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Page 358
would prefer to sit with you in silence than to listen to that self-important fool."
The old man smiled. "Is he? I thought so, but. . . . So much the more I wish you would not go with him without Simon, even if the king is not pleased."
"Oh, I am sure that will not be necessary. He is so tired, you see. I only said I would go when he was ready. He will sleep long tomorrow. We will not allow anyone to disturb him. Simon will be here before he wakes."
"How clever you are, my dear. Yes, yes. Bid the men close the door. It will be so dark in that wall chamber, he will never know night from day, and no sound will wake him either. How clever you are."
Rhiannon thought so too, and they laughed together in amity and played a pleasant game of draughts with much silliness and little skill on either side. She felt even cleverer midmorning of the next day when Simon and Sir Harold arrived, breathless with anxiety, with their horses all in a lather. Having settled the hunting problem to everyone's satisfaction, they had ridden up to the priory south of Newbury to discuss obtaining a chaplain for Kingsclere. Sir Harold had been reluctant to make the arrangement on his own for fear of hurting Sir Henry. The old chaplain wished very much to return to the monastery for his remaining years, and Sir Harold felt he needed a younger man, but neither had wished to tell Sir Henry. Simon agreed that Rhiannon would probably be able to break this news gently.
On their way back to Kingsclere, they had seen signs of the passage of a large troop of men. Careful investigation had brought them to the camp where Sir Roger's men waited. The master-at-arms knew of no reason to conceal from Sir Harold the little bit he had been told and said they were waiting to accompany Sir Roger de Cantelupe, who had been sent on an errand by the Bishop of Winchester. Sir Roger had ridden

 
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