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Page 243
''I do not care if they hear me in heaven!" William exclaimed passionately. "John's only interest in Wales was to draw the King there. Now he will demand his rents and we, who must collect those rents from men who will need to spend their substance in fighting, whose serfs are killed and crops destroyed and who thus have no money with which to pay rentswe will be caught between the upper and nether millstones. But the King cares nothing for that. I suppose he hopes we will not pay our rents. All he cares is that John should be busyvery busy."
"Does Simon believe this too?" Alinor asked.
"He suggested as much to me. I was like a stunned ox. I could not believe what I had to do even though I was there, doing it. When he said it, however, everything fell into place." William's voice softened and he looked oddly at Alinor. "Simon said something else, something I did not understand. He said his first duty was to ride back with Rhys and then he would go into Sussexas it was God's will he should not return to Court but to set his duty in distant places. It is not like Simon to speak of God's will in that way."
Tears started into Alinor's eyes. "He is angry with me for buying the office. I tried to explain that it was no condescending gift from me, that I was not trying to pay him in gold for his kindness. I know that what Simon has done for me cannot be repaid in gold. He thinks I cheapen him and set his honor at naught, trying to ensure further kindness with rich gifts."
Isobel comforted her with soft assurances that time would heal Simon's rage and bring him to a better way of thinking, but William said nothing, the puzzled frown remaining on his brow. Alinor guessed that William did not think Simon was angry. Something deeper and more important was the seat of his trouble.
That the trouble was indeed deep-seated and that time would not affect it became apparent as fall deepened into winter. Simon pursued his duties as

 
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