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fleas?" he asked contemptuously, careful not to use the dog's name again for fear he would rush over and make love to him. |
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"Do not underestimate Brian," Joanna said with a slight reminiscent shudder. "I had all I could do to keep him from tearing out Braybrook's throatif it was he." |
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"The dog killed one of the guardsmen that way," Geoffrey added soberly. I have never seen it done so fast. Never mind that, but look here at these garments." |
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His gesture indicated an untidy heap of clothing on the floor beside his chair. Salisbury walked over, bent, and then rose without touching them, his face gray. |
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"I do not believe it," he breathed. |
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"Neither do we," Geoffrey assured him at once. "A man does not come to commit an abomination with his guardsmen decked out in his own colors and then cover their faces and his with these." He held out the masks again. |
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"Too late," Ela whispered, her eyes blank and blinded by tears. "It is too late." |
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Salisbury paid no attention to her, but his expression was just as set. "What will you do?" he asked his son. |
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"You tell me," Geoffrey said. "When Beorn told me the men were wearing John's colors, naturally I bid him call off the searching parties. The last thing I desired was to find the king or even one of his acknowledged henchmen. Later, when Joanna told me they wore masks, I began to realize that the king could have no part in this. Then Beorn put the question to the two men we captured. They did not know the man who had hired them; he was not the same as the man on the boat and they had never seen that man's face. They had been told they were on the king's business and would be protected; that was all they knew. This convinced me more than all that John is innocent. What idiot would hire strangers for a dirty deed and then dress them in his own colors?" |
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Geoffrey looked at his father for a long moment, then dropped his eyes. If Salisbury could ask such a question, |
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