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army could if its meat was still on the hoof, its grain in sacks to be carried by men and mules, its shelter and comfort the leaves of the trees and the open heavens. Salisbury thanked them and said he would consider; they laughed again. If he did not go now, they said, he would lose his prizeif it was not already gone. When he brought this news to John, Salisbury found that his feeling of hopeless frustration was not shared. John suggested that, since Geoffrey had been so foresighted as to be provided with the proper equipment for such a venture, that Geoffrey should go. If Salisbury thought Geoffrey unable, he could either appoint some other man to lead or ask Geoffrey to barter his supplies and animals for cars and oxen. |
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Salisbury stared stonily at the ground. Neither alternative John offered was worth considering for a moment. Geoffrey would never agree to either. He would sooner die or withdraw his force than yield their leadership to another man; he might yield his own small contingent to Salisbury himself, if urged, but he would never allow control of Ian's men to slip from his hands. That was his trust. As for the othertaking his pack animals and supplieshe would want to know why and, when he heard, would point out, quite correctly, that young or old, he had been more right than any other in his estimate of the Welsh and was thus best fitted for the mission. In fact, Salisbury knew John's idea was good and Geoffrey was able. Choking down his fear for his son, Salisbury agreed. |
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Lady Alinor had, of course, warned her daughter of the dangers inherent in court life and Joanna was not totally ignorant of it because she had spent time at court under Lady Ela's care. She discovered, however, that there are great differences between childhood at court and young maidenhood there. As a child, Joanna had enjoyed herself. It was the only time, aside from high festivals like her mother's second wedding, that she had had a wide variety of playmates of her own age and class. Some of those playmates were still there and they had greeted her kindly, but Joanna found that they had grown apart. |
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