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Page 276
''Well, nothing can be done until Richard returns, and God knows when that will be," Gervase said, hoping that Marie would understand that hint. "Consider well, Sister, the cost and the reward, and be sure the latter is worth the former."

Beau's sudden leap into the troop that had been following Walter and his party along the road shouldered aside the lighter mount of the man to Walter's left, giving Walter a moment to launch a mighty blow at the opponent on his sword side. The parry was in time, but a man-at-arm's sword was not of the same metal as a knight's fine-tempered blade. The weapon snapped short, and Walter's slash went on to cut into the man's arm.
The victim howled, as much from the pain in the hand that had been holding the sword hilt as from the wound; the cut was not deadly deep, since much of the power of the blow had been absorbed by the broken sword. Nonetheless, that man was out of the battle for the moment, and he could not back his horse because of his comrades hemmed into the narrow path behind him. Nor was he willing to go forward, weaponless as he was, and face the blades of Walter's oncoming men. Thus, he was a protection to Walter as he struggled to turn his excited horse into the trees to get out of the way.
To Walter's left, a second brief impasse had developed. When Beau's powerful shoulder struck one horse, that animal had collided with a second whose rider was attempting to thrust himself between Walter and his men. The confusion lasted less than a minute, but in that time the four remaining men of Walter's troop had come up and Walter was no longer isolated. Their onslaught was so furious that both the men to Walter's left were wounded and overthrown. The man whose sword Walter had broken had withdrawn and another had taken his place, but his fate was worse than his comrade's. He had missed his parry, and Walter's stroke had cleaved through platelets and leather to shear flesh and break ribs.
This time Walter's luck had turned. One of the men downed had been the group's leader. Thinking him dead and faced with such successful and determined opposition, the remainder of the men lost their enthusiasm and backed away. This drew victorious shouts from Walter's party, but a sharp order stopped the attempt at pursuit. Walter had not forgotten Sybelle, fleeing south through the woods, or the fact that the group on

 
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