|
|
|
|
|
|
der. The two worst are fled. The others will, I think, try only to hide their taintat least for now. We are strong enough while they are shaken with doubt.'' |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
"How long will that last?" Geoffrey asked, "And what can be done to prolong their doubt and improve our position?" |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Pleasure in Geoffrey's loyalty and in the unshaken practicality of his attitude eased the white, strained look of Salisbury's face. "The king has taken action," he said eagerly. "You must not think him a coward for seeming so overset by the news. No, nor was it a device," he added hastily after a glance at Geoffrey's face where the mobile lips had thinned with distaste. "John was truly overset, but not by fear. He did not believe that any man hated him so much. It is a shock to discover that men who have eaten at your table and drunk your wine can have carried so much treachery in their hearts." |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Geoffrey rose and walked to the hearth where a small fire burned. Surely his father could no longer believe what he had said. Even he should not be able to hide from himself what his brother was. Geoffrey could not understand it, but it seemed beyond doubt that John took a perverse enjoyment in the hate of his barons. He insulted and taunted them gratuitously, as he had done when Geoffrey came with news of the fire from London. In a kingdom full of willing women and indifferent, complaisant husbands, the king seemed to seek out and soil those women who would have resisted if they could and whose husbands and fathers prized the honor and virtue of their females. When he was offended, the king used the vilest means of punishment, like starving Braose's wife and child to death. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
"What action has the king taken?" Geoffrey asked, more anxious to avoid thinking further along the path his mind had taken than really interested. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
"To those whom he thinks least attached to the rebel's cause or most wavering, he wrote demanding hostages and requiring that they yield to more loyal men the keeps they hold for him." |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Geoffrey was silent. After what had happened to the |
|
|
|
|
|