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Page 221
marks for appointment as Sheriff of Gloucestershire that Alinor conceived the notion of turning Richard's greed to her own profit. Perhaps she could buy the office of Sheriff of Sussex for Simon. Sussex was a rich shire and would cost high, but her grandfather had been a frugal lord and Alinor, except for the charges for the men-at-arms and the upkeep of the vassals who defended her, was no spendthrift either. There was considerable gold in the strongboxes of Roselynde. Better to pay it to the King for a purpose than to have it taken away by the exactions of the official he would appoint.
Alinor's problem, until Simon's letters came, had been how to go about making the offer. She could not herself approach the King and say she wished to purchase the office. Women, except in temporary emergencies, could not be sheriffs. She was afraid to write to Simon and tell him to make an offer to the King. For one thing, if the letter took long to reach him, the appointment might be promised elsewhere by the time his request came. For another, Simon might get up on a high horse because he felt it was not honest to bargain for an office like a merchant. Isobel had mentioned that William was much troubled about the arrangement and that she had needed to point out to him that, however ill the means, at least he would be an honest sheriff and thus benefit not only themselves but the whole shire.
Worst of all, however, Alinor was sure Simon would refuse to take the money from her to pay the King; she was equally sure he had nothing approaching the necessary sum of his own. Nor would he be willing to borrow. Scrupulous as he was, he would reap far less profit from the office than most other men. For her own sake Alinor was more interested in preventing the appointment of a rapacious sheriff who could levy fines on her men and on herself than in what Simon could squeeze out of the shire.
The only path Alinor could see was through the

 
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