"Good morrow to thee, gentlemen," lisped the dandy. "I am enchanted to make your acquaintance."
"We're not here to pass the time of day with men dressed as women/* said Sedenko, scowling. "We await the coming of a great sage, a hermit of the wisest disposition."
"Aha, forgive me. I will not keep you long, in that case. Pray, what are your names, sirs?"
"I am Ulrich von Bek, Captain of Infantry, and this is my companion Grigory Petrovitch Sedenko, swordsman. And yours, sir?"
"My name, sir, is Philander Groot."
"The hermit?" cried Sedenko in astonishment.
"I am a hermit, sir, yes."
"You don't look like a hermit." Sedenko put his hand on the hilt of his sabre and strode forward to inspect the apparition.
"Sir, I assure you that I am, indeed, a hermit." Groot became polite. He was distant.
"We heard you were a holy man," Sedenko continued.
"I cannot be held responsible for what others hear or say, sir." Groot drew himself up. He was somewhat shorter than Sedenko, who was no giant. "I am the same Philander Groot for whom you were looking. Take me or leave me, sir. This is all there is."
"We had not thought to find a dandy," said I, by way of apologising for Sedenko's frankness. "We imagined someone in homespun cloth. The usual sort of garb."
"It is not my way to fulfil the expectation of my fellow creatures. I am Groot. Groot is who I am."
"But why a dandy?" Sedenko sighed and turned away from us.
'There are many ways of keeping one's distance from the world," said Groot to me.
"And many others to keep the world at a distance from oneself," I added.
"You appreciate my drift, Sir Knight. Self-knowledge, however, is not self-salvation. You and I have a fair way to go in that direction, I think. You through action and I, coward that I am, through contemplation."
"I believe that I lack the courage for profound self-examination, Master Groot," said I.
He was amused. "Well, what a fine man we should be, if we were combined into one! And how self-important, then, we could become!"
"I was told, Master Groot, that you might wish to hear my story and, that once you had heard it, you might wish to give me a clue or two to the solution of my problem."
"I am curious," admitted this gamecock philosopher, "and will be glad to pay for entertainment with information. You must rely on me, however, to set the price. Does that go against your wishes?"
"Not at all."
"Then, come, we shall take a walk together in the forest."
Sedenko looked back. "Careful, captain. It could be a trap."
"Grigory Petrovitch," I said, "if Master Groot had wished to ambush us, he could have done so at any time, surely."
Sedenko pushed his sheepskin cap high on his head and grumbled something before kicking violently at a clump of flowers.
Philander Groot linked his elegant arm in mine and we began to walk until we reached the stream. At its banks we paused.
"You must begin, sir," he said.
I told him where I was born and how I had come to be a warrior. I told him of Magdeburg and what followed. I told him of Sabrina. I told him of my meeting with Lucifer and of my journey to Hell. I told him of the bargain, of Lucifer's expectations. I told him what it was I sought…or rather what I thought it was.
We walked along the bank of the stream as I spoke and he nodded, murmured his understanding and very occasionally asked for clarification. He seemed delighted by what I had to say, and when I had finished he tugged at my arm and we stopped again. He removed his plumed hat and stroked at his carefully made curls. He fingered his little beard. He smiled and looked at the water. He brought his attention back to me.
"The Grail exists," he said. "And you are sensible to call it that because it frequently takes the form of a cup."
"You have seen it?" I asked.
"I believe I have seen it, on my travels, sir. When I travelled."
"So the legend of the Pure Knight deceives us?"
"It depends somewhat upon your definition of purity, I think," said Groot. "But suffice to say the thing is useless in the hands of one who would do evil with it. And as to the definition of evil, we can accept the crude, commonplace definition well enough here, I think. A certain amount of altruism exists in all of us and if properly maintained and mixed with appropriate self-interest, it can produce a happy man who gives offence neither to Heaven nor to Hell."
"I have heard that you refuse loyalty to either God or the Devil," I said.
"That's true. I doubt if I shall ever choose sides. My investigations and my philosophy do not lead me in their direction at all." He shrugged. "But who knows? I am yet a relatively young man…"
"You accept their existence, however?"
"Why, sir, you confirm it!"
"You believe that I have been the guest of Lucifer, that I am now His servant?"
"I must accept it, sir."
"And you will help me?"
"As much as I can. The Grail can be found, I believe, in a place known as the Forest at the Edge of Heaven. You will discover it, I am sure, marked on your charts. It lies on the farthest border of Mine I march. You must find it in the west."
"And are there any rituals I must follow?" I asked Philander Groot. "I seem to recall…"
"Ritual is the truth made into a child's game, at best. You will know what is for the best, I am sure."
"You can give me no more advice?"
"It would be against all I believe should I do so. No, Sir Knight, I have told you enough. The Grail exists. You wilt find it, almost certainly, where I said it can be found. What more could you need?"
I smiled in self-mockery. "Reassurance, I suppose."
"That must come from your own judgement, from your own testing of your conscience. It is the only kind of reassurance worth having, as I am sure you would agree."
"I agree, of course."
We were now walking back towards the glade. Groot mused. "I wonder if any object can cure the World of its Pain. It must be more than that. Would you say that your Master is desperate, captain?"
"His layers of defiance and rationalisation seem to fall away," I told the hermit, "to reveal little else but desperation. But can an angel fall so low in spirit?"
"There are entire monasteries, vast schools, debating such issues." Groot laughed. "I would not dare to speculate, Sir Knight. The Nature of Angels is not a branch of philosophy which captures my imagination much. Lucifer, I would say, cannot actually deceive an omniscient God, so therefore God must already know that the Grail is sought. If Lucifer has another purpose than the one He has told you, then God already knows it and continues, to some degree at least, to permit your Quest. This is the sort of talk which idle scholars prefer. But it is not for me."
"Nor for me," I said. "If I find the Grail and redeem my soul, that will be enough. I can only pray that Lucifer keeps His bargain."
"To whom do you pray?" asked Groot, with another smile. The question was rhetorical. He shook his hand to show that he was not serious.
"You seem an unusual subject of Queen Xiombarg," I said. "Or perhaps I misjudge her and this land."
"You probably misjudge the Queen and her country," he said, "but whether you do or you don't I can assure you that is all of Mittelmarch there is no more tranquil a valley, and tranquillity, at present, is what I seek above anything else, at this stage of my life."
"And do you understand the nature of Mittelmarch?" I asked him.
He shrugged. "I do not. All I know is that Mittelmarch could not survive without the rest of the world…but the rest of the world can survive without Mittelmarch. And that, I suspect, is what its denizens fear in you, if they fear anything at all."