Could it perhaps be linked to your not accepting her invitation tonight?
Magnus nodded, short, choppy jerks of the head. “Yes—oh, most certainly yes! The instant she asked me in, I could feel all my emotional armor clanking into place! Why is that, Fess? The fruit of painful experiences I’ve had in the past, with willing women—all willing to be caressed, to go to bed, then to use me in any way they could? Or is there really something about Pelisse that sets my instincts for self-preservation to baring their teeth?”
Something of both, certainly, the robot mused. As to Pelisse herself, I would be cautious with any Maximan lady—but the only element in her conduct that might give you grounds for trepidation is that she has been so quick to welcome you so very thoroughly, and has shown so very much attraction to you so very quickly.
“Quickly! An understatement if I ever heard one! Only two weeks, and she’s ready to invite me into her bed! Or at least into her room late at night—perhaps I’m just being conceited in thinking she might have made the deeper offer.”
I doubt it. She certainly is showing all the signs of being willing—in entirety.
“Signs?” Something about the word focused Magnus’s wariness. “What signs are you speaking of, Fess?”
Oh, letting her eyelids droop, invading your social distance, the specific sort of smile she gives you, her seeking of proximity…
“Yes, that’s it! Just the signs, the motions! Anyone could learn them, learn how to do them! They don’t have to have an ounce of sincerity behind them!” Magnus leaped to his feet and began to pace. “And that phrase you used earlier—something about ‘as to Pelisse herself.’ That implies that you’re seeing something more than Pelisse, something that might arouse my wariness. What?”
Why … the situation itself, Magnus.
“The situation? What about it? New relative shows up out of nowhere unannounced, is invited to stay with the family—what should make me suspicious about that? They might have cause for wariness, but me?”
There is an uncertainty about the succession, Magnus.
“Who’s going to be the next Count after my great-uncle dies?” Magnus stood still, looking up as though Fess were physically present next to him, frowning. “Why should that give me cause for wariness?”
Because it is the reason why your presence has been so unsettling to them. They thought the succession was definite, but your presence has made it once again uncertain.
“My presence? How could it? I have no interest in being Count of this bulwark against respectability!”
But they cannot know that, and would be foolish to believe you even if you said it, no matter how sincerely.
“But what claim could I possibly have?”
One every bit as good as Pelisse’s. Consider, Magnus—your great-uncle is in very poor health; the family is braced for his death. His only son is determined not to return to Maxima or accept the inheritance, perhaps wisely. He has therefore abdicated in advance, since becoming Count would mean leaving Terra.
Magnus nodded, frowning. “That still does not affect me.”
But the succession is patrilineal. Since the current Count has no other male offspring, the title passes to your father’s elder brother—but he is mentally incompetent, and cannot inherit. His younger brother, your father, thereby became heir, but was unavailable—perhaps dead, for all his family knew; so the title would therefore pass to your Uncle Richard’s daughter.
“Then I came,” Magnus whispered, “and inheritance is patrilineal.”
Exactly, Magnus. Your father might not be available, but you suddenly were. You are the male heir of a cadet branch, so the title and estates could legally pass to you, even though there is a female of the senior branch.
“So my claim is as good as hers!” Magnus stared. “Perhaps better! And they’re all afraid that I might try to assert it! Then who knows what would happen to their standard of living!”
Be fair, Magnus. Would you wish to see a stranger come in and take a prize that you had thought would be yours?
“No, I certainly wouldn’t,” Magnus breathed, “and I would do everything I could to make sure I kept that prize, no matter what!”
Unfortunately true.
“An ideal resolution, isn’t it?” Magnus said bitterly. “For Pelisse to marry me, thus unifying both claims! I would have the title, she would tell me what to do with it, and the family could relax! Do you think this was her own idea, Fess? Or did her mother put her up to it?”
It would be difficult to say, Magnus, but I think we might conjecture that neither lady was terribly opposed to the idea.
“But Robert was. How say you, Fess—does my cousin harbor a rather unhealthy interest in Pelisse?”
It is unhealthy only emotionally, Magnus, as they are not truly brother and sister, but were only raised as such. In fact, I have determined that they are related only in the fourth degree of consanguinity, so there would certainly be no bar to their marrying.
“Yes, and he would become Count, and have the title, the business, and Pelisse, too! Probably had the whole process well in train, in fact, until I came in and derailed it! Big muscular stranger, from outside the immediate gene pool, with the mystery of the far traveller about him—oh yes, very unfair competition for the poor fellow! No wonder he was ready to use my anatomy for fish bait! And now that I look back on this last fortnight from this perspective, I can understand the occasional glance that passed between him and Pelisse—she was enjoying his jealousy! Fess, could it be that my fair cousin returns Robert’s interest?”
Perhaps, Magnus, though I certainly would not characterize such interest as a prime example of romantic love.
“No, but it’s as good as she’s apt to do here!”
You wrong the lady, Magnus.
“Do I? I wouldn’t really characterize her interest in me as being an impassioned true love, either! More a matter of an interesting novelty, but one that would pall rather quickly—and definitely would have to be civilized and overhauled, if she were going to keep it around for any length of time! No wonder I’ve been wary! No wonder she’s been so interested! How could I possibly have been such a blockhead!”
Certainly not a blockhead, Magnus, Fess murmured. I would never characterize you as such, simply because you are always willing to give the other person the benefit of the doubt.
“Yes, but I think the time has come for moderation, don’t you, Fess? Time to start restricting that impulse to situations where it doesn’t really matter!”
Magnus, I fear you are becoming a cynic.
“Cynic? Oh, my heavens, no, Fess! Merely a student of human nature, eh? Yes, of course. I think it’s time I had a little chat with all my relatives at once. Don’t you?”
Magnus, surely you would not be ungracious!
That stilled the young giant. He stood a moment in thought, then said, “Yes, I was about to be unpardonably rude, wasn’t I? Not to mention being ungrateful and risking giving hurt unjustly. I’ll have to be a bit more circumspect when I confront them. After all, I only wish to be helpful, don’t I?”