I winced. “Ouch.”
Thank God for contraception, that’s all I could say.
Her poor mother.
“She fell in love with a local prince called Maelon, but her father—who was a King—had already promised her hand in marriage to someone else. He was furious when he found out, and she escaped into the woods to get away from him. She begged God to help her.” He sighed. “She was visited by an angel while she slept. The angel brought a potion that promised to rid Dwynwen of all her memories of the man she loved. She took the potion but realised it had turned Maelon into a huge block of ice.”
“Oh, no,” I said softly.
“God then granted her three wishes. Her first wish was for him to thaw the ice that trapped Maelon and set him free. Her second was for God to promise to help all true lovers achieve their dreams with their partners, and the third was that she was to never marry.”
“Really? After all that?”
He nodded. “None of it was her fault, of course. She was completely blameless for everything, but that was the hand she was dealt.”
“How did she end up here, then? If she was from South Wales?”
“She wanted to thank God for granting her wishes, so she devoted her life to him, and relocated here. She set up a convent and lived the rest of her life as a nun.”
That seemed so terribly sad.
Her only crime was falling in love, and in the end, she was completely alone.
“She studied the properties of herbs as she got older and became somewhat known for her medicinal skills. After she died in the second half of the century, this old well became a place of pilgrimage for Welsh lovers.”
I looked down at the old well in front of us. “Really?”
“Yes. It’s believed that there are sacred fish or eels that live here. They’re supposed to be able to foretell if your relationship will be happy or not and if love will be yours.”
There was nothing but an abyss of darkness. “What are you supposed to do? Yell down? Drop a coin in? Throw fish food?”
Matthew laughed. “It’s not a wishing well, Eva.”
“Bit dark for that.” I peered into it. “Is all that really true?”
He shrugged. “She’s a recognised saint, so it’s not untrue,” he said carefully. “I suppose a lot of it is left open to interpretation as to whether you really believe it all or not.”
I turned to him. “Do you?”
“I don’t know. I believe the bones of the story, of course—that she fell in love with the wrong prince and came here. Then again, I don’t know if it really matters if I believe in the rest of it.” He peered over at me with his lips ever so slightly curved up. “It’s a part of the history of the island, just like my family line.”
“I suppose you’re right.”
“What do you think?”
“I think it’s incredibly tragic that someone who believed in love so much was never allowed her own true happiness.”
“I wouldn’t say she never had happiness. Yes, she sacrificed her love so that others could have theirs, but that doesn’t mean she was miserable. I’m sure she took great joy from healing and helping others, not to mention the knowledge that God promised to help true lovers be happy.”
That was a pretty good way of putting it.
“That’s one way of putting it, I guess.” I turned around and looked out at the water as another gust of wind rattled through, sending a wave crashing into a rock with a deafening sound. “I’m all kinds of bummed now.”
Matthew chuckled, and we stepped aside to let other people visit the well. “Sorry. But it’s the kind of story you really have to hear here.”
“No, I understand. I can see why.” The cross caught my attention, and I let my gaze slide towards it. “Do you think there are really fish in that well?”
“I have no idea. If they are, they’re probably dead at this point unless they have a way out.” He chuckled. “But it would make sense. She’s also the patron saint of sick animals, and people are said to come here and pray if their animals are unwell. Sometimes just in general.”
“Have you ever done that?”
“Every time I come,” he admitted, turning to smile at me. “If a small prayer brings health to the dogs, then that’s only a good thing. If it’s not true and there aren’t sacred eels or whatever in the well, then there’s no harm done, and I’ve only asked the universe to watch over the dogs.”
“You believe in the universe?” I sat down on the edge of a rocky outcrop.
“I believe in something.” Matthew sat next to me, knocking his knee against mine. “I think too many things happen for there to not be a greater power of some kind out there.”