Part 6 (2/2)
”I've seen a bit of Stornzof since we left Toltz, and back in Glozh he did me a large favor.”
”Which was?”
”Helped me out of a very sticky situation.”
”Sticky? What do you mean by sticky? Are you all right? What happened?”
”Nothing came of it. But this Karsler Stornzof was more than decent, in fact he was wonderful-”
”Wonderful, was he?”
”And I'm not prepared to think the worst of him in the absence of proof, no matter what his nationality.”
”Well, perhaps feminine eyes dazzled by all that fame and golden Grewzian radiance do not see so very clearly.”
”Don't patronize me, Girays v'Alisante. You haven't even spoken to Karsler Stornzof; you don't know a thing about him.”
”Ah, but I do. I know that he is wonderful wonderful, and that he has found a pa.s.sionate defender in you. I wonder if the gallant overcommander realizes his good fortune?”
”He is is gallant, as it happens. Believe it or not, there still is gallantry left in the world, and honor, and some chivalry-” gallant, as it happens. Believe it or not, there still is gallantry left in the world, and honor, and some chivalry-”
”To be sure, and these agreeable commodities concentrate themselves within the borders of Grewzland.”
”I might have expected M. the Marquis M. the Marquis to sneer. It is what he does best.” to sneer. It is what he does best.”
”Quite the contrary. I commend your wisdom and the soundness of your judgment. I have always admired both.”
”As I have always admired your humility, your liberality of outlook, and your progressive democratic att.i.tudes,” she returned sweetly.
”That is hardly my recollection. I seem to recall your frequent criticisms of my abominable arrogance, my unspeakable conservatism, and my annoying formerly-Exalted affectations.”
”Oh, but I was so childishly intolerant in those days. So immature, so very juvenile juvenile, as you took pains to remind me, again and again and again.”
”Less juvenile, perhaps, than liberated, contemptuous of empty outmoded convention, and far too free a spirit to endure the galling restrictions of ordinary, commonplace matrimony.”
”Clearly you you did not deem me fit to endure them, as it was upon such a pretext that you chose to dissolve the betrothal.” did not deem me fit to endure them, as it was upon such a pretext that you chose to dissolve the betrothal.”
”What remained to dissolve, following your flight from Sherreen? You were the one who left, a truth you can hardly deny, and the separation was your choice alone.”
”That is neither accurate nor reasonable.” An air of exaggerated patience masked her rising indignation. He was still so completely unfair, so inflexible, so unwilling to see her side! ”There was no 'flight,' as you so melodramatically term it. The separation was minor and very temporary in nature-”
”Several months, was it not?”
”Six months. Six measly, insignificant little months, that's all, and they would have pa.s.sed in a flash. You might have waited. In view of all your vows and declarations, I shouldn't have thought it too much to ask. But it was was too much, and M. the Marquis's much-vaunted affections proved unequal to the challenge. So much for his constancy.” too much, and M. the Marquis's much-vaunted affections proved unequal to the challenge. So much for his constancy.”
”It's a source of never-ending fascination, this ability of yours to warp and distort the past almost beyond recognition, without once letting slip your air of injured innocence. At times I believe you sincere in your delusions, and therefore now take the trouble to correct your misapprehensions. Here is the reality. Approximately one fortnight prior to the scheduled date of the wedding, you-having turned nineteen and a.s.sumed control of your inheritance-suddenly announced your intention of departing for Lakhtikhil Ice Shelf, there to remain for an indefinite period-”
”Six months!”
”In vain I entreated you to reconsider-”
”Entreated? You commanded!”
”Or even to postpone the excursion for a time-”
”I couldn't postpone. It was already autumn. Another few weeks, and the Straits of Kubringi would have frozen over, and I wouldn't have been able to reach L'mai, and the whole trip would have had to wait at least another year-”
”Would that have been such a tragedy?”
”Yes, it would! If I hadn't gone to the Shelf that year, the year the frozen mounds were discovered, then somebody else would have been there before me. Probably Fluss Ziffi, that bandit. If I hadn't published my account of the voyage before he did, then there would have been no speaking engagement at the Republican Academy. If it hadn't been for that one engagement, then I'd never-”
”Have become the personage that you are today. Yes, I understand. You got what you wanted the most. You might have become my wife and the mistress of Belfaireau, but what is that in comparison to personal glory?”
”Oh, spare me the reproaches and self-righteousness. I might have been your wife and been myself as well. You were the one to force the choice on me. If you didn't like my decision, have you anyone other than yourself to blame?”
”My wife and yourself as well? I wonder what you think you mean by that? What is your notion of marriage? Was I to sit alone at Belfaireau for months on end, awaiting my wife's occasional visitations?”
”It would only have been a few months! Then I would have been back, and we could have been married. If you'd ever cared anything about me-I mean about me myself as opposed to me as potential chatelaine of your precious estate-then you could have supported my efforts, you could have spared me those months, and afterward we might have been happy-”
”Until the next time. How long before you found yourself impelled to set forth on your travels again, for months or years on end?”
”Well, and what if that were so? Men go off all the time, and their women must wait at home. Why should the reverse not hold true? A sea captain, for example, is away for months at a time, and he expects his wife to wait patiently-”
”And perhaps she is content to do so, but I am not. I am old-fas.h.i.+oned, as you have so often observed, and I cherish the outmoded conviction that a wife prefers the society of her husband.”
”Does that mean she's glued to his side?”
”It means that her marriage supersedes the importance of her personal ambition and her vanity.”
”Vanity!”
”But your priorities are ordered otherwise, and always have been,” Girays concluded dispa.s.sionately.
”Well.” Drawing a deep breath, Luzelle managed to curve a condescending little smile. ”I see that you are every bit as narrow, critical, and prejudiced as you ever were. It's rea.s.suring to discover that some things never change.”
”And to think I imagined you immune to the charm of tradition.”
”An admission of fallibility, straight from the Marquis's own lips. The world is never devoid of marvels. M. v'Alisante, I thank you for the moral instruction, but I have drunk as much of your wisdom as my poor mind can absorb at one draft, and must now retire to contemplate the new mental treasures at leisure.” Allowing him no time to reply, Luzelle turned and walked away. Her face burned and her blood raced. He had a.s.sumed his usual intolerable air of superiority, but she'd had the last word. And she would have it again, next time.
What next time?
As soon as the Karavise Karavise docked, she would leave Girays and the others far behind. She would not see him again, there would be no next time. docked, she would leave Girays and the others far behind. She would not see him again, there would be no next time.
The thought was curiously deflating. Suddenly the hard salt breeze scouring the deck chilled her to the bone. It was not really that cold, but somehow seemed so.
Down she went, out of the fresh air, back to her windowless slot, where she lit the lamp and started in on another of her purchased novels, The Shadow of the Ghoul. The Shadow of the Ghoul.
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