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Page 539
did so too frequently these daysand then she saw the man was all excited.
"What is it?"
"Lord Geoffrey and Master Adam are here. They"
Joanna leapt to her feet and ran toward the stairs. Before she started down them, she froze. If Geoffrey was still angry, she did not want all the outdoor people to see. She drew back and drew back again until she was in the area by the great hearth reserved for the family. No servant would come near unless called. She stood there, trembling, looking at the entry from the stairwell, then tearing her eyes away and fastening them on her hands. She heard them. Her breath stopped. With her last bit of will, she kept her eyes down, fighting tears.
A heavy tread. That did not sound like Adam, who for all his bulk had a light, lively walk, and it could not be Geoffrey's uneven gait. Who? Her eyes flew up. Breath rattled in her throat as she gasped. Adam? Long step, short stepJoanna's eyes retreated from shock only to find horror. Her heart froze. Surely, although he was walking, Geoffrey's face was that of a dead man.
"What has befallen us?" Joanna cried.
Geoffrey winced. "Nothing ill," he said, with a heartiness that frightened Joanna still more. "The king has now retaken most of the rebel strongholds in the east. He prepares now to stop Louis's coming. I must see to what ships are in harbor and have them fitted for war."
"Yes," Adam saidhis voice was high and unnatural"I must do the same."
Joanna looked wildly from one to the other. She knew disaster when she saw it. She knew men pushed beyond endurance. She knew personally what it meant when it was necessary to cling to things like counting barrels of salt fish or, for men, fixing the mind on the details of the next physical task to be done. What Joanna did not know was what the disaster was.
"I only wondered" Adam was still speaking. "I only wondered," he repeated, his voice suddenly shaking, "is

 
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