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TWELVE

"Felix, the Right Honorable Earl of Godelia, Lord of Privy Information," the guard beyond the door announced.  

The earl entered, bowed, and then locked the door behind him out of sheer habit. 

Duke Guilhem Alberigo XXI turned from his spacious desk. "Ah, Uncle Felix. I'm so glad that you could get here so quickly." 

"My services are always instantly available to the crown, Your Grace, especially when your note said that all you wanted was my advice," he said, pausing to blow his stuffed-up nose. The earl's eyes were watering and his sinuses were throbbing as well. For a nobleman accustomed to long years of vigorous health, the head cold was particularly vexing. 

"I see that you've got it, too. I'd be more sympathetic except that I was one of the first to be stricken with the damnable disease. We can only hope that the benefits we gain will be worth the price we're all paying. Naturally, what I wanted to discuss with you is the newcomers." 

"I'm at your service, but I'm not sure what I can contribute, just yet. I haven't seen either of them, of course, but my men have carefully recorded every word they've said in either Westronese or English. What we've learned so far, which isn't very much, is that they are very probably exactly what they at first seemed to be, simply two men with a largish pleasure boat that had the bad luck to be caught in the worst storm we've seen in fifty years.  

"The larger of the two might have been, at some time in the past, the servant of the smaller, but the relationship seems to have been more like a journeyman's service to a master, which isn't servitude in the ordinary sense of the word. They have since declared themselves to be partners, and I think that we should acknowledge them to be such. The larger also claims to be a `Knight of Columbus,' and thus is perhaps a chevalier, but I'm not sure that we should consider him as such under our law." 

"Their precise legal status can be deferred for the time being, Uncle. The real question is, are they our enemies?" 

"It is most unlikely that they are the covert representatives of any outsider government. They seem to be genuinely surprised that we are here, so if our existence is known to their government, it is keeping us a secret." 

"I see. Was there any difficulty in placing your listening devices in the homes of the ladies tending them?" 

"None at all. There was easy access through the utility tunnels in both cases, so it was never necessary to inform the ladies of our actions." 

The duke said, "I suppose that's for the best. I can't say that I like this business any more now than when we agreed on it in the beginning. I hope that you've been able to find a sufficient number of listeners with the requisite decency, discretion, and honor such that the ladies will never suffer by whatever is heard in their homes." 

"Of that I can assure Your Grace. They know of the horrendous punishment that would fall on them should our snooping become common knowledge. But tell me, has anything been learned about the unusual instrumentation we found on their ship?" 

"Little, except that it may not be so unusual in their eyes. The Warlock is working on it, but he hasn't had much to report yet. It is still very early. I'll keep you informed, Uncle Felix." 

 

* * *

 

On the way back from Adam's place, I asked Roxanna about the two Pelitier women. Were they a mother and daughter or two sisters?

"Sisters, my lord. They are separated by twelve years, so your confusion is understandable. The younger of the two, Agnes, was the wife of the Council Wizard Vintiere, before his untimely death. Before the marriage, Maria had been Vintiere's lover for many years."

"To live with two sisters, one for wife, one for girl friend. Very strange," I managed to say.

"Unusual, but within the law, my lord, and the three of them were happy enough. You see, Vintiere and Maria were of an age, and were lovers before their testing. He was a commoner while she was the child of a baron. This alone would not have stopped their marriage, had he been of but ordinary abilities. However, Vintiere scored at the top of his age group in the testing for the Wizard's Academy, and thus was required to attend a long and arduous course of instruction. As an undergraduate student, he was forbidden marriage."

"But didn't Maria wait for him?"

"No, my lord, it was not permitted. She married a fisherman, following her father's wishes. Maria had a son by this man. It was only after both father and son died in a boating accident that she was free to cohabit with her first lover."

"So many questions. Must be patient with me. Baron father felt fisherman good husband for daughter? And wizard not good husband?"

"A student wizard might pass or he might fail, and if he failed he would be in a poor position to support a wife. A fisherman who owns his own boat is counted as wealthy, and an excellent provider."

"Why baron father not want daughter to marry son of another baron? Would be like that in my country." I couldn't figure out how to say "same social class."

She laughed a bit and said that such a thing would be impossible. When I looked confused, she gestured towards a bench in an alcove set into the wall of the tunnel-road and we sat down, leaving the maid standing and ignored. Adam was right. Servants here were treated like third-class humans.

"First, my lord, such a thing would be impossible because all of the barons are brothers or cousins, grandsons of the present duke's father or grandfather. You see, a duke is encouraged to have as many children as possible, to ensure the continuation of the line. On the death of a duke, one of his sons is elected by the earls, the duke's brothers and uncles, to be the next duke. After the election, the other sons, on reaching their majority, will become earls in turn. The son of an earl becomes a baron, one step lower on the ladder of the nobility. The son of a baron becomes a chevalier, although in fact only the duke, the archbishop and the warlock actually have horses. The sons of a chevalier are commoners."

"Hum. You talk of sons only. What happen to daughters?"

"Why, they mostly get married, I suppose, except for those who feel a calling for the church, and even then, marriage and casual lovers are not forbidden the clergy, as I have heard is done in some of the outsider religions. Oh, I see what you mean. Well, my lord, you must understand that there is only one noble family on the Western Isles, and obviously it would be against the laws of God, man, and good breeding for a woman to marry back into her own family. Therefore, they must marry commoners. Oh, to be sure, they marry the wealthiest of these men if they have a choice, for they are of the best stock and come with good dowries. And of course, many score high in the testing, and marry wizards or clergymen."

"Again you talk of testing. Explain, please."

"Very well, my lord, although it is taking a long while to explain that two women are sisters!"

"Patience, please. We get back to sisters later. Talk about testing."

"As you wish, my lord. At about the age of eighteen, every boy and girl in the isles is given a number of tests. The most important of these are written, and the young are tested for their intelligence, learning and piety. Other tests are physical, as in running, jumping and acrobatics. Among the boys, the best are selected for furthering their education either with the wizards, or with the church. Once they have satisfactorily completed their training, they enter into the ranks of those organizations."

"And the girls?"

"Those maidens at the top of the lists who are not themselves noble are wed to the nobility, and those below them to the wizards and clergy. The great majority of both sexes are rejected by the tests, and may marry whoever they choose."

"Best girls are forced to marry nobles and wizards?"

"Yes, although it is equally true that the young nobles and somewhat older wizards and clergymen are forced to marry the maidens. Remember that none of the tests were for beauty."

I didn't like the sounds of this system at all.

"In my country, people marry whoever they choose."

"In your country, you have a population of far greater than our twelve thousand. Your gene pool is large enough to permit such freedoms. Here we are few in number, and the only way that we can assure that genetic drift does not turn our children into crippled imbeciles is with a program of deliberate breeding, and ruthless culling."

Roxanna's expression was suddenly hard, but what really shocked me was that this apparently medieval lady was suddenly discussing modern genetics!

"Culling? You mean killed?"

"No, my lord, we are not quite that brutal, except in the rare cases of serious birth defects." I could she was getting upset with me, but I needed to get at the truth of this business.

"What you mean, then?"

"I'd really rather not discuss it now. Come. We must return home now if we wish to avoid an overcooked supper or a cold one."

She got up and strode briskly down the tunnel. I was forced to follow her, for fear of getting lost in the maze of caverns under the surface of the island, if for no other reason. After a half hour or so of walking, she seemed to have calmed down, so I said, "So Agnes scored high on test, and wizard Vintiere marries sister of old sweetheart. Very lucky."

"That a thing is improbable does not make it impossible, my lord. Also, well, sometimes things can be juggled, just a bit. It is illegal, of course, but I'm sure that it occasionally happens."

"But now poor Vintiere is dead, you say. What happens to two sisters?"

"You would know the answer better than I, my lord, but it seemed to me that your friend Adam was much taken by both of them."

"And if Adam does not marry one of them?"

"They have money for a year or two, I suppose, during which time they might find husbands or lovers. Barring that there is always the church."

From her expression, I could see that I was getting far too close to forbidden ground again. I remained silent for the rest of the trip, and spoke only of inanities through supper.

That evening, as I was getting ready for bed, the maid, Felicia, came by to see if I needed anything. I said yes, and told her to sit down. Since it happened that I was sitting on the only chair in the huge, sparsely furnished room, I gestured for her to sit on the bed. She did as asked, but she was suddenly very nervous, sitting bolt upright with her hands clasped tightly in her lap.

"What's wrong? I say something I should not?"

"No, my lord. You are well within your rights. But still, I am a married woman."

"What does . . . ? Oh golly! Felicia, I'm not think to have sex with you. It is just that on my country, a man does not force a woman standing while he is a friendly conversation with her. They would be not a polite. Understanding?"

She relaxed, but not totally. "What do you wish, my lord?"

"I want maybe answers to some few questions. I try to ask Lady Roxanna about them, but she is averse to give me straightaway answers. Would you help me, please?"

"I'm not very learned, my lord. Even my parents were servants. Perhaps my husband could give you better help than I."

I could see that I wasn't going to get much out of a woman who was worried about getting raped on the spot, so I said, "Good. Go now and send back husband."

I moved from the chair over to the bed, to forestall any further misunderstanding. These people lived by the sun and it was getting dark as the man arrived, a spoon-shaped clay oil lamp in his hand.

"I hope you'll forgive the light, my lord, but my wife felt you thought the matter urgent."

"Not really a hurry, but I don't hate you the price of oil. Put a lamp on the table and sit down. There are some things I am about curious, and that Lady Roxanna doesn't not want it to talk about."

"Uh, as you wish, my lord."

"First, what is you name?"

"Jacques, my lord."

"Good, Jacques. First time, about the lady herself. I guessing that she was used to be married. Who was man and what happened to him?"

"You mean the Baron Roland, my lord. He was a fine young man, he was. He ruled the Barony of Avalon as well as anyone had ever done before him, he did."

"And he dead now?"

"Yes, poor man. Dead and in Heaven, if there's any justice. There was a fight in a tavern between a gardener and a merchant. Drunk, the both of them, they was. The baron went to break it up, as was his duty, and the merchant hit him on the head with a full pitcher of beer. Killed him dead on the spot. They hung the merchant for it, of course, but that didn't make the Lady Roxanna any less of a widow. It happened almost a year ago, it did."

"I see. My friend Adam was put with young widow like me. Just the coincidence, or was there some one good reason behind them?"

"Well, it's not for such as me to second-guess my betters, my lord, but don't you see that it just made sense? I mean, somebody had to nurse the two of you back to health, and teach you how to speak properly and all, so why not put you with some people who needed you as much as you needed them?"

"Oh. I see. No one has asked me for money yet, but I intend to pay for good services rendered. From what Adam say, I can afford it."

"Afford it? My lord, you are one of the two richest men in all of the Western Isles, and your partner is the other one. I mean, I wouldn't pry, you understand, but I was one of the men who was called up to help salvage your ship. There were tons of iron and steel and copper on that ship! And gold and silver, too, and other metals I don't even know the names of! There was stored food by the ton that the Warlock said would last forever, and you could see him looking just greedy at all the boxes of magic stuff we brought ashore. Yes, my lord, you can afford just about anything you can dream of!"

"Now, that's hard to me believe, but then maybe again I can probably dream a bit higher and broader than you can. So the Lady Roxanna is in need of money? Well, I'll be glad to oblige her."

"Yes, my lord, she needs cash, and don't we all know it. Not that I'm speaking on my own behalf, you understand. I mean, the wife and me will make out some way or another, no matter what happens. Even if the lady loses her lands and apartment, why, we'd probably go right with the land, so to speak, unless the new baron had some other servants that he wanted in our stead. Not that we'd want to stop serving the lady, of course, but if she really lost the land, what could we do for her? I mean, me being just a gardener and all."

"Relax. I don't think you lose a job, nor will the others either. Like I will say, I'll see that Roxanna is good paid."

"Thank you, my lord, and that's from all of us. And maybe we'd all be eating a little higher on the food chain if you could see fit to pay her something real soon," he said.

"Certainly. But if urgent things were now, why she say anything didn't?"

"Because she's a lady, and used to be a baroness. She's got her pride, she has. And mostly, I think, because what she really needs is more than money alone, if you get my meaning."

"No, I'm afraid I don't get meaning yours at all," I said.

"Well, confound it, I'm talking way out of line here, my lord, and if you want to have me whipped for it, so be it. But somebody has got to talk some common sense into you!"

"I'm not going to have you whipping, and I've punished never a man for speaking the truth. So if you have something to say, go out with you!"

"Yes, my lord, since you put it that way. The Lady Roxanna needs what every young widow needs. Namely, a new husband! And here she's been serving you and tending your wounds and even bathing you like a helpless baby, and you've not so much as patted her on the butt! You haven't kissed her, let alone pinched a tit, and what's a woman to think about that? I mean, what is it? Are you some kind of a pervert that likes to fondle little boys, or some such unholy thing?"

"Damn you, I'm not a fucking queer!" I had to say it in English, since if there was a word for those people in Westronese, Roxanna hadn't taught it to me. After a bit, I said, "Look. I am `lost' my own wife not too long ago, and, well, I just haven't felt like it, that's everything."

"Sorry, my lord, I didn't know. How long ago did it happen?"

"A year ago. Just over a year from now."

"Again, sorry. But the time of mourning is long passed for you. Any priest would tell you that. You need a wife. Every man does, and you'll not find one better than the Lady Roxanna. A fine lady, she is."

"I'm . . . I'm not sure that I'm to be ready for that gross of a commitment."

"What commitment, my lord? You'll always need someone to manage your household, and there's none better for that than Lady Roxanna. And if you tire of her, or see another that you like better, why, with your wealth you can always take on a concubine or two. God's Hooks, my lord, you could afford dozens!"

"Dammit, I don't want dozens of concubines! One woman was everyone I ever need. But the you talk way about it, you'd tell me they for sale were. Or, I mean, they aren't, are they? You don't own people here, do they?"

"Slaves? No, my lord. Not for a thousand years and more. But there are always more servants than people to hire them, and many who would settle for a room and the food they eat. And not the best food at that. There's never been enough land to feed everybody, even with the three crops a year a good gardener like me can grow. But as to women, why they're mostly just like men under the skin, if you get my meaning. They like a little extra loving now and then just like most men do. And what with your wealth, why, if you see one you like, just tell her so, and the odds are fair she'll be in your bed that night."

Like most poor men, he was convinced that money is the most powerful aphrodisiac. Having been well off, once, I can testify that it just isn't so, but there was no point in spoiling his dreams.

"You mean to tell me that around here is everybody into free love?"

"Well, of course, my lord, everybody isn't into anything. I mean, people are all different, you know. A lot of us commoners, we married the women we wanted and are happy with them. Me and the missus, we're both well content with just one another. The nobility and the wizards and the clergy, though, well, the law says that they have to breed the best that they can, so marriage to them is more like a business contract, if you get my meaning. So as long as all the children born are from the married husband and wife, well, the husbands have their friends on the side and the wives do the same. They do it on the quiet or in the open, as it suits them."

"So you have method of baby control? What is it?" I asked.

The wick in the oil lamp started smoking, so the gardener adjusted it and put a bit of animal fat nearer the flame to be rendered into grease.

"In truth, my lord, I don't know. You'd have to ask a nobleman or a wizard. My wife and I are servants who were born of servants, and neither of us did really well on the tests, so we aren't troubled by that sort of thing."

"You mean that you don't care who the father of a child is?"

"No, my lord. I mean that we can't have children. We've both been sterilized. It's the law."

 

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