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sulting manner. Since the Hospitalers were mediating, an appearance of good will had to be maintained. |
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Despite the necessary delicacy, it seemed to Simon that the King was devoting more time to the terms of the agreement than an eager bridegroom should, but he held his tongue on that subject. His intention had been to provide Richard with an excuse to avoid his wife's company, if he wished to avoid it, that would arouse no comment. Simon was sorry to see that the King was taking advantage of the opportunity, but it was better that his mood remain sunny than that he should have no outlet and be driven to less acceptable methods of relief. |
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The terms that Richard would exact from Comnenus had been carefully leaked abroad so that there was a little surprise and disappointment when the Emperor agreed to come to the conference. His acceptance of the severe agreement was received with outward joy and inner distrust. It seemed highly unlikely that Comnenus really intended to supply five hundred men to fight in the Crusade, monetary indemnity to those who had been despoiled in the shipwrecks, or to give the strong points and castles of the island into the hands of Richard's men until his good will toward the Crusade could be established fully. Simon knew that Richard was annoyed; the King intended to eat the whole island and had barely had a little nibble of it. What was worse, everyone knew that the day the main force sailed for the Holy Land, the Emperor would repudiate the agreement and attack those who remained, leaving his hostages to their fate in Richard's irate hands. |
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The King's council convened without the King and put its anxious heads together. Richard would not repudiate a military agreementat least, not without an excuse. The best excuse, of course, would be an attack on the King, but no one entertained that idea for more than a moment. Some protested hotly at the |
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