corporate being a moment longer.
+
+"Gentlemen," said Alphonso, turning to those about him, and holding up
+his bandaged hand, "this is the result of accident -- pure accident.
+Remember that, if it ever comes to the ears of my father. This youth
+knew not what he did. The fault was mine for exposing myself thus
+hastily. As you value the goodwill in which I hold you all, keep this
+matter to yourselves. We are not prince or subject today, but comrades
+bent on sport together. Remember and obey my behest. It is not often I
+lay my commands upon you."
+
+These words were listened to with gratitude and relief by all the party
+save one, and his brow gloomed darker than before. Arthyn saw it, and
+sprang towards Alphonso, who was smiling at his sister in response to
+her quick words of praise.
+
+"It was his fault -- his," she cried, pointing to the scowling Raoul,
+who looked ill-pleased at having his lips thus sealed. "He insulted him
+-- he insulted me. No man worthy the name would stand still and listen.
+It is the way with these fine gallants of England. They are ever
+stirring up strife, and my countrymen bear the blame, the punishment,
+the odium --"
+
+But Alphonso took her hand with a gesture of boyish chivalry.
+
+"None shall injure thee or thine whilst I am by, sweet Arthyn. The
+nation is dear to me for thy sake, and thy countrymen shall be as our
+honoured guests and brothers. Have we not learned to love them for thy
+sake and their own? Trouble not thy head more over this mischance, and
+let it not cloud our day's sport.
+
+"Raoul," he added, with some sternness, "thou art a turbulent spirit,
+and thou lackest the gentle courtesy of a true knight towards those
+whose position is trying and difficult. Thou wilt not win thy spurs if
+thou mendest not thy ways. Give thy hand now, before my eyes, to the
+youth thou didst provoke. If thou marrest the day's pleasure again, I
+shall have more to say to thee yet."
+
+It was not often that the gentle Alphonso spoke in such tones, and
+therefore his words were the more heeded. Raoul, inwardly consumed with
+rage at being thus singled out for rebuke, dared not withstand the order
+given him, and grudgingly held out his hand. It was not with much
+greater alacrity that Llewelyn took it, for there was much stubborn
+sullenness in his disposition, and his passion, though quickly aroused,
+did not quickly abate; but there was a compulsion in the glance of the
+royal boy which enforced obedience; and harmony being thus nominally
+restored, the party once more breathed freely.
+
+"And now upwards and onwards for the lair of the wolf," cried Alphonso;
+"we have lost time enough already. Who knows the way to his favourite
+haunts? Methinks they cannot be very far away now."
+
+"I should have thought we had had enough of Welsh wolves for one day,"
+muttered Raoul sullenly to Godfrey; but the latter gave him a warning
+glance, and he forbore to speak more on the subject.
+
+Gertrude had watched the whole scene with dilated eyes, and a feeling of
+sympathy and repulsion she was perfectly unable to analyze. When the
+party moved on again she stole up to Wendot's side, and said as she
+glanced into his troubled face:
+
+"He did not mean it? he will not do it again?"
+
+Wendot glanced down at her with a start, and shook his head.
+
+"He knew not that it was the king's son -- that I verily believe; but I
+know not what Llewelyn may say or do at any time. He never speaks to me
+of what is in his head. Lady Gertrude, you know the king and his ways.
+Will he visit this rash deed upon my brother's head? Will Llewelyn
+suffer for what he did in an impulse of mad rage, provoked to it by yon
+haughty youth, whose words and bearing are hard for any of us to brook?"
+
+"Not if Alphonso can but get his ear; not if this thing is kept secret,
+as he desires, as he has commanded. But I fear what Raoul may say and
+do. He is treacherous, selfish, designing. The king thinks well of him,
+but we love him not. I trust all will yet be well."
+
+"But you fear it may not," added Wendot, completing the sentence as she
+had not the heart to do. "I fear the same thing myself. But tell me
+again, Lady Gertrude, what would be the penalty of such an act? Will
+they --"
+
+"Alphonso has great influence with his father," answered Gertrude
+quickly. "He will stand your brother's friend through all; perchance he
+may be detained in some sort of captivity; perchance he may not have his
+lands restored if this thing comes to the king's ears. But his person
+will be safe. Fear not for that. Methinks Alphonso would sooner lay down
+his own life than that harm should befall from what chanced upon a day
+of sport planned by him and Joanna."
+
+And Gertrude, seeing that a load lay upon the heart of the young Lord of
+Dynevor, set herself to chase the cloud from his brow, and had so far
+succeeded that he looked himself again by the time a warning shout from
+those in advance showed that some tracks of the wild creature of whom
+they were in pursuit had been discovered in the path.
+
+"Do not run into danger," pleaded Gertrude, laying a hand on Wendot's
+arm as he moved quickly forward to the front. "You are so brave you
+never think of yourself; but do not let us have more bloodshed today,
+save the blood of the ravenous beast if it must be. I could find it in
+my heart to wish that we had not come forth on this errand. The
+brightness of the day has been clouded over."
+
+Wendot answered by a responsive glance. There was something soothing to
+him in the unsolicited sympathy of Gertrude. He had thought little since
+they parted two years before of that childish pledge given and received,
+although he always wore her talisman about his neck, and sometimes
+looked at it with a smile. He had no serious thoughts of trying to mate
+with an English noble's daughter. He had had no leisure to spare for
+thoughts of wedlock at all. But something in the trustful glance of
+those dark eyes looking confidingly up to him sent a quick thrill
+through his pulses, which was perhaps the first dawning life of the love
+of a brave heart.
+
+But there was an impatient call from the front, and Wendot sprang
+forward, the huntsman awakening within him at the sight of the slot of
+the quarry. He looked intently at the tracks in the soft earth, and then
+pointed downwards in the direction of a deep gully or cavernous opening
+in the hillside, which looked very dark and gloomy to the party who
+stood in the sunshine of the open.
+
+"The beast has gone that way," he said; "and by his tracks and these
+bloodstains, he has prey in his mouth. Likely his mate may have her lair
+in yon dark spot, and they may be rearing their young in that safe
+retreat. See how the dogs strain and pant! They smell the prey, and are
+eager to be off. We must be alert and wary, for wolves with young ones
+to guard are fierce beyond their wont."
+
+He looked doubtfully at the girls, whose faces were full of mingled
+terror and excitement. Godfrey read his meaning, and suggested that the
+ladies should remain in this vantage ground whilst some of the rest went
+forward to reconnoitre.
+
+But Joanna, ever bold and impetuous, would have none of that.
+
+"We will go on together," she said. "We shall be safest so. No wolf,
+however fierce, will attack a number like ourselves. They will fly if
+they can, and if they are brought to bay we need not go near them. But
+why have we come so far to give up all the peril and the sport at the
+last moment?"
+
+"She speaks truth," said Wendot, to whom she seemed to look. "At this
+season of the year wolves have meat in plenty, and will not attack man
+save in self defence. If we track them silently to their lair, we may
+surprise and kill the brood; but we are many, and can leave force enough
+to defend the ladies whilst the rest fight the battle with the creatures
+at bay."
+
+Nobody really wished to be left behind, and there was a pleasant feeling
+of safety in numbers. Slowly and cautiously they all followed the track
+of the wolf downwards into the gloomy ravine, which seemed to shut out
+all light of the sun between walls of solid rock.
+
+It was a curious freak in which nature had indulged in the formation of
+this miniature crevasse between the hillsides. At the base ran a dark
+turbid stream, which had hollowed out for itself a sort of cavernous
+opening, and the walls of rock rose almost precipitately on three sides,
+only leaving one track by which the ravine could be entered. The stream
+came bubbling out from the rock, passing through some underground
+passage; and within the gloomy cavern thus produced the savage beasts
+had plainly made their lair, for there were traces of blood and bones
+upon the little rocky platform, and the trained ear of Wendot, who was
+foremost, detected the sound of subdued and angry growling proceeding
+from the natural cave they were approaching.
+
+"The beasts are in there," he said, pausing, and the next moment Raoul
+had loosed the dogs, who darted like arrows from bows along the narrow
+track; and immediately a great he wolf had sprung out with a cry of
+almost human rage, and had fastened upon one of the assailants, whose
+piercing yell made the girls shrink back and almost wish they had not come.
+
+But Wendot was not far behind. He was not one of the huntsmen who give
+all the peril to the dogs and keep out of the fray themselves. Drawing
+his long hunting knife, and shouting to his brothers to follow him, he
+sprang down upon the rocky platform himself, and Llewelyn and Howel were
+at his side in a moment. Godfrey would fain have followed, but his duty
+obliged him to remain by the side of the princess; and he kept a firm
+though respectful grasp upon Alphonso's arm, feeling that he must not by
+any means permit the heir of England to adventure himself into the fray.
+And indeed the boy's gashed hand hindered him from the use of his
+weapon, and he could only look on with the most intense interest whilst
+the conflict between the two fierce beasts and their angry cubs was
+waged by the fearless lads, who had been through many such encounters
+before, and showed such skill, such address, such intrepidity in their
+attack, that the young prince shouted aloud in admiration, and even the
+girls lost their first sense of terror in the certainty of victory on
+the side of the Welsh youths.
+
+As for Raoul Latimer, he stood at a safe distance cheering on his dogs,
+but not adventuring himself within reach of the murderous fangs of the
+wolves. He occupied a position halfway between the spot upon which the
+fray was taking place and the vantage ground occupied by the royal party
+in full sight of the strife.
+
+Arthyn had passed several scornful comments upon the care the young
+gallant was taking of himself, when suddenly there was a cry from the
+spectators; for one of the cubs, escaping from the melee, ran full tilt
+towards Raoul, blind as it seemed with terror; and as it came within
+reach of his weapon, the sharp blade gleamed in the air, and the little
+creature gave one yell and rolled over in its death agony. But that cry
+seemed to pierce the heart of the mother wolf, and suddenly, with almost
+preternatural strength and activity, she bounded clean over the forms of
+men and dogs, and dashed straight at Raoul with all the ferocity of an
+animal at bay, and of a mother robbed of her young.
+
+The young man saw the attack; but his weapon was buried in the body of
+the cub, and he had no time to disengage it. Turning with a sharp cry of
+terror, he attempted to fly up the rocky path; but the beast was upon
+him. She made a wild dash and fastened upon his back, her fangs crushing
+one shoulder and her hot breath seeming to scorch his cheek. With a wild
+yell of agony and terror Raoul threw himself face downwards upon the
+ground, whilst his cry was shrilly echoed by the girls -- all but
+Arthyn, who stood rigidly as if turned to stone, a strange, fierce light
+blazing in her eyes.
+
+But help was close at hand. Wendot had seen the spring, and had followed
+close upon the charge of the maddened brute. Flinging himself fearlessly
+upon the struggling pair, he plunged his knife into the neck of the
+wolf, causing her to relax her hold of her first foe and turn upon him.
+Had he stabbed her to the heart she might have inflicted worse injury
+upon Raoul in her mortal struggle; as it was, there was fierce fight
+left in her still. But Wendot was kneeling upon the wildly struggling
+body with all his strength, and had locked his hands fast round her throat.
+
+"Quick, Llewelyn -- the knife!" he cried, and his brother was beside him
+in an instant.
+
+The merciful death stroke was given, and the three youths rose from
+their crouching posture and looked each other in the eyes, whilst the
+wolf lay still and dead by the side of her cub.
+
+"Methinks we have had something too much of Welsh wolves," was the only
+comment of Raoul, as he joined the royal party without a word to the
+brothers who had saved his life.
+
+
+
+    CHAPTER VII. THE KING'S JUDGMENT.
+
+
+The great King Edward had been sitting enthroned in the state apartment
+of the castle, receiving the homage of those amongst the Welsh lords and
+chieftains who had been summoned to pay their homage to him and had
+obeyed this summons.
+
+It was an imposing sight, and one not likely to be forgotten by any who
+witnessed it for the first time. The courageous but gentle Queen
+Eleanor, who was seldom absent from her lord's side be the times
+peaceful or warlike, was seated beside him for the ceremony, with her
+two elder daughters beside her. The young Alphonso stood at the right
+hand of the king, his face bright with interest and sympathy; and if
+ever the act of homage seemed to be paid with effort by some rugged
+chieftain, or he saw a look of gloom or pain upon the face of such a
+one, he was ever ready with some graceful speech or small act of
+courtesy, which generally acted like a charm. And the father regarded
+his son with a fond pride, and let him take his own way with these
+haughty, untamable spirits, feeling perhaps that the tact of the royal
+boy would do more to conciliate and win hearts than any word or deed of
+his own.
+
+Edward has been often harshly condemned for his cruelty and treachery
+towards the vanquished Welsh; but it must be remembered with regard to
+the first charge that the days were rude and cruel, that the spirit of
+the age was fierce and headstrong, and that the barons and nobles who
+were scheming for the fair lands of Wales were guilty of many of the
+unjust and oppressive acts for which Edward has since been held
+responsible. The Welsh were themselves a very wild race, in some parts
+of the country barely civilized; and there can be no denying that a vein
+of fierce treachery ran through their composition, and that they often
+provoked their adversaries to cruel retaliation. As for the king
+himself, his policy was on the whole a merciful and just one, if the one
+point of his feudal supremacy were conceded. To those who came to him
+with their act of homage he confirmed their possession of ancestral
+estates, and treated them with kindness and consideration. He was too
+keen a statesman and too just a man to desire anything but a
+conciliatory policy so far as it was possible. Only when really roused
+to anger and resolved upon war did the fiercer side of his nature show
+itself, and then, indeed, he could show himself terrible and lion-like
+in his wrath.
+
+The brothers of Dynevor were the last of those who came to pay their act
+of homage. The day had waned, and the last light of sunset was streaming
+into that long room as the fair-haired Wendot bent his knee in response
+to the summons of the herald. The king's eyes seemed to rest upon him
+with interest, and he spoke kindly to the youth; but it was noted by
+some in the company that his brow darkened when Llewelyn followed his
+brother's example, Howel attending him as Griffeth had supported Wendot;
+and there was none of the gracious urbanity in the royal countenance now
+that had characterized it during the past hour.
+
+Several faces amongst those in immediate attendance upon the king and
+his family watched this closing scene with unwonted interest. Gertrude
+stood with Joanna's hand clasped in hers, quivering with excitement, and
+ever and anon casting quick looks towards her brother, who stood behind
+the chair of state observant and watchful, but without betraying his
+feelings either by word or look. Raoul Latimer was there, a sneer upon
+his lips, a malevolent light in his eyes, which deepened as they rested
+upon Llewelyn, whilst Arthyn watched the twin brothers with a strange
+look in her glowing eyes, her lips parted, her white teeth just showing
+between, her whole expression one of tense expectancy and sympathy. Once
+Llewelyn glanced up and met the look she bent on him. A dusky flush
+overspread his cheek, and his fingers clenched themselves in an
+unconscious movement understood only by himself.
+
+The homage paid, there was a little stir at the lower end of the hall as
+the doors were flung open for the royal party to take their departure.
+Edward bent a searching look upon the four brothers, who had fallen back
+somewhat, and were clustered together not far from the royal group, and
+the next minute an attendant whispered to them that it was the king's
+pleasure they should follow in his personal retinue, as he had somewhat
+to say to them in private.
+
+Wendot's heart beat rather faster than its wont. He had had some
+foreboding of evil ever since that unlucky expedition, some days back
+now, on which Llewelyn's sword had been drawn upon an English subject,
+and had injured the king's son likewise. Raoul had for very shame
+affected a sort of condescending friendliness towards the brothers after
+they had been instrumental in saving him from the fangs of the she wolf;
+but it was pretty evident to them that his friendship was but skin deep;
+whilst every word that passed between Arthyn and Llewelyn or his brother
+-- and these were many -- was ranked as a dire offence.
+
+Had Wendot been more conversant with the intrigues of courts, he would
+have seen plainly that Raoul was paying his addresses to the Welsh
+heiress, who plainly detested and abhorred him. The ambitious and clever
+young man, who was well thought of by the king, and had many friends
+amongst the nobles and barons, had a plan of his own for securing to
+himself some of the richest territory in the country, and was leaving no
+stone unturned in order to achieve that object. A marriage with Arthyn
+would give him the hold he wanted upon a very large estate. But
+indifferent as he was to the feelings of the lady, he was wise enough to
+see that whilst she remained in her present mood, and was the confidante
+and friend of the princesses, he should not gain the king's consent to
+prosecuting his nuptials by force, as he would gladly have done.
+Whereupon a new scheme had entered his busy brain, as a second string to
+his bow, and with the help of a kinsman high in favour with the king, he
+had great hopes of gaining his point, which would at once gratify his
+ambition and inflict vengeance upon a hated rival.
+
+Raoul had hated the Dynevor brothers ever since he had detected in
+Arthyn an interest in and sympathy for them, ever since he had found her
+in close talk in their own tongue with the dark-browed twins, whose
+antagonism to the English was scarcely disguised. He had done all he
+knew to stir the hot blood in Llewelyn and Howel, and that with some
+success. The lads were looked upon as dangerous and treacherous by many
+of those in the castle; and from the sneering look of coming triumph
+upon the face of young Latimer as the party moved off towards the
+private apartments of the royal family, it was plain that he anticipated
+a victory for himself and a profound humiliation for his foes.
+
+Supper was the first business of the hour, and the Dynevor brothers sat
+at the lower table with the attendants of the king. The meal was
+well-served and plentiful, but they bad small appetite for it. Wendot
+felt as though a shadow hung upon them; and the chief comfort he
+received was in stealing glances at the sweet, sensitive face of
+Gertrude, who generally responded to his glance by one of her flashing
+smiles.
+
+Wendot wondered how it was that Lord Montacute had never sought him out
+to speak to him. Little as the lad had thought of their parting
+interview at Dynevor during the past two years, it all came back with
+the greatest vividness as he looked upon the fine calm face of the
+English noble. Was it possible he had forgotten the half-pledge once
+given him? Or did he regret it, now that his daughter was shooting up
+from a child into a sweet and gracious maiden whom he felt disposed to
+worship with reverential awe? Wendot did not think he was in love -- he
+would scarce have known the meaning of the phrase and he as little
+understood the feelings which had lately awakened within him; but he did
+feel conscious that a new element had entered into his life, and with it
+a far less bitter sense of antagonism to the English than he had
+experienced in previous years.
+
+After the supper was ended the royal family withdrew into an inner room,
+and presently the four brothers were bidden to enter, as the king had
+somewhat to say to them. The greater number of the courtiers and
+attendants remained in the outer room, but Sir Godfrey Challoner, Raoul
+Latimer, and one or two other gentlemen were present in the smaller
+apartment. The queen and royal children were also there, and their
+playfellows and companions, Gertrude holding her father by the hand, and
+watching with intense interest the approach of the brothers and the
+faces of the king and his son.
+
+Edward was seated before a table on which certain parchments lay.
+Alphonso stood beside him, and Wendot fancied that he had only just
+ended some earnest appeal, his parted lips and flushed cheeks seeming to
+tell of recent eager speech. The king looked keenly at the brothers as
+they made their obeisance to him, and singling out Wendot, bid him by a
+gesture to approach nearer.
+
+There was a kindliness in the royal countenance which encouraged the
+youth, and few could approach the great soldier king without
+experiencing something of the fascination which his powerful
+individuality exercised over all his subjects.
+
+"Come hither, boy," he said; "we have heard nought but good of thee.
+Thou hast an eloquent advocate in yon maiden of Lord Montacute's, and
+mine own son and daughters praise thy gallantry in no measured terms. We
+have made careful examination into these parchments here, containing
+reports of the late rebellion, and cannot find that thou hast had part
+or lot in it. Thou hast paid thy homage without dallying or delay;
+wherefore it is our pleasure to confirm to thee thy possession of thy
+castle of Dynevor and its territory. We only caution thee to remain
+loyal to him thou hast owned as king, and we will establish thee in thy
+rights if in time to come they be disputed by others, or thou stirrest
+up foes by thy loyalty to us."
+
+Wendot bowed low. If there was something bitter in having his father's
+rightful inheritance granted to him as something of a boon, at least
+there was much to sweeten the draught in the kindly and gracious bearing
+of the king, and in Alphonso's friendly words and looks. He had no
+father to look to in time of need, and felt a great distrust of the
+kinsman who exercised some guardianship over him; so that there was
+considerable relief for the youth in feeling that the great King of
+England was his friend, and that he would keep him from the aggression
+of foes.
+
+He stood aside as Edward's glance passed on to Llewelyn and Howel, and
+it was plain that the monarch's face changed and hardened as he fixed
+his eye upon the twins.
+
+"Llewelyn -- Howel," he said, "joint lords of Iscennen, we wish that we
+had received the same good report of you that we have done of your
+brethren. But it is not so. There be dark records in your past which
+give little hope for the future. Nevertheless you are yet young. Wisdom
+may come with the advance of years. But the hot blood in you requires
+taming and curbing. You have proved yourselves unfit for the place
+hitherto occupied as lords of the broad lands bequeathed you by Res
+Vychan, your father. For the present those lands are forfeit. You must
+win the right to call them yours again by loyalty in the cause which
+every true Welshman should have at heart, because it is the cause which
+alone can bring peace and safety to your harassed country. It is not
+willingly that we wrest from any man the lands that are his birthright.
+Less willingly do we do this when homage, however unwilling and
+reluctant, has been paid. But we have our duties to ourselves and to our
+submitted subjects to consider, and it is not meet to send firebrands
+alight into the world, when a spark may raise so fierce a conflagration,
+and when hundreds of lives have to pay the penalty of one mad act of
+headstrong youth. It is your youth that shall be your excuse from the
+charge of graver offence, but those who are too young to govern
+themselves are not fit to govern others."
+
+Whilst the king had been speaking he had been closely studying the faces
+of the twin brothers, who stood before him with their eyes on the
+ground. These two lads, although by their stature and appearance almost
+men, had not attained more than their sixteenth year, and had by no
+means learned that control of feature which is one of nature's hardest
+lessons. As the king's words made themselves understood, their brows had
+darkened and their faces had contracted with a fierce anger and rage,
+which betrayed itself also in their clenched hands and heaving chests;
+and although they remained speechless -- for the awe inspired by
+Edward's presence could not but make itself felt even by them -- it was
+plain that only the strongest efforts put upon themselves hindered them
+from some outbreak of great violence.
+
+Edward's eye rested sternly upon them for a moment, and then he
+addressed himself once again to Wendot.
+
+"To thee, Res Wendot," he said, "we give the charge of these two
+turbulent brothers of thine. Had not the Prince Alphonso spoken for
+them, we had kept them under our own care here in our fortress of
+Rhuddlan. But he has pleaded for them that they have their liberty,
+therefore into thy charge do we give them. Take them back with thee to
+Dynevor, and strive to make them like unto thyself and thy shadow there,
+who is, they tell me, thy youngest brother, and as well disposed as thyself.
+
+"Say, young man, wilt thou accept this charge, and be surety for these
+haughty youths? If their own next-of-kin will not take this office, we
+must look elsewhere for a sterner guardian."
+
+For a moment Wendot hesitated, He knew well the untamable spirit of his
+brothers, and the small influence he was likely to have upon them, and
+for a moment his heart shrank from the task. But again he bethought what
+his refusal must mean to them -- captivity of a more or less irksome
+kind, harsh treatment perhaps, resulting in actual imprisonment, and a
+sure loss of favour with any guardian who had the least love for the
+English cause. At Dynevor they would at least be free.
+
+Surely, knowing all, they would not make his task too hard. The tie of
+kindred was very close. Wendot remembered words spoken by the dying bed
+of his parents, and his mind was quickly made up.
+
+"I will be surety for them," he said briefly. "If they offend again, let
+my life, my lands, be the forfeit."
+
+The monarch gave him a searching glance. Perhaps some of the effort with
+which he had spoken made itself audible in his tones. He looked full at
+Wendot for a brief minute, and then turned to the black-browed twins.
+
+"You hear your brother's pledge," he said in low, stern tones. "If you
+have the feelings of men of honour, you will respect the motive which
+prompts him to give it, and add no difficulties to the task he has
+imposed upon himself. Be loyal to him, and loyal to the cause he has
+embraced, and perchance a day may come when you may so have redeemed
+your past youthful follies as to claim and receive at our hands the
+lands we now withhold. In the meantime they will be administered by
+Raoul Latimer, who will draw the revenues and maintain order there. He
+has proved his loyalty in many ways ere this, and he is to be trusted,
+as one day I hope you twain may be."
+
+Llewelyn started as if he had been stung as these words crossed the
+king's lips. His black eyes flashed fire, and as he lifted his head and
+met the mocking glance of Raoul, it seemed for a moment as if actually
+in the presence of the king he would have flown at his antagonist's
+throat; but Wendot's hand was on his arm, and even Howel had the
+self-command to whisper a word of caution. Alphonso sprang gaily between
+the angry youth and his father's keen glance, and began talking eagerly
+of Dynevor, asking how the brothers would spend their time, now that
+they were all to live there once more; whilst Arthyn, coming forward,
+drew Llewelyn gently backward, casting at Raoul a look of such bitter
+scorn and hatred that he involuntarily shrank before it.
+
+"Thou hast taken a heavy burden upon thy young shoulders, lad," said a
+well-remembered voice in Wendot's ear, and looking up, he met the calm
+gaze of Lord Montacute bent upon him; whilst Gertrude, flushing and
+sparkling, stood close beside her father. "Thinkest thou that such
+tempers as those will be easily controlled?"
+
+Wendot's face was grave, and looked manly in its noble thoughtfulness.
+
+"I know not what to say; but, in truth, I could have given no other
+answer. Could I leave my own brethren to languish in captivity, however
+honourable, when a word from me would free them? Methinks, sir, thou
+scarce knowest what freedom is to us wild sons of Wales, or how the very
+thought of any hindrance to perfect liberty chafes our spirit and frets
+us past the limit of endurance. Sooner than be fettered by bonds,
+however slack, I would spring from yonder casement and dash myself to
+pieces upon the stones below. To give my brothers up into unfriendly
+hands would be giving them up to certain death. If my spirit could not
+brook such control, how much less could theirs?"
+
+Gertrude's soft eyes gave eloquent and sympathetic response. Wendot had
+unconsciously addressed his justification to her rather than to her
+father. Her quick sympathy gave him heart and hope. She laid her hand
+upon his arm and said:
+
+"I think thou art very noble, Wendot; it was like thee to do it. I was
+almost grieved when I heard thee take the charge upon thyself, for I
+fear it may be one of peril to thee. But I love thee the more for thy
+generosity. Thou wilt be a true and brave knight ere thou winnest thy
+spurs in battle."
+
+Wendot's face flushed with shy happiness at hearing such frank and
+unqualified praise from one he was beginning to hold so dear. Lord
+Montacute laid his hand smilingly on his daughter's mouth, as if to
+check her ready speech, and then bidding her join the Lady Joanna, who
+was making signals to her from the other side of the room, he drew
+Wendot a little away into an embrasure, and spoke to him in tones of
+considerable gravity.
+
+"Young man," he said, "I know not if thou hast any memory left of the
+words I spake to thee when last we met at Dynevor?"
+
+Wendot's colour again rose, but his glance did not waver.
+
+"I remember right well," he answered simply. "I spoke words then of
+which I have often thought since -- words that I have not repented till
+today, nor indeed till I heard thee pass that pledge which makes thee
+surety for thy turbulent brothers."
+
+A quick, troubled look crossed Wendot's face, but he did not speak, and
+Lord Montacute continued -- "I greatly fear that thou hast undertaken
+more than thou canst accomplish; and that, instead of drawing thy
+brothers from the paths of peril, thou wilt rather be led by them into
+treacherous waters, which may at last overwhelm thee. You are all young
+together, and many dangers beset the steps of youth. Thou art true and
+loyal hearted, that I know well; but thou art a Welshman, and --"
+
+He paused and stopped short, and Wendot answered, not without pride:
+
+"I truly am a Welshman -- it is my boast to call myself that. If you
+fear to give your daughter to one of that despised race, so be it. I
+would not drag her down to degradation; I love her too well for that.
+Keep her to thyself. I give thee back thy pledge."
+
+Lord Montacute smiled as he laid his hand upon the young man's shoulder.
+
+"So hot and hasty, Wendot, as hasty as those black-haired twins. Yet,
+boy, I like thee for thy outspoken candour, and I would not have thee
+change it for the smooth treachery of courtly intrigue. If I had nought
+else to think of, I would plight my daughter's hand to thee, an ye both
+were willing, more gladly than to any man I know. But, Wendot, she is
+mine only child, and very dear to me. There are others who would fain
+win her smiles, others who would be proud to do her lightest behest. She
+is yet but a child. Perchance she has not seriously considered these
+matters. Still there will come a time when she will do so, and --"
+
+"Then let her choose where she will," cried Wendot, proudly and hotly.
+"Think you I would wed one whose heart was given elsewhere? Take back
+your pledge -- think of it no more. If the day comes when I may come to
+her free and unfettered, and see if she has any regard for me, good. I
+will come. But so long as you hold that peril menaces my path, I will
+not ask her even to think of me. Let her forget. I will not bind her by
+a word. It shall be as if those words had never passed betwixt us."
+
+Lord Montacute scarce knew if regret, relief, or admiration were the
+feeling uppermost in his mind, as the youth he believed so worthy of his
+fair daughter, and perhaps not entirely indifferent to her dawning
+charms, thus frankly withdrew his claim upon her hand. It seems strange
+to us that any one should be talking and thinking so seriously of
+matrimony when the girl was but fourteen and the youth three years her
+senior; but in those days marriages were not only planned but
+consummated at an absurdly early age according to our modern notions,
+and brides of fifteen and sixteen were considered almost mature. Many
+young men of Wendot's age would be seriously seeking a wife, and
+although no such thought had entered his head until he had seen Gertrude
+again, it cannot be denied that the idea had taken some hold upon him
+now, or that he did not feel a qualm of pain and sorrow at thus yielding
+up one bright hope just when the task he had taken upon himself seemed
+to be clouding his life with anxiety and peril.
+
+"Boy," said Lord Montacute, "I cannot forget what thou hast done nor
+what she owes to thee. I love thee well, and would fain welcome thee as
+a son; but my love for her bids me wait till we see what is the result
+of this office thou hast taken on thyself. Thou hast acted rightly and
+nobly, but in this world trouble often seems to follow the steps of
+those who strive most after the right. If thine own life, thine own
+possessions, are to pay the forfeit if thy brethren fall away into
+rebellion -- and Edward, though a just man and kind, can be stern to
+exact the uttermost penalty when he is angered or defied -- then
+standest thou in sore peril, peril from which I would shield my maid.
+Wherefore --"
+
+"Nay, say no more -- say no more. I comprehend it all too well," replied
+Wendot, not without a natural though only momentary feeling of
+bitterness at the thought of what this pledge was already costing him,
+but his native generosity and sweetness of temper soon triumphed over
+all besides, and he said with his peculiarly bright and steadfast smile,
+"You have judged rightly and well for us both, my lord. Did I but drag
+her down to sorrow and shame, it would be the bitterest drop in a bitter
+cup. A man placed as I am is better without ties."
+
+"Also the days will soon pass by, and the time will come when this
+charge ceases. Then if the Lady Gertrude be still mistress of her hand
+and heart, and if the Lord of Dynevor comes to try his fate, methinks,
+by what I have seen and heard, that he may chance to get no unkindly
+answer to his wooing."
+
+Wendot made no reply, but only blushed deeply as he moved away. He
+scarce knew whether he were glad or sorry that Gertrude came out to meet
+him, and drew him towards the little group which had gathered in a deep
+embrasure of the window. Joanna, Alphonso, and Griffeth were there. They
+had been eagerly questioning the younger lad about life at Dynevor, and
+what they would do when they were at home all together. Joanna was
+longing to travel that way and lodge a night there; and Gertrude was
+eloquent in praise of the castle, and looked almost wistfully at Wendot
+to induce him to add his voice to the general testimony. But he was
+unwontedly grave and silent, and her soft eyes filled with tears. She
+knew that he was heavy hearted, and it cut her to the quick; but he did
+not speak of his trouble, and only Alphonso ventured to allude to it,
+and that was by one quick sentence as he was taking his departure at
+bedtime.
+
+"Wendot," he said earnestly, "I will ever be thy friend. Fear not. My
+father denies me nothing. Thy trial may be a hard one, but thou wilt
+come nobly forth from it. I will see that harm to thee comes not from
+thy generosity. Only be true to us, and thou shalt not suffer."
+
+Wendot made no reply, but the words were like a gleam of sunshine
+breaking through the clouds; and one more such gleam was in store for
+him on the morrow, when he bid a final adieu to Gertrude before the
+general departure for Dynevor.
+
+"I have my half gold coin, Wendot. I shall look at it every day and
+think of thee. I am so happy that we have seen each other once again.
+Thou wilt not forget me, Wendot?"
+
+"Never so long as I live," he answered with sudden fervour, raising the
+small hand he held to his lips. "And some day, perchance, Lady Gertrude,
+I will come to thee again."
+
+"I shall be waiting for thee," she answered, with a mixture of arch
+sweetness and playfulness that he scarce knew whether to call childlike
+confidence or maiden trust. But the look in her eyes went to his heart,
+and was treasured there, like the memory of a sunbeam, for many long
+days to come.
+
+
+
+    CHAPTER VIII. TURBULENT SPIRITS.
+
+
+The four sons of Res Vychan went back to Dynevor together, there to
+settle down, outwardly at least, to a quiet and uneventful life, chiefly
+diversified by hunting and fishing, and such adventures as are
+inseparable from those pastimes in which eager lads are engrossed.
+
+Wendot both looked and felt older for his experiences in the castle of
+Rhuddlan. His face had lost much of its boyishness, and had taken a
+thoughtfulness beyond his years. Sometimes he appeared considerably
+oppressed by the weight of the responsibility with which he had charged
+himself, and would watch the movements and listen to the talk of the
+twins with but slightly concealed uneasiness.
+
+Yet as days merged into weeks, and weeks lengthened into months, and
+still there had been nothing to alarm him unduly, he began, as the
+inclement winter drew on, to breathe more freely; for in the winter
+months all hostilities of necessity ceased, for the mountain passes were
+always blocked with snow, and both travelling and fighting were
+practically out of the question for a considerable time.
+
+Wendot, too, had matters enough to occupy his mind quite apart from the
+charge of his two haughty brothers. He had his own estates to administer
+-- no light task for a youth not yet eighteen -- and his large household
+to order; and though Griffeth gave him every help, Llewelyn and Howel
+stood sullenly aloof, and would not appear to take the least interest in
+anything that appertained to Dynevor, although they gave no reason for
+their conduct, and were not in other ways unfriendly to their brothers.
+
+The country was for the time being quiet and at peace. Exhausted by its
+own internal struggles and by the late disastrous campaign against the
+English, the land was, as it were, resting and recruiting itself, in
+preparation, perhaps, for another outbreak later on. In the meantime,
+sanguine spirits like those of Wendot and Griffeth began to cherish
+hopes that the long and weary struggle was over at last, and that the
+nation, as a nation, would begin to realize the wisdom and the advantage
+of making a friend and ally of the powerful monarch of England, instead
+of provoking him to acts of tyranny and retaliation by perpetual and
+fruitless rebellions against a will far too strong to be successfully
+resisted.
+
+But Llewelyn and Howel never spoke of the English without words and
+looks indicative of the deepest hatred; and the smouldering fire in
+their breasts was kept glowing and burning by the wild words and the
+wilder songs of the old bard Wenwynwyn, who spent the best part of his
+time shut up in his own bare room, with his harp for his companion, in
+which room Llewelyn and Howel spent much of their time during the dark
+winter days, when they could be less and less out of doors.
+
+Since that adventure of the Eagle's Crag, Wendot had distrusted the old
+minstrel, and was uneasy at the influence he exercised upon the twins;
+but the idea of sending him from Dynevor was one which never for a
+moment entered his head. Had not Wenwynwyn grown old in his father's
+service? Had he not been born and bred at Dynevor? The young lord
+himself seemed to have a scarce more assured right to his place there
+than the ancient bard. Be he friend or be he foe, at Dynevor he must
+remain so long as the breath remained in his body.
+
+The bard was, by hereditary instinct, attached to all the boys, but of
+late there had been but little community of thought between him and his
+young chieftain. Wendot well knew the reason. The old man hated the
+English with the bitter, unreasoning, deadly hatred of his wild,
+untutored nature. Had he not sprung from a race whose lives had been
+spent in rousing in the breasts of all who heard them the most fervent
+and unbounded patriotic enthusiasm? And was it to be marvelled at that
+he could not see or understand the changes of the times or the
+hopelessness of the long struggle, now that half the Welsh nobles were
+growing cool in the national cause, and the civilization and wealth of
+the sister country were beginning to show them that their own condition
+left much to be desired, and that there was something better and higher
+to be achieved than a so-called liberty, only maintained at the cost of
+perpetual bloodshed? or a series of petty feuds for supremacy, which
+went far to keep the land in a state of semi-barbarism?
+
+So the old bard sang his wild songs, and Llewelyn and Howel sat by the
+glowing fire of logs that blazed in the long winter evenings upon his
+hearth, listening to his fierce words, and hardening their hearts and
+bracing their wills against any kind of submission to a foreign yoke. A
+burning hatred against the English king also consumed them. Had they
+not, at the cost of most bitter humiliation, gone to him as vassals,
+trusting to his promise that all who did homage for their lands should
+be confirmed in peaceful possession of the same? And how had he treated
+this act of painful submission? Was it greatly to be wondered at that
+their hearts burned with an unquenchable hatred? To them Edward stood as
+the type of all that was cruel and treacherous and grasping. They
+brooded over their wrongs by day and by night; they carried their dark
+looks with them when they stirred abroad or when they rested at home.
+Wenwynwyn sympathized as none besides seemed to do, and he became their
+great solace and chief counsellor.
+
+Wendot might uneasily wonder what passed in that quiet room of the old
+man's, but he never knew or guessed. He would better have liked to hear
+Llewelyn burst forth into the old passionate invective. He was uneasy at
+this chronic state of gloom and sullen silence on the vexed question of
+English supremacy. But seldom a word passed the lips of either twin.
+They kept their secret -- if secret they had -- locked away in their own
+breasts. And days and weeks and months passed by, and Wendot and
+Griffeth seemed almost as much alone at Dynevor as they had been after
+their father's death, when Llewelyn and Howel had betaken themselves to
+their castle of Carregcennen.
+
+But at least, if silent and sullen, they did not appear to entertain any
+plan likely to raise anxiety in Wendot's mind as to the pledge he had
+given to the king. They kept at home, and never spoke of Iscennen, and
+as the winter passed away and the spring began to awaken the world from
+her long white sleep, they betook themselves with zest to their pastime
+of hunting, and went long expeditions that sometimes lasted many days,
+returning laden with spoil, and apparently in better spirits from the
+bracing nature of their pursuits.
+
+Griffeth, who had felt the cold somewhat keenly, and had been drooping
+and languid all the winter, picked up strength and spirit as the days
+grew longer and warmer, and began to enjoy open-air life once more.
+
+Wendot was much wrapped up in this young brother of his, who had always
+been dearer to him than any being in the world besides.
+
+Since he had been at death's door with the fever, Griffeth had never
+recovered the robustness of health which had hitherto been the
+characteristic of the Dynevor brothers all their lives. He was active
+and energetic when the fit was on him, but he wearied soon of any active
+sport. He could no longer bound up the mountain paths with the fleetness
+and elasticity of a mountain deer, and in the keen air of the higher
+peaks it was difficult for him to breathe.
+
+Still in the summer days he was almost his former self again, or so
+Wendot hoped; and although Griffeth's lack of rude health hindered both
+from joining the long expeditions planned and carried out by the twins,
+it never occurred to Wendot to suspect that there was an ulterior motive
+for these, or to realize how unwelcome his presence would have been had
+he volunteered it, in lieu of staying behind with Griffeth, and
+contenting himself with less adventurous sports.
+
+Spring turned to summer, and summer to autumn, and life at Dynevor
+seemed to move quietly enough. Griffeth took a fancy to book learning --
+a rare enough accomplishment in those days -- and a monk from the Abbey
+of Strata Florida was procured to give him instruction in the obscure
+science of reading and writing. Wendot, who had a natural love of study,
+and who had been taught something of these mysteries by his mother --
+she being for the age she lived in a very cultivated woman -- shared his
+brother's studies, and delighted in the acquirement of learning.
+
+But this new development on the part of the Lord of Dynevor and his
+brother seemed to divide them still more from the two remaining sons of
+Res Vychan; and the old bard would solemnly shake his head and predict
+certain ruin to the house when its master laid aside sword for pen, and
+looked for counsel to the monk and missal instead of to his good right
+hand and his faithful band of armed retainers.
+
+Wendot and Griffeth would smile at these dark sayings, and loved their
+studies none the less because they opened out before them some better
+understanding of the blessings of peace and culture upon a world harried
+and exhausted with perpetual, aimless strife; but their more enlightened
+opinions seemed but to widen the breach between them and their brothers,
+and soon they began to be almost strangers to each other.
+
+Wendot and Griffeth regretted this without seeing how to mend matters.
+They felt sorry for Llewelyn and Howel, deprived of the employments and
+authority they had enjoyed of late, and would have gladly given them a
+share of authority in Dynevor; but this they would not accept, drawing
+more and more away into themselves, and sharing their confidences with
+no one except Wenwynwyn.
+
+The summer was now on the wane, and the blustering winds of the equinox
+had begun to moan about the castle walls. The men were busy getting in
+the last of the fruits of the earth and storing them up against the
+winter need, whilst the huntsmen brought in day by day stores of venison
+and game, which the women salted down for consumption during the long
+dreary days when snow should shut them within their own walls, and no
+fresh meat would be obtainable.
+
+It was a busy season, and Wendot had time and mind alike full. He heeded
+little the movements of his brothers, whom he thought engrossed in the
+pleasures of the chase. He was not even aware that old Wenwynwyn was
+absent for several days from the castle, for since the estrangement
+between him and the old man he was often days at a time without
+encountering him.
+
+Llewelyn and Howel were visibly restless just now. They did not go far
+from the castle, nor did they seem interested in the spoil the hunters
+brought home. But they spent many long hours in the great gallery where
+the arms of the retainers were laid up, and their heads were often to be
+seen close together in deep discussion, although if any person came near
+to disturb them they would spring asunder, or begin loudly discussing
+some indifferent theme.
+
+They were in this vast, gloomy place, sitting together in the deep
+embrasure of one of the narrow windows as the daylight began to fail,
+when suddenly they beheld Wenwynwyn stalking through the long gallery as
+if in search of them, and they sprang forward to greet him with
+unconcealed eagerness.
+
+"Thou hast returned."
+
+"Ay, my sons, I have returned, and am the bearer of good news. But this
+is not the place to speak. Stones have ears, and traitors abound even in
+these hoary walls which have echoed to the songs of the bard for more
+years than man can count. Ah, woe the day; ah, woe the falling off! That
+I should live to see the sons of Dynevor thus fall away -- the young
+eaglets leaving their high estate to grovel with the carrion vulture and
+the coward crow! Ah! in old days it was not so. But there are yet those
+of the degenerate race in whom the spirit of their fathers burns. Come,
+my sons -- come hither with me. I bring you a message from Iscennen that
+will gladden your hearts to hear."
+
+The boys pressed after him up the narrow, winding stair that led to the
+room the bard called his own. It was remote from the rest of the castle,
+and words spoken within its walls could be heard by none outside. It was
+a place that had heard much plotting and planning ere now, and what was
+to be spoken tonight was but the sequel of what had gone before.
+
+"Speak, Wenwynwyn, speak!" cried the twins in a breath. "Has he returned
+thither?"
+
+"Ay, my sons; he has come back in person to receive his 'dues,' and to
+look into all that has passed in his absence. These eyes have seen the
+false, smiling face of the usurper, who sits in the halls which have
+rung to the sound of yon harp in days when the accursed foot of the
+stranger would have been driven with blows from the door. He is there,
+and --"
+
+"And they hate and despise and contemn him," cried Llewelyn in wild
+excitement. "Every man of Iscennen is his foe. Do not I know it? Have we
+not proved it? There is no one but will rise at the sound of my trumpet,
+to follow me to victory or death.
+
+"Wenwynwyn, speak! thou hast bid us wait till the hour has come till all
+things be ripe for action. Tell us, has not that hour come? Hast thou
+not come to bid us draw the sword, and wrest our rightful inheritance
+from the hand of the spoiler and alien?"
+
+"Ay, verily, that hour has come," cried the old bard, with a wild
+gesture. "The spoiler is there, lurking in his den. His eyes are roving
+round in hungry greed to spoil the poor man of his goods, to wrest the
+weapon from the strong. He is fearful in the midst of his state --
+fearful of those he calls his vassals -- those he would crush with his
+iron glove, and wring dry even as a sponge is wrung. Ay, the hour is
+come. The loyal patriots have looked upon your faces, my sons, and see
+in you their liberators. Go now, when the traitor whose life you saved
+is gloating over his spoil in his castle walls. Go and show him what it
+is to rob the young lions of their prey; show him what it is to strive
+with eagles, when only the blood of the painted jay runs in his craven
+veins. Saw I not fear, distrust, and hatred in every line of that smooth
+face? Think you that he is happy in the possession of what he sold his
+soul to gain? Go, and the victory will be yours. Go; all Iscennen will
+be with you. Wenwynwyn has not sung his songs in vain amongst those
+hardy people! He has prepared the way. Go! victory lies before you."
+
+The boys' hearts swelled within them at these words. It was not for
+nothing that they, with their own faithful followers, sworn to secrecy,
+had absented themselves again and again from Dynevor Castle on the
+pretence of long hunting expeditions. It was true that they had hunted
+game, that they had brought home abundance of spoil with them; but
+little had Llewelyn or Howel to do with the taking of that prey. They
+had been at Iscennen; they had travelled the familiar tracks once again,
+and had found nothing but the most enthusiastic welcome from their own
+people, the greatest hatred for the foreign lordling, who had been
+foisted upon them by edict of the king.
+
+Truly Raoul Latimer had won but a barren triumph in gaining for himself
+the lands of Iscennen. A very short residence there had proved enough
+for him, and he had withdrawn, in fear that if he did not do so some
+fatal mischance would befall him. He had reigned there as an absentee
+ever since, not less cursed and hated for the oppressive measures taken
+in his name than when he had been the active agent.
+
+Matters were ripe for revolt. There only wanted the time and the
+occasion. The leader was already to hand -- the old lord, young in
+years, Llewelyn ap Res Vychan, and Howel his brother. With the twins at
+their head, Iscennen would rise to a man; and then let Raoul Latimer
+look to himself! For the Welsh, when once aroused to strike, struck
+hard; and it cannot be denied that they ofttimes struck treacherously
+beside.
+
+Small wonder if, as Wenwynwyn declared, young Raoul had found but small
+satisfaction in his visit to his new estate, and lived upon it in terror
+of his very life, though surrounded by the solid walls of his own castle.
+
+The hour had come. Llewelyn and Howel were about to taste the keen joy
+of revenging themselves upon a foe they hated and abhorred, about to
+take at least one step towards reinstating themselves in their ancestral
+halls. But the second object was really less dear to them than the
+first. If the hated Raoul could be slain, or made to fly in ignominy and
+disgrace, they cared little who reigned in his place. Their own tenure
+at Carregcennen under existing circumstances they knew to be most
+insecure, and although they had organized and were to lead the attack,
+they were to do so disguised, and those who knew the share they were to
+take were pledged not to betray it.
+
+Loose as had grown the bond between the brothers of late, the twins were
+not devoid of a certain rude code of honour of their own, and had no
+wish to involve Wendot in ruin and disgrace. He was surety for their
+good behaviour, and if it became known to Edward that they had led the
+attack on one of his English subjects, Dynevor itself might pay the
+forfeit of his displeasure, and Wendot might have to answer with his
+life, as he had offered to do, for his brothers. Thus, though this
+consideration was not strong enough to keep the twins from indulging
+their ungovernable hatred to their foe, it made them cautious about
+openly appearing in the matter themselves; and when, upon a wild,
+blustering night not many days later, a little band of hardy Welshmen,
+all armed to the teeth, crept with the silent caution of wild beasts
+along a rocky pathway which led by a subterranean way, known only to
+Llewelyn and Howel, into the keep of the castle itself; none would have
+recognized in the blackened faces of the two leaders, covered, as they
+appeared to be, with a tangled growth of hair and beard, the
+countenances of the sons of Res Vychan; whilst the stalwart, muscular
+figures seemed rather to belong to men than lads, and assisted the
+disguise not a little.
+
+The hot-headed but by no means intrepid young Englishman, who had not
+had the courage to remain long in the possessions he had coveted, and
+who was fervently wishing that this second visit was safely over, was
+aroused from his slumbers by the clash of arms, and by the terrified
+cries of the guard he always placed about him.
+
+"The Welsh wolves are upon us!" he heard a voice cry out in the
+darkness. "We are undone -- betrayed! Every man for himself! They are
+murdering every soul they meet."
+
+In a passion of rage and terror Raoul sprang from his bed, and commenced
+hurrying into his clothes as fast as his trembling hands would allow
+him. In vain he called to his servants; they had every man of them fled.
+Below he heard the clash of arms, and the terrible guttural cries with
+which the Welsh always rushed into battle, and which echoed through the
+halls of Carregcennen like the trump of doom.
+
+It was a terrible moment for the young Englishman, alone, half-armed,
+and at the mercy of a merciless foe. He looked wildly round for some
+means of escape. The tread of many feet was on the stairs. To attempt
+resistance was hopeless. Flight was the only resource left him, and in a
+mad impulse of terror he flung himself on the floor, and crept beneath
+the bed, the arras of which concealed him from sight. There he lay
+panting and trembling, whilst the door was burst open and armed men came
+flocking in.
+
+"Ha, flown already!" cried a voice which did not seem entirely
+unfamiliar to the shivering youth, though he could not have said exactly
+to whom it belonged, and was in no mood to cudgel his brains on the subject.
+
+He understood too little of the Welsh tongue to follow what was said,
+but with unspeakable relief he heard steps pass from the room; for even
+his foes did not credit him with the cowardice which would drive a man
+to perish like a rat in a hole rather than sword in hand like a knight
+and a soldier.
+
+The men had dashed out, hot in pursuit, believing him to be attempting
+escape through some of the many outlets of the castle; and Raoul, still
+shivering and craven, was just creeping out from his hiding place,
+resolved to try to find his way to the outer world, when he uttered a
+gasp and stood or rather crouched spellbound where he was; for, standing
+beside a table on which the dim light of a night candle burned, binding
+up a gash in his arm with a scarf belonging to the Englishman, was a
+tall, stalwart, soldierly figure, that turned quickly at the sound made
+by the wretched Raoul.
+
+"Spare me, spare me!" cried the miserable youth, as the man with a quick
+movement grasped his weapon and advanced towards him.
+
+He did not know if his English would be understood, but it appeared to
+be, for the reply was spoken in the same tongue, though the words had
+strong Welsh accent.
+
+"And wherefore should I spare you? What have you done that we of
+Iscennen should look upon you as other than a bitter foe? By what right
+are you here wringing our life blood from us? Why should I not stamp the
+miserable life out of you as you lie grovelling at my feet? Wales were
+well quit of such craven hounds as you."
+
+"Spare me, and I renounce my claim. I swear by all that is holy that if
+you will but grant me my life I will repair to the king's court without
+delay, and I will yield up to him every claim which I have on these
+lands. I swear it by all that is holy in heaven and earth."
+
+"And what good shall we reap from that? We shall but have another
+English tyrant set over us. Better kill thee outright, as a warning to
+all who may come after."
+
+But Raoul clasped the knees of his foe, and lifted his voice again in
+passionate appeal.
+
+"Kill me not; what good would that do you or your cause? I tell you it
+would but raise Edward's ire, and he would come with fire and sword to
+devastate these lands as I have never done. Listen, and I will tell you
+what I will do. Spare but my life, and I will entreat the king to
+restore these lands to your feudal lords, Llewelyn and Howel ap Res
+Vychan. It was by my doing that they were wrested from them. I confess
+it freely now. Grant me but my life, and I will undo the work I have
+done. I will restore to you your youthful chiefs. Again I swear it; and
+I have the ear of his Grace. If thou hast thy country's cause at heart
+thou wilt hear me in this thing. I will give you back the lords you all
+love. I will trouble you no more myself. I would I had never seen this
+evil place. It has been nought but a curse to me from the day it was
+bestowed."
+
+The man uttered a harsh laugh, and stood as if considering. Raoul, whose
+eyes never left the shining blade his foe held suspended in his hand,
+pleaded yet more and more eloquently, and, as it seemed, with some
+effect, for the soldier presently sheathed his weapon, and bid the
+wretched youth rise and follow him. Raoul obeying, soon found himself in
+the presence of a wild crew of Welsh kerns, who were holding high
+revelry in the banqueting hall, whilst his own English servants --
+those, at least, who had not effected their escape -- lay dead upon the
+ground, the presence of bleeding corpses at their very feet doing
+nothing to check the savage mirth and revelry of the victors, who had
+been joined by the whole of the Welsh garrison, only too glad of an
+excuse for rising against the usurper.
+
+A silence fell upon the company as the dark-bearded soldier marched his
+captive into the hall, the yell of triumph being hushed by commanding
+gesture from the captor. A long and unintelligible debate followed,
+Raoul only gathering from the faces of those present what were their
+feelings towards him. He stood cowering and quaking before that fierce
+assembly -- a pitiful object for all eyes. But at length his captor
+briefly informed him that his terms were accepted: that if he would
+write his request to the king and obtain its fulfilment, he should go
+free with a whole skin; but that, pending the negotiation, which could
+be carried on by the fathers of the Abbey of Strata Florida, he would
+remain a close prisoner, and his ransom would be the king's consent.
+
+These were the best terms the unhappy Raoul could obtain for himself,
+and he was forced to abide by them. The fathers of the abbey were honest
+and trustworthy, and carried his letters to the king as soon as they had
+penned them for him. Raoul was clever in diplomatic matters, and was so
+anxious for his own safety that he took good care not to drop a hint as
+to the evil conduct of the people of Iscennen, which might draw upon
+them the royal wrath and upon him instant death. He simply represented
+that he was weary of his charge of this barren estate, that he preferred
+life in England and at the court, and found the revenues very barren and
+unprofitable. As the former owners had redeemed their character by quiet
+conduct during the past year and a half, his gracious Majesty, he
+hinted, might be willing to gratify them and their people by reinstating
+them.
+
+And when Edward read this report, and heard the opinion of the father
+who had brought it -- a wily and a patriotic Welshman, who knew how to
+plead his cause well -- he made no trouble about restoring to Llewelyn
+and Howel their lands, only desiring that Wendot should renew his pledge
+for their loyalty and good conduct, and still hold himself responsible
+for his brothers to the king.
+
+And so Llewelyn and Howel went back to Carregcennen, and Wendot and
+Griffeth remained at Dynevor, hoping with a fond hope that this act of
+clemency and justice on the part of Edward would overcome in the mind of
+the twins the deeply-seated hatred they had cherished so long.
+
+
+
+    CHAPTER IX. THE RED FLAME OF WAR.
+
+
+"Wendot, Wendot, it is our country's call! Thou canst not hang back.
+United we stand; divided we fall. Will the Prince of Dynevor be the man
+to bring ruin upon a noble cause, by banding with the alien oppressor
+against his own brethren? I will not believe it of thee. Wendot, speak
+-- say that thou wilt go with us!"
+
+Wendot was standing in his own hall at Dynevor. In the background was a
+crowd of retainers and soldiers, so eagerly discussing some matter of
+vital interest that the brothers stepped outside upon the battlemented
+terrace to be out of hearing of the noise of their eager voices.
+
+There was a deep gravity on Wendot's face, which was no longer the face
+of a boy, but of a youth of two-and-twenty summers, and one upon whom
+the cares and responsibilities of life had sat somewhat heavily. The
+tall, well-knit frame had taken upon it the stature and developed grace
+of manhood; the sun-browned face was lined with traces of thought and
+care, though the blue eyes sparkled with their old bright and ready
+smile, and the stern lines of the lips were shaded and hidden by the
+drooping moustache of golden brown. There were majesty, power, and
+intellect stamped upon the face of the young Lord of Dynevor, and it was
+very plain to all who observed his relations with those about him that
+he was master of his own possession, and that though he was greatly
+beloved by all who came in contact with him, he was respected and
+obeyed, and in some things feared.
+
+By his side stood Griffeth, almost as much his shadow as of yore. To a
+casual observer the likeness between the brothers was very remarkable,
+but a closer survey showed many points of dissimilarity. Griffeth's
+figure was slight to spareness, and save in moments of excitement there
+was something of languor in his movements. The colour in his cheeks was
+not the healthy brown of exposure to sun and wind, but the fleeting
+hectic flush of long-standing insidious disease, and his eyes had a
+far-away look -- dreamy and absorbed; whilst those of his brother
+expressed rather watchful observation of what went on around him, and
+resolution to mould those about him to his will.
+
+Facing this fair-haired pair were the twin Lords of Iscennen,
+considerably changed from the sullen-looking lads of old days, but still
+with many of their characteristics unchanged. They were taller and more
+stoutly built than Wendot and Griffeth, and their dark skins and
+coal-black hair gave something of ferocity and wildness to their
+appearance, which look was borne out by the style of dress adopted,
+whilst the young Lords of Dynevor affected something of the refinement
+and richness of apparel introduced by the English.
+
+For the past years a friendly intercourse had been kept up between
+Dynevor and Carregcennen. The country had been at peace -- such peace as
+internal dissensions would allow it -- and no one had disturbed the sons
+of Res Vychan in the possession of their ancestral rights. The tie
+between the brothers had therefore been more closely drawn, and Wendot's
+responsibility for the submissive behaviour of the turbulent twins had
+made him keep a constant eye upon them, and had withheld them on their
+side from attempting to foment the small and fruitless struggles against
+English authority which were from time to time arising between the
+border-land chief and the Lords of the Marches.
+
+But now something very different was in the wind. After almost five
+years of peace with England, revolt had broken out in North Wales.
+David, the brother of Llewelyn, had commenced it, and the prince had
+followed the example thus set him. He had broken out into open
+rebellion, and had summoned the whole nation to stand by him in one
+united and gallant effort to free the country from the foreign foe, and
+unite it once again as an undivided province beneath the rule of one
+sovereign.
+
+The call was enthusiastically responded to. North Wales rose as one man,
+and flocked to the banners of the prince and his brother. South Wales
+was feeling the contagion of coming strife, and the pulse of the nation
+beat wildly at the thought that they might win liberty by the overthrow
+of the foe. One after another the petty chiefs, who had sworn fealty to
+Edward, renounced their allegiance, and mustered their forces to join
+those of Llewelyn and David. The whole country was in a wild ferment of
+patriotic excitement. The hour seemed to them to have arrived when all
+could once again band together in triumphant vindication of their
+national rights.
+
+Llewelyn and Howel ap Res Vychan were amongst the first to tender their
+allegiance to the cause, and, having sent on a compact band of armed men
+to announce their coming in person, had themselves hurried to Dynevor to
+persuade their brothers there to join the national cause.
+
+And they found Wendot less indisposed than they had feared. The five
+years which had passed over his head since he had fallen under the spell
+of the English king's regal sway had a good deal weakened the impression
+then made upon him. Edward had not visited the country in person since
+that day, and the conduct of the English Lords of the Marches, and of
+those who held lands in the subjected country, was not such as to endear
+their cause to the hearts of the sons of Wales. Heart-burnings and
+jealousies were frequent, and Wendot had often had his spirit stirred
+within him at some tale of outrage and wrong. The upright justice of the
+king was not observed by his subjects, and the hatred to any kind of
+foreign yoke was inherently strong in these sons of the mountains. In
+the studies the Dynevor brothers had prosecuted together they had
+imbibed many noble thoughts and many lofty aspirations, and these,
+mingling with the patriotic instinct so strongly bound up in the hearts
+of Cambria's sons, had taught them a distrust of princes and an intense
+love for freedom's cause, as well as a strong conviction that right must
+ever triumph over might.
+
+So when the news arrived that the north was in open revolt, it struck a
+chord in the hearts of both brothers; and when the dark-browed twins
+came with the news that they had openly joined the standard of Llewelyn,
+they did not encounter the opposition they had expected, and it was with
+an eager hopefulness that they urged upon the Lord of Dynevor to lend
+the strength of his arm to the national cause.
+
+"Wendot, bethink thee. When was not Dynevor in the van when her country
+called on her? If thou wilt go with us, we shall carry all the south
+with us; but hang thou back, and the cause may be lost. Brother, why
+dost thou hesitate? why dost thou falter? It is the voice of thy country
+calling thee. Wilt thou not heed that call? O Wendot, thou knowest that
+when our parents lived -- when they bid us not look upon the foe with
+too great bitterness -- it was only because a divided Wales could not
+stand, and that submission to England was better than the rending of the
+kingdom by internal strife. But if she would have stood united against
+the foreign foe, thinkest thou they would ever have held back? Nay; Res
+Vychan, our father, would have been foremost in the strife. Are we not
+near in blood to Llewelyn of Wales, prince of the north? Doth not the
+tie of blood as well as the call of loyalty urge us to his side? Why
+dost thou ponder still? Why dost thou hesitate? Throw to the wind all
+idle scruples, and come. Think what a glorious future may lie before our
+country if we will but stand together now!"
+
+Wendot's cheek flushed, his eye kindled. He did indeed believe that were
+his father living he would be one of the first to hasten to his
+kinsman's side. If indeed the united country could be strong enough to
+throw off the yoke, what a victory it would be! Was not every son of
+Wales bound to his country's cause at such a time?
+
+There was but one thing that made him hesitate. Was his word of honour
+in any wise pledged to Edward? He had paid him homage for his lands: did
+that act bind him to obedience at all costs?
+
+But such refinements of honour were in advance of the thought of the
+time, incomprehensible to the wilder spirits by whom he was surrounded.
+Llewelyn answered the brief objection by a flood of rude eloquence, and
+Howel struck in with another argument not without its weight.
+
+"Wendot, whatever course thou takest thou art damned in Edward's eyes.
+Thou hast held thyself surety for us, and nought but death will hold us
+back from the cry of our country in her need. Envious eyes are cast
+already by the rapacious English upon these fair lands of thine, which
+these years of peace have given thee opportunity to enrich and beautify.
+Let the king once hear that we have rebelled, and his nobles will claim
+thy lands, thy life, thy liberty, and thou must either yield all in
+ignominious flight or take up arms to defend thyself and thine own. I
+trow that no son of Res Vychan will stand calmly by to see himself thus
+despoiled; and if thou must fight, fight now, forestall the foe, and
+come out sword in hand at thy country's call, and let us fight shoulder
+to shoulder and hand to hand, as our forefathers have done before us.
+Thou knowest somewhat of English rule, now that thou hast lived beneath
+it these past years. Say, wilt thou still keep thy neck beneath the
+yoke, or wilt thou do battle like a warrior for liberty and
+independence? By our act thou art lost -- yet not even that thought can
+hold us back -- then why not stand or fall as a soldier, sword in hand,
+than be trapped like a rat in a hole in inglorious inaction? For
+methinks whatever else betided thou wouldst not raise thy hand against
+thy countrymen, even if thy feudal lord should demand it of thee."
+
+"Never!" cried Wendot fiercely, and his quick mind revolved the
+situation thus thrust upon him whilst Howel was yet speaking.
+
+He saw at once that a course of neutrality would be impossible to him.
+Fight he must, either as Edward's vassal or his foe. The first was
+impossible; the second was fraught with a keen joy and secret sense of
+exultation. It was true what Howel said: he would be held responsible
+for his brothers' revolt. The English harpies would make every endeavour
+to poison the king's mind, so that they might wrest from him his
+inheritance. He would be required to take up arms against his brothers,
+and his refusal to do so would be his death warrant. Disgrace and ruin
+lay before him should he abide by such a course. The other promised at
+least glory and renown, and perhaps a soldier's death, or, better still,
+the independence of his country -- the final throwing off of the
+tyrant's yoke.
+
+His heart swelled within him; his eyes shone with a strange fire. Only
+one thought checked the immediate utterance of his decision, and that
+was the vision of a pair of dark soft eyes, and a child's face in which
+something of dawning womanhood was visible, smiling upon him in complete
+and loving trust.
+
+Yes, Wendot had not forgotten Gertrude; but time had done its work, and
+the image of the fair face was somewhat dim and hazy. He yet wore about
+his neck the half of the gold coin she had given him; but if he
+sometimes sighed as he looked upon it, it was a sigh without much real
+bitterness or regret. He had a tender spot in his memory for the little
+maid he had saved at the risk of his own life, but it amounted to little
+more than a pleasant memory. He had no doubt that she had long ago been
+wedded to some English noble, whose estates outshone those of Dynevor in
+her father's eyes.
+
+During the first years after his return home he had wondered somewhat
+whether the earl and his daughter would find their way again to the rich
+valley of the Towy; but the years passed by and they came not, and the
+brief dream of Wendot's dawning youth soon ceased to have any real hold
+upon him. If her father had had any thoughts of mating her with the Lord
+of Dynevor, he would have taken steps for bringing the young people
+together.
+
+The last doubt fled as Wendot thought this over; and whilst his brothers
+yet spoke, pointing to the rich stretch of country that lay before their
+eyes in all the glory of its autumn dress, and asking if that were not
+an inheritance worthy to be fought for, Wendot suddenly held out his
+hand, and said in clear, ringing tones:
+
+"Brothers, I go with you. I too will give my life and my all for the
+liberty of our land. The Lord of Dynevor shall not be slack to respond
+to his country's call. Methinks indeed the hour has come. I will follow
+our kinsman whithersoever he shall bid."
+
+Llewelyn and Howel grasped the outstretched hand, and from within the
+castle walls there burst forth the strains of wild melody from the harp
+of old Wenwynwyn. It seemed almost as though he must have heard the
+words that bound Wendot to the national cause, so exultant and
+triumphant were the strains which awoke beneath his hands.
+
+It was but a few days later that the four brothers rode forth from
+beneath the arched gateway of Dynevor, all armed to the teeth, and with
+a goodly following of armed attendants. Wendot and Griffeth paused at a
+short distance from the castle to look back, whilst a rush of strange
+and unwonted emotion brought the tears to Griffeth's eyes which he
+trusted none saw beside.
+
+There stood the grand old castle, his home from childhood -- the place
+around which all the associations of a lifetime gathered. It was to him
+the ideal of all that was beautiful and strong and even holy -- the
+massive walls of the fortress rising grandly from the rocky platform,
+with the dark background of trees now burning with the rich hues of
+autumn. The fair valley stretched before their eyes, every winding of
+which was familiar to them, as was also every individual tree or crag or
+stretch of moorland fell as far as eye could see. The very heart strings
+of Wendot and Griffeth seemed bound round these homelike and familiar
+things; and there was something strangely wistful in the glances thrown
+around him by the young Lord of Dynevor as he reined in his horse, and
+motioning to the armed followers to pass him, stood with Griffeth for a
+few brief moments alone and silent, whilst the cavalcade was lost to
+sight in the windings of the road.
+
+"Is it a last farewell?" murmured the younger of the brothers beneath
+his breath. "Shall I ever see this fair scene again?"
+
+And Wendot answered not, for he had no words in which to do so. He had
+been fully occupied all these last days -- too much occupied to have had
+time for regretful thought; but Griffeth had been visiting every haunt
+of his boyhood with strange feelings of impending trouble, and his cheek
+was pale with the stress of his emotion, and his voice was husky with
+the intensity of the strain he was putting upon himself.
+
+"Griffeth, Griffeth!" cried Wendot suddenly, "have I done wrong in this
+thing? I asked not thy gentle counsel, yet thou didst not bid me hold
+back. But tell me, have I been wrong? Could I have done other than I have?"
+
+"I think not that thou couldst. This seems like a call from our country,
+to which no son of hers may be deaf. And it is true that our brothers
+have undone thee, and that even wert thou not willing to take up arms
+against them and thy countrymen, the rupture with Edward is inevitable.
+No, I am with thee in what thou hast done. The Lord of Dynevor must show
+himself strong in defence of his country's rights.
+
+"Yet my heart is heavy as I look around me. For we are going forth to
+danger and death, and who knows what may betide ere we see these fair
+lands again, or whether we may ever return to see them more?"
+
+Wendot would fain have replied with cheerful assurance, but a strange
+rush of emotion came over him as he gazed at his childhood's home,
+together with a sudden strong presentiment that there was something
+prophetic in his brother's words. He gazed upon the gray battlements and
+the brawling river with a passionate ardour in his glance, and then
+turning quickly upon Griffeth, he said:
+
+"Brother, why shouldst thou leave it? thou art more fit for the safe
+shelter of home than for the strife of a winter war. Why shouldst thou
+come forth with us? Let us leave thee here in safety --"
+
+"Wendot!"
+
+It was but one word, but the volume of reproach compressed into it
+brought Wendot to a sudden stop. They looked into each other's eyes a
+moment, and then Griffeth said, with his sweet, meaning smile:
+
+"We have never been separated yet, my Wendot; in sorrow and joy we have
+ever been together. It is too late to change all that now. I will be by
+thy side to the end. Be it for life or for death we will ride forth
+together."
+
+And so with one hard hand clasp that spoke volumes, and with one more
+long, lingering look at the familiar towers of the old home, Wendot and
+Griffeth, the Lords of Dynevor, rode forth to meet their fate at the
+hands of the mighty English king.
+
+Of that sudden, fierce, and partially successful revolt the history
+books of the age give account. Llewelyn and his brother David, joined by
+the whole strength of the North, and by much able assistance from the
+South, drove back the English across the border; and when Edward,
+hurrying to the spot, marched against them, his army was utterly routed
+near the Menai Straits, and the triumphant Welsh believed for a few
+brief months that they were victors indeed, and that the power of the
+foe was hopelessly broken.
+
+Llewelyn with his army retired to the fastnesses of Snowdon, where the
+English durst not pursue them, and these less hardy soldiers suffered so
+terribly in the winter cold that the mortality in their ranks caused the
+triumphant mountaineers to prophesy that their work would be done for
+them without any more exertion on their part.
+
+But the lion-hearted King of England was not of the stuff that easily
+submits to defeat. He knew well that Wales was in his power, and that he
+had but to exercise patience and resolution, and the final victory would
+be his.
+
+Permitting no relaxation of his efforts in the North, even when the
+winter's bitter cold was causing untold sufferings amongst his soldiers,
+he commenced a muster of troops in the South, from which country most of
+the disaffected nobles had drawn away to join the insurgents under the
+Prince of Wales, as Llewelyn was called. It was a shock of no small
+magnitude to that prince to hear that his foe was thus employing
+himself; and leaving the fastnesses of Snowdon with a picked band of his
+hardiest men, amongst whom he numbered Llewelyn and Howel, he marched
+southward himself, hoping to overthrow this new force before it had
+gathered power sufficient to be dangerous.
+
+Wendot would gladly have been of the number, for inaction, and the rude
+barbarism he saw around him, were inexpressibly galling to him; and the
+more he saw of the savage spirits by whom he was surrounded the less he
+was able to hope for any permanent advantage as the result of this
+rising. The jealousies of the respective chiefs were hardly held in
+check even in the face of a common peril. It was impossible not to
+foresee that the termination of a war with England would only be the
+signal for an outbreak of innumerable petty animosities and hostile feuds.
+
+So Wendot would have been thankful to escape from this irksome
+inactivity, and to join the band going south; but the condition of
+Griffeth withheld him, for the youth was very ill, and he often felt
+that this winter of hardship up in the mountain air was killing him by
+inches, although he never complained.
+
+It was out of the question for Griffeth to march or to fight. He lay
+most of the day beside a little fire of peat, in a cabin that Wendot and
+his men had constructed with their own hands, beneath the shelter of a
+rock which broke the force of the north wind, and formed some protection
+against the deep snow. Griffeth had borne his share gallantly in the
+earlier part of the campaign, but a slight wound had laid him aside; and
+since the intense cold had come, he had only grown more white and wasted
+and feeble day by day. Now that the sun was gaining a little more power,
+and that the melting of the snow bespoke that spring was at hand, Wendot
+began to hope the worst was over; but to leave his brother in such a
+state was out of the question, and he saw Llewelyn and Howel depart
+without attempting to join them.
+
+Days and weeks had passed, and no news had been received by those up in
+the mountains of the result of Llewelyn's expedition. It was reported by
+scouts that Edward was at Carnarvon Castle in person, making hostile
+demonstrations of a determined kind, which, in the absence of their
+chief, the wild Welsh kerns knew not how to repel. They were safe where
+they were, and awaited the return of their leader; but a terrible stroke
+had yet to fall upon them, which proved the final blow to all their
+hopes and ambitions.
+
+It was a wild, windy night. Wendot had piled the fire high, and was
+sitting with Griffeth talking of past days, and gazing with an
+unconscious wistfulness into the glowing embers, which seemed to him to
+take the semblance of those familiar towers and rocks which he sometimes
+felt as though he should never see again. Griffeth paused in the midst
+of something he was saying, and looked round with a start. It seemed to
+both brothers as though a hand was fumbling at the latch. Wendot rose
+and opened the door, and a tall, gaunt figure staggered rather than
+walked into the room, and sank down as if perfectly exhausted beside the
+glowing fire.
+
+Griffeth uttered a startled exclamation.
+
+"Llewelyn!" he cried sharply; and Wendot, barring the door, and coming
+forward like one in a dream, asked with the calmness of one who reads
+dire disaster:
+
+"Where is Howel?"
+
+"Dead," came the answer in a hollow voice, as though the speaker was
+exhausted past words -- "dead by the side of Llewelyn our prince. Would
+that I too lay beside them!"
+
+Wendot, too stunned to say another word at that moment, busied himself
+in getting his brother food and wine, of which he plainly stood sorely
+in need. He ate ravenously and in perfect silence; and his brothers
+watched him without having the heart to put another question. Indeed
+they knew the worst: their prince dead; the flower of their army slain
+-- their own brother among the number -- the rest dispersed; the
+remaining forces without a leader, without a rallying point, without a
+hope. What need of farther words?
+
+Presently Llewelyn spoke again, this time with more strength, but still
+with the sullenness of despair:
+
+"It was a mere skirmish on the banks of the Wye. We were in advance of
+the main body, and a party of English fell upon us. We did our best to
+sell our lives dearly. I thought I had sold mine when my time came, but
+I awoke and found myself beside the stream. Howel was lying upon me,
+stark and dead, and our prince a few yards away, with his own men round
+him. I do not think the foe knew whom they had slain, or they would have
+taken at least his head away as a trophy. I know not who took the news
+to our comrades, but they learned it, and dispersed to the four winds. I
+was forced to remain for some days in a shepherd's hut till my wounds
+were somewhat healed, and since then I have been struggling back here,
+not knowing what had befallen our camp in these mountains. Am I the
+first to bear the, news, or has it been known before?"
+
+"You are the first," answered Wendot in a strange, blank voice. "We have
+heard nothing; we have been living in hopes of some triumph, some
+victory. We will let our fellows rest in peace one night longer.
+Tomorrow we must tell all, and decide what our action must be."
+
+"There is nothing more to hope for," said Llewelyn darkly. "Our hope is
+dead, our last prince lies in a nameless grave. There is but one choice
+open to us now. Let those who will submit themselves to the proud
+usurper, and let us, who cannot so demean the name we bear, go forth
+sword in hand, and die fighting to the last for the country we may not
+live to deliver."
+
+It seemed, indeed, as if Llewelyn's words were to prove themselves true;
+for no sooner did the news of the disaster on the banks of the Wye
+become known than the army began to melt away, like the snow in the
+increasing power of the sun. The chiefs, without a head, without a cause
+or a champion, either retired to their own wild solitudes or hastened to
+make their peace with their offended king; and only those who put honour
+before safety or life itself stood forth sword in hand to die, if it
+might be, with face to foe in defence of a cause which they knew was
+hopelessly lost.
+
+And amongst this gallant but reckless little band were the three
+brothers of Dynevor, who, having once taken up the sword against Edward,
+were determined not to lay it down until the hand of death was cold upon
+each heart.
+
+
+
+    CHAPTER X. CARNARVON CASTLE.
+
+
+"There has been a battle -- desperate fighting. They are bringing the
+prisoners into the guardroom," cried Britton, bursting into the royal
+apartments with small ceremony in his excitement. "Come, Alphonso; come,
+Joanna -- let us go and see them. Our fellows say they made a gallant
+stand, and fought like veritable tigers. In sooth, I would I had been
+there. Methinks it is the last of the fighting these parts will see for
+many a long year."
+
+Alphonso sprang up at the word of his comrade, eager to go and see the
+prisoners, his humane and kindly nature prompting him to ascertain that
+no undue harshness was displayed towards them by the rude soldiers. But
+Joanna, although her face was full of interest and eagerness, shook her
+head with a little grimace and a glance in the direction of her
+governess, Lady Edeline; for during the years that had elapsed between
+the visit of the royal children to Rhuddlan and this present visit to
+Carnarvon, Joanna had grown from a child to a woman, and was no longer
+able to run about with her brothers at will, though she still retained
+her old fearless, independent spirit and impulsive generosity of
+temperament, and was a universal favourite, despite the fact that she
+gave more trouble than any of her younger sisters.
+
+The royal family had been for some time in Wales. They had wintered at
+Rhuddlan, where the little Princess Elizabeth had been born the previous
+year, just prior to the outbreak of the rebellion. Now they were at
+Carnarvon for greater security, the king considering that fortress the
+stronger of the two. The rebellion was practically at an end, but there
+was much to look into and arrange with regard to the rebels and their
+affairs, and there was the prospect of a considerable sojourn at the castle.
+
+At this moment Edward was himself absent, though not far away. It had
+been rumoured that there had been sharp, irregular fighting all about
+the region of Snowdon, where the rebels had had their headquarters.
+Considerable excitement had prevailed for some time in the English
+ranks, and there was still complete uncertainty as to the fate of
+Llewelyn, Prince of Wales; for although a rumour was rife that he had
+fallen in fight, it had never been corroborated by trustworthy
+testimony, and so long as that turbulent prince remained alive there was
+no security for the peace or submission of the country.
+
+Thus it was that the news of a victory and the capture of prisoners was
+exceedingly exciting to those within the castle. Alphonso, who was
+looking somewhat stronger for his sojourn in the bracing air of Wales,
+sprang up to go with Britton to make inspection, and again Joanna
+secretly bewailed her fate at being a girl, unable to take an equal
+share with her brother in such matters.
+
+The guardroom at the castle was a vast and really fine apartment, with a
+vaulted roof and majestic pillars, that gave the idea of much rude
+strength of construction. Just at this moment it was the scene of an
+animated picture, and the boys paused at the door by which they had
+entered to look about them with eager curiosity.
+
+The hall was full of soldiers, most of whom wore the English king's
+badge, and were known by sight to them as being attached to the castle;
+but mingled with these were other men, some in the English dress, but
+many others wearing the wild garb of the sons of the mountains, and
+these last had, for the most part, fetters on their wrists, or were
+bound two and two together and guarded by the English, whilst many of
+them were drooping under the effect of ghastly wounds, and several forms
+lay stretched along the ground indifferent to, or insensible of, their
+surroundings.
+
+Desperate fighting there had been, indeed, to judge from appearances,
+and Alphonso's gentle spirit was stirred within him as he caught the
+sound of deep groans mingling with the loud voices of the soldiers. He
+had inherited the gentle spirit of his mother, and the generosity which
+always takes the part of the weak and oppressed. It mattered not that
+these men had been taken with swords drawn against his royal father;
+they were prisoners now, they had lost their all; and if rebels from the
+English standpoint, had been striving to free their country from what
+appeared to them as the unjust inroads of a foreign foe.
+
+Alphonso, himself sinking into an early grave, and fully aware of his
+own state, saw life somewhat differently from his soldier sire, and felt
+little sympathy for that lust of conquest which was to the great Edward
+as the elixir of life. The lad's thoughts were more of that eternal
+crown laid up in the bright land where the sword comes not, and where
+the trump of war may never be heard. The glory of an earthly diadem was
+as nothing to him, and he had all that deep love for his fellow men
+which often characterizes those who know that their time on earth is short.
+
+Stepping forward, therefore, with the air of quiet authority which he
+knew so well how to assume, he enforced silence by a gesture; and as the
+soldiers respectfully fell back before him, he walked through the groups
+of prisoners, speaking friendly words to them in their own tongue, and
+finally gave strict command to the captain of the guardroom to remove
+the fetters from those who were wounded, and see that they had all due
+tendance and care, whilst the rest were to be guarded with as little
+rigour as possible, and shut up together, where they would have at least
+the consolation of companionship in their misfortune.
+
+The captain gave respectful heed to these words, and was by no means
+loath to carry out his instructions. He was a humane man himself, though
+inured to the horrors of war, and he, in common with all who came into
+contact with the young prince, felt towards him a great love and
+reverence; for there was something unearthly at times in the radiant
+beauty of the young Alphonso's face, and the growing conviction that he
+was not long for this world increased the loving loyalty shown to him by
+all.
+
+"Your Grace's behests shall be obeyed," answered the man readily; "I
+myself will see that the wounded receive due and fitting care. They are
+brave fellows, be they rebels or no, and verily I believe there is not a
+man of them but would have laid down his life a hundred times to save
+that of the two young leaders who led them on to the last desperate
+sally. Such gallant feats of arms I have seldom beheld, and it was sore
+trouble to capture without killing them, so fiercely did they fight. But
+I bid the men take them alive, if possible, as they seemed too gallant
+and noble to fall in that vain struggle. Methinks, could they be tamed
+to serve the king as valiantly as they fought for that forlorn hope,
+they might be well worth the saving. I am always loath to see a brave
+life flung away, be it of friend or foe."
+
+"Right, good Poleyn; thy words do thee credit. And where are these
+gallant leaders? Show me them, for I would fain speak a kindly word to
+them. I would not that they feared my father's wrath too much. Stern he
+may be, but cruel never, and it would please me well to bid them submit
+themselves to him, that he might the more readily forgive them. Tell me
+which they be."
+
+"They are not here," answered the captain; "I had them removed for
+greater comfort and security to mine own lodging. One of them is so sore
+wounded that I feared he would not live to make submission to the king
+unless he had prompt and skilful tendance; whilst the other, although
+his hurts be fewer and less severe, looks as if some mortal sickness
+were upon him. It may be nought but the feebleness that follows loss of
+blood and hard fighting; but I left them both to the care of my wife,
+who is the best tender of the sick that I have ever known. They came
+under her hands last night, brought on by our mounted fellows in advance
+of the rest. Today they are somewhat recovered; but I have had scarce
+time to think of them. I have been occupied since dawn with these other
+prisoners."
+
+"I would fain see these youths; said you not they were but youths,
+Poleyn?" said Alphonso, whose interest was aroused by the tale he had
+heard. "I will go to your lodging and request admittance. Your worthy
+wife will not refuse me, I trow?"
+
+The man smiled, and said that his wife would be proud indeed to be so
+visited. Alphonso, to whom the intricacies of the castle were well
+known, lost no time in finding the lodging of the captain of the guard,
+and quickly obtained admittance to the presence of the wounded youths,
+who occupied a comfortable chamber over the gateway, and had plainly
+been well looked to by the capable and kindly woman who called Poleyn
+her lord and master.
+
+The bright light of day was excluded from the sickroom, and as the
+prince stood in the doorway his eyes only took in the general appearance
+of two recumbent figures, one lying upon a couch beside a glowing fire
+of wood, and the other extended motionless upon a bed in an attitude
+that bespoke slumber, his face bandaged in such a way that in no case
+would it have been recognizable.
+
+But as Alphonso's eyes grew used to the darkness, and fixed themselves
+upon the face of the other youth, who was dressed and lying on the
+couch, he suddenly gave a great start, and advanced with quick steps to
+his side.
+
+"Griffeth!" he cried suddenly.
+
+The figure on the couch gave a start, a pair of hollow eyes flashed
+open, there was a quick attempt to rise, checked by the prince himself,
+and Griffeth exclaimed in the utmost astonishment:
+
+"Prince Alphonso!"
+
+"Yes, Griffeth, it is I indeed;" and then the prince sat down on the
+edge of the couch and gazed intently at the wasted features of the
+youth, towards whom in days gone by he had felt such a strong attachment.
+
+There was something of sorrow and reproach in his glance as he said gently:
+
+"Griffeth, can it really be thou? I had not thought to have seen thee in
+the ranks of our foes, fighting desperately against my father's
+soldiers. Whence has come this bitter change in thy feelings? and what
+is Wendot doing, who was to act as guardian toward his younger brethren?
+Hast thou broken away from his controlling hand? O Griffeth, I grieve to
+see thee here and in such plight."
+
+But Griffeth's sad glance met that of the young prince unfalteringly and
+without shame, although there was something in it of deep and settled
+sorrow. He made a gesture as though he would have put out his hand, and
+Alphonso, who saw it, grasped it warmly, generous even when he felt that
+he and his father had been somewhat wronged.
+
+"Think not that we took up arms willingly, Wendot and I," he said
+faintly, yet with clearness and decision. "Ay, it is Wendot who lies
+there, sore wounded, and sleeping soundly after a night of fever and
+pain. We shall not disturb him, he is fast in dreamland; and if you
+would listen to my tale, gentle prince, I trow you would think something
+less hardly of us, who have lost our all, and have failed to win the
+soldier's death that we went forth to seek, knowing that it alone could
+make atonement for what must seem to your royal father an act of
+treachery and breach of faith."
+
+And then Griffeth told all his tale -- told of the wrongs inflicted on
+hapless Wales in Edward's absence by the rapacious nobles he had left
+behind him to preserve order, of the ever-increasing discontent amongst
+the people, the wild hope, infused by David's sudden rising, of uniting
+once and for all to throw off the foreign yoke and become an independent
+nation again. He told of the action taken by their twin brothers, of the
+pressure brought to bear upon Wendot, of the vigilant hostility of their
+rapacious kinsman Res ap Meredith, son of the old foe Meredith ap Res,
+now an English knight, and eager to lay his hands upon the broad lands
+of Dynevor. It was made plain to the prince how desperate would have
+been Wendot's condition, thus beset with foes and held responsible for
+his brothers' acts. Almost against his will had he been persuaded, and
+at least he had played the man in his country's hour of need, instead of
+trying to steer his way by a cold neutrality, which would have ruined
+him with friend and foe alike.
+
+Griffeth told of the hardships of that campaign amongst the mountains;
+of the death of Llewelyn the prince, and of his brother Howel; and of
+the resolve of the gallant little band, thus bereft of their hope, to go
+out and die sword in hand, and so end the miserable struggle that had
+ceased to be aught but a mockery of war. It was plainly a bitter thought
+even to the gentle Griffeth that they had not met the death they craved,
+but had fallen alive into the hands of the foe.
+
+Alphonso gently chid him, and comforted him with brave and kindly words;
+and then he asked what had befallen his brother Llewelyn, and if he had
+likewise fallen in the fight.
+
+"Nay; he was not with us when we made that last rally. He commenced the
+march with us, but his wound broke out again, and we were forced to
+leave him behind. He and a handful of faithful servants from Iscennen
+and Dynevor were to try and push on to the stronghold of Einon ap
+Cadwalader, and ask counsel and assistance from him. In old days he and
+our father were friends. Although he was one of the few who did not join
+Llewelyn in this rising, he has ever been well-disposed towards his
+countrymen. So we hoped our brother would find shelter and help there.
+If he had tried to march with us, he must assuredly have died."
+
+"Ha!" said Alphonso smilingly, "methinks Llewelyn will have no trouble
+in gaining entrance there. Rememberest thou the Lady Arthyn, who was
+with us at Rhuddlan when thou wast there before? She hath left us of
+late to return to her father, whose loyalty has been proved, and whose
+request for his child was listened to graciously. But we shall be seeing
+them soon again, for my father betrothed Arthyn's hand to Raoul Latimer,
+whom doubtless thou rememberest as a somewhat haughty and quarrelsome
+lad. Time has softened down some of his rude tempers, and he has ever
+been eager for the match. My father has promised her hand in troth
+plight to him, and we await the coming of her and her father for the
+ceremony of betrothal.
+
+"If I remember rightly, she was always a friend to thy brother. If so,
+he will find a ready welcome at her father's house, for my Lady Arthyn
+always had a soft spot in her heart for those we called rebels. She was
+a true daughter of Wales, albeit she loved us well, and she will like
+thy brother none the less that his sword has been unsheathed against the
+English usurper."
+
+And then the prince and the rebel subject both laughed, and that laugh
+did more to bring them back to their old familiar relations than all
+that had gone before.
+
+Griffeth was easily led on to tell the story of the life at Dynevor
+these past years; and Alphonso better understood from his unconscious
+self-betrayal than from his previous explanation how the fire of
+patriotic love burned in the hearts of these brothers. He thought that
+had he been one of them he would have acted even as they had done, and
+there was no anger but only a pitying affection in his heart towards one
+whose life was overshadowed by a cloud so like the one which hung upon
+the horizon of his own sky.
+
+For it was plain to him that Griffeth's hold on life was very slight;
+that he was suffering from the same insidious disease which was sapping
+away his own health and strength. He had suspected it years before, and
+this supposition had made a link between them then; now he was certain
+of it, and certain, too, that the end could not be very far off. The
+fine constitution of the young Welshman had been undermined by the
+rigours of the past winter, and there was little hope that the coming
+summer would restore to him any of the fictitious strength which had
+long buoyed up Wendot with the hope that his brother would yet live to
+grow to man's estate.
+
+"For myself I do not think I wish it," said Griffeth, with one of his
+luminous glances at Alphonso; "life is very hard, and there seems
+nothing left to live for. I know not how I could live away from the
+woods and rocks of Dynevor. But there is Wendot -- my dear, kind, most
+loving brother. It cuts me to the heart to think of leaving him alone.
+Prince Alphonso, you are the king's son; will you pardon Wendot his
+trespass, and stand his friend with your royal father? I have no right
+to ask it. We have grievously offended, but he is my brother --"
+
+A violent fit of coughing came on, and the sentence was never completed.
+Alphonso raised the wasted form in his arms, and soothed the painful
+paroxysm as one who knows just what will best relieve the sufferer. The
+sound roused Wendot, who had been sleeping for many hours, and although
+he had been brought in last night in an apparently almost dying state,
+his vigorous constitution was such that even these few hours' quiet
+rest, and the nourishment administered to him by the good woman who
+waited on him, had infused new life into his frame, so that he had
+strength to sit up in bed, and to push aside the bandage which had
+fallen over his eyes, as he anxiously asked his brother what was amiss.
+
+Then Alphonso came towards him, and, holding his hand in a friendly
+clasp, told him that he had heard all the story, and that he was still
+their friend, and would plead for them with his father. Wendot,
+bewildered and astonished and ashamed, could scarce believe his senses,
+and asked, with a proud independence which raised a smile in Alphonso's
+eyes, that he might be led out to speedy death -- the death by the
+headsman's axe, which was all he had now to hope for. Life had no longer
+any charms for him, he said; if only his young brother might be
+pardoned, he himself would gladly pay the forfeit for both.
+
+But Alphonso, upon whose generous spirit bravery and self devotion, even
+in a foe, were never thrown away, replied kindly that he would see if
+peace could not be made with his offended sire, and that meantime Wendot
+must get well fast, and regain his health and strength, so as to be fit
+to appear before the king in person if he should be presently summoned.
+
+But though the young prince left lighter hearts behind him in the room
+where the two eagles of Dynevor were imprisoned, he found that the task
+he had set himself with his father was a more difficult one than he had
+anticipated. Edward was very greatly incensed by this fierce and futile
+rebellion that had cost him so many hundreds of brave lives, and had
+inflicted such sufferings on his loyal troops. The disaster at Menai
+still rankled in his breast, and it was with a very stern brow and a
+face of resolute determination that he returned to Carnarvon to look
+into matters, and to settle upon the fate of the many prisoners and
+vassals who had once mere placed themselves or their lands in his sole
+power through the act which had rendered them forfeit.
+
+Nor was Alphonso's task rendered less difficult from the fact that Sir
+Res ap Meredith had been before him, poisoning the king's mind against
+many of the Welsh nobles, and particularly against the sons of Res
+Vychan, in whose possession were the province and castle of Dynevor.
+Upon that fair territory he had long cast covetous eyes. He cared little
+in comparison for the more barren and turbulent region of Iscennen, and
+it was upon Wendot and Griffeth, but particularly upon Wendot, that the
+full bitterness of his invective was poured. He had so imbued the king
+with the idea that the youth was dangerous, turbulent, and treacherous
+(charges that his conduct certainly seemed to bear out), that it was
+small wonder if Edward, remembering his own former goodwill towards the
+youth, should feel greatly incensed against him. And although he
+listened to Alphonso's pleadings, and the lad told his story with much
+simple eloquence and fervour, the stern lines of his brow did not relax,
+and his lips set themselves into an ominous curve which the prince liked
+little to see.
+
+"Boy," he said, with an impatience that boded ill for the success of the
+cause, "I verily believe wert thou in the place of king, thou wouldst
+give to every rebel chief his lands again, and be not contented until
+thine own throne came tottering about thine ears. Mercy must temper
+justice, but if it take the place of justice it becomes mere weakness. I
+trusted Wendot ap Res Vychan once, and laid no hand upon his lands. Thou
+hast seen how this trust has been rewarded. To reinstate him now would
+be madness. No. I have in Sir Res ap Meredith a loyal and true servant,
+and his claims upon his traitorous kinsman's lands may not be
+disregarded. Dynevor will pass away from Wendot. It is throwing words
+away to plead with me. My mind is made up. I trust not a traitor twice."
+
+There was something in his father's tone that warned Alphonso to press
+the matter no more. He knew that when Edward thus spoke his word was
+final and irrevocable; and all he ventured now to ask was, "What will
+become of Wendot and his brother? You will not take their lives, sweet
+sire?"
+
+"Their lives I give to thee, my son," answered Edward, with a gesture
+towards his boy which betrayed a deep love, and showed that although he
+had denied him sternly he did not do so willingly. "As thou hast pleaded
+for them, I will not sentence them to death; but they remain my
+prisoners, and regain not their liberty. I know the turbulent race from
+which they spring. Sir Res will have small peace in his new possessions
+if any of the former princes of Dynevor are at large in the country.
+Wendot and Griffeth remain my prisoners."
+
+"Nay, father; let them be my prisoners, I pray," cried Alphonso, with
+unwonted energy and animation. "Thou hast granted me their lives; grant
+me the keeping of their persons too. Nay, think not that I will connive
+at their escape. Give whatsoever charge thou wilt concerning the safety
+of their persons to those who guard us in our daily life, but let me
+have them as gentlemen of mine own. Call them prisoners an you will, but
+let their imprisonment be light -- let me enjoy their company. Thou
+knowest that Britton is fretting for a freer life, and that I see little
+of him now. I have often longed for a companion to share my solitary
+hours. Give me Griffeth and Wendot. They have the royal blood of Wales
+flowing in their veins, and methinks they love me even as I love them.
+And, father, Griffeth has not many months, methinks, to live; and I know
+so well all he suffers that my heart goes out to him. He has the love of
+books that I have, and we have so many thoughts which none seem to
+understand save our two selves. And he and Wendot are as one. It would
+be cruelty such as thou wouldst not inflict to separate them whilst one
+has so short a time to live. Give me them for mine own attendants, and
+bid the servants guard them as best pleaseth thee. Sweet father, I have
+not asked many boons of thee. Grant me this one, I pray thee, for my
+heart is verily set on it."
+
+There was something in this appeal, something in the look upon
+Alphonso's face, something in the very words he had used, that made it
+impossible to his father to refuse him. Blind his eyes as he would to
+the truth, he was haunted by a terrible fear that the life of his only
+son was surely slipping away. Alphonso did not often speak of his
+health, and the hint just dropped struck chill upon the father's heart.
+Passing his hand across his face to conceal the sudden spasm of pain
+that contracted it, he rose hastily from his chair, and said:
+
+"Give thine own orders concerning these youths. I leave them in thy
+hands. Make of them what it pleaseth thee. Only let them understand that
+charge will be given to the custodians of the castle, and of whatever
+place they visit in the future, that they are prisoners at the king's
+pleasure, and that any attempt at escape will be punished with instant
+and rigorous captivity."
+
+"So be it," answered Alphonso, with brightening eyes. "I thank thee,
+father, for the boon. Thou shalt never have cause to repent it."
+
+
+
+    CHAPTER XI. THE KING'S CLEMENCY.
+
+
+"Unhand me, sir. How dare you thus insult me? Let go my hand, or I
+summon help instantly. I am come to seek the king. Will you raise a
+tumult within hearing of his private apartments? Unhand me, I say," and
+Arthyn's cheeks flamed dangerously, whilst her eyes flashed fire.
+
+But Raoul Latimer, though a craven before the face of an armed foe,
+could be resolute enough when he had only an unprotected woman to deal
+with, and was quite disposed to show his valour by pressing his
+unwelcome salutations upon the cheek of the girl he regarded as his
+future wife. His surprise at encountering Arthyn, whom he believed far
+away in her father's castle, hastening alone down one of the long
+corridors of Carnarvon Castle, had been very great. He could not imagine
+what had thus brought her, and was eager to claim from her the greeting
+he felt was his due.
+
+But Arthyn had never lacked for spirit, and had always confessedly
+abhorred Raoul, nor had absence seemed to make the heart grow fonder, at
+least in her case. She repulsed him with such hearty goodwill that his
+cowardly fury was aroused, and had not the girl cried aloud in her anger
+and fear, he might have done her some mischief. But even as she lifted
+her voice a door in the corridor was flung open, and the king himself
+strode forth, not, as it chanced, in response to the call, which had not
+reached his ears, but upon an errand of his own. Now when he saw that at
+the doors of his own private apartments one of his own gentlemen had
+dared to lay rude hands upon a woman, his kingly wrath was stirred, and
+one blow from his strong arm sent Raoul reeling across the corridor till
+the wall stopped his farther progress.
+
+"How now, malapert boy?" cried Edward in deep displeasure. "Is it thus
+you disgrace your manhood by falling upon the defenceless, and by
+brawling even within hearing of your sovereign? You are not so wondrous
+valiant in battle, Raoul Latimer, that you can afford to blast the small
+reputation you have.
+
+"Sweet lady, be not afraid; thy king will protect thee from farther insult.
+
+"Ha, Arthyn, is it thou, my child? Nay, kneel not in such humbly
+suppliant fashion; rise and kiss me, little one, for thou art only less
+dear to me than mine own children. Come hither, maiden, and speak to me.
+What has brought thee here alone and unannounced? And what has raised
+this storm betwixt ye twain?"
+
+"Sire -- my king -- hear me," cried Arthyn in a choked voice; "and bid
+that wicked youth, whom I have ever hated, leave us. Let me speak to you
+alone and in private. It is to you, gracious lord, that I have come.
+Grant me, I pray you, the boon of but a few words alone and in private.
+I have somewhat to tell your grace -- your royal pardon to ask."
+
+"Pardon? tush, maiden! thou canst not have offended greatly. But come
+hither; what thou hast to say thou shalt say before the queen and
+Eleanor. They have ever been as mother and sister to thee. Thou hast no
+secrets for me which they may not hear?"
+
+"Ah no; I would gladly speak all before them," answered Arthyn eagerly,
+knowing that in the gentle Eleanor of Castile and her daughter she would
+find the most sympathizing of friends.
+
+Intensely patriotic as the girl had ever been, loving her country above
+all else, and throwing heart and soul into that country's cause, she had
+yet learned a deep love and reverence for the family of the English
+king, amongst whom so many years of her young life had been spent. She
+was able to do full justice to the kindly and domestic side of the
+soldier king's nature, and, whilst she regarded him as a foe to Wales,
+looked upon him personally as a friend and protector.
+
+Edward's gentleness and affection in his private life equalled his
+stern, unbending policy in matters of state. It was very tenderly and
+kindly that he led the girl to the private apartments of the queen; and
+when once Arthyn found herself face to face with one who had given to
+her more of mother love than any other being in the world, she flung
+herself into the arms opened to receive her, and out came the whole
+story which had brought her on this secret mission to Carnarvon.
+
+"Sweet lady, O most gracious madam, listen and plead for me with the
+king. He is kind and good, and he knows what true love is. Lady, it is
+as a wedded wife I come to you, craving pardon for what I have done. But
+I ever hated that wicked Raoul Latimer, my country's foe, and would have
+died rather than plight my troth to him. And when he came to us -- he,
+my love, my life, he whom I loved long years ago when we met as boy and
+girl, and whom I have never forgotten -- what could I do? How could I
+resist?
+
+"And my father approved. He gave my hand in wedlock. And now I am come
+to pray your pardon for myself and for him whom I love. Oh, do not turn
+a deaf ear to me! As you have loved when you were young, pardon those
+who have done likewise."
+
+King and queen exchanged glances, half of amusement, half of
+astonishment, but there was no anger in either face. Raoul was no
+favourite in the royal circle, and his visible cowardice in the recent
+campaign had brought him into open disfavour with the lion-hearted
+Edward. He loved Arthyn dearly, and this proof of her independence of
+spirit, together with her artless confidence in his kindliness of heart,
+pleased him not a little. He had been forced during these past days to
+act a stern part towards many of the Welsh nobles who had been brought
+before him. He was glad enough, this thankless task accomplished, to
+allow the softer and more kindly side of his nature to assert itself.
+And perhaps the sympathetic glances of his son Alphonso, who had just
+entered the room, helped to settle his resolve that Arthyn at least
+should receive full and free forgiveness.
+
+Eleanor had drawn her former playmate towards her, and was eagerly
+questioning her as to the name of him to whom her heart and hand were
+now given, and the answer sent a thrill of surprise through the whole
+company.
+
+"It is one whom you all know, sweet Eleanor -- Llewelyn, the son of Res
+Vychan, Lord of Dynevor. Thou knowest, Eleanor, how he came amongst us
+at Rhuddlan years agone now, and perchance thou sawest even then how we
+loved one another, albeit it was but the love of children. But we never
+have forgotten, and when he came to my father's castle, wounded and
+weary and despairing after the disaster which robbed Wales of her last
+native prince, what could we do but receive and tend him? It was thus it
+came about, and love did the rest."
+
+"And so thou hast wed a rebel, maiden?" quoth Edward, in tones that
+seemed to be stern by effort rather than by the will of the speaker,
+whilst the kindly light in the eyes belied his assumed harshness; "and
+having done so thou hast the hardihood to come and tell us of it thine
+own self. Fie upon thee for a saucy wench! What better dost thou expect
+for thyself and thy lord than a lodging in the lowest dungeon of the keep?"
+
+"I know that we ought to expect nothing better," answered Arthyn, with
+her brightest smile, as she turned fearlessly upon the king. "But do as
+you will with us, noble king, and we will not rebel or complain, so that
+we may be together. And my dear lord bid me give you this. He took it
+with his own hands from the dead hand of Llewelyn, Prince of Wales, and
+he charged me to place it in your hands as a pledge and token that your
+enemy ceased to live. Report has told him that men say Llewelyn escaped
+that day, and that he yet lives to rise against you again. By this
+signet you may know that he lies dead and cold, and that with him has
+perished the last hope of Wales ever to be ruled by a prince of her own."
+
+Edward put forth his hand eagerly, and examined the signet ring, which
+was one he himself had given to Llewelyn on the occasion of his last
+submission. And as he looked upon it a great weight seemed to be rolled
+from off him, for it was the first decided intimation he had had that
+his foe was actually slain. Rumour had been rife with reports of his
+escape, and although there had not been lacking testimony to the effect
+that the prince had fallen in battle, the fact had never been adequately
+established. A few quick questions to Arthyn appeared to establish this
+beyond all doubt, and in the expansion of the moment Edward was ready
+not only to forgive the bearer of such welcome tidings, but to forget
+that he had ever been an offender. One of the sons of Res Vychan had
+paid the price of his breach of faith with his life; two more were
+prisoners at his royal pleasure. Surely the family had suffered enough
+without harsher vengeance being taken. Surely he might give to Arthyn
+the liberty and possibly even the lands of her lord in return for the
+welcome intelligence she had brought.
+
+Alphonso, ever on the side of mercy, joined with the queen and Eleanor
+in persuading the king to forgive and forget, and Arthyn was sent home
+the day following laden with presents and good wishes, bearing a full
+pardon to her lord from the English king, as well as a half promise that
+when the country became somewhat more settled he might make request for
+his commot of Iscennen with reasonable chance of being heard.
+
+Wendot and Griffeth both saw their new sister before her return, and
+charged her with all sorts of friendly messages for Llewelyn. If Wendot
+thought it hard that the brother who had always been England's bitterest
+foe should be pardoned and rewarded, whilst he himself should be left to
+pine in captivity, at least he made no sign, and never let a word of
+bitterness pass his lips. Indeed he was too ill greatly to trouble
+himself over his own condition or the future that lay before him. Fever
+and ague had supervened upon the wounds he had received, and whilst
+Griffeth was rapidly recovering such measure of health and strength as
+he ever could boast, Wendot lay helpless and feeble, scarce able to lift
+his head from the pillow, and only just equal to the task of speaking to
+Arthyn and comprehending the good news with which she came charged.
+
+The brothers had now been removed to better apartments, near to those
+occupied by the prince, whose servants they nominally were. Griffeth had
+begun to enter upon some of his duties towards his royal patron, and the
+friendship begun in boyhood was rapidly ripening to an intimacy which
+surprised them both. Such perfect mutual understanding and sympathy was
+rare and precious; and Griffeth did not even look back with longing to
+the old life, so entirely had his heart gone out to the youthful prince,
+whose days on earth, like his own, were plainly numbered.
+
+Lady Gertrude Cherleton was still an inmate of the royal household. She
+was now a ward of Edward's, her father having died a year or two
+previously. She was not considered a minor any longer, having attained
+the age of eighteen some time before, and the management of her estates
+was left partially to her. But she remained by choice the companion of
+Eleanor and Joanna, and would probably continue to do so until she
+married. It was a source of wonder to the court why she did not make
+choice of a husband amongst the many suitors for her hand; but she had
+hitherto turned a deaf ear to the pleadings of all. Sir Godfrey
+Challoner had long been sighing at her feet, but she would have none of
+him, and appeared to be proof against all the shafts of the blind god of
+love.
+
+But her intense excitement when she heard of the arrival at Carnarvon of
+the two brothers from Dynevor told its own tale to the Princess Joanna,
+who had ever been the girl's confidante in this matter, and who had
+known from childhood how Gertrude had always believed herself pledged.
+It was a charming secret for them to cherish between them; and now that
+Wendot was once more beneath the castle roof, the impulsive Joanna would
+launch out into extravagant pictures of future happiness and prosperity.
+Her ardent temperament, having no personal romance to feed upon -- for
+though her hand had once been plighted, her future lord had been drowned
+the previous year in a boating accident, and she was again free --
+delighted to throw itself into the concerns of her friend, and the sense
+of power which had been so early implanted within her made her confident
+of being able to overcome obstacles and attain the object of her wishes,
+be the difficulties and dangers in their path never so great.
+
+"You shall be united, Gertrude, an he loves thee," cried the generous
+Joanna, flinging her arms round the neck of her companion, and kissing
+her again and again. "His life, his liberty, shall be obtained, and thou
+and he shall be happy together. I have said it, and I will do it."
+
+Whatever was known to Joanna was known to Alphonso, who shared all her
+feelings, and was most tenderly beloved by her. He was as ardent in the
+cause as his sister could be; but he saw more of the difficulties that
+beset their path, and knew better his father's iron temperament, and how
+deeply Wendot had offended. Doubtless much was due to the
+misrepresentations of Sir Res ap Meredith, who had now secured for
+himself the coveted lands of Dynevor; but whatever the cause, the eldest
+son of the house of Dynevor was the object of the king's severe
+displeasure, and it was not likely he would relax his vigilance or
+depart from his word, not even for the prayers of his children or the
+tears of his favourite Gertrude. He had pardoned Llewelyn at the
+instance of Arthyn; if the same game were to be played over again by
+another of his daughters' companions, he would not unnaturally believe
+that he was being cajoled and trifled with.
+
+"If it were only Griffeth it would be easy," said Alphonso thoughtfully.
+"But Wendot --"
+
+And there he stopped and shook his head.
+
+It was some days before the king saw the new attendant of his sons; but
+coming into Alphonso's private apartment one day suddenly, he found
+several of the royal children gathered there, and with them a
+fair-haired youth, who was reading to the prince out of an illuminated
+missal. Alphonso was lying on a couch, and his look of fragile weakness
+struck cold to the father's heart. Of late the lad's strength had been
+failing rapidly, but Edward had tried to blind his eyes to the truth.
+Now he took a hasty step towards the couch, and Griffeth rose quickly
+from his seat and bent the knee before the king.
+
+"Ha, Wendot," said Edward, with a grave but not unkindly glance, "I have
+not seen you at these new duties before. So you are a student as well as
+a soldier? Well, the arts of peace will better become you for the
+future. I remember your face well, young man. I would it had not been my
+duty to place you under restraint; but you have broken faith with me,
+and that grievously. How then can it be possible to trust you in the
+future? You, as the head of the house, should have set your brothers an
+example of honour and fealty. As it is, it has been far otherwise, and
+now you will have to bear the burden of that breach of trust and honour."
+
+Twice Griffeth had opened his lips as if to speak, but Alphonso laid his
+hand upon his arm with a warning touch, which said as plainly as words
+could do, "Be silent."
+
+So the youth held his peace, and only bent his head in submission; and
+Edward, after a moment's pause, added more kindly:
+
+"And how fares it with your brother, Wendot? I hear that his state is
+something precarious. I hope he has the best tendance the castle can
+afford, for I would not that any member of my son's household should
+suffer from lack of care."
+
+"He has all that he needs, I thank you, sire," answered Griffeth. "He
+lies sorely sick at this present time, but I trust he will amend ere long."
+
+And then the king turned to his son, and spoke with him on some message
+of the state, and departed without heeding the excited glances of Joanna
+or the restless way in which she kept looking first at Alphonso and then
+at Gertrude.
+
+But scarcely had the door closed behind the retiring form of the king
+before the excitable girl had bounded to her brother's side.
+
+"O Alphonso," she cried, "did you do it on purpose? Tell me what you
+have in your head."
+
+Alphonso sat up and pushed the hair out of his eyes. Griffeth was simply
+looking on in surprise and bewilderment. The prince laid a hand upon his
+arm and spoke very earnestly.
+
+"Griffeth," he said, "it seems to me that through this error of my
+father's we may yet find means to compass the deliverance of Wendot.
+There are none of those save ourselves who know which of you twain is
+the first-born and which the youngest. In your faces there is little to
+mark you one from the other. Griffeth, if thou wilt be willing to be
+called Wendot-- if Wendot will consent to be Griffeth -- then we may
+perchance make his way plain to depart and live in liberty once more;
+for it is Wendot, and not Griffeth, who has so roused my father's anger.
+Griffeth he might easily consent to pardon; but Wendot he will keep as a
+hostage in his own hands possibly for life itself."
+
+Griffeth listened, and a strange look crept into his face. His cheek
+flushed, and his breath came thick and fast. He knew Alphonso's motive
+in suggesting this change of identity. The lads, so closely drawn
+together in bonds of more than brotherly love, had not opened to each
+other their innermost souls for nought. Alphonso knew that no freedom,
+no liberty, would give to the true Griffeth any extension of his brief
+span of life. His days were as assuredly numbered as those of the royal
+lad himself, and life had ceased to have attractions for the pair, whose
+spirits were almost on the wing, who had set their hopes and aspirations
+higher than anything which earth could give, and whose chiefest wish now
+was to remain together until death should call them home.
+
+Griffeth's only trouble had been the thought of leaving his brother, and
+it was when he had realized from Alphonso's words that the king was
+deeply offended with Wendot, and that it was almost hopeless to think of
+his obtaining his liberty again, that the heart of the lad sank in
+despondency and sorrow.
+
+For one of the young eagles of Dynevor thus to be caged -- to be left to
+pine away in hopeless captivity, his brother gone from him as well as
+the prince who would stand his friend; possibly incarcerated at last in
+some dreary fortress, there to linger out his days in hopeless misery
+and inaction -- the thought had been so terrible to Griffeth that there
+had been moments when he had almost longed to hear that the leeches gave
+up hope of saving his brother's life.
+
+But Wendot was mending now; there was no doubt of ultimate recovery. He
+would rise from his sickbed to find -- what? Griffeth had not dared to
+ask himself this question before; but now a great hope possessed him
+suddenly. He looked into Alphonso's eyes, and the two instantly
+understood one another; as did also Gertrude and Joanna, who stood by
+flushed and quivering.
+
+"Let it be so," said Griffeth, in a voice which trembled a little,
+although the words were firm and emphatic. "I take the name the king has
+given me. I am Wendot, whom he believes the traitor and the foe.
+Griffeth lies yonder, sick and helpless, a victim to the influence of
+the first-born son of Res Vychan. It may be, when the king hears more of
+him, he will in his clemency release and pardon him.
+
+"Ah, if I could but be the means of saving my brother -- the brother
+dearer to me than life -- from the fate which others have brought upon
+him, that I could lay down my life without a wish ungratified! It has
+been the only thought of bitterness in my cup that I must leave him
+alone -- and a prisoner."
+
+Gertrude's face had flushed a deep red; she put out her hand and clasped
+that of Griffeth hard; there was a little sob in her voice as she said:
+
+"Oh, if you will but save him -- if you will but save him!"
+
+Griffeth looked into her sweet face, with its sensitive features and
+soft eyes shining through a mist of tears, and he understood something
+which had hitherto been a puzzle to him.
+
+There had been days when the intermittent fever from which Wendot
+suffered left him entirely for hours together, sometimes for a whole
+day; and Griffeth had been sure that on some of these days, in the hours
+of his own attendance on the prince, his brother had received visits
+from others in the castle: for flowers had appeared to brighten the sick
+room, and there had been a wonderful new look of happiness in the
+patient's eyes, although he had said nothing to his brother as to what
+had befallen him.
+
+And in truth Wendot was half disposed to believe himself the victim of
+some sweet hallucination, and was almost afraid to speak of the fancies
+that floated from time to time before his eyes, lest he should be told
+that his mind was wandering, and that he was the victim of delusion.
+
+Not once alone, but many times, during the hours of his tardy
+convalescence, when he had been lying alone, crushed by the sense of
+weariness and oppression which illness brings to one so little
+accustomed to it, he had been roused by the sound of light footfalls in
+his room; he had seen a graceful form flitting about, bringing lightness
+and beauty in her wake, and leaving it behind when she left. The vision
+of a sweet, small face, and the lustrous dark eyes which had haunted him
+at intervals through the long years of his young manhood, appeared again
+before him, and sometimes his name was spoken in the gentle tones which
+had never been forgotten, although the memory was growing dim.
+
+Weak and dazed and feeble, both in body and mind, from the exhausting
+and wasting illness that had followed the severe winter's campaign,
+Wendot knew not if this vision was but the figment of his own brain, or
+whether the passionate love he felt rising up in his heart was lavished
+upon a mere phantom. But so long as she flitted about him he was content
+to lie and watch her, with the light of a great happiness in his eyes;
+and once when he had called her name -- the never forgotten name of
+Gertrude -- he had thought that she had come and taken his hand and had
+bent over him with a wonderful light in her eyes, but the very effort he
+made to rise up and grasp her hands, and learn if indeed it were a
+creature of flesh and blood, had resulted in a lapse back into
+unconsciousness, and he was silent as to the vision even to Griffeth,
+lest perchance he should have to learn that it was but a fevered dream,
+and that there was no Gertrude within the castle walls at all.
+
+But Gertrude knew all; it was no dream to her. She saw the love light in
+the eyes dearest to her in the world. She had heard her name called; she
+had seen that the love she had cherished for the hero of her childhood
+had not been cherished in vain. Perhaps Wendot had betrayed more in his
+sickness and weakness than he would have allowed himself to do in his
+strength, knowing himself a helpless, landless prisoner in the hands of
+the stern monarch who occupied England's throne. But be that as it may,
+Gertrude had read his secret and was happy, though with such a chastened
+happiness as alone was possible to one who knew the peril in which her
+lover lay, and how hopeless even Alphonso thought it to obtain for him
+the king's pardon.
+
+"My father would have betrothed us as children," said Gertrude, her face
+glowing, but her voice steady and soft, for why should she be ashamed of
+the faithful love of a lifetime?
+
+"When we saw each other again he would have plighted us, but for the
+fear of what Llewelyn and Howel would do. But think you I love him less
+for his love to his country? Think you that I have aught to reproach him
+with, when I know how he was forced into rebellion by others? I care not
+what he has done. I love him, and I know that he loves me. Sooner would
+I share a prison with him than a palace with any man beside; yet I fear
+that in prison walls he will pine and die, even as a caged eagle, and it
+is that fear which breaks my heart.
+
+"O Griffeth, Griffeth, if you can save him, how we will bless you from,
+our hearts! Give him to me, and I will guard and cherish him. I have
+wealth and lands for us both. Only his liberty is lacking --"
+
+"And that we will strive to compass yet," said Alphonso gently. "Fear
+not, sweet Gertrude, and betray not thyself. Only remember from this
+time forward that Wendot is my friend and companion here, and that thy
+lover Griffeth lieth in yon chamber, sick and stricken."
+
+"I will remember," she answered resolutely; and so the change of
+identity was accomplished, with the result that the old chroniclers aver
+that Wendot, eldest son of Res Vychan, died in the king's prison in
+England, whilst all that is known of the fate of Griffeth is that he was
+with his brother in captivity in England in the year 1283, after which
+his name completely disappears, and no more is known of him, good or bad.
+
+That night there were commotion and distress in Carnarvon Castle, for
+the young Alphonso broke a blood vessel in a violent fit of coughing,
+and for some hours his life was in the utmost danger.
+
+The skill of the leeches, however, combined with the tender care of his
+mother and sisters, averted for a time fatal consequences, and in a few
+days the prince was reported to be out of immediate danger. But the
+doctors all agreed that it would not be wise for him to remain longer in
+the colder air of north Wales, and advised an immediate removal to
+Windsor, where more comforts could be obtained, and where the climate
+was milder and more genial.
+
+Edward's work in Wales was done. The country was quiet, and he had no
+longer any fear of serious rebellion. The first thought in his mind was
+the precarious condition of his son, and immediate steps were taken to
+convey the invalid southward by slow and gentle stages.
+
+A horse litter was prepared for him, and by his own special request this
+easy conveyance was shared by him with the two Welsh youths, to whom, as
+his father and mother thought, he had taken one of those strange sick
+fancies not uncommon to those in his state of health.
+
+Wendot, as he called the younger brother, had been his most devoted
+nurse during the days of peril, and his quick understanding of the
+unspoken wishes of the prince had evoked a real and true gratitude from
+the royal parents.
+
+The real Wendot was by this time so far recovered as to be able to bear
+the journey, and illness had so wasted him that he looked no older than
+Griffeth; and though still perplexed at being called Griffeth, and by no
+means understanding his brother's earnest request that he would continue
+to answer to the name, he was too weak to trouble his head much about
+the matter; and the two Welsh brothers were regarded by the English
+attendants as too insignificant to be worthy of much notice. The
+prince's freak to have them as travelling-companions was humoured by his
+parents' wish; but they little knew how much he was wrapped up in the
+brothers, nor how completely his heart was set upon seeing the
+accomplishment of his plan before he died.
+
+Alphonso had all his senses about him, and the wistful look on
+Griffeth's face, as the mountains of his beloved Wales grew dim in the
+distance, was not lost upon him. Wendot was sleeping restlessly in the
+litter, and Alphonso stretched out his hand, and laid it gently upon
+Griffeth's.
+
+"Art regretting that thou leavest all for me?" he asked gently; and the
+answer was such a look of love as went to his very heart.
+
+"Nay; I would leave far more than that for thee, sweet prince, but it is
+my last look at home. I shall see these grand, wild hills no more."
+
+"No, nor yet I," answered the prince, his own eyes growing somewhat dim;
+"and I, too, have loved them well, though not as thou lovest, my friend.
+But be content; there are fairer things, sweeter scenes than even these,
+in store for us somewhere. Shall we repine at leaving the beauties of
+earth, when the pearly gates of Paradise are opening before our very eyes?
+
+"O Griffeth, it is a wondrous thought how soon we may be soaring above
+the very stars! And methinks it may well be given to thee to wing thy
+way to thine own home for one last look ere thou departest for the holy
+land whence we can never wish to return."
+
+Griffeth gave him a bright, eager look.
+
+"I will think that myself -- I will believe it. This is not my last
+farewell."
+
+
+
+    CHAPTER XII. A STRANGE BRIDAL.
+
+
+"My prince, tempt me not. It is hard to refuse; but there are some
+things no man may do with honour, and, believe me, honour is dearer to
+me than life, dearer even than liberty; though Heaven alone knows how
+dear that is to every free-born son of Cambria. I to leave my brother to
+wear away his days in captivity whilst I escape under his name! Prince
+Alphonso, I know not what you think my heart is made of. Am I to live in
+freedom, whilst he whom I love best in the world bears the burden of my
+fault, and lingers out his young life within the walls of the king's
+prison?"
+
+Alphonso looked searchingly in Wendot's face, and realized for the first
+time the youth's absolute ignorance of his brother's state. No wonder he
+refused with scorn the proffered boon! Yet it would be a hard task to
+break the sad tidings to one who so deeply loved his gentle younger
+brother, from childhood his chosen comrade.
+
+Alphonso was lying on a couch in one of the smaller state apartments of
+Windsor Castle, and the window, close to which he had bidden his
+attendants wheel him, overlooked the beautiful valley of the Thames. The
+first of the autumn tints were gilding the rich stretches of woodland,
+whilst a faint blue haze hung over the distance, and the river ran like
+a silver thread, glinting here and there into golden brightness as some
+brighter ray of sunlight fell upon it.
+
+Alphonso loved the view commanded by this window. He and Griffeth spent
+many long happy hours here, looking out on the fair prospect, and
+exchanging whispered thoughts and bright aspirations with regard to some
+land even fairer than the one they now beheld.
+
+But Wendot never looked at the beautiful valley without experiencing a
+strange oppression of spirit. It reminded him of that wilder valley of
+the Towy, and his eyes would grow dim and his heart sick with the
+fruitless longing after home, which grew harder and harder to hear with
+every week of captivity, now that his bodily health was restored.
+Captivity was telling upon him, and he was pining as an eagle pines when
+caught and shut up by man even in a gilded cage. He looked pale and wan
+and wistful. Often he felt stifled by the warm, close air of the valley,
+and felt that he must die did he not escape to the freer air of the
+mountains.
+
+But he seldom spoke of these feelings even to Griffeth, and strangely
+enough his illness and these homesick longings produced upon his outer
+man an effect which was wonderfully favourable to the plan fermenting in
+the brains of the royal children and their immediate companions.
+
+Wendot had lost the sturdiness of figure, the brown colouring, and the
+strength of limb which had distinguished him in old days from Griffeth.
+A striking likeness had always existed between the brothers, whose
+features were almost identical, and whose height and contours were the
+same. Now that illness had sharpened the outlines of Wendot's face, had
+reduced his fine proportions, and had given to him something of the
+hollow-eyed wistfulness of expression which Griffeth had so long worn,
+this likeness became so remarkable that few in the castle knew one
+brother from the other. Knowing this, they both answered indifferently
+to the name of either, and any change of personality would be managed
+without exciting the smallest fear of remark.
+
+Wendot had been perplexed at times by the persistence with which he had
+been addressed as Griffeth, even when he was certain that the speaker
+was one of the few who knew him and his brother apart; but he had not
+troubled his head much over the matter until this day, when Alphonso had
+openly spoken to him of the plan that was in their minds, and had bidden
+him prepare for a secret flight from the castle, promising that there
+should be no ardent search after him, as Wendot, and not Griffeth, was
+the culprit who had fallen under the royal displeasure, and the king
+would care little for the escape of the younger brother so long as he
+held the ex-Lord of Dynevor in his own safe keeping.
+
+Wendot's indignant refusal to leave his brother and make good his own
+escape showed Alphonso how little he realized Griffeth's condition, and
+with gentle sympathy, but with candour and frankness, he explained to
+the elder brother how short would be the period of Griffeth's captivity
+-- how soon and how complete the release for which he was patiently and
+happily waiting.
+
+Wendot gave a great start as the meaning of Alphonso's words first broke
+upon him, and then he buried his face in his hands, and sat motionless,
+neither answering nor moving. Alphonso looked at him, and by-and-by put
+out his own wasted hand and laid it upon Wendot's knee.
+
+"Does it seem a sad thing to thee, Wendot? Believe me, there is no
+sadness for Griffeth in the thought. Nay, is it not a blessed thing to
+know that soon, very soon, we shall be free of this weary burden of pain
+and sickness and weakness, and laying all aside will pass away to the
+land of which the seer of old foretold that 'the wicked cease from
+troubling, and the weary are at rest.' Thou knowest not, perhaps, the
+sweetness of those words, but I know it well, and Griffeth likewise.
+
+"Nay, Wendot, thou must learn not to grudge him the rest and the bliss
+of yon bright land. In this world he could look for nothing save wearing
+weakness and lingering pain. Thou shouldst be glad that the fiat has
+gone forth, and that the end may not be far off -- the end of trouble
+and sorrow; for of the glory that shall follow there shall be no end."
+
+But Wendot broke in hoarsely and impetuously.
+
+"If he must die, let him at least die in freedom, with the old hills
+around him; let him be laid to rest beneath their shadow. You say that
+he might well escape; that no cry would be made after him so long as I
+were in the king's safe keeping. Let him then fly. Let him fly to
+Llewelyn and Arthyn. They will give him tendance and a home. He shall
+not die in prison, away from all that he holds dear. I cannot brook the
+thought!"
+
+"Nay, Wendot," answered Alphonso with a kindling smile, "thou needest
+not grieve for thy brother because that he is here. Ask him -- take it
+not from my lips; but I will tell thee this, that where thou art and
+where I am is the place where Griffeth would fain end his days. Ah! thou
+canst not understand, good youth, how when the great and wonderful call
+comes for the human soul, how lightly press the fetters of the flesh;
+how small these things of time and place appear that erst have been of
+such moment. Griffeth and I are treading the same path at the same time,
+and I think not even the offer of a free pardon and unfettered liberty
+would draw him from my side.
+
+"Moreover, Wendot, he could not take the journey of which thou speakest.
+The keen autumn air, which will give thee strength and vigour, would but
+lay him low on the bed from which he would never rise. His heart is here
+with me. Think not that thou art wronging him in taking his name. The
+one load lying now upon his heart is the thought that he is leaving thee
+in captivity. Let him but know that thou art free -- that he has been
+thy helper in thy flight -- and he will have nought left to wish for in
+this world. His soul will be at peace."
+
+Wendot rose and paced through the chamber, and then returned to the side
+of the prince. His face betrayed many conflicting emotions. He spoke
+with bitterness and impetuosity.
+
+"And what good is life to me if I take you at your word and fly this
+spot? Have I not lost all that makes life worth living? My lands given
+to my traitorous kinsman; the brother who has been more to me than life
+lying in a foreign grave. What use is life to one so lonely and bereft?
+Where should I fly? what should I do? I have never lived alone. I have
+always had another to live for and to love. Methinks death would be the
+better thing than such a loveless life."
+
+"And why should thy life be loveless, Wendot?" asked Alphonso, with
+kindling eyes and a brightening smile. "Dost not thou know? -- does not
+thine own heart tell thee that one faithful heart beats for thee and
+thee alone? Have I not seen thee with her times and again? Have not your
+eyes told eloquent secrets -- though I know not what your lips have said --"
+
+Wendot's face was all in a glow, but he broke in hastily:
+
+"Prince, prince, speak not of her. If I have been beguiled, if I have
+betrayed the feelings which I cannot help, but which I must hold sternly
+in check -- be not thou the one to taunt me with my weakness. There is
+none like her in the world. I have known it for long. But even because I
+know it so well I may not even dream of her. It is not with me as of
+old, when her father spoke to me of troth plight. I am a beggar, an
+outcast, a prisoner. She is rich, honoured, courted. She is the
+brightest star of the court --"
+
+"And she loveth thee, Wendot," interposed Alphonso firmly. "She has
+loved thee from childhood with a faithful and true love which merits
+better things than to be cast aside as if it were but dross. What are
+lands and gold to a woman if her lover share them not? Is it meet that
+she should suffer so cruelly simply because her father has left her well
+endowed? Wendot, on Lord Montacute's dying bed this daughter of his
+avowed her love for thee, and he gave her his blessing and bade her act
+as she would. Art thou, then, to be the one to break her heart, ay, and
+thine own, too, because thou art too proud to take more than thou canst
+give?
+
+"Fie, man! the world is wide and thou art young. Thou hast time to win
+thy spurs and bring home noble spoil to lay at thy lady's feet. Only let
+not pride stand in the way of her happiness and thine own. Thou hast
+said that life is dark and drear unless it be shared with some loved
+one. Then how canst thou hold back, when thou hast confessed thine own
+love and learned that hers is thine? Take it, and be grateful for the
+treasure thou hast won, and fear not but that thou wilt bring as much as
+thou wilt receive. There are strange chances in the fate of each one of
+us. Who knows but that thou and she will not yet reign again in the
+halls of Dynevor?"
+
+Wendot started and flushed, and again paced down the whole length of the
+room. When he returned to the window Alphonso had gone, and in his place
+stood Gertrude herself, her sweet face dyed rosy red with blushes, her
+hands half stretched out towards him, her lips quivering with the
+intensity of her emotion.
+
+He paused just one moment looking at her, and then holding out his arms,
+he said:
+
+"Gertrude!"
+
+Next moment she was clasped in his close embrace, and was shedding happy
+tears upon his shoulder.
+
+"Oh!" said Gertrude at last, in a soft whisper, "it was worth waiting
+for this. I never thought I could have been so happy."
+
+"Joanna -- Alphonso, it is all settled. He will leave the castle with
+me. He will help me now in the care of my lands. But he will not move
+whilst Griffeth lives. And I think he is right. They have so loved each
+other, and he will not leave his brother to die amongst strangers in
+captivity."
+
+"It is like him," said Joanna eagerly. "Gertrude, thou hast found a very
+proper knight, as we told thee from the first, when he was but a lad,
+and held the Eagle's Crag against a score of men. But ye must be wedded
+soon, that there be no delay when once the poor boy be gone. Every day
+he looks more shadowy and frail. Methinks that our softer air ill suits
+him, for he hath dwindled to a mere shadow since he came. You will not
+have to wait long."
+
+"Joanna speaks the truth," said Alphonso, half sadly, half smilingly.
+"He will not be with us long. But it is very true that this marriage
+must be privately celebrated, and that without delay, that when the day
+comes when 'Griffeth' flies from the castle, he and his wife may go
+together."
+
+"Ay, and my chaplain will make them man and wife, and breathe not a word
+to any man," cried Joanna, who, now that she was older, had her own
+retinue of servants, equal in number to those of her sister, by whom she
+was dearly loved for her generosity and frankness, so that she could
+always command ready and willing obedience to any expressed wish of hers.
+
+"You think he will? O Joanna, when shall it be?"
+
+"It shall be at midnight in the chapel," said the girl, with the prompt
+decision which characterized her. "Not tonight, but three nights from
+this. Leave all things in my hands, sweet Gertrude; I will see that
+nought is lacking to bind thee lawfully to thy lord. My chaplain is a
+good and holy man from the west country. He loveth those poor Welsh who
+are prisoners here, and spends much of his time in ministering to them.
+He loves thy future lord and his dying brother, and he knows somewhat of
+our plan, for I have revealed it in the confessional, and he has not
+chided me for it.
+
+"Oh, I can answer for him. He will be glad that thou shouldst find so
+proper a knight; and he is kind of heart, and stanch to my service. Fear
+not, sweet Gertrude: ere three days have gone by thou shalt be a wedded
+wife; and when the time comes thou mayest steal away with him thy
+plighted lord, and trust thy sister Joanna to make thy peace with the
+king, if he be in any way angered or grieved."
+
+Gertrude threw herself into Joanna's arms and kissed her a hundred
+times; and Joanna laughed, and said she deserved much credit for
+plotting to rid herself of her dearest friend, but was none the less
+loyal to the cause because Gertrude's gain would be her loss.
+
+So there came a strange night, never to be forgotten by those who
+witnessed the proceedings, when Wendot ap Res Vychan and the Lady
+Gertrude Cherleton stood at midnight before the altar in the small
+private chapel of the castle, whilst the chaplain of the Princess
+Joanna's private suite made them man and wife according to the law of
+the Church. And of the few spectators who witnessed the ceremony two
+were of royal blood -- Alphonso and Joanna -- and beside them were only
+one or two attendants, sworn to secrecy, and in full sympathy with the
+youthful lovers thus plighting their troth and being united in wedlock
+at one and the same time.
+
+Griffeth was not of the number who was present to witness this ceremony.
+He was unable to rise from his bed, a sudden access of illness having
+overtaken him, possibly as the result of the excitement of hearing what
+was about to take place.
+
+When the solemn words had been spoken, and the bride was led away by her
+proud and happy spouse -- happy even in the midst of so much peril and
+sorrow in the thought of the treasure he had won -- she paused at the
+door of her apartments, whither he would have left her (for so long as
+they remained within the walls of the castle they would observe the same
+manner of life as before), and glancing into his face said softly:
+
+"May I not go with thee to tell the news to Griffeth?"
+
+"Ay, well bethought," said Alphonso, who was leaning on Wendot's other
+arm, the distance through the long passages being somewhat fatiguing to
+him. "Let us go and show to him thy wife. None will rejoice more than he
+to know that she is thine in very truth, and that none can take her from
+thee."
+
+Griffeth's room was nigh at hand, and thither Wendot led his bride. A
+taper was burning beside the bed, and the sick youth lay propped up with
+pillows, his breath coming in laboured gasps, though his eyes were
+bright and full of comprehension as Wendot led the slim, white-robed
+figure to his side.
+
+But the elder brother was startled at the change he saw in his patient
+since he had left him last. There was something in his look that struck
+chill upon his heart. He came forward and took the feeble hand in his.
+It was deadly cold, and the unearthly radiance upon the lad's face was
+as significant in its own way. Had not their mother looked at them with
+just such a smile when she had slipped away into another world, whilst
+they were trying to persuade themselves that she was better?
+
+"My sister Gertrude," whispered Griffeth. "Oh, I am so happy! You will
+be good to him -- you will comfort him.
+
+"Wendot -- Gertrude --" he made a faint effort, and joined their hands
+together; and then, as if his last earthly task was accomplished, he
+seemed to look right on beyond them, whilst a strange expression of awe
+and wonder shone from his closing eyes.
+
+"Howel," he whispered -- "father -- mother -- oh, I am coming! Take me
+with you."
+
+Then the head fell backwards, the light vanished from the eyes, the cold
+hand fell nervelessly from Wendot's grasp, and they knew that Griffeth
+was the king's prisoner no longer.
+
+Three days later the Lady Gertrude Cherleton said farewell to her royal
+companions, and started forth for her own estates in Derbyshire, which
+she had purposed for some time to visit. Perhaps had the minds of those
+in the castle been free to wonder at anything so trivial as the
+movements of the young heiress, they would have felt surprise at her
+selecting this time to betake herself to a solitary and independent
+existence, away from all her friends and playmates; but the mortal
+illness of the Prince Alphonso occupied the whole attention of the
+castle. The remains of the so-called Wendot, late of Dynevor, had been
+laid to rest with little ceremony and no pomp, and the very existence of
+the other brother was almost forgotten in the general dismay and grief
+which permeated through all ranks of people both within and without the
+castle walls.
+
+The lady had a small but sufficient retinue; but it was considered
+rather strange that she should not start until the dusk had begun to
+gather round the castle, so that the confusion of the start was a good
+deal increased from the darkness which was stealing upon the place. Had
+there been much time or attention free, it might have been noted by a
+keen observer that Lady Gertrude had added to her personal attendants
+one who looked like a tall and stout woman, though her hood was so
+closely drawn that her face was seen by none of the warders, who,
+however, let her pass unchallenged: for she rode beside her mistress,
+and was evidently in the position of a trusted companion; for the lady
+was speaking to her as they passed out through the gate, and there could
+certainly be no reason for offering any obstruction to any servant of hers.
+
+If there were any fear or excitement in Gertrude's breast as she and her
+husband passed out of the gate and rode quickly along the path which led
+through the town, she did not betray it by look or gesture. Her
+eagerness was mainly showed by a desire to push on northward as fast as
+possible, and the light of a full harvest moon made travelling almost as
+easy as by day. On they rode, by sleeping hamlets and dreaming pastures,
+until the lights of Windsor lay twinkling in the dim, hazy distance
+miles away.
+
+Then Gertrude suddenly threw back her hood, and leaning towards her
+companion -- they two had outridden their followers some time before --
+cried in a strange, tense voice:
+
+"O Wendot husband, thou art free! Tomorrow will see us safe within those
+halls of which thou art rightful lord. Captivity, trouble, peril is at
+an end. Nothing can greatly hurt us now, for are we not one in bonds
+that no man may dissever?"
+
+"My noble, true-hearted wife," said Wendot, in accents of intense
+feeling; and then he leaned forward and kissed her in the whispering
+wood, and they rode forward through the glades of silvery moonlight
+towards the new life that was awaiting them beyond.
+
+"Hills, wild rocks, woods, and water!" cried Wendot, with a sudden
+kindling gleam in his eyes. "O Gertrude, thou didst not tell me the
+half! I never guessed that England had aught so like home as this. Truly
+it might be Dynevor itself -- that brawling torrent, those craggy fells,
+and these gray stone walls. And to be free -- free to breathe the fresh
+wind, to go where the fancy prompts, to be loosed from all control save
+the sweet bonds that thou boldest me in, dearest! Ah, my wife, thou
+knowest not what thou hast done for me. How shall I thank thee for the
+boon?"
+
+"Why, by being thine old self again, Vychan," said Gertrude, who was
+standing by her husband's side on a natural terrace of rock above the
+Hall which was to be their home. She had brought him out early in the
+morning to see the sun rise upon their home, and the rapture of his
+face, the passionate joy she saw written there, was more than she had
+hoped for.
+
+"Thou hast grown old and worn of late, too saddened, too grave for thy
+years. Thou must grow young again, and be the bright-faced youth to whom
+I gave my heart. Thy youth is not left so far behind but what thou canst
+recall it ere it be too late."
+
+"In sooth I shall grow young again here, sweetheart," quoth Wendot, or
+Vychan, as we must call him now. He had an equal right to that name with
+his father, though for convenience he had always been addressed by the
+other; and now that Lady Gertrude had brought her husband home, he was
+to be known as Res Vychan, one of the descendants of the last princes of
+South Wales, who had taken his wife's name also, as he was now the ruler
+of her land; so, according to the fashion of the English people, he
+would henceforth be known as Vychan Cherleton. His brother's name he
+could not bear to hear applied to himself, and it was left to Joanna to
+explain matters to the king and queen when the chance should arrive.
+None else need ever know that the husband of the Lady Gertrude had ever
+been a captive of Edward's; and the name of Griffeth ap Res Vychan
+disappears from the ken of the chroniclers as if it had never been known
+that he was once a prisoner in England.
+
+There was no pursuit made after the missing Welshman. The king and queen
+had other matters to think of, and the fondness of their son for the
+youth would have been protection enough even if he had not begged with
+his dying breath that his father would forgive and forget. Lady Gertrude
+and her husband did not come to court for very many years; and by the
+time they did so, Vychan Cherleton's loyalty and service to the English
+cause were too well established for any one to raise a question as to
+his birth or race.
+
+If the king and queen ever knew they had been outwitted by their
+children, they did not resent that this had been so, nor that an act of
+mercy had been contrived greater than they might have felt justified in
+ratifying.
+
+But all this was yet in the future. As Vychan and his wife stood on that
+high plateau overlooking the fair valley of the Derwent, it seemed to
+Gertrude as though during the past three days her husband had undergone
+some subtle change. There was a new light in his eyes; his frame had
+lost its drooping air of languor; he had stood the long days of rough
+riding without the smallest fatigue. It really seemed as if the old
+Wendot had come back again, and she smilingly asked him how it was that
+he had gained such strength in so short a time.
+
+"Ah, that question is soon answered, sweet wife. It is freedom that is
+the elixir of life to us sons of Cambria. I know not if your
+English-born men can brook the sense of fetter and constraint, but it is
+death to us.
+
+"Let us not think of it more. That page has closed for ever; and never
+shall it reopen, for sooner will I die than fall alive into the hands of
+a foe. Nay, sweetest Gertrude, look not so reproachfully at me. Thou
+shalt soon see that I mean not to die, but to live for thee. Here in
+this fair, free spot we begin our new life together. It may be even yet
+-- for see, is not that bright sky, illumined by those quivering shafts
+of light athwart our path, an omen of good? -- that as thou showest me
+this fair spot with which thou hast endowed me, I may one day show thee
+again and endow thee with the broad lands of Dynevor."
+
+
+
+    CHAPTER XIII. THE NEW LORD OF DYNEVOR.
+
+
+"Vychan, Vychan, the hour has come! That false traitor Sir Res has risen
+in revolt against England's king. Loyal men are called upon to put down
+the rebellion, and such as do so will be rewarded with the lands reft
+from the traitor. Vychan, Vychan, lose not a moment; arm and take the
+men, and fly to Dynevor! Now is the time to strike the blow! And I will
+to Edward's court, to plead with him for the lands and castle of Dynevor
+as my husband's guerdon for his services. O Vychan, Vychan, have not I
+always said that thou shouldest live to call thyself Lord of Dynevor again?"
+
+Gertrude came flying to her husband with these words, looking scarce
+less young and certainly none less bright and happy than she had done
+four years back, when she and her husband had first stood within the
+walls of her ancestral home. A beautiful, sturdy boy hung upon her hand,
+keeping pace gallantly even with her flying steps, and the joy of
+motherhood had given something of added lustre to the soft beauty of her
+dark eyes; otherwise she was scarce changed from the Gertrude of past
+days. As for Vychan, he still retained the eagle glance, the almost
+boyish freshness of colouring, and the soldier-like bearing which
+distinguished his race, and the gold of his hair had not tarnished or
+faded, though he had developed from the youth to the man, and was a
+noble specimen of manhood in the zenith of its strength and beauty.
+
+Rising hastily at his wife's approach, he gazed at her with parted lips
+and glowing eyes, whilst she once more told him the news, brought by a
+special messenger from the Princess Joanna, brought thus, as both knew,
+with a special meaning which they well understood. Four years of
+peaceful prosperity in England had in no whit weakened Vychan's love for
+his own land or blunted the soldier-like instincts of his race. There
+was something of the light of battle and of conquest in his eye as he
+gazed at his wife, and his voice rang out clear and trumpet-like as he
+gathered the sense of the message she brought.
+
+"Take up arms against that false traitor-kinsman of mine? ay, verily,
+that I will. False first to his kindred and his country, then false to
+the king who has trusted and rewarded him so nobly. Res ap Meredith,
+methinks thine hour is come! Thou didst plot and contrive to wrest from
+me the fair lands my father bequeathed me; but I trow the day has dawned
+when the false lord shall be cast forth, even as he has cast forth
+others, and when there shall be a lord of the old race ruling at
+Dynevor, albeit he rule beneath a new name."
+
+"Heaven grant it may be so!" cried Gertrude, the tears of excitement
+sparkling in her eyes; whilst little Griffeth, catching some of the
+sense of his father's words, and understanding with the quick instinct
+of childhood that there was something unwonted going on, shook his
+little fist in the air, and cried:
+
+"Dynevor, Dynevor! me fight for Dynevor, too."
+
+The father picked up his son and held him in a close embrace.
+
+"Ay, Griffeth, my man, thou shalt reign at Dynevor one of these days,
+please God to give us victory over false friends and traitorous allies."
+
+And even as the parents stood looking smilingly at the brave child, the
+blast from the warder's trumpet gave notice that strangers were
+approaching the Hall; and hurrying to the entrance gate to be ready to
+receive the guests, Vychan and his wife beheld a little troop of
+horsemen winding their way up the valley, headed by a pair who appeared
+to be man and wife, and to hold some exalted position, for the trappings
+of their steeds and the richness of their own dress marked them as of no
+humble rank.
+
+Visitors were sufficiently rare at this lonely place for this sight to
+cause some stir in the Hall; and Gertrude, shading her eyes with her
+hand, gazed eagerly at the two figures in advance. Suddenly she gave a
+little cry of rapture, and bounded forward through the gateway.
+
+"It is Arthyn -- Arthyn and Llewelyn! Vychan, thy brother and his wife
+are here. Oh, they have come to bid thee to the fray! They bring
+tidings, and are come to summon thee to the fight.
+
+"Arthyn, sweetest sister, ten thousand welcomes to our home! Nay, I can
+scarce believe this is not a dream. How I have longed to see thee here!"
+
+Vychan was at his brother's side, as Arthyn, flinging herself from her
+saddle, flew into Gertrude's arms. For some moments nothing could be
+distinguished but the glad clamour of welcome, and scarce had that
+subsided before it recommenced in the eager salutations of the Welsh
+retainers, who saw in Vychan another of the sons of their well-loved
+Lord, Res Vychan, the former Lord of Dynevor and Iscennen, whose wise
+and merciful rule had never been forgotten.
+
+Vychan was touched, indeed, to see how well he was remembered, and the
+sound of the familiar tongue sent thrills of strange emotion through
+him. It was some time before he could free himself from the throng of
+servants who pressed round him; and when he could do so he followed his
+wife and guests into the banqueting hall, where the noonday repast was
+spread, giving charge to his seneschal for the hospitable entertainment
+of the retinue his brother had brought and their lodgment within the
+walls of the Hall.
+
+When he reached the inner hall he found the servants spreading the best
+viands of the house upon the table; whilst Gertrude, Arthyn, and
+Llewelyn were gathered together in the embrasure of a window in eager
+discussion. Gertrude broke away and came quickly towards him, her face
+deeply flushed and her eyes very bright.
+
+"Vychan, it is even as we have heard. That false traitor is in open
+revolt, and he has been even more false than we knew. What think you of
+this? -- he professed to be sorry for his revolt, and sent a letter of
+urgent pleading to Llewelyn and Arthyn begging them to use their
+influence with the king to obtain his pardon. Believing him to be
+sincere, Llewelyn set out for England not more than two short weeks
+back, taking with him, on account of the unsettled state of the country,
+the pick of the men from Carregcennen. And when this double-dyed traitor
+knows that Arthyn is alone and unprotected in the castle, what does he
+do but send a strong band of his soldiers, himself at their head, who
+obtain entrance by the subterranean passage, slay the guard, and take
+possession of the fortress. Arthyn has but bare time to escape with a
+handful of men, and by hard riding to join her husband on the road to
+England.
+
+"So now have they turned aside to tell the tale to us, and to summon
+thee to come with thy men and fight in the king's quarrel against this
+wicked man. And whilst ye lead your soldiers into Wales, Arthyn and I
+will to the court, to lay the story before the royal Edward, and to gain
+from him the full and free grants of the castles of Dynevor and
+Carregcennen for our husbands, who have responded to his call, and have
+flown to wrest from the traitor the possession he has so unrighteously
+grasped."
+
+"Thy wife speaketh wise words, Vychan," said Llewelyn, whose dark brows
+wore a threatening look, and who had the appearance of a man deeply
+stirred to wrath, as indeed he well might be; "and it were well that we
+lost no time in dallying here. How many men canst thou summon to thy
+banner, and when can we be on the march for the south? The Earl of
+Cornwall has been called upon to quell this revolt, and he has summoned
+to his aid all loyal subjects of the king who hold dear the peace and
+prosperity of their land.
+
+"The days are gone by in which I should despise that call and join the
+standard of revolt. The experience of the past has taught me that in the
+English alliance is Wales's only hope of tranquillity and true
+independence and civilization. When such men as this Res ap Meredith
+break into revolt against Edward, it is time for us to rally round his
+standard. What would our lives, our lands, our liberties be worth were
+such a double-distilled traitor as he transformed into a prince, as is
+his fond ambition?"
+
+"True, Llewelyn, true. The race of kings has vanished from Wales, and
+methinks there is no humiliation in owning as sovereign lord the
+lion-hearted King of England. Moreover, has he not given us a prince of
+our own, born upon Welsh soil, sprung of a kingly race? We will rally
+round the standard of father and son, and trust that in the future a
+brighter day will dawn for our long-distracted country."
+
+So forthwith there sped messengers through the wild valleys and wilder
+fells of Derbyshire, and many a sturdy son of the mountains came gladly
+and willingly at the call of the feudal lord whose wise and kindly rule
+had made him greatly beloved. The fighting instinct of the age and of
+the race was speedily aroused by this call to arms, and the surrounding
+gentlemen and yeomen of the county likewise pressed their services upon
+Vychan, glad to be able to strike a blow to uphold the authority of a
+king whose wise and brave rule had already made him the idol of the nation.
+
+It was a goodly sight to see the brothers of Dynevor (as their wives
+could not but call them once again) ride forth at the head of this
+well-equipped following. Llewelyn marvelled at the discipline displayed
+by the recruits -- a discipline decidedly in advance of anything his own
+ruder followers could boast. But Welsh and English for once were in
+brotherly accord, and rode shoulder to shoulder in all good fellowship;
+and the English knew that their ruder comrades from Cambria, if less
+well trained and drilled, would be able to show them a lesson in fierce
+and desperate fighting, to which they were far more inured than their
+more peaceable neighbours from the sister country.
+
+And fighting there was for all; but the struggle, if fierce, was brief.
+Sir Res was a coward at heart, as it is the wont of a traitor to be, and
+finding himself opposed by foes as relentless and energetic as Vychan
+and Llewelyn, he was speedily driven from fortress to fortress, till at
+length he was forced to surrender himself a prisoner to the Earl of
+Gloucester; who, out of kindness to his wife, Auda de Hastings, connived
+at his escape to Ireland.
+
+There he lived in seclusion for some time; but the spirit of rebellion
+was still alive within him, and two years later he returned to Wales,
+and succeeded in collecting an army of four thousand turbulent spirits
+about him, at the head of which force he fought a pitched battle with
+the king's justiciary, Robert de Tibetot. His army was cut to pieces. He
+was taken prisoner himself, and met a cruel death at York as the reward
+of his many acts of treasonable rebellion.
+
+But the halls of Dynevor saw him no more from the moment when Res
+Vychan, with a swelling heart, first drove him forth, and planted his
+own foot once again upon the soil dearer to him than any other spot on
+earth. As he stood upon the familiar terrace, looking over the wide,
+fair valley of the Towy, his heart swelled with thankfulness and joy;
+and if a slow, unwonted tear found its way to his eye, it was scarce a
+tear of sorrow, for he felt assured that his brother Griffeth was
+sharing in the joy of this restoration to the old home, and that his
+loving and gentle spirit was not very far from him at this supreme hour
+of his life.
+
+"Father, father, father!"
+
+Vychan turned with a start at the sound of the joyous call, and the next
+moment was clasping wife and son to his breast.
+
+"Sweetheart! come so quickly? How couldst thou?"
+
+"Ay, Vychan, love hath ever wings, and neither I nor Arthyn could keep
+away, our business at the court once accomplished. Vychan, husband, thou
+standest here Lord of Dynevor in thine own right. Thou hast won back
+thine ancestral home, the boy's inheritance.
+
+"Seest thou this deed? Knowest thou the king's seal? Take it, for it
+secureth all to thee under thy name of Vychan Cherleton. And if in times
+to come those who come after know not that it was the son of Res Vychan
+who thus reclaimed his patrimony, and if our worthy chroniclers set down
+that Dynevor and its lands passed to the keeping of the English, what
+matters it? We know the truth, and those who have loved thee and thy
+father know who thou art and whence thou hast come. Let that be
+sufficient for thee and for me.
+
+"Griffeth, little son, kiss thy father, and bid him welcome to his own
+halls again -- the halls of Dynevor."
+
+Vychan could not speak. He pressed one passionate kiss upon the lips of
+his wife, and another upon the brow of his noble boy, who looked every
+inch a Dynevor, with the true Dynevor features, and the bold, fearless
+mien so like his father's.
+
+Then commanding himself by an effort, he opened the king's parchment and
+quickly mastered its contents, after which he took his wife's hand and
+held out the other to his son.
+
+"My faithful fellows are mustering in the hall to bid me welcome once
+more to Dynevor. Come, sweet wife; I must show to them their lady and
+their future lord.
+
+"Arthyn -- where is she? Has she gone on to Iscennen to meet Llewelyn
+there?"
+
+"Ay, verily: she was as hungry for him as I for thee; and she hath a
+similar mandate for him regarding his rights to Carregcennen.
+
+"O Vychan, dearest husband, I can scarce believe it is not all a dream."
+
+Indeed, to Vychan it seemed almost as though he dreamed, as in the old
+familiar hall he stood, a little raised from the crowd of armed
+retainers upon the steps of the wide oak staircase, as he addressed to
+them a speech eloquent with that thrilling eloquence which is the gift
+of all who speak from the heart, and speak to hearts beating in deep and
+true response. Vychan thanked all those who had so bravely fought for
+him, explained to all assembled there his new position and his new name,
+bid them not think him less a Welshman and a Dynevor because he bore his
+wife's arms and called himself the servant of the English king, and held
+up before their eyes the mandate of that English king confirming to him
+the lands and halls of Dynevor.
+
+A wild, ringing cheer broke from all who heard him as he thus proved to
+their own satisfaction that the royal Edward was their best friend, and
+as the new Lord of Dynevor held up his child for them to see, and to own
+as future lord in the time-honoured fashion, such a shout went up from
+the throats of all as made the vaulted roof ring again. Blades were
+unsheathed and waved in wild enthusiasm, and Gertrude's dark eyes
+glistened through a mist of proud and happy tears.
+
+Suddenly from some dim recess in the old ball there issued a strain of
+wild music -- the sound of a harp played by no unskilled hand; whilst
+mingling with the twang of the strings was the voice of the ancient
+bard, cracked through age, yet still retaining the old power and some of
+the old sweetness. And harp and voice were raised alike in one of those
+triumph songs that have ever been as the elixir of life to the strong,
+rude, sensitive sons of wild Cambria.
+
+"It is Wenwynwyn," quoth Vychan. "He is yet alive. I little thought to
+see him more.
+
+"Griffeth, boy, run to yon old man and bid him give thee his blessing,
+and tell him that there is a son of Dynevor come back to rule as Lord of
+Dynevor once again."
+
+POSTSCRIPT.
+
+The story of the sons of Res Vychan is very intricate and difficult to
+follow, owing to the lack of contemporaneous documents; but the main
+facts of their story as related in the foregoing pages are true, though
+a certain license has been taken for purposes of fiction.
+
+They have been represented as somewhat younger than they were at the
+time of these events, whilst the children of Edward the First have been
+made some few years older than their true ages.
+
+There is no actual historical warrant for the change of identity between
+Wendot and Griffeth, and for the escape and reinstatement of the former
+in the halls of Dynevor; but there are traditions which point to a
+possibility that he did escape from prison, in spite of the affirmation
+of the chroniclers, as there have been those who claim descent from him,
+which they would hardly have done if such had not been the case, for
+there is no record that he was married before he was taken prisoner to
+England.
+
+The children of the English king were not really at Rhuddlan Castle in
+1277, as represented here, as they were at that time too young to
+accompany their father on his expeditions. If, however, they had been as
+old as represented in these pages, there is little doubt they would have
+accompanied him, as the monarch was a most affectionate father, and
+loved to have wife and children about him.
+
+Arthyn is a fictitious character; as is also Gertrude. There is no
+record that any of the sons of Res Vychan married or left descendants,
+except the tradition alluded to above.
+
+THE END.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's The Lord of Dynevor, by Evelyn Everett-Green
+
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