The Ouroboros Cycle, Book One. G.D. Falksen

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СКАЧАТЬ good thing, but William did.

      “You mentioned a sister,” he said.

      “Yes,” Korbinian said, “my sister Ilse. She is unmarried, but she entertains suitors from the finest families in Europe.”

      “Is she your elder or younger?”

      “She is my twin, sir,” Korbinian replied.

      William nodded but said nothing, considering various points in his head. At length he spoke again:

      “Baron von Fuchsburg, you have impressed me today. But you must understand that I cannot give consent for my granddaughter to marry a man that she scarcely knows.”

      “Then give me leave to court her,” Korbinian said. “I beg you, sir. My mind is like fire since I met her. My thoughts are aflame. I think of nothing but her.”

      “Wait a week’s time,” William said, “and see how hotly your thoughts burn then. Better still, a month.”

      “This is not mere desire, sir!” Korbinian cried. “You may doubt me sir, but I am driven by love, not by some base fantasy!”

      William recognized the passion in Korbinian’s eyes and voice. At the very least, the boy thought he was sincere in his emotions.

      “You have lodgings in the village?” William asked.

      “I do,” Korbinian said. “And in Paris. I was meant to spend the spring there, meeting eligible young women. Now I wish for none of them but your granddaughter.”

      “Remain in the village,” William said. “Wait for my reply.”

      “I would wait an eternity, so long as it may lead to my seeing her again,” Korbinian said.

      William looked at him and nodded.

      “I do believe you would,” he said. “Thankfully for the both of us, my answer will not be an eternity in coming.”

      Babette’s future did not have the time for eternities.

      * * * *

      “No! Absolutely not! I forbid it!”

      James’s cries assailed William’s ears like the protestations of a small child in want of a toy.

      “James,” William said, smiling at his son in his best patriarchal manner, “how can you say such a thing? You ‘forbid it.’ What nonsense. Surely you are as concerned for Babette’s education as I am.”

      “No, no, no,” James continued, for once in his life talking over his father’s voice. “I will not allow this! The social season is about to begin! Babette must be in Paris!”

      They stood in the downstairs library, William freshly returned from his walk. James wore an informal day suit and a velvet robe de chambre, as he always did the day following a gathering.

      William folded his hands and looked at his son sternly.

      “James,” he said, “stop this foolishness at once.”

      “Foolishness?” James cried, turning pale. “I seek to defend my daughter’s happiness against this madcap scheme of yours, and you call it foolishness?”

      “Babette has a restless mind,” William said. “This has become quite clear to me. She is tossed about by the mad currents of intellect, swept from one new idea to the next.”

      “All the more reason for her to be married! Why, her mother—”

      “Babette is nothing like her mother, James,” William said flatly. “She will not be content with dresses and bows, Society and gossip! She delights in the intellect. If she is to have a contented home life, she must either be paired with a husband of intellect who is willing to indulge her, or she must be taught how to indulge the needs of her own keen mind without failing in her duties as a wife and a woman of means.”

      James turned to walk away, then turned back toward William. He spun about in place a few times in this manner, cutting a ludicrous figure as he did so.

      “This is all so incredible!” he cried. “I cannot believe this! Babette is no philosophe, Father. She wants what all young women want.”

      “And what is that?” William demanded. “Marriage? Children? Parties, dresses, and miniature dogs?” He grabbed James by the arm and shook him, not violently but firmly enough to capture his son’s attention. “No James, she does not. Your daughter would like nothing more than to live the life of a monk: spiritual, contemplative, and chaste. Childless,” he added, putting great emphasis on the word.

      James sank into a nearby chair as if he had been struck down.

      “Oh God…” he moaned. “You’re right, of course, Father. Where did we go wrong? If only her mother were here.…”

      William rather suspected that Babette’s mother would only have made things worse. He could scarcely imagine the horror of her and James both fussing Babette to death. It was the sort of thing that drove sane people to suicide or murder.

      “Forget her mother, James,” William said. “It is up to us to manage this. The only solution is to teach Babette how to compromise between her love of intellect and her duties as a woman. By the grace of God, I have realized this now and not later. Babette is still young. She is sixteen. A year’s delay in her courtship will make no great difference.”

      “A year?”

      “A year,” William repeated. “A year for her to be tutored in science, art, and philosophy. A year for her to prove that she can still maintain her place in Society in spite of her studies.”

      “Studies?” James cried. “You make it sound like she is to be sent to a university!”

      Yes, William thought, what a horror that would be.

      “I think this is all a dreadful mistake,” James said. “We should be restraining Babette, punishing her for these foolish lapses, not indulging them! What will the neighbors say?”

      “If all goes according to plan, they shall have nothing to comment on,” William said. “Whereas, if we do nothing and simply ignore the problem, the neighbors—indeed, all of France—will have a great deal to speak of.”

      “But we leave for Paris at the end of the week!”

      “Indeed we do,” William said. “Babette will be introduced into Society. She will be presented to the Emperor and Empress. She will attend the major balls and functions this year. But in between, we will retire to this house where she will be allowed to indulge her intellect. I have even selected a tutor for her.”

      “But—”

      William grabbed his son by the shoulders and shook him.

      “James, don’t you see? If we do nothing, Babette’s own natural instincts will lead her into scandal! Already she ignores protocol, she dismisses social position, she despises fashion, and she is given to wandering off to the library when guests are present! Do you think she will stop all that once СКАЧАТЬ