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Sybelle used to soothe the skin of her hands in winter. It was plain to Walter that he was penetrating a way previously unused. Their second coupling, just after they woke near dawn, had been less difficult. Still, her last words sobered him. |
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''It was not for that, Sybelle," he said. |
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Walter's voice held so odd a note that Sybelle stopped and turned back toward him. She had been about to go to the door and shout down for Edith and Adele to come up and help them dress. "What is it, my lord?" she asked, no longer laughing. |
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He shook his head. "Nothing. Nothing to do with you, my beloved wife. We are blessed in being able to share our love and our pleasure without shame or sin in the sight of God and all men." A brief expression of regret passed over his face, but then he smiled. "We had better dress if we wish to attend Mass. And I think we are supposed to ride into the town and show ourselves to the people there. Also, I must talk to your father and grandfather. I cannot leave Dai with the charge of Knight's Tower in his hands. I will have, to have a new castellan, and he will need to be a man of experience." |
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"And also a man with a wife who knows how to manage a keep," Sybelle agreed briskly. |
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But a chill had passed through her when Walter had been unwilling to tell her what troubled him. She forgot it during the busy day that followed, for the regret did not recur and Walter was obviously happy. There was no sign that he felt the duty of being displayed to the people a burden. Nor was there any uncertainty or unease in his manner of dealing with the merchants of Roselynde town or with the serfs and fisherfolk who had flooded into it to enjoy the largess provided. |
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In fact, this type of duty was not what had troubled Walter. As a son and later brother of the Earls of Gloucester, he was accustomed to deputizing for them at such functions and well practiced in dealing with all levels of the commons from mighty guildmasters to the meanest serf. It was decision making that worried Walter, not the carrying out of decisions. However, that question had not yet arisen. |
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The afternoon and evening were spent in making plans for the immediate future. They decided to leave the next morning, hoping to catch the king at Oxford, for Geoffrey knew that Henry had intended to move west again after performing his |
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