Once Upon a Time in the North

'How can I help you, miss?'

She put the candle on the mantelpiece over the empty grate, and closed the journal that lay next to the pen and bottle of ink on the little round table with the lace cloth on it. Then she pulled out the one chair for Lee to sit on.

He did so, still not wanting to look her in the face in case she was embarrassed by her tears, but then he realized that if she had the courage to initiate this strange encounter, he should honor that by not patronizing her. He lifted his head to look at her, tall and slender and still, with the dim light glittering on her cheeks.

Lee waited for her question. She seemed to be wondering how to frame it. Her hands were clasped in front of her mouth, and she was looking at the floor. Finally she said:

'There is something I have been asked to do, and I am afraid of saying yes in case it would be better to say no. I mean, not better for me, but better for—for the person who asked me. I am not very experienced in such matters, Mr. Scoresby. I suppose few people are, before it happens. And I am alone here and there is no one to ask for advice. I am not putting this very well. I am so sorry to trouble you.'

'Don't apologize, Miss Lund. I don't know if I can give you advice that would be any good to you, but I'll sure try. Seems to me that this person who asked you to do something hopes you'll do it, or they wouldn't have asked. And . . . and it seems to me that the best judge of whether it would be good for them is them. I don't think you should worry yourself about giving a particular answer when that answer might suit your personal preference. It ain't dishonorable to consider your own interests. It might be more dishonorable to do what you think is the right thing for someone else when it ain't the right thing for you. This is about honor, ain't it?'

'Yes, it is.'

'Hard thing to get right.'

'That's why I asked for your advice.'

'Well, Miss Lund, if this is a thing you want to do...'

'I do very much.'

'And it won't harm anyone—'

'I thought it might harm . . . the person who asked me.'

'You must let them be the judge of that.'

'Yes, I see. Yes.'

'Then it would be honorable enough to do it.'

She stood still, this tall bony gawky girl in her white nightgown and her bare feet, her face so unguarded it was almost naked, a face where intelligence and honesty and shyness and courage and hope all blended into an expression that touched Lee's heart so strongly he all but fell in love with her there and then. He saw her soft hands holding her daemon to her breast. And he saw her grace, the sweet overcoming of her young body's clumsiness— for she was young; and he thought how proud she would make any man who gained her approval; and he thought if once he was privileged to hold this treasure of a girl in his arms, he would never again look at a vapid doll like Miss Poliakova.

Suddenly she held out her hand to shake. He stood up and took it.

'I am most grateful,' she said.

'Happy to help, miss, and I wish you very well,' said Lee. 'I truly hope you can stop worrying about this.'

A few chilly seconds later he was in his own bed, with Hester beside him on the pillow.

'Well, Hester,' he said, 'what was that all about?'

'You don't know? She had a proposal of marriage, of course, you big fool.'

'She did? No kidding! How about that. And what did I advise her to do?'

'To say yes, of course.'

'Sheesh,' said Lee. 'I hope I got that right.'

Next morning Lee came down to a breakfast of greasy cheese and pickled fish, in the course of which each of the gentleman boarders took great pains to address the young librarian with careless charm, and she responded with silent disdain. Neither she nor Lee made any reference to what had happened in the night.

'A frosty character, our Miss Lund,' said the photographer when she'd left. 'She expects high standards of conversation.'

'She has a sweetheart in the Customs Office,' said Vassiliev. 'I saw them last night after the meeting. What happened to you, Mr. Scoresby? Were you drawn into the maelstrom of politics?'

'Guess I was, for a minute,' said Lee. 'Then I came to my senses again. That Poliakov is a disapproving individual, and no mistake. Is he going to win this election?'

'Oh, yes. His only opponent is the present Mayor, who is an indolent and cowardly man. Yes, Poliakov will win, and then he will be perfectly placed to make a bid to return to the Senate at Novgorod. I fully expect to see more of him, unfortunately.'

'You know, I just remembered something,' Lee said. 'He began to mention a situation at the harbor that needed . . . whatever it was he said . . . resolving. Would that be the business of the Captain who can't load his cargo? Do you know anything about that?'

'Well, I don't know exactly what is going on down there, but no doubt our old friends Larsen Manganese have something to do with it. So Poliakov has a hand in it as well, does he? I'm sure that he will win that too.'

'Well now,' said Lee, 'would you care to make a little—?'

Hester bit him quite hard on the wrist. Lee looked at her reproachfully.