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Page 67
"Then" Richard began.
"Richard," Isabella interrupted, "the reason my husband is not here to greet you is that he does not wish to lie to his brother. If he does not know you are here, he does not have to tell Henry. Will you not take warning and go, dearling?"
Distracted from what he had been about to say to Simon, Richard frowned. "But you just said you sent him word that I had come."
"The servants! I sent him word not to come home," Isabella said with tears in her eyes. "Oh, Richard, it hurts me how much he suffers. In his heart he agrees with you. He has done everything from pleading on his knees to threatening to turn rebel himselfbut he cannot do that, no matter how wrong"
"I am no rebel!" Richard thundered. "That I am here in answer to Henry's summons is proof I am a loyal vassal. I have a right, even a duty, to complain of a breach of law and custom."
"If you do, you will be taken prisoner," Simon warned.
"And if I do not, outlawry will be cried on me," Richard responded angrily.
"It is better to be a free outlaw than an unoutlawed prisoner," Simon remarked cynically. "Think what has befallen de Burgh, who yielded and threw himself upon the king's mercy. My lord, I am young, and you doubtless think I see all things as black or white. Let me ask Geoffrey and my father to speak to you. You know both are loyal to the king, butbut neither would betray you."
"Yes, yes, please, Richard," Isabella pleaded.
There was a little silence while Richard considered Simon's remark, the offer that followed, and the result of the action he would have to take if Geoffrey and Ian confirmed that the situation was really desperate. Then he said, "Very well, I would be glad and grateful. Before you go, howeverIsabella, will you go and tell

 
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