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Page 345
Walter hesitated, aware that Dai would open for Sybelle. Then he told himself that it would not be convenient because he would have to travel north to meet Sybelle and then take her south to Huntington. It would not matter if Knight's Tower was without a castellan for a few days more. Below the conscious thought, however, there was a small uneasiness generated by the notion that the real reason for not sending Sybelle on to Knight's Tower was an unwillingness to be parted from her for the extra day or two that such an arrangement would necessitate. But the uneasiness surfaced in a completely different interpretation. The last Walter had heard was that Lady Marie would be staying in Clifford with her sister.
"Do not come to Clifford," Walter went on quickly. "I do not wish that Sir John's loyalty to the king should be open to challenge, owing to a visit to a rebel stronghold before peace is actually signed. Go on to Clyro. I will come to you there."
What Walter said was completely logical, and Clyro and Clifford were so close that he could ride back and forth, if that were necessary, without trouble. Still, there was something in his voice, in the haste with which he had amended "follow me" to going instead to Clyro, that reminded Sybelle of the flash of regret Walter had displayed the morning after their wedding. She, too, knew that Lady Pembroke and her sister, Marie, would be in Clifford. Was that why Walter did not want her in Clifford?
There was time for a single pang of jealousy before Sybelle called to mind her husband's steady tenderness, his eagerness in coupling, how he had clung to her whenever Marie appeared while they were in Abergavenny. It was nonsense to be jealous of a brainless doll who, Sybelle thought, not being afflicted with false modesty, was not nearly so beautiful as herself. Moreover, the comforting thoughts were reinforced, as Sybelle agreed calmly to her husband's order, by the fierceness of his farewell embrace, and his whispered urging that she hurry Sir John and his lady as much as she could so that they would be reunited the sooner.
By driving the horses and men with him nearly to foundering, Walter arrived at Clifford late the following night. To his intense relief, Bassett was there, innocently asleep, and unaware of the king's intended destination. Although he was not too happy to be routed out of bed, Bassett greeted Walter's

 
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