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Page 104
"What?" Walter repeated.
Geoffrey laughed. "Just think about it for a while. The shock will pass."
"But there is Sir Adam and Simon. . . ."
"Adam has his father's lands, which I assure you are not nothing, and atop them, Tarring and all its dependencies. Simon . . . Simon has the Welsh property and will inherit Lord Ian's northern keeps. Simon would not take Roselynde, anyway. He does not wish to support that burden. And Lady Rhiannon . . . she cannot be long away from the hills of Gwynedd. In any case, none of this matters. It is Lady Alinor's will that the property be so disposed, and each of her husbands agreed. The marriage contracts are ironbound. This is what you must understand. The lands will be Sybelle's. She will rule them as she sees fit. She will leave them as she sees fitAlmost certainly to her eldest daughter. Of course, if no female child is born or survives . . . But even then, she might decide to will the lands to a niece or a cousin. You must accept this."
Walter opened his mouth, then closed it. Finally, he said, "I am not a greedy man. I greatly desire to have Sybelle to wife. If you will help me take hold of my own lands, I will settle a good property on her and take her without dowry."
Geoffrey smiled at him, but his eyes were sad. "You are not greedyand I cannot help but be glad of it and of the fact that your wish to marry Sybelle is for herself alone. I love my daughter, and I desire for her the joy in marriage I myself have had in my union with her mother. But you cannot have Sybelle without the promiseor, should I say the threat?of the burden of Roselynde. Sybelle would never agree."
"If you bade her . . . I do not mean you should force her. I hope I do not sound like a coxcomb, but I believe her to be willing. . . ."
His voice faded as Geoffrey shook his head. "I do not know my daughter's exact state of mind, although her mother assures me that she is not opposed to the match. You understand, I would not force her on any account. I love her. I have encouraged you because I think you could make her happy. What influence I have with Sybelle, and it is not negligible, will be applied in your favor. However, I could starve her and beat her and not make her take you if it meant the loss of Roselynde. Nor would it matter if she were mad

 
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