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'Oh, you have, have you? I must say you are a very opinion-ated young woman.'
'Thank you, ma'am.'
I watched her eyes narrow. One arm reappeared with a pair of glasses, through
which she surveyed me.
'Come closer,' she said. Then added, 'If you please.'
I stepped up to the base of the giant bed. There was a strong smell of
incense and mothballs. The fluttering scraps of gold leaf on the walls set up
a distracting shimmer on either side.
The Queen brought out a white handkerchief and polished her glasses with it.
'You have met my son.'
'Yes, ma'am.'
'What do you think of him?'
'I think he is a credit to you, Your Highness. He is charming
and& responsible.'
'Responsible? Ha! Either you know nothing or you're one of the useless ones.
One of the lying ones. The ones who say what they think I want to hear.'
'Perhaps you're confusing lying with politeness, ma'am.'
'What?'
'Well, I don't really know your son all that well, Your Highness. As far as I
can tell he seems a gentleman. Well--bred, polite& Oh, and a very good dancer,
great poise and extremely light on his feet.'
(The Queen's brows furrowed at this, so I didn't continue with the topic.)
'Ah, he seems sad, sometimes, and he is a little flirtatious, perhaps, but not
rudely or aggressively so.' I thought back to what Langtuhn had said in the
car. 'He doesn't seem to be too extravagant, which is always a good thing in
a prince, I
think, especially when they are away from home. Ah,' I said, struggling to
end on a positive note, and failing, 'I suspect the responsibilities of his
inheritance lie heavily on him.'
The old Queen shook her head as though to dismiss all this. 'When is he going
to get married? That's what I want to know.'
'I'm afraid I can't help you there, ma'am.'
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'Not many can, young lady. Do you have any idea how few princesses there are
in the world these days? Or even duchesses? Or ladies?'
'I have no idea, ma'am.'
'Of course you wouldn't. You're just a commoner. You are just a commoner,
aren't you?'
'I have to confess that any position I've achieved has been attained through
merit and hard work, ma'am, so, yes, I'm afraid so.'
'Don't flaunt your inverted snobbery at me, young woman!'
'I'm not usually given to flaunting, ma'am. Perhaps it's the altitude.'
'And don't be downright cheeky either!'
'I can't imagine what's come over me, ma'am.'
'You are a very disrespectful and impertinent girl.'
'I did not mean to be disrespectful, Your Highness.'
'Is it so terrible for a mother to worry about her son?'
'Not at all, ma'am.'
'It would be terrible not to, I think.'
'It would indeed.'
'Hmm. Do you think he's marriageable material?'
'Well, of course, Your Highness. I'm sure he will make some lucky princess,
or lady, a wonderful husband.'
'Platitudes, Miss Telman. That is the sort of thing my courtiers tell me.'
I wondered if Mihu and the two little red-clad ladies counted as her
courtiers. The palace had seemed quite empty apart from them. I cleared my
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throat and said, 'He is your son, ma'am. Even if I thought he'd make an
absolutely awful husband I'd be unlikely to say so right out without at least
softening the blow a little.'
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The Queen Mother sounded exasperated. 'Then just tell me what you feel
! , 'He'll probably be fine, ma'am. If he marries the right person. Isn't
that all one can say of anybody?'
'He is not just anybody
!'
'Any mother would say the same, ma'am.'
'Yes, and it would be sentimentality! Motherly instinct or whatever you want
to call it! Suvinder is heir to a throne
.'
'Your Highness, I'm not sure how much help I can really be to you in this.
I'm not married, I don't expect to marry, and so I don't tend to think in
those terms, plus I don't know your son or the international royal-
matrimony circuit well enough to comment.'
'Hmm.' The Queen put her glasses away again. 'Why are you here, Miss Telman?'
'I thought I had been summoned, Your Highness.'
'I meant here in Thulahn, you idiot!' Then she sighed and her eyelids
fluttered closed for a moment. 'I beg your pardon, Miss Telman. I should not
have called you an idiot. Do forgive me.'
'Of course, ma'am. I am here in Thulahn to decide whether I ought to accept a
post which will mean coming here to live.'
'Yes, you are one of these mysterious business people my son talks about in
such admiring tones. Who are you really? Are you the Mafia?'
I smiled. 'No, ma'am. We are a commercial concern, not a criminal one.' [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]