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man who knows meand John of Monmouth has been both friend and enemy for some time. Let us, like Bassett, assume the worst, that somehow Monmouth is privy to our plan to attack Shrewsbury." |
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"I suppose we must change the plans, then," Richard remarked, without notable reluctance. |
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"Not at all," Llewelyn said, shaking his head. "Far from it. Monmouth expects you to draw your forces out of Abergavenny and Usk and go north. Do not disappoint him. You must certainly march the men out of the keeps." He laughed at the expression of outrage that was growing on Pembroke's face. "Now, now, Pembroke, I am said to be a sly fox by many, but no one has yet called me a fool. I said the men should leave the keeps. I never said they should go far.'' |
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"By God!" Richard exclaimed. "I must still be half-asleep not to have seen that myself." |
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He was bright eyed now, holding back a smile, not because he wished to conceal his pleasure but for the sake of his scabbed lips. Richard still could not feel easy about initiating an attack on the king's men or property, but he had no qualms at all about defending himself. If John of Monmouth came out of his keep with an army and weapons designed to take Richard's castles, it was right and just, to Richard's way of thinking, to use any means to protect himself and his lands. Obviously, Llewelyn was suggesting an ambush. |
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Walter had understood a minute or two sooner than Richard because his close acquaintance with Simon had given him a better notion of how Llewelyn's mind worked. That notion, however, was making Walter very uneasy. It seemed to him that Prince Llewelyn had been too eager to abandon the question of how the news of Richard's intention to take his men north had got to John of Monmouth. |
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Walter could not help wondering if, perhaps, the wily lord of Gwynedd had sent out the little bird that sang the tale into Monmouth's ear. But why? At first Walter felt that would be insane, a senseless act of treachery. Then he saw that it was not insane at all. It was a device to produce exactly what seemed about to take place. |
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John of Monmouth believed he could attack and take Usk and Abergavenny while Richard was too far away to defend his property. Thus, he would bring a sizable army out into the |
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