can't be nearly as large.'
Here was a seat for two, masterfully carved from a single block of
myrtle. He halted to stare at it, longing to sit but restrained by the
fear that he would be unable to stand again. 'We have to find this
image of Thelxiepeia,' he muttered, 'and there must be places to sit
there. Hyacinth won't come. She's at Blood's in the country, she's
bound to be. But we can rest there awhile.'
A new voice, obsequious and affected, murmured, 'I _beg_ your
pardon, sir.'
'Yes, what is it?' Silk turned.
A waiter had come up behind him. 'I'm rather embarrassed, sir. I
really don't know quite how to phrase it.'
'Am I not supposed to be in here now?' As Silk asked, he
resolved not to leave without a fight; they might overwhelm him
with a mob of waiters and footmen, but they would have to--no
mere order or argument would suffice.
'Oh, no, sir!' The waiter looked horrified. 'It's quite all right.'
The desperate struggle Silk had visualized faded into the mist of
unactualized eventualities.
'There is a gendeman, sir. A very tall gentleman, sir, with a long
face? Rather a sad face, if I may say so, sir. He's in the Club.'
'No go,' Oreb announced firmly.
'He would not give me his name, sir. He said it was not relevant.'
The waiter cleared his throat. 'He would not give your name either,
sir, but he described you. He said that I was to say nothing if you
were with someone, sir. I was only to offer to bring you and anyone
who might be in your company refreshment, for which he would
pay. But that if I found you alone, I was to invite you to join him.'
Silk shook his head. 'I have no idea who this gentleman is. Do
you?'
'No, sir. He is not a regular patron. sir. I don't think I've ever
seen him before.'
'Do you know the figure of Thelxiepela, waiter? Here in the
Glasshouse?'
'Certainly, sir. The tall gentleman instructed me to look for you
there, sir.'
Colonel Oosik was tall, Silk reflected, though so massive that his
height had not been very noticeable; but Oosik could scarcely be
called long-faced. Since only he and Captain Gecko had read
Hyacinth's letter, the long-faced man was presumably Gecko. 'Tell
him I can't join him in the Club,' Silk said, choosing his words.
'Express my regrets. Tell him I'll be at the figure of Thelxiepeia. and
I'm alone. He may speak to me there if he chooses.'
'Yes, sir. Thank you, sir. May I get you anything, sir? I could
bring it there.'
Silk shook his head impatiently.
'Very well, sir. I will deliver your message.'
'Wait a moment. What time is it?'
The waiter looked apologetic. 'I have no watch, sir.'
'Of course not. Neither do I. Approximately.'
'I looked at the barman's clock, sir, only a minute or two before I
came here. It was five until twelve then, sir.'
'Thank you,' Silk said, and sat down on the carved wooden seat
without a thought about the difficulty of getting up.
_Hieraxday_, Hyacinth's letter said. He tried to recall her exact
words and failed, but he remembered their import. She had
mentioned no time, perhaps intending late afternoon, when she
would have finished her shopping. The barman's clock was in the
Club, no doubt; and the Club would be a drinking place, primarily
for men--a rich man's version of the Cock, where he had found
Auk. The waiter was unlikely to have glanced at the barman's clock
after speaking to the long-faced man, whoever he was; so it had
probably been ten minutes or more since he had noticed the time.
Hieraxday was past. This was Thelxday, and if Hyacinth had waited
for him (which was highly unlikely) he had not come.
'Hello, Jugs,' Auk said, emerging from the darkness of a side
tunnel. 'He wants us to work on Pas's Plan.'
Chenille whirled. 'Hackum! I've been looking all over for you!'
She ran to him, surprising him, threw her arms around him, and
wept.
'Now,' he said. 'Now, now, Jugs. Now, now.' She had been
unhappy, and he knew it and knew that in some ill-defined and
troubling way it was his fault, although he had meant her no harm,
had wished her well and thought of her with kindness when he bad
thought of her at all. 'Excuse,' he muttered, and let go of Tartaros's
hand to embrace her with both arms.
When at last she ceased sobbing, he kissed her as tenderly as he
could, a kiss she returned passionately. She wiped her eyes, sniffled,
and gulped, 'Oh, Hierax! Hackum, I missed you so much! I've been
so lonesome and scared. Hug me.'
This baffled him, because he already was. He tried, 'I'm sorry,
Jugs,' and when it seemed to do no good, 'I won't ever leave you
again unless you want me to.'
She nodded and swallowed. 'It's all right, as long as you keep
coming back.'
He noticed her ring. 'Didn't I give you that?'
'Yeah, thanks.' Stepping back, she held it up to show it off better,
although the bleared greenish lights could never do it justice. 'I love
it, but you can have it back anytime if you need the gelt.'
'I'm flush, but I gave it to you?'
'You forget, huh?' She looked at him searchingly. 'On account of
hitting your head. Or maybe a god got you like Kypris did me? It's
still pretty hard for me to remember lots of things that happened
when she was boss, or Scylla.'
Auk shook his head, and found that it no longer ached. 'I've
never had no god bossing me, Jugs, or wanted to either. That's lily.
I never even knew about Kypris, but you were a lot different when
you were Scylla.'
