Here Be Dragons - 1, Sharon Penman [e novels to read online txt] 📗

down, shadowing her cheek. Sitting up, she pulled her skirt down, began relacing her bliaut. Her fingers were unsteady, but whenWill reached over to help, she shook her head. She was on her feet now, retrieving her mantle from the floor. "Will . ' 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 wit you.""No!" She pulled away, staring at him with such wide, frightene eyes that he was both touched and amused."What do you fear, Joanna? That people need only glance at us n to know?"Laughing, he caught her by the shoulders, drew her a ^ into his arms. "My love, it does not show in your face. You loo different." j"I feel different. I feel . . ." Joanna's mouth twisted. She tu away, moved rapidly toward the door.

603"Toanna." She paused, with obvious reluctance, and he said, "I i] be here at noon on the morrow."5 3 ,,No/» she said. "No.""I'll be waiting for you."f-lis words stayed with her as she walked back toward Rhosyr. /'// be 'tins for you- He'd smiled, as if her denial meant nothing, as if sure he'd come to him. Joanna stopped abruptly, stood motionless for so I n8 tf>at Topaz began to whine. Kneeling there on the path, Joanna put her arms around the dog."What am I to do?" she whispered. "Lady Mary" But s^e cou^ no* Pra7-Hers was a mortal sin. She had betrayed her marriage vows, betrayed her husband. And on the morrow, what then? For Will was right. She had wanted him, was as much to blame for what happened as he. She did not understand it, could not fully believe it even now, but she could not deny it. She did want Will.WILL reached the hafod well before noon. Joanna had been too distraught to think of the blanket and basket. The blanket lay as they'd left it, still rumpled from the weight of their bodies, but the basket had been overturned, emptied by scavenging animals. Will righted the basket, smoothed the blanket, and sat down to wait. At half past twelve he left (he hafod, stood for some moments squinting up at the sun. He was turning to go back inside when he heard a dog bark. Several birds broke cover, went winging over the hut. The spaniel appeared first, with Joanna following much more slowly.She was so tense, her approach so hesitant that Will instinctively stayed quite still. She reminded him of a woodland creature, untamed and poised for flight, and he said very quietly, "I was beginning to fear you were not coming.""I did not think I was."They regarded each other in rapt silence until Will deemed it safe toJflove. Stepping toward her, he took her hand. "I thought about youH the night. I kept remembering how you wept, wept for my pain."f smiled, his familiar smile of self-mockery, but to Joanna, unexpect-y suggestive of sadness. "Over the years, many women have wept use of me. But I honestly could recall nary a one weeping for me . . .("St you.,''she j°anna nac' weP* again at night, lying alone in Llewelyn's bed. But forth n0t ^novv whether her tears were for the boy Will had been, or her, is madness that had so suddenly come upon her, that had brought bej,j * to fhe hafod, toWill. She closed her eyes, but could still see him fier lids: tousled hair streaked by the sun, thin mobile mouth,

604golden lashes and beard, details she'd not even been aware of noticinga small scar on his right temple, a shaving scratch on his throat. He was very close now; she could feel his breath on her cheek. Her lashes lifted and she saw his mouth soften, curve just before he kissed her.IN the days that followed, Joanna felt as if she were drifting farther and farther from shore, from the sureties of the world she knew, the world she was terrified of losing. She had no appetite at mealtimes, and sleep eluded her;she lay awake some nights till dawn, rose hollow-eyed and racked with guilt, unable to understand why she was jeopardizing her marriage, perhaps even her life, for a man she did not truly knowand yet unable to stay away from him.She knew she did not love him. The sexual attraction between them was undeniably intense, and had been since that night at Chester Castle, for she could see that now, could acknowledge that it had first flared on a darkened stairway in Caesar's Tower. But could she be so foolish as to risk so much for that, for lust? Why, then, had she never been tempted ere this? Why had she never even fantasized about any man but Llewelyn?Llewelyn. What would he do if her sin was found out? Joanna thought of theFrench Queen Ingeborg, held fast at Etampes Castle for no fault of her own.She thought of the innocent Lady Alys, confined by Richard in Rouen for six long years. And she thought of the look on Llewelyn's face should he ever learn of her infidelity. But each afternoon she found herself walking in the meadows, toward the hafod where Will awaited her.They would make love on the blanket, and for a brief while Joanna could forget her fears, even her guilt. Sometimes they would eat food Will smuggled fromRhosyr, and they would talk. Lying with his head in her lap, Will was relaxed enough to let down some of his defenses, to trust her with an occasional truth. He spoke of his boyhood at Bramber and Buellt, of his exile in France, conceded he'd earned his reputation for reckless risk-taking. He was intelligent, ambitious, and could be very amusing. He was also cynical and not overly burdened with scruples, was quite candid in admitting that when he wanted something, he se out to get it, rarely counting the cost. But every now and then Joanna would catch