Part 2 (1/2)
That's rich, coming from you. He's betrayed you a dozen times over, with his little seamstresses and shopgirls. And somewhere underneath all that wifely loyalty and respect, you must know it. Luzelle compressed her lips, holding the words in. Luzelle compressed her lips, holding the words in.
”This missive hardly carries the tone of an official communique,” His Honor stated. ”Your correspondent, this self-styled Deputy Underminister-vo Rouvignac, was it?”
Luzelle nodded.
”The fellow's connection to that famous and ancient House is very much open to question. In any event, you will note that the writer requests a meeting, but fails to specify an hour or location. If he is what he claims to be, then why has he not summoned you to the Republican Complex? The Ministry of Foreign Affairs stands close at hand, and its offices are s.p.a.cious. Why do you not meet him there?”
”The hour and location have been tailored to suit my schedule. The Deputy Underminister vo Rouvignac does not summon me, but rather, waits upon my convenience,” Luzelle rejoined, determined to disguise her own misgivings.
”Do not try my patience with puerile absurdity. Have you at some point applied to the ministry for financial backing? Have you filled out the necessary forms, submitted the appropriate credentials and references, together with a written declaration of your proposed use of government funds?”
”No, I've asked for nothing.”
”You have, at the very least, notified the ministry of your desire to partic.i.p.ate in this nonsensical race, this international goose-chase, this-”
”Grand Ellipse,” Luzelle supplied. ”No, sir. I have expressed no such desire or intention.”
”And yet, of all the doubtless eager and well-qualified male candidates, you have somehow been selected, by unknown agency, to represent the nation of Vonahr in this asinine compet.i.tion, presumably at the taxpayers' expense. Tell me, daughter-does this strike you as probable?”
Luzelle was silent. Her father only voiced her own unacknowledged doubts.
”It is improbable to the verge of impossibility,” the Judge instructed his listeners. ”I tell you once again, this invitation you have received is a ruse, and a clumsy one at that.”
”And the object of the ruse, sir?”
”Can scarcely elude the most limited understanding. Surely you will not wonder that the world questions your virtue. The immodesty and license of the life that you lead invite irregular solicitation.”
Luzelle felt the angry color burn her cheeks. She managed, with effort, to keep her voice even. ”The life that I lead is blameless and useful.”
”The utility of p.o.r.nographic public lectures is limited at best.” His Honor's nostrils flared in distaste. ”I regret the indelicacy of expression that your conduct obliges me to adopt.”
”That's ridiculous, insulting, and completely untrue! There's nothing p.o.r.nographic about my lectures. They're accurate accounts of foreign habits and customs, inoffensive to all but the hopelessly insular, as the reaction of the audience this afternoon certainly demonstrated!” She could hear her own voice rising, but found herself powerless to control it.
”I will not tolerate impertinence, daughter. You will address me with appropriate respect.”
”Then don't attack my work unjustly, and don't smear my character with false accusation!”
”Your work? What need has a spinster of good family to work outside of her father's home? Are you quite blind to the embarra.s.sment you cause your parents, or are you simply indifferent? As for your character, I should prefer to regard it as unblemished, but your actions constrain me to suspect otherwise. What unmarried female aptly described as a lady courts the attention of mult.i.tudes? Accepts financial remuneration in exchange for such public display? Lives alone in defiance of all established convention, and travels the world alone like some common adventuress? Where is your propriety, your sense of duty? Are you remotely capable of grasping such concepts? Do you dare to feign surprise that such libertines as this soi-disant deputy underminister regard you as their natural prey-an a.s.sumption no doubt reinforced by the unbecoming freedom of your manner, and the vulgarity of your appearance?”
To her horror, Luzelle felt the tears sting her eyes; tears that she would rather have died than allow him to see. She'd thought her father had long since lost the power to make her cry.
Her throat constricted. For a moment, pain and fury struck her uncharacteristically dumb.
Surprisingly, her mother came to her rescue.
”Oh, come-surely that is a little hard,” Gilinne remonstrated apologetically. ”Luzelle's appearance cannot rightly be termed vulgar-she is quite modestly and decently clothed.”
His Honor deliberated.
”There is perhaps nothing blatantly amiss with her attire,” he conceded at last. ”But there is something in her air, her carriage, her general demeanor, that somehow contrives to suggest indiscretion. A thick and loosely draped shawl might improve matters, or else a capacious manteau-”
”Her figure is exceedingly well proportioned,” Gilinne observed mildly. ”In that our daughter is blessed.”
”She need not flaunt her good fortune. Then there is the objectionable appearance of her hair-excessively abundant, ostentatiously curled-”
”The curl is natural. I remember when she was a baby, and-”
”Flamboyantly and improbably colored.”
”The shade is popularly known as strawberry blond, I believe, and the fault is entirely mine, husband, for my own mother possessed locks of just such a reddish gold.”
”Face swarthy as a laborer's.”
”Browned by the sun of the Bhomiri Islands, but the color will fade. Perhaps nightly milk-rinses for her skin might-”
”Her facial expression is displeasing-it lacks innocence. I think the fault lies in the contour of her lips, which are too full for true refinement, and seem set in a perpetual pout.”
”Your own sense of justice, sir, will hardly permit you to blame our daughter for the shape of her mouth,” Gilinne suggested respectfully.
”I do not hold her culpable.” The Judge favored his wife with a penetrating glance, as if suspicious of veiled levity. ”But the soundness of my judgment reveals itself all too clearly in the sorry reality of her present situation. She has, through her obstinacy and imprudence, stained herself in the eyes of the world, and the results are all too apparent. She is aging, unwed, and certain to remain so. She willfully threw away her best chance, and now all chances are gone.”
”But she is only twenty-five,” Gilinne appealed, ”and still so handsome. Perhaps it is not yet time to give up all hope? I have it upon good authority that Master Girays v'Alisante has returned to the city-”
The name shot along Luzelle's nerves like a jolt of electricity, finally breaking her paralysis.
”And the women pursue him in droves, but he remains unattached. I am convinced that our daughter's declaration of heartfelt contrition could persuade M. v'Alisante to take her back-”
”That's enough,” Luzelle interrupted, pent rage and humiliation finding outlet at last. ”There are a few things I wish to say to both of you, so please listen. In the first place, I'd like to point out that I've no intention whatsoever of contacting Master Girays v'Alisante. I do not care to speak to him, much less implore his forgiveness. M. v'Alisante and I are strangers. Should he presume to call on me, I will not be at home.”
”Oh, but my dear-” Gilinne attempted.
”Secondly,” Luzelle continued, ”much as I regret the inadequacies of my face and figure, my carriage, clothing, hair color, intellect, and character, I must inform you that I am tolerably reconciled to all of them, and foresee no major alterations in the immediate future. I trust you are not unduly disappointed.”
”I have prohibited insolence,” Udonse reminded his daughter.
”I will try to bear that in mind, sir. And yet, with all due respect, I intend to answer certain comments you've made concerning my work-”
”As to that, I am prepared to render my decision. Understand well that this mad folly of self-sufficient self-employment ends, as of today. I have been remiss in allowing an ill-conceived and misguided experiment to continue far too long, but now I correct the error. Henceforth you will conform to normal standards of proper conduct. You will live quietly beneath your father's roof, submitting yourself to paternal authority. There will be no further appearances upon a public stage, and certainly no more of these abhorrent lectures. Should you desire an occupation, you may busy yourself with charity work, but you will accept no monetary compensation for your labors. You may still write, under a masculine nom de plume, but no ma.n.u.script will be submitted to a publisher before I have reviewed the text for suitability of subject matter and wholesomeness of content. Your infrequent excursions from the city of Sherreen will encompa.s.s the homes of those kinsmen willing to receive you, but you will not cross the borders of Vonahr-your days of unbridled vagabondage are over. Well, daughter-I trust I have made myself clear?”
”Perfectly, sir.” Luzelle took a deep breath. When she spoke again, she managed to keep her voice even and her expression spuriously calm. ”And I intend to follow your example. Let me make it very clear indeed to you that I do not choose to submit myself again to your authority, now or ever. I will continue to work and to live on my own, I will travel as necessity and inclination dictate, I will lecture and write as I please, and I will certainly demand fair payment for my efforts. No doubt my choices will displease you, which is regrettable, but alters nothing.”
There followed a long moment of awful silence, broken at last by Gilinne Devaire's scandalized whisper, ”Oh, Luzelle-to speak so to the Judge the Judge!”
”Do not trouble to remind her of her duty, madame-it is a useless effort,” Udonse advised. ”She is perverse, ungrateful, and rebellious by nature. You need only look into her eyes, to see there the pleasure she takes in defying her father.”
You're quite right about that, Luzelle realized.
”But I do not think your complacency likely to prove long lived,” the Judge advised his erring daughter. ”Your rejection of all filial obligation frees me of paternal responsibility. Until such time as you return to my house, all ties between you and your parents are severed.” His wife threw him a stricken, imploring glance, which he disregarded. ”No longer a member of my family, you may expect no a.s.sistance from me, no recognition, and no support. Should you fall victim to injury or illness, do not come begging for money to pay the doctor. You'll have nothing from me, not so much as a copper biquin.”
”I want nothing of yours!” Luzelle flared, her temper slipping its leash as if she were still seventeen. ”I need nothing that you could possibly give.”