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Geoffrey loved his daughter and would not for a moment have considered forcing her into a marriage distasteful to her, but from what he had seen, Sybelle like Walter. He and the rest of the family also liked Walter. His properties were situated in locations peculiarly satisfactory with respect to the family property as a whole, and since Sybelle had to marry someone, Geoffrey felt that she should be pushed-in Walter's direction. |
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"Sybelle's letter does not mention Walter," Geoffrey continued, "but I cannot imagine Alinor did not tell her he would likely be at the wedding. If she did not wish to see him, she could have chosen to stay at Roselynde. I have the feeling that Sybelle wants Walter. Am I wrong?" |
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"No. I think she does want him," Joanna said slowly, "not from anything she has said but from the very fact that she has said nothing. You know her trick of ridiculing the young men who have courted her. She has never ridiculed Walter." She sighed. "I suppose you must consider seriously any offer he makes, but I wish he were younger." |
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"He is only twelve or fourteen years older than Sybelle," Geoffrey protested, "and scarcely an old man. And I feel strongly that it is partly his age that attracts her. I do, indeed, know the way she ridicules her younger suitors. The point is, there is nothing to ridicule in Walter. He is experienced enough not to give way to extravagant words or gestures." |
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"Yes." Joanna's voice was flat. "But that has another side. Sybelle will brook no infidelity. Will Walter understand that? He is fixed in a pattern of life, Geoffrey. That is why I said I wished he were younger. It will be hard for him to break his pattern. Sybelle is not, I hope, a jealous woman, but she must be first." |
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"I know about such unjealous women." Geoffrey chuckled. "What would I lose first if I were unfaithfulmy head or my shaft, O wife without jealousy? Sybelle is not the only one who must be first. But why you should doubt that a man can change his pattern I do not knowlook at Ian and Adam and Simon, too." |
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"It is not the same," Joanna said doubtfully. "Ian had always loved my mother, ever since he first saw her at seventeen. The women who came between, while my mother and father were married, were nothing. No one can expect a man who looked like Ian to be a celibate saint." A smile came to Joanna's lips. "Women would come near to wres- |
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