“And the same to Meurig at Bangor, with his brotherlyprayers and compliments?”

“No, Meurig gets a breviary, a very handsome one. Our bestilluminator had as good as finished it when the archbishop issuedhis orders, so he added a special leaf for a picture of SaintDeiniol, Meurig’s founder and patron. I would rather have thebook,” said Mark, winding his way down a steep woodland rideand out into the declining sun towards the valley. “But thecross is meant as the more formal tribute. After all, we had ourorders. But it shows, do you not think, that Theobald knows thathe’s given Gilbert a very awkward place to fill?”

“I should not relish being in his shoes,” Cadfaeladmitted. “But who knows, he may delight in the struggle.There are those who thrive on contention. If he meddles too muchwith Welsh custom he’ll get more than enough ofthat.”

They emerged into the green, undulating meadows and bushycoverts along the riverside, the Dee beside them reflecting backorange gleams from the west. Beyond the water a great grassy hillsoared, crowned with the man-made contours of earthworks raisedages ago, and under the narrow wooden bridge the Dee dashed anddanced over a stony bed. Here at the church of Saint Collen theyasked and found a lodging for the night with the parish priest.

On the following day they crossed the river, andclimbed over the treeless uplands from the valley of the Dee to thevalley of the Clwyd, and there followed the stream at ease thelength of a bright morning and into an afternoon of soft showersand willful gleams of sun. Through Ruthin, under the outcrop of redsandstone crowned with its squat timber fortress, and into the valeproper, broad, beautiful, and the fresh green of young foliageeverywhere. Before the sun had stooped towards setting they camedown into the narrowing tongue of land between the Clwyd and theElwy, before the two rivers met above Rhuddlan, to move on togetherinto tidal water. And there between lay the town of Llanelwy andcathedral of Saint Asaph, comfortably nestled in a green, shelteredvalley.