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Page 246
face is the worst," Simon said complacently.
"I have heard more modest statements than that in my life," Kicva commented dryly.
"Is not honesty the best policy?" Simon rejoined provocatively.
Rhiannon held her head. "Is this what you wish me to marry, Mother? Do you really desire that I spend my whole life with a man who believes himself God's gift to womankind?"
"I have always known that to err brings punishment." Kicva shook her head and smiled as she rose to her feet. "It was a mistake to open my mouth and thrust myself between you two. I have been battered enough. Now, before this grain of wheat is ground to flour between the upper and nether millstones, I will slip away. I leave you to the fate you have sought, Simon, and you to the one you deserve, my dear daughter."
"She means," Simon said, opening his eyes wide to manufacture an expression of surprised wonder, "that both of us will be blessed by great happiness."
"I know her better," Rhiannon remarked. "She thinks the fool will gain a shrew to wifewhich will not improve either of them."
But both knew better than they spoke, and Rhiannon did not draw her hand from Simon's. Nor did she even look doubtful when her mother bade a servant fetch her writing desk and set it on a stand by a window. Since it was clear that Kicva meant to write and tell Llewelyn his plan had succeeded so far as a betrothal, Simon was quite content. He leaned forward and kissed Rhiannon briefly, then released her hand. Without more ado, both began eating again.
After a few minutes and a glance at her mother, Rhiannon asked, "What is your family, Simon?"
Between bites Simon began to describe his relatives, but. Rhiannon soon shook her head. She had asked a

 
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