“I’m not so sure that I ever really cared for the princess,” replied the chief; “but of this I am quite sure, that I never loved her half as much as I love you, Branwen.”
The girl tore herself away from him, and, standing up with flushed face and flashing eyes, exclaimed—
“Shame would crush you, if you were a brave man, for uttering such a speech. But you are not brave; you are a coward, and your late opponent will teach you that. Be sure that I will never consent to wed one who is a disgrace to manhood.”
A fierce scowl crossed Gunrig’s swarthy countenance, but it passed in a moment, and a look of admiration replaced it as he looked up with a smile.
“I like maids with your temper,” he said, still keeping his seat, “but you forget that if the king so wills it, you shall be compelled to accept me, and I think the king will scarce dare to thwart my wishes, especially now that another man has a right to the princess.”
“I defy you,” returned the girl, still at a white heat of indignation, “and if the king tries to force me to wed you, I will defy him too! The young stranger will be my champion—or, if he should refuse, there are other ways by which a helpless girl may escape from tyrants.”
She turned with these words and fled. Gunrig sprang up to pursue, but, fortunately for the girl, a modest bramble, that scarce ventured to raise its branches above the ground, caught his foot and sent him headlong into a rotten stump, which seemed only too ready to receive him. Extracting his head from its embrace, he stood up in a bewildered frame of mind, found that the light-footed Branwen had escaped him, and sat down again on the fallen tree to recover his equanimity.
Meanwhile the poor girl ran back to the palace, rushed into Hafrydda’s room, threw herself on a couch, and burst into tears.
This was such an unwonted exhibition of weakness in Branwen that the princess stood looking at her for a few moments in silent surprise. Then she sought to comfort her, and made her relate, bit by bit, with many a sob between, what had occurred.
“But why do you cry so bitterly?” asked Hafrydda. “It is so unlike you to give way to despair. Besides, you defied him, you say, and you were right to do so, for my dear father will never force you to wed against your wishes.”