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very, very careful that no breath of scandal should touch her name. Else it would mean dead men and danger to Geoffrey. Even if the challenges were fair, hatred would be engendered if Geoffrey went about killing men. |
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Having doused his head in cold water until the throbbing in it had diminished to a dull ache, Geoffrey dropped into his father's bed. He did not think he would sleep. He intended to devise a plan that would result in Joanna's immediate departure from the court. In fact, he underestimated the combined effects of a long ride, a lively party, an overindulgence in wine and underindulgence in women, and a rousing quarrel. When Salisbury came to bed several hours later, he was able to talk to his squires in perfectly ordinary tones and even to roll his son to one side without rousing him more than enough to grunt. |
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By morning, Geoffrey's head was back to normal. However, sober contemplation of Joanna's avowed intentions left him no more satisfied than when he had first heard them. He hated to appeal to his father for help, only there was no way to make Isabella send Joanna home but to get the king to tell her to do so. He could not say he distrusted Joanna, but he could say he feared Isabella would make her unhappy and that she would be disgusted by the loose behavior of the women in the court. Salisbury still thought of Joanna as a defenseless innocent, and he would believe that. Geoffrey grinned at the memory of how the "defenseless innocent" had got rid of her escort's troop and looked down at the gouge marks on his hand where her nails had bitten deep. |
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With that matter settled to his satisfaction, Geoffrey was able to give his full attention to the king when those who were bidden to the council convened in the refectory. What he heard drove Joanna completely out of his mind. John proposed that the quickest way to end the war was to pursue and take Llewelyn prisoner. |
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"When he is gone from them, the Welsh will fall upon each other and do our work for us," the king concluded. "Then we will appear in the light of saviors to them, protecting each from the other." |
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