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semblance of calm. "That you will not find Lord Llewelyn himself no matter where you seek. You would do better" |
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"Oh, enough!" John exclaimed contemptuously. "When a boy-child, swollen with unmerited honor, begins to tell a war council what it had better do, it is time to cry enough. You are free to leave us, Lord Geoffrey, and to obey the orders we give you." |
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There was a moment of trembling silence while Geoffrey looked, not at the king but at his father. "Yes, my lord," he said softly, and bowed, and left the room. |
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A short walk brought him out into the cloister where he stopped to try to calm the rage that was threatening to send him back to speak his mind. Having swallowed that lunatic impulse, which left him feeling rather sick, Geoffrey wondered what next he should do. By choice he would go back to camp, but if he wished to speak to his father about Joanna it was necessary to wait until the council was over. As if his thinking had conjured her from thin air, a page tugged at his sleeve and told him that the lady awaited him in the garden. |
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Summoning to mind his own not-so-distant miseries when he had served in the same capacity, Geoffrey did not snap the child's head off, strike him, or refuse to accompany him. He closed his eyes, prayed for patience, and said, "Very well, lead on." |
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It would have been better if Joanna had been at a distance, but she had settled herself conveniently near the entrance to the pleasure grounds. Geoffrey had no time to cool and, when she rose to greet him, smiling pleasantly, snapped at her, "How can I serve you, madam?" |
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Long years of living with two volatile temperaments had made their mark on Joanna. Instead of shrieking, "Is that a proper way to greet me, whoreson?" as her mother might well have done, she said softly, "I have caught you at a bad time. I am sorry for it. I will not keep you. I promised your father I would make my peace with you before you returned to camp. Only let me say I am sorry I teased you last night, my lord." |
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Geoffrey rubbed at his forehead as if to scrub away the |
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