"And that is?"

291.

"Well, he was bound to spoil her. but this will put the cap on it. I'm going to have my work cut out undoing the damage that you two will do.''

"I'm perfectly capable of being an evenhanded fa- ther," Jarrod objected.

"Rubbish," Marianna said succinctly and good- naturedly. "Little girls are born with the ability to wrap their fathers around their little fingers."

"Ha! Seeing the way Joscelyn's turned out, it can be argued that boys can do the same with their mothers,"

he said teasingly.

"Unfair; low blow," she protested.

"Maybe the next one will be a boy and then I'll come into my own," Jarrod said.

The eyebrow went up again. "The next one?" She snorted and pressed herself back into the pillows. "The man's way of controlling an intelligent woman; keep her pregnant." There was a tinge of acid in the voice.

"Well, husband mine, the equation is a little different for women. A night of pleasure, if we're lucky, nine months of discomfort and hours of agony. You'll for- give me if I don't look on the process with quite your enthusiasm."

"Daria, d.u.c.h.ess of Abercorn; it's got a nice ring to it, don't you think?" Jarrod asked.

"What are you talking about?" she asked back.

Jarrod grinned. "Well, she'll have to wait awhile, of course, and there can't be a brother. I haven't had a chance to tell you, but my uncle died and I've inherited the t.i.tle. You are now the d.u.c.h.ess of Abercom."

"Am I indeed." She smiled up at him. "Very grand.

Do we have a nice coat of arms?"

"I'm not really sure," Jarrod admitted. "I think it's got stags and sheaves of corn."

"Oh Jarrod, you are impossible," she said. Her eyes narrowed in speculation. "We'll have to go down and

292 show ourselves as soon as I'm fit to travel. A grand tour of all the properties. I can use my old gowns there, people won't have seen them, and get a new set for here.

In the meantime we shall have to appoint a really good seneschal. If we don't, your rights will be eroded."

She sat up, eyes sparkling. "It would be best if it was a Paladinian. Country folk don't take kindly to being ordered about by foreigners. Do you know anyone suit- able?"

This is the most animated she's been since I got here, Jarrod thought.

"As a matter of fact I've asked Tokamo to go down and take inventory for me," he said.

"Oh yes, he was our ring bearer. Are you sure you can trust him?"

"We've been friends since we were boys," Jarrod re- turned. "Besides, he's wonderful with figures and the appearance of a Magician at Oxeter ought to engender respect, if not outright fear." He gave her a sly smile.

"People seem to have difficulty lying to a Magician."

"Clever man," she said, and pulled him down for a kiss. "Oh I am glad that I married you." She let him go and vertical frown lines appeared in her forehead.

"D'you suppose that my father knew that you were go- ing to inherit when he insisted that I marry you?"

"Knowing your father, I shouldn't be at all surprised.

I was probably the only person in the Kingdom who wasn't expecting it."

She looked at him for a beat as if about to criticize.

Instead she said, "Ooh, Naxania is going to hate this."

There was glee in her voice.

"Well I'm glad that the t.i.tle makes you happy," he said, turning his head. There was no mistaking the tone of voice.

"Jarrod?" She reached forward. "Jarrod, there's something bothering you. I can tell. I've known you too 293.

long. If there's something that's bothering you, you have to tell me. After all, isn't that what marriage is about?"

She widened her eyes and leaned back into the pillows, inviting his confidence.

He sat silent for a while, encouraged, but embar- ra.s.sed. His hands wanted to. twist together, but he stopped them. His lips, unsupervised, pursed and moved from side to side.

"This is very difficult," he said, head moving awk- wardly like a schoolboy's. He took a breath and then looked at her directly. "Look," he said. "I know that this wasn't part of your master plan, but," he paused, "but," he hesitated again, "I love the baby very much,"

he concluded in a rush, "and I love you very much as well," he ended in a mumble.

"I'm enormously fond of you too, dear," she said, reaching forward and patting his hand. "But you have to understand that we made this arrangement precisely because we both had individual lives to lead." She shook her head and then looked at him. "Jarrod, my very dear," she said slowly. "I went into this because I wanted a child, not a husband, I made that perfectly plain. You accepted those terms. The marriage wasn't my idea, though I'm enormously grateful that you con- sented to it. I am, as I said, hugely fond of you, but I will not countenance you, or any man, walking in here and taking over Gwyndryth." The eyes narrowed.

"Gwyndryth is mine. My father has t.i.tular control, but no other man will until I am dead." She stopped and looked at him, half defiant, half sad.

Jarrod held her gaze. His eyes were steady, but the inside of him was bubbling. He reached out and cap- tured her hands. He smiled at her and the smile grew.

It disconcerted her. He knew it and it pleased him.

"You silly, little goose," he said, and then the smile broke into a grin. "I could care less about Gwyndryth.

294 t JOHN LEE

It's yours to have and to hold and to run any way you please. All I care about is you and our daughter." He sat back and the grin faded. "I won't interfere," he said seriously, "but I expect to see you and I expect to see our daughter on a regular basis."

She smiled, and the smile was warm, and she squeezed his hands before she let them go. "I'm a very lucky woman," she said. She looked back up at him.^"You know, I really do love you." She sounded surprised.

The eyes narrowed. "However, you'll oblige me by not letting it go to you head," she added with her old spirit.

"Now, go and see your daughter."

He bent down and kissed her on the cheek before taking his leave.

Mrs. Merieth was standing in the anteroom with the baby cradled in her arms. Jarrod went straight over to her and bent over the bundle. "We're going to call you Daria," he crooned.

"Daria is it then?" Merry said. "The Master will be pleased with that."

"Marianna said he'd spoil her rotten," Jarrod said, straightening up.

"So he will," Mrs. Merieth replied comfortably.

"That's what grandparents are for."

Jarrod gazed down at the sleeping child and felt the tenderness well up. The face had lost the angry red of birth and was soft and still and pink. There would be so many more changes in the weeks and months ahead and, he realized with a pang, he would not be there to see them. He reached out a tentative finger and stroked her cheek. And what sort of mother would Marianna be? She was not the type to stay in the nursery. She had a Holding to run and a business besides. And, in truth, it was Gwyndryth that was her first love, would always be.

295.

"I wish," he said to Mrs. Merieth. "that I didn't have to leave her and go back to Stronta."