"I trust, sir, that you will put myself and my squire to ransom, and
will take my word for the payment; for, until I go north, I have no
means of satisfying it."
"That will I not," Glendower said. "Or rather, I will take a ransom;
since, were I to release you without one, it might cause surprise and
inquiry; and it were well that your noble conduct to my daughters
should not be known, for Henry would not be likely to regard it
favourably. Therefore we will put you to ransom at the sum of a crown
for yourself, and a penny for your squire."
"I thank you, indeed, sir, and shall ever feel beholden to you; and I
will, moreover, give you my knightly word that, whatever service I may
have to perform, I will never again war with the Welsh.
"May I ask if any of our party succeeded in reaching Llanidloes?"
"Yes, some sixty or seventy of them got in. They fought very well; and
indeed, in close combat my Welshmen cannot, at present, hold their own
against your armour-clad men. Still, though it would have pleased me
better had we annihilated the force, our success has been sufficient to
give Henry another lesson that, though he may march through Wales, he
holds only the ground on which he has encamped.
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