“It’s the old ones of the castle, Your Highness.” His voice had fallen to a whisper. “They walk the ramparts beside our men. They tramp the ditch, they ride on the hill. They are everywhere in the dark.” He crossed himself fervently and they saw him finger the amulet that hung at his throat.
Matilda glanced at John, shivering in spite of herself.
“What nonsense is this you talk?” he asked. “What old ones of the castle? There’s no one in these hills but shepherds and warring Welsh tribes.”
Beside him, Matilda’s fingers were pressing white on the goblet in her hand. A little hot wine slopped on her wrist.
“They’re shadows, Your Highness. Castel Dinas was theirs a thousand years ago. Maybe more. Before Our Lord was born this land belonged to them. We find their belongings in the foundations. The ditches and ramparts were dug by them. Their gods still rule, my lord. Christ is not welcome here. The walls of the chapel fall each time we begin to build…” He was speaking quickly now, his hands pressed together, beads of sweat standing out on his brow.
John stood up and leaned toward him across the table. “God’s teeth! Are you telling me that this garrison is reduced to total terror by a pack of ghosts?” His voice was icy.
The man lowered his eyes. “They’re real, my lord. I’ve seen them. Spirits, maybe, from the old days, but they’re real. My lady, please release us. The only way is to abandon the castle to them.” He turned to Matilda at last, his hands pressed together in supplication.
“How dare you suggest such a thing?” John’s voice cut through the man’s pleading like a whiplash. “The punishment for desertion is known to you, no doubt. I think you had better consider well before you suggest abandoning a strategic point such as this.”
“That is enough.” Matilda rose painfully to her feet and tried to clear her throat. “You may go for now,” she said wearily. “There will be no punishments until messages have been sent to Sir William. You will see to it meanwhile that the building goes on and that there is no more drunkenness.”
The man scrambled to his feet and, bowing low, fled from the hall.
John turned to her. “What, no floggings, Lady Matilda? Do you feel that they’re justified being lazy good-for- nothing hounds because they can tell a good ghost story?”
She colored. “Perhaps they’re right, my lord,” she said defiantly. “There is something evil about this place.”
“Apart from me, you mean?” His voice was heavy as her clear green eyes sought his and held his stare for a moment. He looked away first.
“It’s lonely here certainly,” he said at last, rising to his feet, goblet in hand still, and walking over toward the hearth, “and it’s eerie in all this mist.”
She watched him as he stood looking down into the glowing ash. His handsome face was pale and drawn, and there was an almost feline tautness about his muscles as he flexed his fingers slowly around the stem of the earthenware cup. She shuddered violently.
“The mountains are often eerie to the sensitive, Your Highness,” she said softly. “I believe the men here are right. The old gods still walk these hills. This place is theirs and they will protect their own.”
He swung around and gave her a searching look. “And are you their own too, my lady?” he said mockingly. “I think not. These gods or ghosts or men did not leap to your defense, as I recall, last night.”
Ignoring the impotent fury that showed for an instant in her eyes, he took another thoughtful sip from the goblet. “No, this is rubbish. I’m prepared to swear that a few floggings and perhaps a hanging or two would ensure that no more gods or ghosts were ever seen here. You cross yourself, my lady? Can it be you are afraid of ghosts?” His eyes glittered once more. “Surely not, with me here to protect you even if your gods will not!” He took a step toward her.
Matilda felt the blood drain from her face. “You are no protection, my lord prince,” she said. “God help the people of this country if ever you should become its king!”
She turned her back on him sharply, trying to steady her shaking hands.
Behind her there was a moment’s silence, then she felt his fingers lightly touch her shoulders. “You presume too far, my lady,” he said softly in her ear.
“As you did, Your Highness,” she whispered. “God forgive you.”
His hands fell away, but for a moment he did not move. “We were meant for each other, Matilda,” he said quietly. “You cannot fight what God intended.”
“
He gave a half smile. “He was perhaps the source more of the inspiration than the method, madam. The result is the same. You are mine.”
For a moment she stared at him in silence, her eyes huge as they held his, searching for some trace of gentleness behind the stark words. There was none.
He held out his hand suddenly and, taking hers, raised it to his lips. “You have to accept the inevitable, my lady,” he said softly. “The stars themselves have spelled out our destinies-”
“No!” She pulled her hand away from him violently. “No, I don’t believe you.”
He smiled faintly. “As you wish, but it will be the harder lesson for you to learn. Come, let us inspect the holy well that graces this unholy place. Then perhaps we can return to the Hay. Your hospitality on this occasion does not overwhelm me, madam!”
Brushing past her, he pulled his cloak from the stool where he had flung it and ran down the steps into the misty cold sunshine. For a moment she did not move, overcome with fear and disgust, then reluctantly she forced herself to follow him outside.
The cold windswept valley was swathed in feeble sunshine as the heavy clouds streamed past, while all around them the mountains rose like evil presences, brooding, guarding Dinas and its secrets. She found she was shivering violently once more.
Dinas Well lay outside the north gate, a small bubbling spring surrounded by sharp rushes where a low wall of loose stone had been raised to protect it. There were signs that offerings had been left to the guardians of the well, whoever they might be, and garlands of wilted michaelmas daisies decorated the stone.
For a moment John stood staring down at it, then slowly he pulled off his heavy mantle and began to unlace the russet cotte beneath it, baring his breast to the teeth of the gale. Matilda caught her breath in horror. On his breast was an angry suppurating wound in the shape of a crescent moon.
He knelt, hesitating for a moment at the edge of the bubbling spring, then, clenching his teeth, he bent toward it and began to splash the icy mountain water over the wound. It was as she watched that somewhere the memory stirred at the back of her mind of Jeanne’s voice talking about the holy well of Dinas. It was this water alone that could heal the incurable wounds procured by witchcraft; and this man was a descendant of Melusine-the daughter of the devil. Crossing herself, Matilda turned quickly away, her fear and revulsion doubled. It was a long time before she dared turn back as for the last time he bent and scooped some water into the palm of his hand and splashed it over his throat. And when she did turn she saw him toss a gold coin into the opaque green waters of the pool.
At last he rose to his feet, the water still glistening on his neck. “Let’s see what magic this can perform,” he said as he shrugged his mantle back on. “Perhaps it will redeem my good opinion of this Godforsaken place! Shall we call the horses and get out of here? I feel we’ve done all we can. I’ve seen the splendors of your defenses.” He smiled amiably enough, but she flinched at the double-edged cut to his meaning. “Come,” he went on. “We’ve seen the well. I wish to return to Hay. The day is several hours old, and I don’t relish the thought of another night here.”
There had been no storm in London. Above the high dome of the Reading Room at the British Museum the sky was relentlessly blue and harsh. Sam Franklyn stretched and sat back in his seat, staring thoughtfully upward. Making up his mind abruptly, he began to shut the books in front of him. He closed his slim notebook and twisted around to tuck it into the pocket of the jacket hanging on the back of his chair, then he stood up. He was smiling as he handed in the armful of textbooks at the circular central counter.
He made his way out of the museum through the crowds of visitors, pushed out of the swing doors, and ran
