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would have even if she did not love him, and, from what the Queen said of an oppression of her spirits, perhaps she did. What might he not have then? |
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"It is not that I wish to leave her," Queen Alinor added, trying to clarify matters. "I will miss her for she is useful to me. When I saw her growing so heavy of heart, I thought she might be one of those who pine when she is wrested from the place she knows best." |
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Simon looked into the fire and rubbed his hands together slowly. "It is nowise safe to leave her unless she be well wedded and bedded before you go." |
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"There is no time for that." |
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"Then she must go even if she pines." Simon wondered why his misery did not show in his voice. "With the two Isobels married, Alinor is now the greatest prize in England. The King is gone, and you will be gone also. The chief justiciars will doubtless remain at each others' throats." His pain temporarily repressed by the practical aspects of what he was saying, Simon looked up. "Longchamp is too hated to be much respected as Chancellor. Who then can tell those who wish to pluck the juicy fruit 'nay'? Madam, Alinor can be the little seed from which the spreading mustard of civil war will grow." |
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"Well, then" the Queen began, and Simon shook his head at her. |
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"I can probably keep her from being taken by stuffing and garnishing Roselynde for siege, but will not those who besiege the keep soon flood over and raid others' lands? And from that" |
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"Simon, Simon," the Queen laughed, holding up a hand. "Do not be so passionate. I will take her, as I said, gladly. In any case, her care would not have been in your hands. I will need you with me. You must find a deputy for Sheriff in Sussex," she began to laugh again, "but I think Alinor has that already arranged." |
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