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Page 547
seen that the scars of John's campaign were healing rapidly under the new growth of early summer, but all the other news was bad and grew steadily worse. There was hardly any resistance to Louis. Keep after keep opened to him. By August, two-thirds of the barons had yielded. Then, there began to be a hint of change.
Some, of course, had remained loyal from the beginning. Dover had shut herself tight and resisted all Louis could do, although he came himself to oversee that siege. Engelard held Windsor, hurling taunts and insults down at the attackers. Barnard Castle stood firm against the Scots, and Eustace de Vesci died in an attempt to storm it. Nicolaa de la Hay leaned out from the tower of Lincoln keep and spat down at the commander who ordered her to yield. By God's grace the wind carried the spittle right into the man's face. That was her answer and God's. Lincoln did not fall.
Ian, after considerable discussion with Alinor, went to the king at Winchester. With Salisbury and his brother estranged, Ian was determined to give John no excuse to name him, or Geoffrey, or Adam traitors. A small force of French did come to Roselynde when it was known the lord of the keep was gone and called upon Alinor to yield. They thought a keep, no matter how strong, would be easy meat when ruled by a woman. Alinor's answer was no less rude than Nicolaa'sexcept that she used words. The French looked at the walls of Roselynde and at the sea, tasted a few yard-long arrows from Ian's Welsh archersand passed on to softer prizes.
Kemp lay tight shut also, with Adam prowling the walls like an angry lion. One of Louis's men had seized a smaller stronghold of Adam's and had butchered the garrison and the castellan and his family, even though Adam had offered ransom for them. That ended Adam's brief desire to flirt with a foreign king. Geoffrey spoke true. Only Louis's own Frenchmen would be favored. Other barons who had yielded were discovering the same truth. They received a very cold welcome from Louis indeed and, even though they were willing to fight for him, discovered that their lands were not safe from Louis's men. The French knights

 
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