The Grantville Gazette - Volume 6 Part 14

Gerhard's wife Maria smiled at him from across the room. She was talking with Beulah McDonald. Since her father had been a well known physician in Coburg, the two had common interests. Standing with them were Catharina Barthin, the wife of Friedrich Hortleder, and her daughter. The Hortleders had come from Weimar specifically to attend this dinner.

Ludwig Kastenmayer was talking to Hortleder himself, introducing Gary Lambert.

Hortleder as a historian was delighted to be meeting another up-timer.

Hortleder as a lawyer was as happy as Gerhard to have one more issue surrounding the up- timers pretty well settled. A settlement to which his own brief had contributed as much as Kastenmayer's tact.

Hortleder as a bureaucrat, the former tutor of the young dukes of Saxe-Weimar and the chancellor of the duchy at the time the Ring of Fire occurred, always felt a need to be very cautious around the up-timers. It had been, after all, on his watch that Grantville "slid" Saxe- Weimar out of the grasp of its rightful rulers while they were away fighting on behalf of the emperor Gustavus Adolphus. Logically, since the dukes appeared to bear the up-timers no major grudge, they should bear Hortleder no major grudge, either. But human beings were not always logical, so Hortleder remained careful, even though the nature of his position as chancellor, which he still held, required him to work closely with the up-timers.

Hortleder had been a bit startled when he first discovered that Herr Michael Stearns was, if anything, a Calvinist, while Herr Edward Piazza was a Catholic. But he had borne up well, under the circ.u.mstances. He had also provided them with the loan of many young, well-trained administrators and bureaucrats-a commodity of which they were acutely in need.

When humans were being logical, Gerhard thought, Hortleder was the kind of man who logically ought to appeal to the up-timers. Not a n.o.bleman. Not even close. He came from very modest circ.u.mstances. His father had been a farmer and local administrator at Ampfurth bei Wanzleben. He had studied law at Helmstedt, then at the universities, Wittenberg and Jena, as a scholarship student and gotten his doctorate in 1606. He spent some time as a private tutor. Two years later he had become tutor to the young dukes of Saxe-Weimar. Wilhelm Wettin, as he was now, Bernhard, Ernst, Friedrich, and the others so sadly deceased. A year later, he received an additional post as lecturer at the university of Jena. In 1617, they appointed him court historian, in recognition of the publication of his history of the League of Schmalkalden. And, as so often was the fate of scholars, moved him into administration. He became a member of the ducal council and was placed in charge of the duchy's archives.

Catharina, his wife, was the daughter of the chancellor of Brandenburg's Neumark. They had married while he was still a student, which was most unusual. It was even more unusual that Chancellor Barth had permitted it. There had certainly been no guarantee back then that Hortleder would have an outstanding career.

The joy and sorrow of their life was their daughter Anna Catharina. Joy because now, at twenty, she was a lovely girl. Sorrow because she was their only child.

Gerhard's gaze continued around the room. Zacharias Pruschenk von Lindenhofen had accompanied the Hortleders. He had come to the university of Jena four years ago to get his law degree. He now wanted to marry Anna Catharina. More precisely, he wanted to marry the only child of the chancellor of Saxe-Weimar, who happened to be Anna Catharina. Gerhard feared that in Pruschenk's view, she could just as well have been anyone else.

From Sulzbach in the Upper Palatinate, von Lindenhofen was twenty-four and ambitious. The Ring of Fire had destroyed his prospects of an advantageous betrothal to Gertrud Roma.n.u.s, the daughter of the mayor of Naumburg, when the political constellations changed. Although he was of the lower n.o.bility, or at least claimed to be, he was now willing to condescend to marry the only daughter of the commoner who was chancellor of Saxe-Weimar for the connections she would bring him.

Pruschenk was . . . Gerhard looked around . . . over there, talking to young Muselius, his back turned to Kastenmayer, Hortleder, and Lambert.

That was good, because Beulah McDonald was clearly about to introduce Hortleder's wife and daughter to Gary Lambert, whose role at the Rudolstadt Colloquy made him of such piquant interest to many of Thuringia's Lutherans. Gary was a wonderfully orthodox Lutheran, Gerhard thought with satisfaction. The up-time LCMS to which he belonged was nearly equivalent to being a Flacian. Whereas the ELCA to which families such as that of Herr Ronaldus Koch and his wife belonged was essentially Philippist. Gerhard found it comforting to discover that the eternal verities had continued so far into the future.

Though a little startling that Gary continued to be personal friends with the Kochs and Muselius-even with Kastenmayer-in spite of their theological differences.

Gary clearly piqued Anna Catharina Hortleder's interest a great deal. She seemed to be in no way disillusioned by the reality of the slightly stocky build, prematurely receding hairline, and thick spectacles of the first real up-timer she had ever met.

Gerhard sighed. He and Maria had hoped to find some nice, suitable girl in whom Gary might take an interest once his matrimonial status was cleared up.

But not that one.

Friedrich Hortleder was looking at his daughter and Gary with one of those "What the h.e.l.l have I done?" expressions on his face.

It was too late to change the list of guests Maria had invited to dinner and back Chancellor Hortleder and his family out of the room.

Pruschenk would not be pleased to have a second prospective fiancee slip out of his grasp. * * *

Pastor Kastenmayer had not wanted to stay in Jena to attend this dinner. He would have preferred to return home at noon, as soon as the court had issued its ruling. Salome was very near her time. He didn't care for the idea of leaving her alone with the children longer than absolutely necessary. However, since he was here, he would do his duty. His telling of the story of his adventures among the up-timers in pursuit of enlightenment in regard to Deuteronomy 22:5 was the hit of the evening.

Zacharias Pruschenk von Lindenhofen did not find it funny.

He was also dissatisfied with the matrimonial ruling that had been issued that morning. After all, no matter what had been concluded by the consistory of Saxe-Weimar, on the basis of the majority of the expert opinions it had gathered, it had failed to take into consideration advice from the saner portion of German Lutheranism. The more prestigious university of Wittenberg, in Electoral Saxony, under the patronage of Duke John George, had not yet ruled in the matter of presumption of death for spouses left up-time. Nor had the Saxon consistory. In Pruschenk's view, the Jena faculty and Saxe-Weimar had acted prematurely.

Pruschenk frowned at Anna Catharina Hortleder, making his disapproval of her obvious interest in the up-timer Lambert clear. She ignored him.

Perhaps it was not too late to change his allegiance. If he could obtain an appointment in Saxony, then the possibility of his marrying Gertrud Roma.n.u.s from Naumburg might be revived.

She wasn't betrothed yet.

He could probably start by writing a pamphlet denouncing Kastenmayer's methodology and conclusions in regard to Deuteronomy 22:5. A pamphlet with woodcuts. Citation to legal precedents. Something involving heresy and the wh.o.r.e of Babylon as well as skorts and culottes.

Pruschenk's mind drifted as the guests moved into the dining room.

Weimar, October, 1634 Gary Lambert was finding a lot of reasons to go back and forth to Weimar these days.

The staff at Leahy Medical Center extended its indulgence to its business manager. Beulah had clued them in. There was a general consensus that if anyone deserved a few rays of sunshine in his existence, it was Gary.

So he was talking to Friedrich Hortleder. And his wife. And his daughter. About the problems of his friend Jonas, whom Hortleder had met at Dean Gerhard's dinner.

"So, I thought," he said a little hesitantly. "They haven't hired anyone for the job yet. It's the kind of thing he would be really good at. It would pay enough that he could marry Ronella. And since you were their tutor, maybe Duke Ernst would pay attention to a letter of recommendation from you?"

Hortleder considered.

"I believe," he said, "that I should know more of the situation before writing Duke Ernst. Not that I doubt your a.s.sessment of the situation. But, perhaps, I should come to Grantville for a week or two. Observe Muselius for myself, beyond what one can learn at a dinner party. Meet the young woman and her family. Talk to Pastor Kastenmayer in more detail."

He looked briefly at his wife and daughter. "Bring my family with me, so that I may also benefit from their a.s.sessments."

Anna Catharina jumped up, yelled "Papa" at the top of her lungs, and hugged him.

Hortleder continued to speak with undisturbed solemnity. "In the meantime, I will write Duke Ernst only to the effect that I have identified a suitable candidate for the position of administrator of the new normal school and beg him to make no other appointment until he hears from me again. In fact, I will request you to send a radio message to him from me. A message to that effect."

Grantville, October, 1634 Salome Piscatora was extremely indignant at the pamphlet that arrived in the mail. It came out of Saxony. It portrayed her in a set of divided skirts in a style she had certainly never worn.

Never would have worn.

Abominable thing. Salacious.

The pamphlet said awful things about Ludwig, who had gone to Rudolstadt today to meet with the consistorial court. Things going all the way back to before he had transferred from Saxony to Ohrdruf in Gleichen. Long before he had come to Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt. Whoever wrote it must have connections in Saxony.

Then it said things which accused him of misinterpreting the scriptures in regard to Deuteronomy 22:5.

She looked at it, sputtering.

Stood up. Sat down. Realized that the baby was coming.

St. Martin's in the Fields parsonage had not yet been equipped with a telephone.

Jonas had one installed in the school, though.

Carefully, she crossed the courtyard to the school.

"It's not right," she said to Maria Blandina. "I've had enough children to know. It isn't coming right. There's something wrong."

Jonas called for an ambulance and put the older children on the honor system until he returned.

The pastor's wife had expected to be delivered at home by a midwife, of course. But it was clear that there would not be time.

It was also clear, Jonas thought, that there was nothing an ordinary midwife would be able to do to help her.

"So you see," Ludwig Kastenmayer said to Friedrich Hortleder, "I was wrong. I refused to pay for a 'telephone' with parish funds. I thought it was a frivolity. We had lived without one for all of our lives, so why should we need one now?

"Jonas paid for it himself. For emergencies, he said. Without it, I would have lost both Salome and the child. Three physicians were called to a.s.sist. One revived the child.

'Resuscitation' they call it. The other two performed surgery.

"I don't know what I would do without Salome. I have come to rely on her so much, in every way. We are naming the baby 'Jonas Justinus,' of course. I will hate to lose him if the up-timers find him a different job. He is a wonderful teacher."

Hortleder nodded. He sent a follow-up letter of recommendation to Duke Ernst that evening.

One considerably warmer than the first, which he had mailed as a courtesy to Gary.

Ronella Koch stood on her toes, trying to peek over Gary's shoulder into the hospital nursery.

Gary didn't move out of the way. If he had moved, Ronella would have had no reason to grab onto Jonas' good arm to help her stay balanced on her toes. There were all sorts of ways to be a friend.

She got a good look at the baby. Her fingers tightened on Jonas' arm, so hard that he flinched and stepped forward even with Gary, bringing her with him. She sank back down on her heels, looking at Gary.

"Yeah," he said. "We revived him, of course. That's what we do with babies who can live.

Whether they'll thank us for it in the long run is another question. But that's what we do."

Maria Blandina, standing on the other side of Jonas, was frowning. "Papa has baptized other such infants," she said. "They do not often live long. That is in the hands of G.o.d. At least my stepmother did not die. Papa would have missed her very much."

The Hortleders had let Anna Catharina come with Gary to see the baby and then go to a student concert at the high school on condition that the two of them remained with Jonas, Ronella, and Maria Blandina. Carol Koch had bribed Herr Hortleder the historian to permit this excursion with the promise of an exclusive interview concerning her perspective on the Rudolstadt Colloquy.

Anna Catharina was frowning in turn. "What is wrong?" she asked Gary.

The group adjourned to one of Leahy's many cubicles to discuss Down's Syndrome.

Jonas thought that he ought to excuse himself from the remainder of the evening in order to be available to a.s.sist Pastor Kastenmayer and his wife if he was needed. At least, that was what he said. In fact, he found proximity to Ronella increasingly uncomfortable.

"You can't," Gary said firmly. "You can't just duck out on the rest of the evening, because having you here was one reason the Hortleders let Anna Catharina come with us." He managed to make it Jonas' duty to remain. Jonas had a strong sense of duty. Unfortunately, the only way Gary could think of to persuade him that he had a duty to marry Ronella-wouldn't work. Not given his conscientious avoidance of proximity.

Jonas was going to be as proximate to Ronella as Gary and Maria Blandina could maneuver him all evening. No having Ronella on one end, the other three of them in the center, and Jonas on the far end. Which he would try to manage if n.o.body watched him carefully.

"Conspirators 'R' Us," Gary had said to Anna Catharina. Then he had to explain the context. It had taken quite a while, but neither of them minded. She said that she was quite willing to help with the maneuvers.

Grantville, November, 1634 Ron Koch was feeling acutely uncomfortable.

Not that Pastor Kastenmayer didn't understand the problem. "What Jonas needs, if this is to occur," Ludwig Kastenmayer said, "is a better job. Not that I wouldn't hate to lose him at the school here. He is an excellent teacher. But the fact is, he is in no position to support your daughter. He's perfectly right about that. He would have been an acceptable match for Maria Blandina, since she is used to being just as poor as he is. But . . ."

"I was afraid of something of the sort."

"He left his studies at Jena after two years to take the job teaching at Quittelsdorf because he was out of money. If he should return to the university now, it would be at least five years before he would be in a position to marry," Pastor Kastenmayer continued. "Even if he received a plum job offer immediately upon completing his degree. There is no family to provide him with a subsidy. Consider the proverb 'poor as church mice' and apply it to his case."

"Should we factor in that Ronella would be perfectly willing to wait?" Ron asked. "Not happy, but willing. She has a bad case of wanting to marry Jonas and no other."

Pastor Kastenmayer fingered his goatee.

"The other possibility might be for Grantville or the State of Thuringia-Franconia to hire him in some sort of an administrative capacity. Someone such as Herr Adducci. Or, perhaps, Herr Chehab in the Department of the Interior. Many of your leaders do not have university degrees.

Jonas is very capable. He would make an excellent chief of staff or personal a.s.sistant. He would be a loss to our school, of course. A great loss. He is an excellent teacher. A truly outstanding teacher. And because of his friendship with Gary Lambert, he has learned more about working with you up-timers, perhaps, than anyone else among us."

"What the USE doesn't need right now," Ron Koch said, "is to lose any more of its good teachers."

"Daddy," Ronella asked. "Have you talked to Jonas?"

"Ah," Ron Koch said. "Well, I've talked to Pastor Kastenmayer. We're trying another tactic.

Trying to find Jonas a job that pays more. I'll talk to the SoTF personnel office to see what they have for openings. Your mother is going to talk to Count Ludwig Guenther about a scholarship so he can finish his degree and get a job that pays more later on. If he has that, maybe he'll, ah, take care of the rest of the project himself."

"You really don't want to talk to him about it for me, do you?"

"Honestly," her father said. "Not one little bit."

"If you don't do something pretty soon . . ." she wailed. "Daddy, you're just going to have to adapt."

"What still bothers me," Carol said afterwards, "is that we don't really know whether or not he wants to marry her. n.o.ble renunciation doesn't usually last this long. Maybe he's just not interested."

"According to Gary, he's interested," Ron said.

"Well, that's a relief."

"It's a relief, but it doesn't seem to simplify matters any. The general consensus among the sensible and pragmatic members of down-time society seems to be that he can't even afford to court her, much less marry her."

Friedrich Hortleder was finding more reasons to travel to Grantville to consult with other members of the administration of the State of Thuringia-Franconia these days. Frequently, he brought his family.

"I'll show you the outside of the 'trailer' where Gary lives," Pastor Kastenmayer said to him.

"I've gotten to know quite a few of the people who live in this 'trailer court' now. More and more of the 'units' are occupied by Germans. It is not by any means a fine house, but what more does a bachelor need? I feel sure that he is in a position to afford better now, should he chose to marry again."