Unicorn Saga - The Unicorn Peace Part 23

"I had a young boy's crush on you," he corrected good-naturedly.

"Ha!"

"I think I'll take that drink after all," Jarrod said, getting to his feet. He felt more in control standing. The fluttering feeling had subsided, but he wasn't entirely back to normal. He poured himself some wine and went and leaned on the mantelpiece. Marianna swiveled to face him.

"I am, as I said, enormously flattered, but if Joscelyn has turned out to be Talented, despite the fact that nei- ther you, nor your former husband are, surely a child

120 fathered by me would have an even greater chance of being Talented."

The feline smile returned. "Exactly the same chance."

she said, "and I'm prepared to take that risk."

"Why not find some beautiful, young aristocrat and seduce him?" Jarrod asked. "You can have almost any man you want, you know you can."

"That's true." Marianna looked pleased with herself.

"And I have given the matter a great deal of thought, but you see, I like my son." She emphasized the like.

"I think he's bright, he's considerate, he's got a quick sense of humor, he's not afraid of hard work and he's going to be very handsome. I would be perfectly happy with another son or daughter just like him." She took another sip and watched him over the rim of her gla.s.s.

Jarrod mulled over what she had said. trying to find the thread of logic that linked it to him. A thought intruded, a memory of the Island at the Center. His mouth opened and he stared at her. "You didn't," he said accusingly.

"Oh but I did. Joscelyn is the proof."

"With my double? You wouldn't. I don't believe you." He pushed himself away from the mantelpiece and began to pace.

"You must have noticed the resemblance," she said reasonably.

"I certainly have not." he retorted. He was upset. His insides were churning and he wasn't entirely sure why.

Jealousy? Disappointment? A streak of prudery he hadn't known he possessed?

"I must say that surprises me," she said as if she were having a perfectly ordinary discussion. "Even my father has made some halfhearted attempts to comment on the matter."

"And what did you tell him9"

She smiled, seemingly relaxed. "Oh, that was simple.

121.

I said that it was only because Joscelyn was tall and, because you were his idol, he tried to walk like you, copy the way you use your hands. Daddy was only too happy to believe me."

Jarrod stopped pacing and went and sat down op- posite her. He took a deep breath. "You're right, of course, now that I come to think about it. He's got your hair, but his eyes are blue. It never occurred to me."

He looked across at her. "After all, I knew I wasn't the father."

He took a drink of wine. "Tell me," he said when he was sure that his voice wouldn't betray him, "when did this momentous event occur?"

"After you left the Island at the Center. You remem- ber that I stayed behind to help your double adjust to getting all your memories. Well, it was a lot more work than I thought it would be." She smiled at him mis- chievously. "I know a great deal about you, Jarrod Courtak."

He didn't smile back at her.

"I had to put it all in context for him," she contin- ued. "We have so many a.s.sumptions about the world ^ around us that don't register as specific memories. Any- ^ way, I had to spend a lot of time with him and, to make a long tale short, he fell in love."

"And one thing led to another," Jarrod concluded.

He was calm again. Now that it was out in the open, the palpitations had stopped. He was a trifle disturbed to find that curiosity was the strongest component of what he was feeling.

"You make it sound so mundane," she said. "He couldn't help himself. I was the only girl he was ever going to meet and he was predisposed to it by your , earlier, ah, infatuation." She c.o.c.ked her head and ^ pushed her hair back. "Besides, it was the only chance he'd ever get to have s.e.x. Now, how could I deny him?"

122 Her eyes were wide and she conveyed an air of innocent seriousness.

Jarrod laughed. "You're impossible," he said. "I sup- pose you'll be telling me that the whole thing was a n.o.ble sacrifice on your part."

She grinned at him. "Very astute."

"What did you call him?"

"Jarrod. It was what he thought of himself as being."

"I see, and did your husband know about this when he married you?"

"Oh yes. Ruppy Trellawn and I have been friends for years-played together as children. The whole thing was arranged in advance, including the divorce. It suited both our purposes."

"Well, I can see what you got out of it," Jarrod said.

"You got a legitimate heir for Gwyndryth, but I'm not sure that I see what he gained."

"He gained an impeccable reputation and the free- dom not to have to marry again." She smiled at his bafflement. "Ruppy, you see," she explained, "prefers men, he always has. The local gentry are not so much straitlaced as they are insistent on decorum as they see it. By marrying me, he not only had a wife, but he could prove his manhood by appearing to have fathered a child. It's the appearance that counts in our part of the world. I agreed to be the one who asked for the divorce so that people could accept the notion that he was still in love with me and was therefore not interested in other women."

"And the divorce didn't hurt your reputation?"

The smile was rueful. "The Gwyndryths have been the chief family in the Marches for generations. We are permitted our eccentricities."

"Surely you must have had other offers of marriage?"

Jarrod asked.

"Oh indeed," Marianna said with a sigh. "Gwyn- 123.

dryth is a very tempting fief and Daddy's influence at the Paladinian Court doesn't hurt." She looked wistful for a moment. "A couple of my suitors were very hand- some and I was tempted, especially after I realized that Joscelyn was Talented." She spread her hands as if to soften the explanation. "The deciding factor was that I'd be d.a.m.ned if I'd let anybody take control of Gwyn- dryth away from me."

Jarrod crossed his legs and sipped. He was at ease again. "And this second baby," he said, "would your upright gentry accept that as an eccentricity?"

"Well, I suppose that I could ask Ruppy to marry me again, but that would mean that I would have to put up with him for the rest of my life and I don't think I'm up to that. I mean, he's a dear and he makes me laugh, but a fortnight's about alt I can take." The rueful smile was back. "The truth of the matter is that I'm set in my ways. At this point in my life, I really don't think I could abide having a man underfoot all the time-and having to be pleasant to his hunting cronies who have about as much regard for the family furniture as, as ..."

Words failed her.

Jarrod smiled to himself. Even that short year couldn't have been easy for the hapless Sir Ruppy Trel- lawn.

"Just suppose," he said, "purely hypothetically, that you could find a husband whose business took him away a great deal of the time and who would be happy to give you free rein at Gwyndryth, would you still want me to father your child?"

"Do you have someone in mind?'* she inquired, "or are you just fishing for compliments?"

"I seldom get compliments from women," he said, lips curving.

"Does that mean that you would consider it?" she said banteringly.