Sophia turned to me with a slight, wicked grin. We had planned for her to meet Von Goldereau, either here or in Bray, so I said, very seriously, that the Gardener and I would both be delighted. The two Gentherans turned and went toward d’Lornschilde purposefully, while Sophia and I walked a less direct route that brought us up behind him just in time to hear the Gentheran crow, “…but now we have great news to impart, Delegate Von Goldereau d’Lornschilde! You may rejoice, Delegate. The heiress of Bray has been found!”
We could only see the back of Von Goldereau’s neck, which turned a peculiar ashen shade. “Found?” he choked. “Where did you find her?”
“Precisely where she has been all along, in the little village of Swylet-Upon-Sea, on Chottem, in the care of the Gardener.”
We had edged around a little so we were able to see that some color was returning into Von Goldereau’s face. “In the care of a gardener!” He sneered. “She’ll be completely unschooled. She’ll be a bumpkin, a rustic, a peasant! Totally unable to accept the great responsibilities she will have to shoulder. It’s best that I take her in hand, I think. See that she’s educated properly…”
“Oh,” said the other Gentheran, the larger one, “we think that will be unnecessary, Delegate. She has been reared by a great friend of Genthera.”
The delegate’s skin fell back toward its former ashen shade. “Genthera? What had Gentherans to do with her?”
“Enough to assure she would be no bumpkin.”
“But she was left with some herb grower? Some vendor of vegetables?”
“Yes. With a great friend of our people.”
He could find nothing to say, not a word even when the smaller one nodded to us. Sophia threw back her cloak and hood and moved around in front of the man, so he could see the loveliest woman he had ever seen, the perfected image of Stentor d’Lorn’s daughter. She was dressed in the most recent style adopted by the wealthiest class in Bray, her hair tumbled about her head in a black cloud set with diamond stars, and when she offered her hand, the sparkle of stones from her fingers and wrists almost blinded him. Quite perfect! Just as the Gardener and I had planned it.
“Delegate,” she said in the cool, careless voice she had inherited from her mother and had long practiced to perfection, “I understand you have been looking for me.”
Von Goldereau found his voice, the upper register at any rate. “Only to offer any assistance I can.” He bowed low over her hand and would have kissed it had she not withdrawn it quickly. “May I offer to escort you to your home?”
“Thank you, no,” she replied. “Here at Dominion headquarters, I have been arranging for various things to be done in Bray. We have sent people there to attend to my business. They will see that the local legalities are taken care of, and they will offer proof of my identity. I will be returning there very shortly.”
“The Great House has been largely untenanted,” said Von Goldereau with a note of desperation. “Surely you will allow me to hire servants for you, to see to its being readied for your arrival.”
“Kind of you, but unnecessary, Delegate. Workers have already been dispatched, people I know and trust. Even as we speak, they are opening the house my grandfather built.”
He was at a loss, and I knew why. The Gentherans had been making unscheduled visits to Bray for some time, and it had become much harder for Von Goldereau d’Lornschilde to keep the family business operating in the way Von Goldereau, and Stentor d’Lorn before him, had preferred. There were things going on in Bray that he did not wish Dominion to learn of, that Dominion had not learned of, yet, however diligent its search. Certainly he didn’t want the heiress to know of them until he was sure where her allegiance lay. With Stentor d’Lorn, he would have been on solid ground, but with my friend, he was at sea.
I could read his thoughts on his face. He was thinking it might be best to miss the meeting of Dominion and hurry back to Bray. He was also thinking that, on the other hand, something might occur at the meeting that was important, and the other delegates from Chottem might take advantage of his absence. His eyes, his hands betrayed his thought. So caught between two fires, he saw Sophia’s amused expression, the look of one who read a clearly written book.
She said, “Von Goldereau, we are kinfolk. Please do not upset yourself over my return. Be assured that my friends throughout Dominion have the matter very well in hand. I am at the age of reason in Earth-years, the age we humans seem to feel appropriate for the acceptance of responsibility. At this age, we need no regents, no guardians, no overseers or protectors except those we have selected to oversee and to protect. Do not trouble yourself on my account.”
And with that she turned and swept away, glittering like a fountain, with people bowing as she went and me hurrying after her, trying not to laugh. It wasn’t funny. I knew that there was really nothing funny about it, and yet, for just a moment, I was delighted.
From behind me I heard the deeper-voiced Gentheran say: “Bumpkin, I think you said, Delegate d’Lornschilde. Or was it peasant?”
Von Goldereau did not reply. When we reached the door and looked back, we saw that he had gone. We both knew he was returning to Bray as quickly as possible.
Meantime, the heiress of Bray put her arm around me and said, “That was interesting, don’t you think, Gretamara? The man is up to something.”
“If what the Gardener has told us is correct, Lady, we know the man is usually up to something, and something well beyond a bit of thievery or corruption. We
