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sure, but about which you and I think differently." |
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That made Joanna blink again. There was only one thing at court that might give Geoffrey pleasure of which she would really disapprove. The expression on her face must have told its tale without words, because Geoffrey flushed deeply and then began to laugh. |
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"Joanna," he protested. Then, choosing the lesser of the evils said, "I was about to say that it will be a great relief to me to wag my sword in the tourney instead of my tongue. I am sorry if you do not like it, Joanna, but" |
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"Why should I not like it?" Joanna asked in amazement. |
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She did not connect the discussion they had had at Clyro on the subject of war with fighting in a court tourney. Joanna knew that men were often injured in a tourney, but those injuries were not usually desperate and death was an even rarer occurrence. There was, unless some old, bitter grudge should have been saved for such an event, no intention to harm an opponent. Most times an injured man would be helped off the field, even tended by the man who had wounded him. Geoffrey did not realize that Joanna made a distinction between war and tourney. Ela did not seem to do so. An initial sense of relief gave way to the uneasy thought that Joanna was not angry because she did not care. |
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"You spoke ill enough of fighting some months ago," Geoffrey said. |
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"Did I? Oh, Geoffrey, if we are to stand here and talk, you might as well come in and be at ease." |
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He was not satisfied with her casual reply. "No. I want to tell my father you are here safe and I'doubt whether I would be at ease with the servants sweeping and laying rushes and moving furniture around. You would soon enough wish me elsewhere." |
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Since that was the truth, Joanna only smiled, which did not give Geoffrey any satisfaction either. He kissed her hand formally and turned away, meaning the gesture as a reproach. It failed that purpose completely because Joanna accepted it as a reluctance to embrace her more intimately in front of the waiting men. She watched him ride off and went |
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