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Page 42
dangerous path. What is wrong with the man? Tomorrow I will go and talk to him."
"Ian" Geoffrey and Adam said together, and Simon cried simultaneously, "No, Papa."
"Winchester may have forgotten much, but I do not think he has forgotten me," Ian said grimly, ignoring the protests. "My very presence here is a testimony to my loyalty. Moreover, what can he do to me when all of you are here waiting for my return?"
"And what can we do if he holds you and threatens you?" Adam asked angrily.
"He will do no such thing," Ian said calmly, and would not be moved from his decision.
He did not have it all his own way, however. Adam and Simon conspicuously escorted him to the Bishop of Winchester's lodging, fully armed and with a large troop of men. More ostentatiously still, they would not go in but sat on their horses a bowshot from the gates. Simon's Welsh archers unlimbered their bows and strung them, although they did not pull any arrows from the long quivers slung across their backs.
In spite of this, Ian was not denied access to the bishop, which many claimed was hard to obtain these days. Peter des Roches's black eyes narrowed as Ian bowed to kiss his ring. Unlike many churchmen, he had not become portly with age. He had dried until he looked as hard as the rocks for which he was named. Yet he was no ascetic; his intensity and activity burned away what he ate and drank.
"Why do you come here with such an escort, Lord Ian?" he asked.
He could not have seen or heard the troop, but Ian was not surprised that he knew. Winchester had not reached his past and present eminence by having stupid servants or by being uninformed.
"My sons," Ian said quietly, "think I am too old to defend myself. And it is true that London is overfull of roistering men who take what they want when they

 
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