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clothing and advising him which leech to seek out for attention. It made his heart melt with mistaken gratitude. So, in fact, would Alinor have treated a horse or a dog that was her possession. Any creature that gave good service deserved to be well fed and well cared for. If it was not well treated, her grandfather had taught her, it would soon cease to be valuable. Mistreated men and animals cannot serve with their full strength. As Alinor would have inquired of her farrier and helped dose a sick horse, so she would recommend medicines for a sick man. |
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''I have letters, lady." He drew them from his breast and handed her the packet, carefully wrapped in greased leather to preserve it from the wet. |
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"Yes, lady. He gave me the letters with his own hand." |
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"Thinner, I think, but he laughed exceedingly over what you wrote and seemed in high spirits." |
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Cedric closed his eyes and began to recite by rote what Beorn had told him. The words tumbled out freely, as Cedric had repeated his message over and over all the way home, fearful of losing or forgetting a word. Half an hour later, Alinor had a day-to-day account of where the troop had been, what they had done, what they ate, and where and how they slept as well as of every nick and scratch Simon had suffered and how it had been treated or not treated. There was no word said, however, about the women Simon had used. This was not owing either to delicacy or to deliberate concealment on Beorn's part. Simply, he would think it no more important that Simon had taken a woman to bed than that Simon had had sheets put upon that bed. |
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"That was well done," Alinor praised. She felt in the pouch that hung from her belt and found a small silver coin, which she gave to him, making his eyes widen at |
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