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Page 349
Bassett sighed. "He is the king, and it is true that Richard would not agree to any thrust at him."
"Lord Geoffrey says that this desire for absolute power is only a fever raised in Henry by Winchester's poisoned words," Walter pointed out, "and I believe it, because my father and brother complained often that the king cared too much for beautiful churches and too little for government, leaving all in the Earl of Kent's hands. Thus it is at the king's ministers we should strike, not at the king."
"But if" Siward began, only to be interrupted by Bassett saying, "Wait, wait, let me think. Something is in the back of my mind, something that falls in with what Walter just said. To strike at the king's ministers . . . I have it! Not more than two miles from Huntington lies the manor of Almondbury, and that belongs to Stephen de Seagrave. If we attack that, the news of it will come soon enough to Huntington."
"Very good," Walter agreed, and smiled. "Yes, that will be perfect. Henry will know that you could just as easily have moved on Huntington, which would have yielded richer spoils. Thus, that you did not will show your respect for his possessions and your contempt for Seagrave's. What a pity my men are at Knight's Tower, but I am sure"
"I do not think you should come with us," Bassett said. "Have some sense, Walter. If your colors should by mischance be reported among the raiders, your father-by-marriage will have some difficulty explaining to the king how he happened to give his daughter to a man who, not a week after his marriage, is out raiding with a passel of outlaws."
Walter opened his mouth and then shut it.
Richard Siward put a hand on his shoulder. "This, as you said yourself, is no time to raise doubts in the king's mind, and Geoffrey FitzWilliam is blood-bound to Henry. It is enough that you came to tell us. You need not fear we will think your loyalty wavering."
Bassett endorsed Siward's sentiments wholeheartedly and then began to discuss more specific plans for the attack. Walter said no more, but he was painfully aware that he had not come to offer these men an opportunity but to prevent them from acting in a way those loyal to the king disapproved. He tried to consider dispassionately whether what he had done would actually forward the cause of peace or would merely salve the king's pride and make him worse in the

 
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