"Yes," Joanna said very evenly, "he is." Will was sucking on a finger, claiming the dog had bitten him. His hair had tumbled down across his forehead; it shone like silver where the sun touched it, and she wondered how it would feel. "I ought to be getting back," she said abruptly, and he sat up at once, began to protest.

"Not yet. If you go, I'll have nothing to do but return to Rhosyr, brood about the exorbitant ransom your husband will demand for my release. Or try to coax a civil word from the sour-tongued Senena. On my first day here, I did but bid her good morrow, and she drew back her skirts as if she'd just come across a pox-ridden beggar!"

Joanna had to laugh. "You have not changed as much as I first thought," she said, and Will grinned.

"By all accounts, that holds true for Gruffydd, too. He was God's greatest fool at fourteen, is no less of one today. Tell me, Joanna, just how did he end up at Deganwy Castle? I've been indulging in some discreet eavesdropping, enough to gather you had a hand in it."

Joanna's jaw muscles tensed. "Yes," she said defiantly. "I did. I deliberately provoked Gruffydd into a heedless rage, hoping he'd force my husband into banishing him. Why? Are you going to stand in judgment upon me, too? I suppose you think a woman has no right to me die in the concerns of men, that I ought to have done nothing, just le my son lose" ^ "Do I get a chance to speak? I think you ought to be proud yourself."

"Truly?" Joanna said uncertainly. "You mean that?"

"Indeed I do. I'll grant you, I might feel differently if you were^ ^ wife and pulled such a trick on me. But since you are not, I am ^ give credit where due. It was a deed well done, Joanna. Just 1 tnneu, what befell Rhys Gryg last year. His own son lured him to Llan*r CaStook him prisoner, and held him till he agreed to yield Llandove599 rniffydd may be half mad, in truth, I think he is But so is a woodj and if it bites you, you're like to die "

"You do understand11 had to give Davydd time to reach manhood, WJ1, had to put him first "

He nodded "Is this why you've been so unhappy, Joanna7 Because r husband blames you for what happened?"

Joanna had no intention whatsoever of discussing either her unhap- ss or Llewelyn's anger "My husband does not blame me, Will If % ,e seemed disquieted, it is because of Senena " Casting about for a fer topic of conversation, she said hurriedly, "But I do not want to talk / },er I'd rather hear about you I know you wed the Earl of Pembroke's sister And I seem to remember Gwladys telling me you have daughters How old are they7 What are their names7"

"Daughters I have, indeed, in overabundance," he said ruefully "No less than four1 My oldest is nigh on nine, the youngest still in her cradle We christened them with the family names of de Braose and Marshal Isabella, Eva, Eleanor and Maude "

Maude Of course he'd have named a daughter after the grandmother he loved.

Fool that she was, had she truly thought they could ever be friends7 Joanna rose, sought to busy herself in brushing off her skirt "I have to go," she said, not meeting his eyes.

He rose, too "Joanna, wait There is something I must ask you Your son Davydd told me that you and John were estranged during the last years of his life Is that true7"

"I do not want to talk about it, Will "

"Joanna, I wantnay, need to know "

Joanna's throat had tightened "Why7 What does it matter now7"

"It matters," he said grimly "You could not have loved him, not a man like that What sort of father could he have been7 The Angevin temper was one with legend The Devil's brood And John John was *e worst of the lot You had to have suffered at his hands, to have "ed him "

'No, Will No, it it was not like that My father was always good me "

I do not believe that, do not believe you Why do you defend him m*' Christ, if any man knows the truth about John, I do1"

am not defending him11 am not denying what he has done You e every reason to hate him But I will not he to you Whatever evil he " ave committed, he was still a kind father, even a loving one "

A 1.

n loving father7 God in Heaven, do you hear yourself7 He was " utter'y evi' and beyond redemption, and for you to"

0 Joanna's voice was shaking "My father repented his sins,600 died in God's grace. His soul is in Purgatory, not in Hell. The Almighty says there is forgiveness for all, that"

"Not for John. Never for John!"

"Do not say that!" Joanna was appalled. "He did repent ere he died, and God will forgive him. He was not utterly evil, he was not! He was capable of kindness, too, and the Almighty will take that into account when judging him."

"Kind? Because he gave you hair ribbons and sugared quince? Do you truly think such trifles can be balanced against the gallows, the rotting bodies?"

"I was not talking of trifles!" Joanna drew a labored breath, sought to call to mind John's acts of charity, of compassion. "My father truly loved England, as his father and brother did not. And he cared for his subjects' weal. He was the most accessible of Kings, was hearing appeals even whilst fighting for his throne, that last fortnight of his life."

When Will would have interrupted, she cried, "No, hear me out! You asked for particulars and you shall have them. The son of a friend was recently stricken with leprosy. I know I need not tell you the horrors of such a fate. Yet, as pitiful as the leper's plight is, it can be even more wretched if his king or lord lacks pity. Under such lords, lepers have ofttimes been burnt, even buried alive. But my father did pity them, Will, and he did whatever he could to ease their travail. At Shrewsbury he entitled the lepers to a portion of all flour sold at market. At Bristol he granted lepers a settlement of their own, where they could dwell under the protection of the crown. He even founded St Leonard's Hospital at Lancaster long ere he became King, when he was but two and twenty! Do such acts sound like trifles to you? Would a man utterly evil care for the least of his brethren?"

"You want to talk of John's pity? Let's begin, then, at Windsor Castle. I am sure my grandmother and uncle were fearful, for they knew John well. But I doubt even they could have guessed what he had in mind for them. They were dragged to an underground dungeon, thrust into the dark, and left to die. They were given no candles, no water, no food but a basket of oats and an uncooked ham. For ten days they were left alone in that hellhole, with the door barred against their screams. On the eleventh day the guards entered the cell, found them both dead. There was no way of knowing just when they'd died, how long their suffering had lasted. The guards could tell, though, that my uncle had died first and that my grandmother had gone mad at the last. Shall I te you why, Joanna? Shall I tell you how they knew that?"

"No," she whispered. "No, please ..."

"Because my uncle's cheek was bitten and chewed, as if gnawed , a rat. But it was not a rat who'd eaten his flesh, it was his own motr>e601 Those were her teethmarks in his face That was what she'd been driven to m the final hours of her life, by your father, by the man you call kind'"

He'd grasped Joanna's wrist, forcing her to listen When he released her, she stumbled backward, fled the hut Her stomach was heaving and she fell to her knees on the grass, lay prone as the trees whirled above her head, spinning in sickening circles She clutched tufts of grass, clung as if the earth itself were falling away from her She was weeping as Will knelt beside her Gathering her into his arms, he held her as if she were a child, and for a time there was no sound but that of her choked sobbing, the whimpering of her spaniel "I'm going to take you back inside now " The voice was so gentle that she wondered if it was truly Will's, but she obediently put her arms around his neck and he lifted her up, earned her back to the shelter of thehafod "Here,"

he said, handing her his flask "Drink " She did, the liquid was warm and so heavily spiced that she choked anew It burned her throat, set her head spinning She drank again, at his insistence, but shook her head weakly when he offered the flask a third time The last of her tears squeezed through her lashes "Will, I'm sorry, so sorry "

"So am I, Joanna I ought never to have told you that There've been times," he confessed, "when I'd have given up my chances of salvation if only I'd not known, if only I could forget "

Joanna shuddered "How could your father have told you7 Why did you have to know7"

He reached out, touched her tearstamed face "You were weeping for me7 For that fourteen-year-old boy7"

Joanna shuddered again, and when he put his arm around her, she did not move away "There was no need for you to know, no need " She turned so she could look up into his face, into eyes fringed with surprisingly long, fair lashes "You were so young How could you live with pain like that7"

"By learning to hate Not just John The men he trusted, the men who waxed fat on his favor, men like Hubert de Burgh and Peter des Roches Your Uncle Salisbury "

"And me?"

"1 wanted to hate you, thought I did until I saw you again at Chester Castle But you know that, Joanna You know how much I Wanted you, how much I want you right now "

"Will, I cannot " But he was leaning toward her, covering her uth with his His breathing had quickened, but there was no urgency "is kiss, not yet It was both unexpected and reassuring, this gen- eriess, he had about him such unsettling undertones of violence that it as startling, somehow, to find he could be so tender a lover Joanna602 knew she had to protest now, while there was still time for protesting, for thinking. But when he kissed her again, she found herself responding, kissing him back.

He was too practiced for awkward fumbling with clothing, slid his hand into the bodice of her gown. She gasped as he cupped her breast, and he gave a low laugh. "God, how I want you! It'll be so good, I promise you ..." And for Joanna there was only that moment, the feel of his hands on her bared skin, and an urgency to match his own. When he lowered her back onto the blanket, she reached up, drew him down into an impassioned embrace, and it was not long before he was murmuring, "Now, love. Spread your thighs for me. Ah, yes, yes .

. ." There was a tense moment in which they feared he was too ready, too eager. But he was able to keep control, moving slowly at first, deliberately, until Joanna moaned, dug her nails into his neck, and then he did lose control, but it no longer mattered; there was for them both a shattering release, convulsive and complete.

Will was the first to move, shifting his weight off Joanna and sitting up. She lay still, her head turned away, until he tugged gently on her braid, compelling her toward him. Leaning over, he kissed her possessively on the mouth. "You were worth waiting for," he said, smiling, and Joanna flushed even darker.

"What have I done, Will?" Her voice was muffled, almost inaudible. "My God, what have I done?"

He tilted her chin up, forcing her to meet his eyes. "What you wanted to do.

For you did want me, Joanna, just as much as I wanted you."

Joanna's lashes swept down, shadowing her cheek. Sitting up, she pulled her skirt down, began relacing her bliaut. Her fingers were unsteady, but when Will reached over to help, she shook her head. She was on her feet now, retrieving her mantle from the floor. "Will ... I have to go."

He rose without haste, draped her mantle about her shoulders. "Give me a minute to make myself presentable, and I'll walk back with you."

"No!" She pulled away, staring at him with such wide, frightened eyes that he was both touched and amused.

"What do you fear, Joanna? That people need only glance at us now to know?"

Laughing, he caught her by the shoulders, drew her back into his arms. "My love, it does not show in your face. You look no different."

"I feel different. I feel ..." Joanna's mouth twisted. She turned away, moved rapidly toward the door.603 e&i 19 f la, "Joanna." She paused, with obvious reluctance, and hntlnce shall be here at noon on the morrow." ' ^ ,e ^ "No," she said. "No."

"I'll be waiting for you."

His words stayed with her as she walked back toward Rho^taottowat,) waiting for you. He'd smiled, as if her denial meant nothing, * -tot notl''8*/' she'd come to him. Joanna stopped abruptly, stood motionle^koonbd nJ^ifs Jong that Topaz began to whine. Kneeling there on the path, Jo&o^rtlhe p^Sfer her arms around the dog. "What am I to do?" she whisperec^, e wh,s Wj Mary ..." But she could not pray. Hers was a mortal sin. irtomorta]^ 'la, betrayed her marriage vows, betrayed her husband. And on t,inoW _ An^'H, row, what then?

For Will was right. She had wanted him, was a^aiil him, "t eno to blame for what happened as he. She did not understand it, c iiterrstanci'^niic fully believe it even now, but she could not deny it. She did waOTttiii5he dSWiic 'intlVjj WILL reached the hafod well before noon. Joanna had been too disfciaboJiBsen to, to think of the blanket and basket. The blanket lay as they'd left ft Mt theyV'Hlit rumpled from the weight of their bodies, but the basket had beemnsjWtst hacjSw turned, emptied by scavenging animals. Will righted the b.drfbhted us*'- smoothed the blanket, and sat down to wait. At half past twelve H whitest tw' *H the hafod, stood for some moments squinting up at the sun. HQH ii'irfie su ^ turning to go back inside when he heard a dog bark.

Several birds tl afaiibveral k "(1* cover, went winging over the hut. The spaniel appeared first, jaitte&ared $V Joanna following much more slowly. '