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Page 148
cause he feared to bring punishment upon her. Then he reproved himself. Lady Alinor was no Lady Green-sleeves. She would not ride apart to use a ditch or a hedge like a common whore. Perhaps she had fallen and the others had not noticed!
''My lord," he called.
Simon finished what he was saying to Lord de Mandeville and dropped back so that Ian could come alongside. "Yes?'
"My lord," Ian swallowed, "Lady Alinor is no longer with us."
"No longerWhat of that? Doubtless she has ridden back to speak to Lady Isobel or"
"No, lord. She went to speak with Beorn Fisherman, but then she rode off with a party that was coursing a hare for sport. They have returned, but not Lady Alinor."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, lord, I am sure."
Simon was about to ask sharply how Ian could be certain about one girl in such a rout of riders when he caught the intentand unmistakeableexpression in the young man's eyes. He shut his mouth, feeling decidedly uneasy. Alinor might be infuriating, but she was no fool. She had not ridden off alone andIan was rightshe would have returned with the others. Simon pulled his helmet up over his mail hood, swung his shield forward, and reached out to take his lance from Ian.
"I will murder that girl if she has stopped to pick wildflowers," he growled. "Go and summon my troop and Beorn and his men and follow me. Which way did she ride?"
Ian pointed. Simon clapped spurs to his horse and took off across the fields. They were open except for the dividing hedges and first he saw nothing. Just out of sight of the road, however, his heart rose in his throat when he saw, off to his left, a riderless gray

 
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