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asleep was not jealousy but her concern over their mutual desire. |
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Her urgent physical reaction slowly dissipated, but the memory of it persisted. It seemed plain to Sybelle that something would have to be done, and the simplest and most logical solution to the problem to her mind was to persuade Walter to return to England and marry her out of hand. Although she had no objection to Walter's political association with Richard, she reasoned that Walter could be little use to the earl while his sole support for the rebel cause was his own small troop from Goldcliff. |
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Would it not be better for Richard, as well as herself and Walter, Sybelle reasoned, if they married and Walter devoted the next few weeks or months to taking hold of his property? Then, if the king had not yet come to terms with Richard, Walter could bring more men and money to strengthen the earl's cause. Of course, Sybelle was not being perfectly honest. She had great faith in her father's wisdom and political foresight. Papa had said that he expected the war to be over soon, perhaps in a matter of weeks. Sybelle did not admit to herself that she expected a truce or even a peace long before Walter had settled his personal affairs and that half her urgency to marry at once was based on her desire to keep Walter out of any further fighting. |
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She was sufficiently contented with her decision to relax and sleep and to wake in the morning still contented and determined to take the first step toward implementing that decision at once. The first step would be easy, she thought as she washed quickly and sketchily in the cold and pulled on her riding dress. Papa had said Walter intended to summon the castellan of Knight's Tower to come to Clyro. He could do that from Clyro as well as from Builth. Once he was away from all the talk and planning for the war and was already thinking in terms of his own property, it would be easier to divert his mind to concentrate on that. Then there would be chances enough to show him that he would be more useful to Richard as the master of Foy, Barbury, and Thornbury in addition to Goldcliff and Knight's Tower. |
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Walter woke almost as peacefully and contentedly as Sybelle. Sometime during the night, although he did not recall dreaming about it, he had resolved his problem. Had he been innocent of whatever Marie told Sybelle, he reasoned, he |
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