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Page 331
England or Normandy or Oh, Simon!" Her eyes began to dance and she bounced in the saddle. "Oh, Simon, Simon! It is like we shall go all the way to the Holy Land with you."
"Do you think I do not know it?" Simon grated. "I did not see it at first. It seemed that you would be here by the end of February or the beginning of March. That would have been time enough, if the King was earnest in his work and God willing, to fill the Lady Berengaria's belly."
"If the King was earnest in his work," Alinor repeated softly, "but if he were not Yes. I think the Queen intended to be here in good time, but the passage of the Alps was so slow it was soon clear we could not be here long enough to be sure Berengaria would get with child."
"And she will risk that girl's life and yours in that pest hole in the east"
"The Queen thinks of the good of the realm."
"Does she?" Simon breathed. "Does she? What good to the realm is an infant heir but to breed civil war? Does she think she will live forever to guide her grandson's steps?"
"What choices has she? Do you think Lord John can hold the realm together?"
Simon groaned. "There is Arthur," he muttered.
Alinor shook her head. "That is worse. Even though the King has named him, his claim is no clearer than Lord John's. Morever, where is the advantage in a three-year-old over an infant? A child of Richard's body, no matter how young, could unite the barons better, the right being clearly his. Even if it is a daughter, and perhaps the Queen even hopes for a daughter, the infant could be suitably married to a man who could rule. I think the Queen does not forget how King Henry was able, despite her will, to rule her lands."
"Does she speak of him?"
"Oh yes, often, but not with either love or hate.

 
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