Charles Stross by The Merchant Princes 1 The Family Trade

Author:The Merchant Princes 1, The Family Trade
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Published: 2011-07-09T15:29:16+00:00

Miriam politely declined the duke’s invitation to lunch and returned to her apartment in a state of barely controlled fury. Her temper was not made better by the discovery that her maids had packed most of her clothes in heavy wooden trunks.

“Fuck!” She spat at the bathroom mirror. “You will be good, won’t you,” she muttered under her breath. “Patronizing bastard, my dear.”

Murderous bastard, a still small voice reminded her from inside. Duke Angbard was quite capable of killing people, Roland had said. Paulie’s words came back to haunt her: ‘If you back down, they own you; it’s as simple as that.’ And what the hell was that crack about luring lice out of the bedding meant to mean? She sobered up fast. / need advice, she decided. And then a thought struck her—a thought simultaneously wicked and so delicious that it brought a smile to her lips. A perfect scheme, really, one that would gain her exactly what she needed, while simultaneously sending an unequivocal message to the duke, if she went all the way through with it. She raised one middle digit: “Sit and swivel!” she whispered triumphantly. Yeah, that will work!

She headed back into the suite, chased her maids out, shut the door, and picked up the phone. “Put me through to Earl Roland,” she demanded in her most imperious voice.

“Yes, ma’am,” the operator confirmed. “One moment.”

“Roland?” she said, suddenly much less confident. ‘Roland the dreamer,’ his uncle called him. Roland the disruptive influence, who looked too good to be true. Did she go through with this? Just picking up the phone made her feel obscurely guilty. It also gave her a thrill of illicit anticipation.

“Miriam! What can I do for you?”

“Listen,” she said, licking her suddenly dry lower lip. “About yesterday. You invited me to … dinner? Does that invitation still stand?”

“You’ve seen the old man?” he asked.

“Yes.” She waited.

“Oh. Well, yes, the invitation still stands. Would you like to come?”

“As long as it’s just you and me. No servants, no company, no nothing.”

“Oh!” He sounded amused. “Miriam, have you any idea how fast word of that would get around, now that the palace is fully staffed again? That sort of thing just doesn’t happen you know. Not with servants.”

“It’s not like that: I need confidential advice,” she said. Lowering her voice,

“They must know I’ve spent over thirty years on the other side. Can I catch a couple of hours with you, without anyone snooping?”

“Hmm.” He paused for a bit. “Only if you can manage to become invisible. Listen, I am in the suite on the floor above you, second along. I’ll have dinner laid out at six, then send the servants away. Still, it’ll be best if nobody sees you. It would cause tongues to wag—and give your enemies words to throw back at you.”

“I’ll think of a way,” she promised. “Lay on the wine and dress for dinner. I’ll be seeing you.”

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