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Page 257
laden carts. Although he stopped several and questioned them, Geoffrey could not get a clear picture of the situation. Indeed, it seemed as if it might be less serious than he had thought. Everyone he questioned had fled without seeing the fire itself. All were tenants who, having removed their own furniture and possessions, cared little whether or not the house that sheltered them burned to the ground. For them the light in the sky and the odor of smoke had been reason enough to fly.
Drawing their swords and applying the flats liberally to heads, shoulders, and the flanks of the beasts of burden, Geoffrey and his men struggled across the bridge. For a little way, matters on the opposite side were just as bad, but as they worked their way west along the river, the crowd thinned. Although the fire was clearly further south, Geoffrey took little comfort from that. The glare from the sky now lit the road as bright as a sunset and the gusts of wind that came from the south were almost too hot to breathe.
''Lord," Tostig muttered, leaning from his horse toward Geoffrey, "what do we here?"
The fact that his master-at-arms asked such a question was a mark of the man's fear. "We do not have far to go," Geoffrey replied, raising his voice against a growing dull roar. "I must be sure Lady Maud is out and away."
A few loud obscenities rose from the tail of men following, but Geoffrey was relieved. They were of a general nature concerning the trouble caused by women and marked a renewal in the heart of his men rather than any increased fearfulness. Most knew Lady Maud's house, having accompanied their lord there to revelries given by Sir Engelard. The way was not far.
When they reached Lady Maud's, it was Geoffrey who voiced obscenities. The house was awake all right, but the frightened servants were running about without sense or direction. Some were weeping, some praying, a few were carrying buckets of water from the river and throwing them on the house. He swung off his horse and ran past the outbuildings and stable yards where frightened horses and mules

 
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