Part 26 (1/2)

”No, no,” she said, and her expression returned to normal. ”You did nothing wrong. I was just a bit intimidated, Captain. I seldom have soldiers to my salons.”

”I can understand that,” I said, trying a feeble joke. ”Most of us don't know where to put our sabers when we enter polite company.”

A wicked grin came and went. ”That is not what I heard,”

she said.

”I don't understand,” I said, pretending innocence.

She chose not to answer, but led me to the punch bowl and poured a cup.

”You have a choice,” she said. ”You may join the throng, and listen to former Count Komroff hold forth on why we must all renounce our t.i.tles, move to the slums, and exist on clotted milk if there's any hope for the world-”

”Or?” I interrupted hastily.

”Or you may get the grand tour, since this is the first time you've been in my house.”

*”Lead on,” I said. ”Having no t.i.tle, and little taste for farmer's cheese, I put myself in your hands.”

I admired the paintings, sculptures, gold inlays, cleverly carved wood etchings on the lower floor, including that great ballroom. When we came to the kitchen, Maran merely opened the door, told me what was on the other side, and pa.s.sed on. I would have liked to have seen the mechanism necessary to feed such a great household, but was content to do whatever she wished, comfortable just being in her company.

As we went up the curving stairs to the second level, I asked, ”Pardon, but since this house sits on the water, I'd a.s.sumed it belonged to your husband. But you said-”

”This was my wedding gift to him. And to me.”

”You have no other residence in the city?”

”I don't know what you know of the Agramonte family,” she said. ”But we are country lords, not happy unless we can open any window and sniff pig s.h.i.+t and hay. I'm afraid I'm the sport of the clan, since to me green pastures and lowing cattle are about as interesting as watching rocks turn into sand.”

”That's a pity,” I said. ”For I'm but a country lad and can think of nothing better.”

”Perhaps,” she said softly, ”perhaps I never saw it through the right eyes. Or... with the right person.”

Her hand touched my wrist, then was away.

”Now, on this level,” she said, mimicking a palace guide, ”we have such horribly interesting rooms as the sewing room, which I refuse to enter, the nursery, which is vacant for the moment, the library, here, which I love dearly.”

The double doors opened into a great room lined with shelves, all dark wood, expensive quiet carpeting, and oak furniture. There were maps of our world and even a globe, one of the newer imaginings of the cartographers.

One of my most private fantasies was that somehow I'd manage to survive my military career and, even more improbably, ama.s.s enough of a fortune to build a great house somewhere in the country. Even though I'm not a reader, I'm not ar barbarian, so of course part of the mansion would include a library. Here my friends and I could gather, and talk of old campaigns and long-dead comrades, while a great fire flickered and a winter storm roared, unheeded, outside.

Even though the books did not draw me, the maps certainly did, since I can sit over a map and dream of what country and terrain it represents by the hour, one of the few nonoutdoor pastimes, besides music, I enjoy.

I wondered what it would be like to have this library, and envied Count Lavedan again.

I admired the next room even more, a large room hung with curtains, with a podium at one side. This was their music chamber, Maran explained. ”Once a month or so, we have a quartet or perhaps even a small orchestra in. We haven't done it of late, since music is something my dear husband finds deadly dull.”

At the end of the corridor were arcing double doors that were open a few inches.

”This is my husband's study. Since he's not present, it would hardly be-” ”Maran? Is that your'

”Ithought,” she said, ”he was out.” She raised her voice. ”Yes, Hernad. I'm merely showing one of our guests around.” The door opened, and Count Lavedan emerged. He was about five or six years older than I, a big man, going a bit of fat. It was ironic-he looked every inch and pound the bluff country lord, yet his background was s.h.i.+pping, while his country wife appeared the city sophisticate.

”I came back from the docks an hour ago, and did not wish to disturb you, my dear. Good evening, sir,” he said, cordially. ”It's rare indeed to see a soldier attend one of Maran's little parties. I a.s.sume you've come up with some new and vital scheme to reinvent the military?”

”No,” Maran said. ”This is Captain a Cimabue. You know, the one who saved all those people down in the Border States.”

”No. Can't say as I have. Don't pay much attention to things that don't pertain. But congratulations, Captain.” He*snickered. ”A Cimabuan, eh? I wager you're tired of hearing jokes about your province.”

”Not at all,” I said. ”There'slittle fighting with real enemies to be had these days, so I must make do with jesters.”

The smile vanished, and he looked at me carefully.

”My apologies, Captain. But you need not be so touchy.”

' am sorry, Count Lavedan. But such tales are more than wearisome.”

”I suppose so,” he said, indifferently. ”But if my state were the b.u.t.t of such j.a.pes, I think I'd just learn to ignore them. Words are nothing but air, anyway.”

I thought I knew a seer who would disagree, but said nothing. I had no idea why we were bristling in such a manner; certainly my attraction to his wife could not have been noticed, and I surely had no right having any feelings about him.

”Would you like to see my study, Captain?” he said, changing the subject. I said I would.

It was quite a chamber, cluttered with s.h.i.+p models, charts, bills of lading, and the big table in its center overflowed with samples, letters, and packages. The prize, though, he saved for last It was a small gla.s.s case. In it was the model of a s.h.i.+p, one like I'd seen moored at one of Nicias's landings. I saw it appeared to be floating in water, then I looked more closely. It was a marvel: The s.h.i.+p was animated, each sail, each rope moving, as it was driven by an invisible wind. I looked more closely, and saw tiny men on its decks, busy with their tasks. The water it floated in changed as well, waves curling from the s.h.i.+p's bows and a smooth wake at its stem.

”That cost a sum,” Count Lavedan said. ”The wife bought it for me for our second anniversary last month. It took five seers to come up with it. It's a model of my most recently launched vessel, and it makes a real voyage, from Nicias to foreign landfalls.” He grinned fondly down at Maran. ”The little woman knows how to please, she does.”

Again that look of the puppy waiting for punishment came and went on Maran's face.

”Are you coming downstairs, Hernad?”

”Of course not,” he said. ”I'm busy, and besides, I have no interest in whatever's being prattled by your latest charlatan. You'll see, Captain, that while my Marat's got a sensible head to her, at least for a woman, she really has no thought of how foolish all these clowns appear to men of real sense.”

Marfn reddened, but said nothing.

”At any rate, if you'll forgive me, I've got some letters to compose,” he said.

”Shall I knock when I come up for bed?” Maran said.

”You needn't bother. I'll probably be up most of the night.” He brushed a kiss across her forehead.

”Nice meeting you, Captain.”

He went back inside his study and closed the doors.

Maran looked closely at me, as if waiting for me to say or show an opinion. I showed none.