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Late in 1233 the rebellion, of which Richard was the unwilling head, had changed from amorphous, uncoordinated, and sporadic attacks and had taken form. A definite treaty of alliance had been sworn between the Earl of Pembroke and Prince Llewelyn of Gwynedd, and their first concerted action had resulted in a brilliant victory for the combined Welsh-rebel force against the king's army at Grosmont. Stripped of weapons and supplies, the king's few English supporters had gone home in disgust, and the king, with his nearly helpless mercenary force, had retreated to Gloucester. |
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To Prince Llewelyn's mind, this was the moment to take accounts and make plans for the next stage of the campaignand when Llewelyn took accounts, he took account of everything. The Earl of Pembroke might have forgotten that he had a wife, but Llewelyn had not forgotten. Thus, when he wrote an invitation to Richard for Simon's wedding to Rhiannon, he added a specific requestin the politest of termsthat Pembroke bring with him his wife, whom Llewelyn had never met, and, of course, any ladies she wished to have accompany her. |
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Richard had held the invitation for two days, trying to decide between the relative dangers of letting Gervase and Marie loose in the Welshman's court, where they were sure to offend half the people by their contemptuous attitude toward "barbarians," and the danger of rousing suspicions in Llewelyn's very untrusting mind by refusing to bring his womenfolk with him. At last Richard admitted to himself that bringing Gervase and Marie was definitely the lesser of the two evils. Having gone so far, honest man that he was, he acknowledged that he had only hesitated so long because of his reluctance to endure Gervase's nagging and Marie's whining. |
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When this unpalatable truth had been absorbed, Richard sat staringas he thoughtinto space. However, his blind gaze had passed over the table on which he was leaning, crossed the width of the hall, and had really been fixed on Walter de Clare. After a few minutes, Walter became aware that Richard was looking at him, excused himself from the men with whom he had been talking, and came to ask what Richard wanted. |
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Jerked out of his unpleasant thoughts, Richard at once knew why his staring eyes had fastened on Walter. Walter was another problem, almost as unpleasant as Gervase and |
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