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Page 186
"Yes, yes, we cannot continually be having brawls on the dancing floor," Lord Richard teased.
"Your presence was well thought of," Queen Alinor remarked, "and, as it happens, it is no secret matter anyway, since a levy may be made of your vassals as well as others, you would have known tomorrow. Stand here, child."
Alinor's lips formed the word "levy," but she took her place behind the Queen without uttering a sound. A levy on her vassals meant war. What war?
The question was speedily answered. Simon was obviously the last of the gentlemen summoned to arrive at the meeting, and Richard announced that Mortimer had brought him the news of a Welsh rising. "They dare!" he exclaimed, but there was no explosive quality to the remark. Richard was angry but quite controlled. "Do they think I am a novice at crushing rebellion?"
John laughed aloud, and Alinor saw the faces of the barons stiffen. Hugh Mortimer and William Braose glanced at John, at each other, and then at the Queen.
"Nonsense," Queen Alinor said sharply, and, as Richard swung toward her, his eyes mirroring his shock, she added, "Nay, my lord, I do not question your abilityno one could. It is the word rebellion that is nonsense. The Welsh are not rebelling. They are behaving normally."
The Welsh Marcher lords nodded agreement to this.
"And for that reason, should my brother ignore the insult?" John sneered.
"No, of course not," Simon suggested smoothly, "but to talk of 'war' or 'crushing a rebellion' is to raise a petty insult to the level of a real threat. When the Welsh kick like infants, they should be spanked like infants."
"I do not care to swallow even petty insults," Richard snapped.

 
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