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nobles and Court functionaries that he was cultivating. He usually spent an
hour after
Hall with Greylock and then retired to bed. Once every couple of weeks he
spent an evening with Greygor. Yar-
row had snagged the baron's commission and gone south. It was, in many ways, a
perfect life.
He was working contentedly on a crisp morning with an early fire crackling in
the grate when the Duty Boy rapped on the door. Jarrod looked up, annoyed at
be-
ing disturbed.
"The Lady Marianna of Gwyndryth," the boy said, and stood aside.
Jarrod rose from his desk as Marianna swept in. She was dressed for Court and
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her color was high. Jarrod was never sure before she spoke whether the condi-
tion was the result of the ride over or because she was angry.
"Marianna, my dear, what a pleasant surprise," he said, advancing across the
room, hands out. "Your hands are freezing," he said after clasping them. "Come
over to the fire and warm yourself." He looked at the boy. "A couple of
tankards of mulled cider, if you please."
He turned and ushered Marianna to the fireplace. He had, for the most part,
managed to put the events of
Celador out of his mind. The memory of her body re-
222 + JOHN LEE
turned to him in the drifting moments before sleep, but, since he had heard
nothing from her, the possibility of a child had been banished. Now it was
back. He glanced at her waist and saw no change.
"You're looking very well," he said.
"I've just come from my father," Marianna said with-
out preamble. "He's inclined to horsewhip you."
"Charming," Jarrod said, drawing back slightly. "I
take it that you are pregnant."
"You take it correctly."
'That's good news then," Jarrod said with decidedly mixed feelings.
Marianna looked up at him with a ghost of a smile.
"I hope you mean that. I really do."
"Well it's what you wanted."
"Yes it is, and, as you know, I intended to raise this child unencumbered.
Daddy, unfortunately, is being
obstinately old-fashioned. He insisted on knowing who the father was and I
couldn't sidetrack him."
Jarrod had his doubts about that, but said nothing.
"I'm afraid he's insisting that we get married," she added.
"I see."
Marianna reacted to something in his voice. "I didn't intend for this to
happen, you do realize that."
He looked into her eyes. "You haven't heard me ob-
ject, have you?"
She caught her top lip between her teeth and her eyes filled. At that point
the Duty Boy returned with the cider. Jarrod took the tankards from him,
thanked him and, by the time he had withdrawn, they were both composed.
"I don't know about you," Marianna said, "but I
don't want a big wedding."
Jarrod took a long pull at his cider. "You must for-
THE UNICORN PEACE + 223
give me," he said, "but this has come on rather sud-
denly. D'you think we could sit down?"
Marianna laughed as she dropped into the chair.
"That's the sort of thing the woman's supposed to say."
"It's true nevertheless. You've been through this be-
fore; I haven't."
"Poor Jarrod. You don't have to go through with this if you don't want to. It
was never part of our bar-
gain."
"I know- The trouble is that your father isn't the only old-fashioned one. Our
agreement never did sit com-
fortably with me, but you're a difficult woman to say no to."
"I'm rather relieved to hear that under the circum-
stances," she said lightly. "So what kind of wedding would you like? After
all, it will be your first."
"I think I should like Greylock to marry us and I've never been one for
ceremonies."
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"Perhaps we could have it before I go back to Gwyn-
dryth," she suggested.
"What, no honeymoon?" Jarrod exclaimed, making it sound like a joke.
"I have to get back as soon as I can," Marianna said reasonably. "The harvest
is coming in and there will be the accounts to do. Besides, in my condition we
can't. . .
I mean we just can't."
"How romantic," Jarrod said sarcastically. "What you're telling me is that
this is just a marriage of con-
venience."
"Please, Jarrod dear, don't be difficult," Marianna said. "I've had a trying
morning. I explained to you at
Celador that I don't want a husband in the conven-
tional sense and you have no intention of giving up your life here and
retiring to Gwyndryth. I've already told you that you are the only man on
Strand that I
wanted to father my child and I've proved it. As far as
224 1- JOHN LEE
the rest is concerned, we'll just have to work it out as we go along. You
will, of course, be welcome at Gwyn-
dryth whenever you want to come, but if you prefer to stay here, I shall quite
understand."
Jarrod sighed. "You never did do things the way other girls did,'" he said. "I
don't know why I should expect you to start now."
"Does that mean that you'll go through with it?"
"1 suppose so. I don't relish the prospect of being horsewhipped by your
father."
She smiled at him and reached out her free hand.
"Thank you," she said. "I'm sorry that it had to happen this way. but I want
you to know that I'm grateful.
Now I suppose we ought to decide about the wedding."
"Does your father have any preferences?" Jarrod asked. He had no wish to start
off this odd alliance by alienating the Holdmaster.
"Daddy wants me married as fast as possible. This baby is not to be born
early, that's his dictum." She gave a snort that wasn't quite laughter. "I'm
not quite sure how I'm supposed to pull that off, but I'll have to work
something out." She looked across at him. "You don't know how lucky you are
not to have a parent to deal with." She shook her head slowly- "The bloody man
simply will not admit that I am an adult. I mean, I've been running Gwyndryth
for how many years now?
And he still treats me as if I was fourteen.''
"We're getting off the point," Jarrod said mildly.
"The thing is that he has no objection to a quick, quiet wedding."
"The sooner the better," she agreed.
"Perhaps we can have the ceremony upstairs in Grey-
lock's rooms and we can spend the wedding night here."
He grinned suddenly. "I'll finally have a chance to wear the outfit the
Guardian gave me."
THE UNICORN PEACE + 225
Her smile lit her face. "What a good idea. I'll get
Daddy to send a cloudsteed to Gwyndryth for mine."
"A cloudsteed?"
"I don't see why not. He is the general, after all, and he owes me that much."
"D'you ever think of those days?" he asked.
"Every time that Amarine or her offspring visit."
"When was the last time she came?"
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"It must be three years." There was a wistful note in her voice. "I miss her."
From then on they reminisced comfortably. Like an old married couple, Jarrod
thought ironically, though the idea rather pleased him.
In the event, the only decisions that they made that afternoon that survived
were their choice of clothes and of Greylock. Queen Naxania saw the marriage
as an opportunity to add luster to her waning popularity and decreed that the
wedding be held in the abandoned Ma-
ternite chapel that her brother had built. Marianna pro-
tested to her father, but got nowhere. Jarrod complained to Greylock and found
that the Mage considered the marriage of the discoverers of the unicorns a
boon for the Discipline. He went so far as to issue orders for the return of
Nastrus from the Causeway. Marianna fumed and Jarrod commiserated, but they
were effectively trapped by their reputations.
Darius seemed to be the only person who was genu-
inely happy. Even the Queen appeared to have her res- [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]