The change in the Consul's aspect startled Thorolf. His fat features seemed to collapse like a ruptured bladder, while his eyes rounded with fear. Casting about furtive looks, like those of a rabbit stealing cabbages, he whispered:
"Son, son, mention not that name within these walls!"
"But Father, these folk might be dangerous to the Commonwealth! Orlandus' guards go about with swords unwired, as if members of the army or the Constabulary—"
"Shh!" Zigram laid a finger to his lips. "Not a word about them or their leader! I cannot explain here, for the walls have ears."
Thorolf frowned. "As bad as that? Where can we talk frankly, then? In your private quarters?"
"Nay; I never know when a flunky or chambermaid hath been suborned."
"How about our old house? We could ask the tenants to leave us alone in a room—"
"Nay; knew ye not? The tenant hath bought the place."
"I knew there was talk—" began Thorolf.
"Well, he did. Without your mother, I saw no use in keeping up that old pile, especially since I won the consular election. And speaking of your mother, I never truly appreciated the lass whilst she lived." Zigram hastily wiped a damp eyelid with his sleeve.
Thorolf proposed: "Shall I take a room at Vasco's again? I must return thither to give Vasco a sheet I borrowed."
The Consul hesitated, then said: "Nay, nay; they'd follow me." Still whispering, Zigram added: "My dear son, have nought to do with these folk, any more than youd pick up a viper with a bare hand! Flee all contact! A clean pair of heels is your only salvation."
"But I cannot abandon the Countess in their custody—"
"A pox upon your Countess! Some decadent aristocrat from the benighted feudal regime of Carinthia—"
Thorolf interrupted: "With all due respect, you know not whereof you speak. You've never seen her. If there be aught Yvette is not, it's decadent."
The consul's white-browed eyes narrowed. "So vehement, stripling? Art in love with the dame?"
"Of course not! After but one day and night—"
"Night, eh? I know these high-born jades. Didst have a good time?"
"Father, you are impossible! I have not bedded her—"
"Well, then, do ye court her honorably? Titled wenches make chancy wives, being full of hoity-toity snobbery. They fancy themselves beings of a superior species by virtue of blue blood, when 'tis well known that most noble houses were founded by successful banditti who frightened some weakling ruler into granting titles."
"She has some of that," Thorolf conceded. "She thinks in the imperative mood. A pity; she's a fascinating creature. But I will do what my conscience commands."
"From what my spies tell me," said the Consul, "she is a combination of the goddess Rianna and a man-eating tigress."
"Not so formidable as all that, Father! She's a small person, but with more energy per pound than I've ever seen."
Zigram mused: "I'm concerned for my line, with mine only son still unwed at nearly thirty. Since high rank in the state be closed to you by our nepotism law, at least whilst I remain in office, ye were better-advised to court the daughter of some banker or rich merchant."
"And you," said Thorolf, "were better-advised to eat less and exercise more, if you'd fain live through that second term of office you seek." He rose. "Come over to the barracks, and I'll work fifty pounds of that fat off."
"Speak not rudely to thy sire, boy!"
"Nor you to me. But come, walk with me to the barracks. It will do you good, and we shall be where none can overhear."
"Oh, very well." With a groan, Zigram heaved himself out of his chair and shrugged a black cloak over his crimson doublet.
In the street, Thorolf gave his father a sharp look. "Tell me, Father, what hold have the Sophonomists on you? For some I'm sure they have, to make a brave man quail at their mere mention."
"Nay, son; meddle not. 'Twill do you no good."
"Father, I insist! Have they discovered something to your discredit in your past?"
"Nay, nay; 'tis—a small matter of no import."
"If it were so little, you'd not flinch at its mere mention. Out with it! If it affects mine own future, I should be forewarned. Am I your son or not?" Thorolf used the tone of a professor to a refractory pupil.
"Oh, very well." said Zigram dejectedly. "They discovered that, years ago whilst your dear mother was yet young, I had taken up with another woman, over in Uberunnen. I had in fact committed bigamy. If the tale were spread abroad, away would go my chances for a second term."
"Ha!" said Thorolf. "And what of this other wench? Meanst that I have a stepmother across the mountains?"
"Nay. She got a quiet annulment and hath since rewed. I've not set eyes upon her for years. But you comprehend the potential scandal. By Kernun's antlers, breathe not a word of this!"
"Never fear. How did they find out? Filching documents?"
"I know not; but I am sure they have done the like with certain senators. Thus grows their power."
"What is this lady's name? I ought to know in case I should encounter her."
"Nay, that I will not tell. Let the dead past ..."
They argued, but Zigram was adamant. At last Thorolf said: "My Countess brought her coronet with her. Who were the safest banker to leave it with?"
"Waddo Sifson were as good as any."
"Thanks. Here are the barracks. Come over some time and, if you won't take exercises, at least watch me at mine. Good day, sire!"
IV – The Desirable Dragon
During the following days, Thorolf's attention was often distracted by thoughts of Yvette. He saw her fine-boned face in the visage of every girl he passed on the streets. Afternoons, after drill, he found himself lingering on the Street of Clockmakers, ostensibly absorbed in an elaborate astronomical timepiece in a merchant's showcase. By silvered disks, gilded hands, and moving mythological figurines it displayed not only the time but also the phases of the moon, the tides, and the motions of the planets.
Thorolf's examination of the clock was but a pretext for shooting furtive glances up Castle Hill to the fortress where he had left Yvette. He realized that his father was right; he was falling in love.
He knew it was a folly. Yvette had told him plainly that her next husband must be of noble blood, an issue that she took with utmost seriousness; and he was just a plain citizen of the Commonwealth. Even if she accepted, she was too arrogant and aggressive to make an endurable wife. She would insist that he move out of the barracks, buy a house, and hire servants; and away would go whatever money he might still save for his advanced studies.
Her candid confession of unchastity also bothered him. He had long assumed that he would marry a virgin and that they would explore the mysteries of love together. This was still the common, socially accepted pattern of behavior in Rhaetia, where Doctor Mersius' contraceptive spell was not yet widely known. If many Rhaetians failed to live up to it, enough others adhered to it to make such behavior no cause for remark.
Thorolf was not much surprised by Yvette's candid admissions; he had long heard tales of the Carinthian nobility. But even if he overlooked this matter, the straitlaced Zurshnitters were cold to brides with colorful pasts. Marriage to Yvette, even in the wildly improbable case she would have him, had as favorable a prospect as a wrestling match with one of the fifty-foot serpents of Thither Ethiopia.
His first task was to get her away intact, in her proper form. This done, he thought that, from her free-and-easy ways in such matters, she might permit him some nights of lechery despite his lowly social standing on her scale. He avidly desired such a union, however ephemeral. But, inexperienced as he was, he doubted that he could so please her as to change her basic nature, which was too firmly set in the aristocratic mold.