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Sybelle did not know, of course, what her grandfather was thinking as she lay staring up toward the ceiling of her cell. She could not make out the ceiling clearly in the dim light of the small oil lamp, but she would not have seen it anyway, for her mind was busy with the same subject that had preoccupied Ian just before he fell asleep. Sybelle had become aware of a subtle pressure urging her toward acceptance of Walter de Clare. |
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At first her mother had seemed totally neutral, but now she, too, seemed quietly to favor Sir Walter. Sybelle was not annoyed by the pressure. She knew if she said definitely that she did not want Walter, the pressure would cease, and there would be no punishment, not even nagging or nasty looks. Furthermore, Sybelle acknowledged that it was just that Sir Walter should have an answer and not be kept dangling. Her father had explained about the estates and that Walter would need a family that could help him enforce his rights. Clearly, then, he could not afford to waste time over a girl who might withdraw and leave him without the necessary alliance. |
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The need for alliance was good, Sybelle thought. That Sir Walter had sought it at Roselynde showed he knew the strength of the family. She was not at all hurt that Sir Walter should look at the family before he chose a girl. Then she smiled. Perhaps he had come to look at the family, but he had stopped looking for a girl when he saw her. Or had he? There was that woman in his tent? . . . Do not be ridiculous, Sybelle told herself. Such a thing has nothing to do with you or with marriage. Grandmama and Mama have told you more than once that such couplings are as meaningless as pissing. |
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In the abstract, Sybelle was willing to accept the fact that men took whores to relieve a need wholly analogous to the need to eat and void. Simon had often told her of his escapades, |
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