"So?" Thorby pondered this curious custom. Among People a female claimed the highest age she could, for status.
"So. For example, your mother was a lovely lady but I never knew her age. Perhaps she was twenty-five when I knew her, perhaps forty."
"You knew my parents?"
"Oh, yes! Uncle Creighton was a darling with a boomy voice. He used to give me handfuls of dollars to buy candy sticks and balloons with my own sweaty little hand." She frowned. "But I can't remember his face. Isn't that silly? Never mind, Thor; tell me anything you want to. I'd be happy to hear anything you don't mind telling."
"I don't mind," Thorby answered, "but, while I must have been captured, I don't remember it. As far as I remember, I never had parents; I was a slave, several places and masters -- until I reached Jubbulpore. Then I was sold again and it was the luckiest thing that ever happened to me."
Leda lost her company smile. She said in a still voice, "You really mean it. Or do you?"
Thorby suffered the ancient annoyance of the returned traveler. "If you think that slavery has been abolished... well, it's a big galaxy. Shall I roll up my trouser leg and show you?"
"Show me what, Thor?"
"My slave's mark. The tattoo a factor uses to identify merchandise." He rolled up his left trouser. "See? The date is my manumission -- it's Sargonese, a sort of Sanskrit; I don't suppose you can read it"
She stared, round-eyed. "How horrible! How perfectly horrible!"
He covered it. "Depends on your master. But it's not good."
"But why doesn't somebody do something?"
He shrugged. "It's a long way off."
"But --" She stopped as her father came out.
"Hi, kids. Enjoying the hop, Thor?"
"Yes, sir. The scenery is wonderful."
"The Rockies aren't a patch on the Himalayas. But our Tetons are pretty wonderful... and there they are. Well be home soon." He pointed. "See? There's Rudbek."
"That city is named Rudbek?"
"It used to be Johnson's Hole, or some such, when it was a village. But I wasn't speaking of Rudbek City; I meant our home -- your home -- 'Rudbek.' You can see the tower above the lake... with the Grand Tetons behind it. Most magnificent setting in the world. You're Rudbek of Rudbek at Rudbek... 'Rudbek Cubed.' your father called it... but he married into the name and wasn't impressed by it. I like it; it has a rolling thunder, and it's good to have a Rudbek back in residence."
Thorby wallowed in his bath, from needle shower, through hot pool whose sides and bottom massaged him with a thousand fingers, to lukewarm swimming plunge that turned cooler while he was in it. He was cautious in the last, having never learned to swim.
And he had never had a valet. He had noticed that Rudbek had dozens of people in it -- not many for its enormous size, but he began to realize that most of them were servants. This impressed him not as much as it might have; he knew how many, many slaves staffed any rich household on Jubbul; he did not know that a living servant on Terra was the peak of ostentatious waste, greater than sedan chairs on Jubbul, much greater than the lavish hospitality at the Gatherings. He simply knew that valets made him nervous and now he had a squad of three. Thorby refused to let anyone bathe him; he gave in to being shaved because the available razor was a classic straight-edge and his own would not work on Rudbek's power supply. Otherwise he merely accepted advice about unfamiliar clothing.
The clothing waiting for him in wardrobe loads did not fit perfectly; the chief valet snipped and rewelded, muttering apologies. He had Thorby attired, ruffled jabot to tights, when a footman appeared. "Mr. Weemsby sends greetings to Rudbek and asks that he come to the great hall."
Thorby memorized the route as he followed.
Uncle Jack, in midnight and scarlet, was waiting with Leda, who was wearing... Thorby was at loss; colors kept changing and some it was hardly there. But she looked well. Her hair was now iridescent. He spotted among her jewels a bauble from Finster and wondered if it had shipped in Sisu -- why, it was possible that he had listed it himself!
Uncle Jack said jovially, "There you are, lad! Refreshed? We won't wear you out, just a family dinner."
The dinner included twelve people and started with a reception in the great hall, drinks, appetizers, passed by soft-footed servants, music, while others were presented. "Rudbek of Rudbek, Lady Wilkes -- your Aunt Jennifer, lad, come from New Zealand to welcome you" -- "Rudbek of Rudbek, Judge Bruder and Mrs. Bruder -- Judge is Chief Counsel," and so on. Thorby memorized names, linked them with faces, thinking that it was like the Family -- except that relationship titles were not precise definitions; he had trouble estimating status. He did not know which of eighty-odd relations "cousin" meant with respect to Leda, though he supposed that she must be a first cross-cousin. Since Uncle Jack had a surname not Rudbek; so he thought of her as taboo -- which would have dismayed her.
He did realize that he must be in the sept of a wealthy family. But what his status was nobody mentioned, nor could he figure out status of others. Two of the youngest women dropped him curtseys. He thought the first had stumbled and tried to help her. But when the second did it, he answered by pressing his palms together.
The older women seemed to expect him to treat them with respect. Judge Bruder he could not classify. He hadn't been introduced as a relative -- yet this was a family dinner. He fixed Thorby with an appraising eye and barked, "Glad to have you back, young man! There should be a Rudbek at Rudbek. Your holiday has caused trouble -- hasn't it, John?"
"More than a bit," agreed Uncle Jack, "but well get straightened out. No hurry. Give the lad a chance to find himself."
"Surely, surely. Thumb in the dike."
Thorby wondered what a dike was, but Leda came up and placed her hand on his elbow. She steered him to the banquet hall; others followed. Thorby sat at one end of a long table with Uncle Jack at the other; Aunt Jennifer was on Thorby's right and Leda on his left. Aunt Jennifer started asking questions and supplying answers. He admitted that he had just left the Guard, she had trouble understanding that he had not been an officer; he let it ride and mentioned nothing about Jubbulpore -- Leda had made him wary of the subject. It did not matter; he asked a question about New Zealand and received a guidebook lecture.
Then Leda turned from Judge Bruder and spoke to Thorby; Aunt Jennifer turned to the man on her right.
The tableware was in part strange, especially chop tongs and skewers. But spoons were spoons and forks were forks; by keeping his eye on Leda he got by. Food was served formally, but he had seen Grandmother so served; table manners were not great trouble to a man coached by Fritz's sharp-tongued kindness.
Not until the end was he stumped. The Butler-in-Chief presented him with an enormous goblet, splashed wetness in it and waited. Leda said softly, "Taste it, nod, and put it down." He did so; as the butler moved away, she whispered, "Don't drink it, it's bottled lightning. By the way, I told Daddy, 'No toasts.' "
At last the meal was over. Leda again cued him. "Stand up." He did and everyone followed.
The "family dinner" was just a beginning. Uncle Jack was in evidence only at dinners, and not always then. He excused his absences with, "Someone has to keep the fires burning. Business won't wait." As a trader Thorby understood that Business was Business, but he looked forward to a long talk with Uncle Jack, instead of so much social life. Leda was helpful but not informative. "Daddy is awfully busy. Different companies and things. It's too complicated for me. Let's hurry; the others are waiting."