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Abergavenny or in Uskwhen you know the result of your invitation to this man. If he will not obey you, we must decide how to bring him to heel with the least damage to your property." |
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"You are too good, my lord," Walter said, startled. "I would welcome your advice, but I hope you do not intend to put aside more important matters to settle my small affairs. I know well that even allies' lands may come to hurt in the raging tides of war. If it is necessary to ravage the lands of Knight's Tower because of the castellan's stubbornness, I will not hold you to blame for that." |
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Richard laughed, a growling chuckle that he did not permit to pull at his lips. "I am considering my affairs far more than yours," he admitted. "If, God forbid, we have the worse in our attack on Shrewsbury, Llewelyn's men can run back into the hills from which they came, no long distance away. But my men are not the kind who can disappear into a wood, and I have no safe place nearer than Clifford, which is thirty or more miles south of Knight's Tower. Besides, as Knight's Tower is not known as a stronghold friendly to me, to go there might gain us time enough to regroup, since it is so much closer to Llewelyn's lands than is Clifford. And, if we must make a stand there, I do not want the lands burnt over beforehand." |
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"Very well, my lord," Walter replied, but a frown creased his brow. |
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Richard, always oversensitive about his rebel state and about drawing others into his trouble, said quickly, "If you are uncertain over this, we will not use the place." |
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Walter naturally connected Richard's statement with his own doubt and therefore took no offense at it. "It will be easy enough if Sir Heribert refuses to obey me," he said. "We can put him out and leave a safe deputy in charge. But, my lord, what if he comes to Clyro full of sweet words, allows us to stay while we are in our full strength, and then closes the gates to us when we are in need?" |
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Richard realized he had misunderstood Walter, but any regret he felt for the momentary lack of trust was pushed out by an astonishment so strong that it showed even on his battered features. "Do you know Heribert to be so treacherous a dog?" he asked. |
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"That is my trouble," Walter admitted. "I do not know it. I |
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