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Page 275
Roselynde from the Scottish border driven by an emotional desire he did not understand with only such rest as could be snatched when the horses could go no farther. There, fury had given him strength to continue to London where he had been physically drained even further by his interlude with Joanna. After that, first a sense of duty and then real terror had driven him on and on. Now, swaying in the saddle, he was only conscious enough to keep his seat.
Orage, the destrier, was as tired as his master. He plodded numbly along, head down, keeping to the smoothest, widest path. Behind Geoffrey, Tostig was a little more awake. Therefore, he noticed they were on the road to the Chepe, not the track that ran north of the town and would surely be clear of the burnt areas. Tostig sighed. He had had enough of this fire and the city, but obviously his master was bent upon making sure everything was safe.
When the first blasts of the changing wind struck them from behind, carrying the smell of burning and a blast of hot ash, Tostig feared Geoffrey would turn back. His master said nothing, however, and Tostig was certainly not about to bring trouble upon himself by making suggestions he did not want to carry out. He was relieved when they passed Cornhill, came through the Poulterer's Lane and reached the Chepeside. It was obvious to him that there were men enough here and everything was well under control. Their help would not be needed. It was at that happy thought that his mind stuck until the colors worn by some of the men-at-arms drew an oath of recognition from him.
South of where Cornhill ran into Poulterer's Lane, the evil orange eyes grew bolder. They looked right through the sealed shutters, which first blackened and then fell away to ash. Soon the yellow tongues were lapping around the flaming eyes, tasting the frames of the windows and the now totally dry beams in the walls. In a little time, a very little time, the roofs would catch, fall in, and the flame would again run free, ready to leap across to new roofs, to fly on the wings of the wind to new walls.
Simultaneous with Tostig's exclamation of surprise, one

 
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