The Brothers of Gwynedd (103 page)

  By this time I think their complaints were a matter of tradition and sentiment, and they would have been both astonished and confounded if Llewelyn had taken them at their word, and torn his work to pieces again to distribute among his brothers. Of the three of them only David had voluntarily accepted his lesser status as a vassal, and enjoyed his lands upon that ground, and for all his lapses since, had always returned to that stand, even in this last reconciliation that was still chilly and imperfect. Of the other two, Rhodri obstinately held to his ancient rights, though he had never done anything to earn them. And Owen Goch, at the time of Rhodri's attempt on his behalf, had been offered his freedom and a fair establishment if he would accept the same vassal status David held, and had vehemently refused. To be honest, I do not think he had again been asked since that time. Llewelyn had been busy upon the affairs of Wales itself; it was easy to forget the angry, ageing, red-haired man glooming out over the lakes of Snowdon from the hilltop of Dolbadarn.

  But now that we were no longer at war, with our eyes for ever fixed upon England, now that four years had passed with only the minor vexations inevitable in any legal settlement, Llewelyn began to consider once again all those other matters which had been shelved in favour of the greatest, especially as their right regulation could only add to the stability of Wales, and help to preserve our good relations with England.

  "For there's no blinking the truth," he said in private to me, "it's not the best of recommendations to a prince that he has two of his own brothers in his prisons. Though God knows that was no novelty in Wales in the old days, if they did not kill one another outright, driven to murder by this same sacred law of the partible lands our romantics would like to revive." He was not the first to abandon it, in fact, but had inherited the changed practice from his uncle and grandsire, though it was Llewelyn who came in for the odium from those who hated change. "Now that I have time to breathe," he said, "I confess they are somewhat on my conscience."

  I said there was no need. "Owen Goch had the half of Gwynedd, and was not content, but snatched at the whole. He deserved to fail, and to pay for it. And since then that first division is long outdated, for all the rest of Wales you have yourself drawn together, he has no rights in it. He had his chance to come to terms and get both lands and liberty at the price of his homage, and he would not do it. What choice had you but to keep him safe where he could do Wales and you no harm?"

  We were together in his own high chamber at Aber, late in the evening, as we often sat together, and he looked at me across the glow of the brazier and the dark red of his wine-cup, and laughed at me. "All the justification in the world will not make my mind quite easy. You are becoming a lawyer like the English, Samson, and faith, so am I, for however much I may want a settlement, it will be on harder terms now than the simple act of homage. I'll take nothing less from Owen or Rhodri than a quitclaim of all their hereditary rights in Wales, engrossed on parchment, sealed and witnessed, something I can produce and they cannot deny. But for that I'd be willing to pay over not only liberty, but money, too, if need be, or land, provided they hold it of me, and not by any other right."

  "You made no such demand on David," I reminded him.

  "David offered his fealty. But I don't say," agreed Llewelyn with deliberation, "that I would not ask so much of him, were he now in the same situation. He is not. Whatever he may have done, he has never again raised the cry of his own birthright. And unless he gives me fresh cause, I will not ask anything of him, nor bring up again what has been done in the past. But surely there must be some inducement that could be offered at least to Rhodri, to get him off my hands and my mind. He's the weaker vessel, and the less able to keep his grudges white-hot for years. Let's at least try."

  Rhodri was then thirty-seven years old, and unmarried still, and I remarked, without much thought, that seeing how successful David's marriage bade fair to be, and how it seemed to work most potently upon his tempestuous nature, perhaps a wife could do as much to settle Rhodri. Llewelyn laughed, but then gave me a sharp and thoughtful glance, and said there might well be something in that. The restoration of the lands he had forfeited, upon terms, together with a proper match that would bring him lands elsewhere, might be temptation enough.

  So we cast about quietly to find if there were suitable matches available, and made no move meantime, nor as yet did Llewelyn consult his council. There was a certain nobleman whose acquaintance he had made in Westminster, one John le Botillier, who had lands both in England and Ireland, and he had no sons, but only a daughter, Edmunda, who was therefore his heiress, and a very desirable match, and her father had let it be known that he wished to settle her in marriage. There was no haste in the matter, but upon enquiry it was plain that le Botillier was well disposed to the idea of an alliance with a prince of Wales and would be willing to consider any approaches made to him. The lady we had seen in London, at the festival, and she was now turned twenty, and handsome.

  "We'll put it to Rhodri," said Llewelyn, "before taking it further. If he's compliant, it might do very well. Ride with me, Samson! I'll go myself, and at least deal honestly with him, not leave it to another." And he said, when we were on our way to Dolwyddelan: "My mother, before she died, told me to do justice to my brother. Do you remember? And I said I would do right to all my brothers. Easier to say than to do! Sometimes I wonder whether I know where right lies. When the rights of Wales come into collision with Rhodri's, or with Owen's, I see but one claim on me."

  I said, and it was true, that had they been other than they were, they, too, might have set the needs of Wales before their own. But by his tight smile I think he still doubted. Yet even in self-appraisal, and in his rare moods of self-blame and disgust with the shifts to which he was put in his quest, he never took his eyes from his grand aim, the establishment of a Wales solid and secure enough to survive its founder, and in pursuit of that aim he never repented anything he did, whatever its cost to him or another.

  In the castle of Dolwyddelan Rhodri had a chamber high in the great keep, but he was allowed the run of the wards for exercise, under guard, and as prisons go, his was by no means of the worst. Sometimes he was even permitted to ride out in the hills, though safely escorted, for the castle stands high on a steep place, and the space within the walls is somewhat cramped. He had been visited, often by myself, once or twice in every year, and his wants and complaints, within reason, were attended to good-humouredly. Owen Goch at Dolbadarn was more closely kept, being a far more formidable person. Rhodri was querulous and critical, but not given to bold or decisive action. The marvel was that he ever brought himself to make that one rash raid, in the attempt to snatch Owen from his escort, though even that he did mainly for his own ends, needing an ally more robust than himself.

  Llewelyn had him brought down from his tower apartment into the great chamber, where there was a good fire. Rhodri halted for an instant at the sight of his brother, and then came forward into the room with a wary and suspicious face, looking at us a little sidelong, which was a way he always had, from a child. Sometimes he even walked with a sidewise gait, as though too wary and secretive to approach people straight. He was not greatly changed after his long confinement, by reason of the air and exercise allowed to him. His reddish fair hair had no grey in it as yet, and he looked no older than his years.

  "What, in person?" he said, curling his lip. "I had not looked for such an honour!" He was not feeling as bold as his manner and words suggested, for I saw the rapid, nervous fluttering of his eyelashes, which were of a colour almost rosy. "You've left me long enough unvisited, there must be some important reason for this visit now."

  "There is," said Llewelyn bluntly. "A matter of business. I have a proposal to make to you, and we may as well sit down and be civil together while I make it." And he sent for wine, and made Rhodri sit beside the fire, close to him.

  "I look for no good," said Rhodri sullenly, "from any proposal of yours. You have never wished me well, or done me justice, why should I hope for better now? If you had any brotherly feeling for me you would have set me free long ago. What do you want with me more? You have done to me all that is needful, your princedom is safe enough, at my cost, and at Owen's. Go and enjoy it!"

  It was David's complaint, though never voiced to Llewelyn, that the prince held him too lightly to care either for his love or his hate, which in his case was never true. But of Rhodri it was true enough. There was no way he could either anger or please my lord, never anything larger than irritation and weariness. So Llewelyn sat back among the fur rugs of the couch, and let his brother's petulant grievances flow over him and pass, like the humming of midges in the high summer. Neither smiling nor frowning, he waited for the feeble shower to spend itself. Then he said mildly:

  "Hate me as well as you will, but listen to me, if you want your freedom and a life at large. For you can have it, but at a price. No, let me hear no exclamation, you know only too well there must be a price. We need not go into repetitions of what has been said often enough. Wales is one, and I made it one, and if it cost your life, and Owen's, and mine, I will keep it one. There is no change there; there never will be any change. But short of letting you or any break that unity apart, you wrong me, I do wish you well. I am here to prove it. Will you listen?"

  Rhodri was so at loss, and so seeking within his own mind for perils that might still be threatening him, that it took some minutes to awe him into calm, and be sure of his attention. Then Llewelyn told him the entire bargain, bluntly and short, to leave no doubt.

  "The father is favourably disposed. The lady is very comely, and a considerable heiress. And I will see that you are set up in a sum fitting to advance this marriage. The price is large. I own it. It is the only price that will buy you this opportunity. I want from you in return a quitclaim of all your hereditary rights in Gwynedd—for in the rest of Wales you have none, and never had any."

  Rhodri gulped, and gazed, and writhed, his breath taken by so unexpected a visitation. I saw how he leaned to the hope of freedom, recoiled from the surrender of his grievance and his claim, and yet could not but realise that the grievance had no hope of being recompensed, the claim no possibility of being acknowledged, whether he took this price or no. There was against him a mind far stronger and larger than his, and a cause not all, not chiefly, selfish, against which his own small struggles were vain. And he was being offered a very fine and comfortable position in the world, a wealthy wife, and his liberty. He leaned and clutched, and started back in dudgeon, and grasped again frantically before the hope escaped him. And Llewelyn let him sway back and forth in anguish as long as he would, without pressing.

  "In return for the quitclaim," he said, "I will pay you the sum of one thousand marks to acquire this marriage, but the quitclaim I must have."

  "And if I refuse?" said Rhodri, quivering. But to me, at least, it was already clear that he would not refuse.

  "Then you remain here as my prisoner, and you have quitclaimed to me all that I require of you, but without any repayment. Let us say," said Llewelyn, in the gentlest and most reasonable of voices, "that I stand to gain what I need, whatever your answer may be, but if your answer is yes, and if you make it good, then you also stand to gain a wife, an estate, and a figure in the land. It is not an even choice," he said, with some distaste, "but at least it is fairly stated. And you know, for all your grudges, that what I swear to, that I perform."

  And Rhodri did know it, as all men knew it who dealt with Llewelyn, for after he had wrestled with his venom a while, and we had kept silence and borne with him, he said in a strangled voice, and wringing his hands together in rage and relief equally mixed: "Very well, I agree! I will give you the quittance you want."

The agreement was drawn up and sealed at Carnarvon on the twelfth day of April, with the approval of the council, though since it was a personal bargain, accepted upon both sides, they had no call to sanction or prohibit. Nevertheless, their blessing, given with great relief at the solution of one long-standing problem and reproach, was worth much, and their witness to the deed far more.

  Rhodri was brought down from Dolwyddelan to Carnarvon still under guard, for Llewelyn would not quite loose him out of hold until he had his quitclaim safely sealed. But it was not difficult to see the lavish company that attended him as escort rather than guard on a prisoner, and from the day of his acceptance he had been allowed the services of his own household and clerks, so that there should be nothing underhand about the bargain. By the time they rode into Carnarvon Rhodri was no longer a pressed partner in the deal, having conned over all its advantages to himself at leisure, with no envied and resented brother by to poison the picture for him, and the prospect of an Irish heiress, with a goodly estate in trust for her, and a pretty face to match, had begun to seem far more desirable than a tenuous claim that grew every year more impossible of realisation. So it was no sullen and reluctant prince who brought his retinue into Carnarvon to seal the bond, but a cheerful giver who went about with a small, sidewise, sleek smile, as though he had reached the conclusion that he was not doing at all badly out of the exchange, but had better not reveal as yet that he was aware of it.