Will saw them in silhouette against the bright water of the stream; he saw Hart pull down her arms from his neck and motion for her to turn around. Then Hart opened his box and dropped the cover and bottom on the bank, and took out a necklace of some sort of heavy dangles and put it around the girl’s neck.
Will sat down on the damp ground and prepared himself for a long wait.
Just a run-of-the-mill assignation. And for this he’d missed Iolanthe’s wedding.
Iolanthe would have missed it, too, if she could. As it was, she accepted the cup from Bishop Kalend with only slightly unsteady hands and drank a mouthful of preserved Curosa blood. She remembered how shocked and disappointed she’d been at her Confirmation when she discovered the foul taste of if. Her lips puckered involuntarily and she handed the cup to Adrian, who drank with equanimity, as he did everything else.
Only halfway there. She watched as the bishop emptied the contents of her leech and Adrian’s leech into the cup, and they passed it around again. Her face had gone rather pale by this time and she put aside all other fears—of marriage, of death, of the disapproval of Opal—and concentrated on not fainting.
Servitors were handing out tablets of quick-frozen Curosa blood serum to the congregation. This was timed to counteract some of the necessary side-effects of Sacred Breath, which, while cushioning the human system against foreign invaders, had the unfortunate tendency to arouse people sexually. There was a time when weddings on the Diamond were not quite as staid as they were now, and it had been a mark of honor some centuries ago to have the consummation take place right in the cathedral. However, as far as the bishops were concerned, that time could not too soon be forgotten.
As usual Iolanthe’s system was not quite like anybody else’s, and as she revived slightly and listened to the bishop drone on about her new responsibilities, she considered the fact that Adrian was not half bad-looking, and a nice fellow to boot. She wondered how he’d look with that cape off; as she recalled, he had a nice little fanny.
It was a good thing, she thought, that she seemed to be in control of the situation. That Sacred Breath had worried her.
She wondered where Will was. Talk about fannies—
“My lady?” said the bishop.
“Yes?” she said, startled.
“Do you understand and accept these responsibilities?”
Adrian and the bishop were both looking at her funny. “Yes, I understand and accept them.” Really, what was their problem?
“Adrian Mercati—” said the bishop, and off he went again.
Eventually Adrian slipped the ring on her finger, a nice circle of diamonds, of course; and he kissed her. Yes, he was a fine person. He’d been very nice to her, after all. She decided to open her mouth a bit the way her cousin Beverly had recommended, and she felt Adrian’s start of surprise. He started to draw away a little, but she put an arm around him, knowing he wouldn’t obviously refuse a lady in front of the entire City. The kiss went well beyond the usual length of a wedding kiss.
The cathedral was shocked to silence, but in Nemiah Circus the applause went on and on.
And so the wedding party filed out, and after an interval of singing, the rest of the church was allowed to follow. Although Spider had no acquaintance here, he overheard a lot, and he noted that conversation was limited to several topics: What the bride wore; what a little hussy she was, and what a climber—have you even heard of her people on Opal? Adrian’s got himself a handful, hasn’t he (said with some envy by a Diamond lord). And, finally, on everyone’s lips: Are you going to the ball?
The wedding ball was at seven. Spider had not been invited.
He could go back to his compartment and maybe stop on the way for some cheap food.
He could back to his compartment and maybe stop at a bar on the way.
He could go visit his mother and let her glorify him to her friends.
He brightened at that. And Ma wasn’t above slipping a little comfort into the teacup, especially on a day like this. He grinned and stepped out into the throng making its way down the side aisle.
As the cathedral gradually emptied, four deacons emerged from the alcoves and went to clean and empty the braziers. Two boys came out to take down the wedding objects from the altar.
One of the deacons wrestled with the huge brazier by the fresco of Saint Michael. The aroma of the Sacred Breath ashes was still pungent. High above him in their niche, Tealeaf and the Salamander had fallen asleep, naked, in each other’s arms.
Chapter 35
If once a man indulges himself in murder, very soon he comes to think little of robbing; and from robbing he comes next to drinking and Sabbathbreaking, and from that to incivility and procrastination.
THOMAS DEQUINCEY
The sole cause of man’s unhappiness is that he does not know how to stay quietly in his room.
PASCAL
Will’s pants had gotten damp from the grass and he was nodding off. It was, after all, a pleasant Sunday afternoon, and he had no official duties to speak of. And Hart and the girl had gone swimming and were now lying on the bank, talking lazily. Will wished he had had die forethought to bring a girl himself.
The most interesting part of the afternoon had come earlier, when Hart and this girl had stripped and Hart had demonstrated that he was every bit as attentive to female needs as male. Anyway, the girl had given that impression. Now was the boring aftermath, and Will didn’t even
