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Page 292
nothing but rebuilding here now. Do you desire that I take Lady Maud with me?"
Lady Maud was the last thing in Geoffrey's mind at the moment, but he was so nonplussed by Joanna's manner and selection of subject that he replied automatically to what she said. "No. Not that there is anything wrong with Lady Maud. She suits Engelard, and he would be glad to have her to wife, but his father desires a more profitable marriage. She is not a bad woman." He looked attentively at Joanna, suddenly wondering if that was the source of her coldness. "I would not have sent her to you, Joanna, if I knew her to be of loose character."
"What would you have done? Thrown her into the street?"
"I would have sent Tostig to take her to a suitable inn," Geoffrey said sharply. "In any case, I did not mean you to house her for more than one night. She would drive you insane. She is the silliest woman I have ever known."
A slight smile touched Joanna's lips, as if a stranger had said something with which she agreed but was too polite to acknowledge openly. "She is good natured and kind hearted. She can remain here until you find a suitable place," Joanna suggested pleasantly.
Geoffrey was appalled. He had assumed that he would accompany Joanna back to Roselynde, but it was quite clear that she not only did not expect that but did not desire it. "For God's sake," he burst out, "you did not use to hold a grudge when I told you a home truth. If you wished me to use a gentler word than 'idiot' when I corrected you"
"Oh no," Joanna interrupted tonelessly, "you were quite right. It was an idiotic thing to do. Indeed, I am not angry."
It was true, she was no longer angry. She had been, and in the heat of the moment, had spoken aloud the truth she had seen in her own eyes in the mirror the previous morning. She had said then she would not love Geoffrey, yet only a few hours later she had found specious excuses to go seeking him whereas he had saidno sane woman would

 
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