A Match for the el Maiens Ch. 27

"Oh, you know," Vadya propped his head in his big hands and glowered into his brandy. "There will be nobody I know here." After a while he lifted his head and nodded towards the stairs. "They run a card-playing hell upstairs," he said. "Tashka found it on her first visit to Port H'las. When she is in Port H'las she comes here."

"Angels!" Clair exclaimed crossly, looking about him. "What, on his own?"

"Oh yes," Vadya said gloomily. "I mean, if she can she will arm-twist one of the juniors to come along and watch her back but she quite often comes alone. At the least of it, thank the Angels, she has not yet introduced my father to this place! That I have expressedly forbidden."

Clair grinned sympathetically. "Your Lady wife is not a placid cow to manage," he said.

"Yes, thanks for bestowing her on me," Vadya responded. "You can talk. At the least of it my wife does not run with the merchants and start a civil war." Clair laughed. "There is a parcel come for you from Anna," he added.

When they had finished the bowls of brandy they got up to go back to the castle together. As they went out the door, Clair said: "I prithou, el Gaiel." He popped back into the horrid bar, the barmaid was wistfully clearing their brandy bowls from the table. He went up to her and stuffed a couple of suns in her bosom and waggled his left hand with the marriage ring on his finger at her, to say: It is not that you are not lovely; if I were not married, my sugarplum, but I am.

Back at the castle there was a parcel wrapped in waterproof cloth which had come all the way down to him through the Maier Pass by special messenger, the small packet of the letter she wrote him about her work must have overtaken it on its way. He cut the sealed cloth and out of the soft wrappings fell a couple of pots of special jam from Ladda, a length of pretty lace - all suns and stars and moons - for him to have sewn onto a shirt, and some framed pictures. There was a scrubby drawing of what looked like a cow. No, in shaky writing under it was written: Arkyll horse. There was an extremely good drawing, a picture of Arianna, with neat lettering saying: Portrait of Aunt Anna, Hanya. He looked in astonishment at his son's art-work then with a pleased smile at his other son's name written by himself then picked out her letter. It was a long letter telling him all about how the children did, and the servants. Ria wanted to marry her lover, Arianna craved his indulgence, she had agreed to bestow her on the stablemaid in Clair's absence. She wrote: I thank you, my husband, my heart. How much I enjoy myself eating my chocolates in the library; sometimes while dreaming of what else we might do here than sums if only we could lock the door... I am that woman who is so glad in her heart to sign herself your Lady wife your dear Arianna el Jien van Sietter.