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Page 49
in private. Had the Queen allowed even the smallest opening, Alinor would doubtless have bitten off her nose to spite her face by saying she would order her vassals to rescind their acceptanceor something equally silly. Fortunately she had no opportunity to seem either spiteful or foolish and, by the time she reached her chamber, she had reconsidered, swallowed her bile, and was hoping sincerely that the Queen would be successful. One thing was sure. Any man who could look with revulsion on being the King's warden for estates like Alinor's was not out to line his purse with another's gold.
The Queen, however, was thinking less of cajoling Simon than of trying to discover what was wrong with him. ''Simon, what ails you?" she asked as soon as Alinor left them. "Are you ill?"
"No."
The short answer was even more disturbing. Simon was in the habit of telling her his troubles when she had time to listen to him. And that had not changed either. He had been full and fluent on the subject of the state of England and the problems that state had caused him in the last years of Henry's reign. The Queen put out her hand and grasped Simon's wrist.
"You must believe I had no thought that you would not welcome this. I thought of it as a jest because that child is a hellion and will run you a merry race, but I thought you would be pleased. I thought I had found one part of a fitting reward for the good news you brought and for your long faithfulness."
"Pleased? You thought I would be pleased that you laid another heavy burden on my back?"
"What heavy burden?" the Queen asked, so stunned by Simon's inaccurate description of what she knew was a profitable sinecure that she could feel no resentment at the rebellious tone. After all, what were liegemen for but to bear burdens?
"You think I will be welcomed here? This land

 
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