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His bewilderment must have shown on his face, for Ian smiled. |
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"I am getting old," he said. "Alinor and I have sufficient for our needs, more than sufficient. Poor Geoffrey is already run ragged between his lands, Joanna's, and doing what he can for his father." |
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"That last statement is too true," Geoffrey muttered fervently. |
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Ian smiled sympathetically at him and continued, "It is better for you to ride like a madman from one place to another, Walter, than for me to do so. These days I have a great desire to bide quietly with Alinor." |
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"But you do not need to give the land with Sybelle," Walter protested. "I will gladly do whatever you ask of me. I swear I will take no less care whether the property is Sybelle's or yours." |
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At which point Richard made a noise that would have been laughter if he could have opened his mouth freely. "This is the maddest marriage council I have ever heard," he said. "Usually the bride's family fights like cats to give least and the groom's to grab what they can. Here everything is upside-down. If you wish to give Walter more, then give it. Why do you ask him?" |
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Lady Alinor looked at the second most powerful man in England with the tolerant patience of a mother for a squalling infant. "Because, for some years, until he can bring the people on his late brother's estates to respect and obey him, Walter will have troubles enough of his own without adding any of ours. I do not yet know how he likes to manage the question of men-at-arms. If he prefers to choose men from the land and train them up and keep them, then an estate with loyal serfs will be of great benefit. If he prefers to hire blank shields, to use them, and then to dismiss them, gold would be of more use to him." |
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"I prefer my own men," Walter replied instantly, and even as he noticed the satisfaction in the faces of the Roselynde contingent, he recognized how cleverly Alinor had phrased the choice. There was no way he could have determined which procedure she favored from her words. It was not, he thought, a trap but an attempt to learn how his mind worked, and he continued honestly, "I have never hired blank shields because I had no need, but in this case I might do so. I would |
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