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Page 330
"I do not fear your unwillingness, more shame to you," he said bitterly, and then, "Alinor, do you know what day this is? What month?"
Completely bewildered by the non sequiture, Alinor repeated, "Day? Month? No, to speak the truth, I do not. We have traveled so far and so fast that the weather has changed out of all reason. Moreover, the Queen does not believe in slowing her pace for the small matter of the Lord's day. What can it matter?"
"Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday," Simon said flatly.
"Tomorrow!" Alinor echoed. "Tomorrow? Oh!"
Part of Simon's excitement was now clear. Since Ash Wednesday marked the beginning of the forty-day period of Lent when all marriages were forbidden, there was no longer any chance that Richard would marry Berengaria, bed her in haste, and send her back with his mother. There were a number of alternatives, but none were particularly attractive. The King might simply let the betrothal stand without any marriage. Alinor did not think the Queen would permit her son to take that path. She had not nearly killed them all with climbing mountains in the depths of winter to have Richard kiss Berengaria's hand.
"You were looked for some two weeks since," Simon said. "What happened to delay you?"
"We met Henry of Hohenstaufen, but the Queen could do little to soothe him. He is very angry at the King's support of Tancred," Alinor replied mechanically, her mind still on what Richard would choose to do.
"Two weeks delayed?" Simon exclaimed. "What needed two weeks to discover that Hohenstaufen was not pleased at having the revenues of Sicily reft from him?"
"The Queen" Alinor began, and then light dawned on her and her eyes widened. "She did it apurpose! Had we come then, the King could have married Berengaria with decent haste and sent her back to

 
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