A Civil Campaign

This was seconded and voted in without reference to the Count, but Miles couldn't see him offering much resistance to a proposal that he escort three beautiful women to hear music that he adored. And indeed, with a somewhat sheepish glance at Miles, he allowed himself to be persuaded. Miles wondered how Martya had cornered the tickets, which were generally sold out a year or two in advance, on such short notice. Was she drawing on her sister Delia's ImpSec connections, perhaps? This whole thing smelled of Team Koudelka in action.

The Countess smiled and held up a hand-calligraphed envelope. 'Look, Ren?! Armsman Kelso handed this to me as we came in. It's from Countess Vorgarin.'

'Looks like an invitation to me,' said Martya in a tone of vast satisfaction. 'See, things aren't so bad as you feared.'

'Open it,' urged Olivia.

Tatya did so; her eyes raced down the handwriting. Her face fell. 'Oh,' she said in a flattened tone. The delicate paper half-crumpled in her tight fist.

'What?' said Olivia anxiously.

Martya retrieved the paper, and read down it in turn. 'The cat! It's an un –invitation! To her baby daughter's naming party. ` . . . afraid you would not be comfortable,' my eye! The coward. The cat!'

Countess Tatya blinked rapidly. 'That's all right,' she said in a muffled voice. 'I hadn't been planning to go anyway.'

'But you said you were going to wear—' Ren? began, then closed his mouth abruptly. A muscle jumped in his jaw.

'All the women—and their mothers—who missed catching Ren? these last ten years are being just . . . just . . .' Martya sputtered to Miles, 'feline .'

'That's an insult to cats,' said Olivia. 'Zap has better character.'

Ren? glanced across at Miles. 'I couldn't help noticing . . .' he said in an extremely neutral voice, 'we haven't received a wedding invitation from Gregor and Dr. Toscane as yet.'

Miles held up a reassuring hand. 'Local invitations haven't been sent out yet. I know that for a fact.' This was not the moment to mention that inconclusive little political discussion on the subject he'd sat in on a few weeks ago at the Imperial Residence, Miles decided.

He stared around the tableau, Martya fuming, Olivia stricken, the Countess chilled, Ren? flushed and stiff. Inspiration struck. Ninety-six chairs. 'I'm giving a little private dinner party in two nights time. It's in honor of Kareen Koudelka and my brother Mark getting home from Beta Colony. Olivia will be there, and all the Koudelkas, and Lady Alys Vorpatril and Simon Illyan, and my cousin Ivan and several other valued friends. I'd be honored if you both would join us.'

Ren? managed a pained smile at this palpable charity. 'Thank you, Miles. But I don't think—'

'Oh, Tatya, yes, you've got to come,' Olivia broke in, squeezing her old friend's arm. 'Miles is finally unveiling his lady-love for us all to meet. Only Kareen's seen her so far. We're all just dying of curiosity.'

Ren?'s brows went up. 'You, Miles? I thought you were as confirmed a bachelor as your cousin Ivan. Married to your career.'

Miles grimaced furiously at Olivia, and twitched at Ren?'s last words. 'I had this little medical divorce from my career. Olivia, where did you ever get the idea that Madame Vorsoisson— she's my landscape designer, you see, Ren?, but she's Lord Auditor Vorthys's niece, I met her on Komarr, she's just recently widowed and certainly not—not ready to be anybody's lady-love. Lord Auditor Vorthys and the Professora will be there too, you see, a family party, nothing inappropriate for her.'

'For who?' asked Martya.

'Ekaterin,' escaped his mouth before he could stop it. All four lovely syllables.

Martya grinned unrepentantly at him. Ren? and his wife looked at each other—Tatya's dimple flashed, and Ren? pursed his lips thoughtfully.

'Kareen said Lord Mark said you said,' Olivia said innocently. 'Who was lying, then?'

'Nobody, dammit, but—but—' He swallowed, and prepared to run down the drill one more time. 'Madame Vorsoisson is . . . is . . .' Why was this getting harder to explain with practice, instead of easier? 'Is in formal mourning for her late husband. I have every intention of declaring myself to her when the time is right. The time is not right. So I have to wait.' He gritted his teeth. Ren? was now leaning his chin on his hand, his finger across his lips, and his eyes alight. 'And I hate waiting ,' Miles burst out.

'Oh,' said Ren?. 'I see.'

'Is she in love with you too?' asked Tatya, with a furtive fond glance at her husband.

God, the Vorbrettens were as gooey as Gregor and Laisa, and after three years, too. This marital enthusiasm was a damned contagious disease. 'I don't know,' Miles confessed in a smaller voice.

'He told Mark he's courting her in secret,' Martya put in to the Vorbrettens. 'It's a secret from her. We're all still trying to figure that one out.'

'Is the entire city party to my private conversations?' Miles snarled. 'I'm going to strangle Mark.'

Martya blinked at him with manufactured innocence. 'Kareen had it from Mark. I had it from Ivan. Mama had it from Gregor. And Da had it from Pym. If you're trying to keep a secret, Miles, why are you going around telling everyone?'

Miles took a deep breath.

Countess Vorbretten said demurely, 'Thank you, Lord Vorkosigan. My husband and I would be pleased to come to your dinner party.' She dimpled at him.

His breath blew out in a, 'You're welcome.'

'Will the Viceroy and Vicereine be back from Sergyar?' Ren? asked Miles. His voice was tinged with political curiosity.

'No. In fact. Though they're due quite soon. This is my party. My last chance to have Vorkosigan House to myself before it fills up with the traveling circus.' Not that he didn't look forward to his parents' return, but his head-of-the-House role had been rather . . . pleasant, these past few months. Besides, introducing Ekaterin to Count and Countess Vorkosigan, her prospective future parents-in-law, was something he wished to choreograph with the utmost care.

He'd surely done his social duty by now. Miles rose with some dignity, and bid everyone farewell, and politely offered Martya and Olivia a ride, if they wished it. Olivia was staying on with her friend the Countess, but Martya took him up on it.

Miles gave Pym a fishy look as the Armsman opened the groundcar canopy for them to enter the rear compartment. Miles had always put down Pym's extraordinary ability to collect gossip, a most valuable skill to Miles in his new post, to Pym's old ImpSec training. He hadn't quite realized Pym might be trading . Pym, catching the look but not its cause, went a bit blander than usual, but seemed otherwise unaffected by his liege-lord's displeasure.

In the rear compartment with Martya as they pulled away from Vorbretten House and swung down toward the Star Bridge, Miles seriously considered dressing her down for roasting him about Ekaterin in front of the Vorbrettens. He was an Imperial Auditor now, by God—or at least by Gregor. But then he'd get no further information out of her. He controlled his temper.

'How do the Vorbrettens seem to be holding up, from your view?' he asked her.

She shrugged. 'They're putting up a good front, but I think they're