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in fact, already heard Sybelle say the equivalent of mine, to me. Geoffrey had recalled to his mind the scene in his camp when Sybelle and her men had driven off his foraging party. He had been hearing her voice as she said, I have been protecting my property, and Are you going to return my property? "Indeed," Walter went on, "I have been wondering how I would support the role of gilded popinjay." |
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Geoffrey made a wry face and pulled an earlobe. "You should wonder instead when you will have time to eat and sleep. The ladies of Roselynde do not allow a tittle or a jot to be wasted, nor certainly the labor of an able-bodied man. You will not lack for employment. On the other hand, you will not lack for pleasure or laughter, either. If I am in bondage to my wifeas it has been said now and again by one man or anotherI have no desire to throw off that bondage. I am repaid a thousand, thousand times for my labor in comfort and joy." |
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Walter stared at Geoffrey in silence, then he looked away into the fire for a time. At last, he looked back, smiling with twisted lips. "I want Sybelle. I will take her any way I can get her." |
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"Ah, yes," Geoffrey said. "Well here comes the second blow. You must get Sybelle. I cannot give her to you. Let me state the problem plainly. I can pledge myself not to accept any other offer for her. I can turn away any other proposal that is made. However, I cannot make a contract for marriage for her. Because Roselynde is Sybelle's inheritance, only Lady Alinor can make a contract for marriage, and my wife must approve it. After all, whatever dower goes with Sybelle comes out of Joanna's inheritance." |
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"I said I would take her without a dowry," Walter snapped. |
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"But Sybelle would never agree to marriage under those terms," Geoffrey reminded him gently, "and I have said already that I will not command her against her will." |
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This is insane," Walter fumed. "To get Sybelle, I must court her mother and grandfather!" |
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"No, no," Geoffrey laughed. "Knowing the conditions, I would never have allowed matters to go so far if Alinor and Joanna were not satisfied. It is Sybelle you must convince." |
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Walter closed his eyes and scrunched up his face. "I think there is something wrong with my ears or my head today. Accepting that Sybelle is the ward of her grandmother and her |
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