A Moment in Time Read Online Free PDF Page B

but I cannot be your wife," Wynne said plainly.
    "Cannot? Whyever for, lady? Are you already promised? Or perhaps it is the church for which you have a calling?" Rhys demanded.
    "Nay, my lord, I have no wish to cloister myself, but I do have a duty to my family. To my brother, Dewi ap Owain, who is Gwernach's lord, though he be too young; and to my parents, may God assoil their good souls, who would expect me to stand by Dewi until he is grown and capable of managing on his own. I cannot leave Gwernach until my duty to my family is done, which will be many years hence. So, my lord, I thank you again for your most kind offer, but I think it best you seek a wife elsewhere," Wynne concluded politely.
    "It is not another I want, lady. It is you," Rhys said gruffly.
    "My lord! You do not know me. My family is slight compared to yours, and my dowry, though adequate, not at all what your great name could expect."
    "You have nought to be ashamed of, lady," he told her. "Are you not the heiress to this estate? Gwernach is famed far and wide for its herbs and cheese. It is a goodly inheritance and one that is worthy of my wife."
    "I shall never inherit Gwernach, my lord," Wynne said firmly.
    "You cannot be certain, lady," he told her bluntly. "Your brother is young. It will be many years before he comes to manhood and sires sons of his own. Anything could happen before then."
    "It will not as long as I am here at Gwernach to defend and protect him, and I will be, my lord. That I promise you," Wynne told Rhys of St. Bride's.
    "And what of your younger sisters, lady? Will you keep them at Gwernach too? Do they not deserve to be wed?"
    "All of my granddaughters will be wed to proper husbands in time, my lord," Enid said.
    "If you will be my wife, Wynne of Gwernach," Rhys replied, "I will see your sisters married to men of wealth and stature. I have two cousins seeking wives. They are young and each has a fine estate. You cannot possibly find husbands of such stature for your sisters as I can. The weddings can be celebrated even before you wed me. An act of good faith on my part, if you will."
    "I have a younger sister as well," Wynne said, wondering what his answer to that would be. "Her name is Mair and she is six."
    "The child who killed your mother with her birthing? She should be settled in a convent after our marriage that she may spend the rest of her days atoning for her sin," he answered.
    "Never!" Wynne gasped, furious. "That my mother died in giving life to Mair is unfortunate, but surely no sin of the child's. I shall never incarcerate her in a convent, unless, of course, she wished to go to one. If those be your plans for Mair, I shudder to imagine what plans you have for Dewi."
    "The boy would be raised at St. Bride's," Rhys said. "I have several fosterlings in my charge. He could learn his battle skills with them. They are a fine, rough and tumble troop of lads."
    "Dewi's place is here at Gwernach, learning how to manage his lands and care for his people; not at St. Bride's learning how to kill people!" Wynne told her suitor indignantly.
    He looked at her and his eyes narrowed as if he were reconsidering her worth as an opponent. Then he said, "Lady, you are obviously overwrought by the magnitude of my offer. I could go to our king, Gryffydd ap Llywelyn, who is the head of your family, and request your hand in marriage and the fostership of your brother and his lands. What do you think his answer would be, lady? When I explained to him the seriousness of the situation, do you think he would leave Gwernach and its little lord in the hands of an unfledged girl?
    "I should prefer, however, that you accept my offer of your own free will. I shall be a good husband to you, and I shall look after all of your interests with care, that you may feel free to concentrate on bearing me legitimate sons who will, in time, inherit my own holdings. What say you, lady?"
    "I must have time to think," Wynne told him. "What you say has merit, my