On the way to the Office of Pedigree, Rodvard thought of Asper Poltén and the rest when he walked in with an authority to examine the sealed registers, but this small triumph was denied him. Poltén was nowhere to be seen, and in the distributing office was only an old, dry, dusty man Rodvard remembered as having seen once or twice with some document close to his nose. He held Rodvard’s paper in the same manner, sniffed5 as though it had an unpleasant odor, and shufflingly led the way to the sealed strong-room, which he unlocked with a creaking key. There seemed fewer people than usual in the halls.
404
The sealed files themselves showed the search likely to be a long one; mostly old, written in crabbed6 hands, and largely concerned with the illegitimacies of persons now forgotten, or convictions of witchery in cases that now had no meaning. Of the specific line of Tuolén there was no trace that morning, and the older records of families having Kjermanash blood were so badly kept as to indicate a long search.
At noon, Rodvard went to a tavern7 and lingered over his mug to savor8 the gossip of the town, but that was something of a failure, too, for there was none of the high excitement over the doings of the great assembly he had expected. The only group he overheard specifically were three or four merchants at a table, rather gloomily discussing the rise in the price of wool caused by the troubles in the west, and the fall in the price of southern wine, which kept coming in from oversea and could not be dispatched to the disturbed seignories. Nobody said a word about the Episcopals; the only time the court was mentioned, there was a little growling9 over the name of Florestan.
In the afternoon, Rodvard began by setting aside the registers that had to do with the three northernmost seignories, Bregatz, Vivensteg and Oltrug; but the task was so wearisome and his mind so occupied with other topics that he put them away early. It seemed to him, as he summoned the caretaker to lock the room, that there was nothing in the world as dear or desirable as Lalette, if he could only somehow reach an agreement with her, all troubles would vanish away. As he walked back toward the Ulutz palace, he thought that if they could only sit down in the clear winter air after last night’s storm all coils would be unwoven.
But she was not in the room when he arrived, and when he found her, it was on a bench among the garden alleys10, wrapped in a cloak and laughing as she talked to Demadé Slair. The swordsman leaped up at his coming. “Hail dauntless dompter of the written page!” he said, in a tone which was that of banter11 between friends, but with something in it that made Rodvard look sharply at the eyes. (Clear as speech, the thought came through; “And this long-legged booby who has never handled a weapon in his life will lie with her tonight while I’m alone.”)
Rodvard said, a little unevenly12; “I have made a beginning. Are there any tidings?”
“Not in the assembly,” said Slair. “Much discussion of how to raise troops for the people’s army, and a report by General Stegaller. The decree for your court.”
“My court?” said Rodvard (thinking of the Queen).
405
“That of judgment13 in special cases.” (The eyes had gone blank.) “You’ll be writer to it, as Mathurin to the assembly. If there’s anyone you have a grudge14 against, name him for trial.”
He laughed; so did Lalette (and as Rodvard caught her eye, he saw in it a color of regret that he could not be as gay as the swordsman, and a wave of dislike for the man who had rescued him from Charalkis prison contracted his veins). “I think I saw in the library a book by Momoroso that I have never read,” he said. “I will see you before table, Lalette.”
II
“The session will recess,” said the kronzlar Escholl. He rose and swept the courtroom with his curious lacklustre eye, that never seemed to be settled on anything. “I will go over the evidence with you, Bergelin.”
The legist on his right, the Zigraner, frowned; he on the left leaned his chin on his hand and his elbow on the table. The accused, a man with a coronet badge, iron-grey hair and heavy dewlaps, looked disconcerted. Rodvard gathered his papers and followed the president of the court to the little room in rear.
When they were there; “What have you found?” asked the legist.
“I think he tells the truth,” said Rodvard, “when he says he has given no help to the Queen’s party or Pavinius. When you asked him that, however, there was something like fear—perhaps for his brother. It was not clear.”
“Ah.” The legist placed his fingers together and studied them. “Bergelin,” he said, after a moment, “you are to remember that this is a special court of inquiry15. We are empowered to handle not only direct treasons, but matters which the ordinary law holds criminal. Such acts dissipate the resources that of right belong to the nation. You tend to be narrow. Let us return.”
As they came in, one of the guards nudged the prisoner forward again. The jurist president frowned on him portentously16. “Kettersel,” he said, “a brief examination of the record shows no evidence of your giving aid to either of the two destituted persons who claim to rule the realm of Dossola. Unless my fellow-jurists disagree, of that you are acquitted17.” He glanced at one and the other; the Zigraner gave a somewhat unwilling18 nod, the third legist had only an absent expression. “But in pleading innocence19 of giving such aid, you are answering a charge that has never been brought. If you say you are not guilty of garroting people by night in King Crotinianus’ Square, we will find you innocent of that also, and so through a list of possible crimes, did it not waste this court’s time to agree with you that you have committed none of them. But you are charged with treason to the nation, which in its essence consists not of any specific act, but of a point of view, which may be proved by a number of actions, in themselves bearing an innocent appearance until they are assembled with each other. I take it my fellow-jurists agree.”
406
He looked again, and again those in the lower seats nodded.
“Kettersel,” he said, “answer me. You have a brother with the court?”
The man cleared his throat. “I have answered that. He is a capellan in the Eagle Shar of Her Majesty’s lancers.” (The shadow of worry was behind the man’s eye; now deepened, and very surprising in such a person, whom one would have expected to be concerned about gold scudi or the fidelity20 of his mistress.)
“The nation’s lancers,” corrected Escholl. “Kettersel, are both you and your brother married?”
“Only him; the Baron21.”
“Has he daughters?”
“No. Only a son.”
“If your brother should fall in the fighting, where would the inheritance lie?” (Now the fear was at the front and perfectly22 sharp; it was a fear of being left penniless.) Kettersel said slowly (and lying); “I am not sure; would have to consult the Office of Pedigree. There is a cousin, I think, to whom the income would fall. The title and the estate would pass to the son, of course.”
“How old is the son.”
“Twenty-four.”
“I see.” The jurist president moved his lips (and Rodvard observed that the man before him was perspiring23 with the effort to keep some thought down; a thought which came to the watcher dark as sin and midnight). “Is your nephew married?”
“To one of the Blenau family.”
Rodvard signed; without appearing to see him the jurist president said; “Kettersel, you are engaged in concealments. It is useless. What is the trouble between you and your nephew?”
The man’s self-control split apart suddenly. He flung at Rodvard a glance of purest venom24 and burst out; “The damned young puppy is trying to have his own father killed so he may have the title for his whore of a wife. There is no reason, none at all, why he should take a command in the Eagle Shar. He is an old man, taking the task of that young bastard25 in the lancers, where all the fighting is.”
407
There was a little murmur26 in the courtroom. The jurist president said; “Why did he accept the charge?”
(It was the wrong line; Kettersel’s eyes were perfectly clear.) “To spare his son, I suppose. My nephew was appointed earlier.”
Rodvard coughed. Kronzlar Escholl said; “Where are your nephew and his wife now?”
The man paused (and in that pause the thing came through; it took Rodvard a minute or two to realize what it was). “I heard of them last at Landensenza.”
Rodvard stepped up to the jurist’s seat, with one finger on the paper to maintain the fiction, and whispered; “His true concern is not his brother, but because he wishes to lie with his nephew’s wife. I think she may have refused him, but he still believes it may be done somehow if the nephew can be killed before his brother.”
Escholl put a finger beside Rodvard’s. “That is correct, after all,” and turned to the prisoner. “Kettersel, your concern for your brother does you the greatest credit. It is evident that you have been in correspondence with him, but I think my brother jurists will agree when I pronounce you guiltless of true treason and order your release.”
The two jurists wagged their heads silently and in unison27, like those toys with flexible necks which children play with during the winter festival.
“We will hear the next case.”
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1
seclusion
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| n.隐遁，隔离 | |
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2
truce
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| n.休战，(争执，烦恼等的)缓和；v.以停战结束 | |
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3
contention
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| n.争论，争辩，论战；论点，主张 | |
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4
rustling
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| n. 瑟瑟声，沙沙声 adj. 发沙沙声的 | |
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5
sniffed
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| v.以鼻吸气，嗅，闻( sniff的过去式和过去分词 )；抽鼻子（尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气）；抱怨，不以为然地说 | |
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6
crabbed
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| adj.脾气坏的；易怒的；（指字迹）难辨认的；（字迹等）难辨认的v.捕蟹( crab的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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7
tavern
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| n.小旅馆，客栈；小酒店 | |
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8
savor
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| vt.品尝，欣赏；n.味道，风味；情趣，趣味 | |
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9
growling
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| n.吠声, 咆哮声 v.怒吠, 咆哮, 吼 | |
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10
alleys
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| 胡同，小巷( alley的名词复数 )； 小径 | |
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11
banter
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| n.嘲弄，戏谑；v.取笑，逗弄，开玩笑 | |
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12
unevenly
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| adv.不均匀的 | |
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13
judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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14
grudge
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| n.不满，怨恨，妒嫉；vt.勉强给，不情愿做 | |
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15
inquiry
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| n.打听，询问，调查，查问 | |
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16
portentously
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17
acquitted
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| 宣判…无罪( acquit的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（自己）作出某种表现 | |
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18
unwilling
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| adj.不情愿的 | |
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19
innocence
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| n.无罪；天真；无害 | |
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20
fidelity
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| n.忠诚，忠实；精确 | |
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21
baron
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| n.男爵；(商业界等)巨头，大王 | |
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22
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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23
perspiring
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| v.出汗，流汗( perspire的现在分词 ) | |
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24
venom
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| n.毒液，恶毒，痛恨 | |
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25
bastard
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| n.坏蛋，混蛋；私生子 | |
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26
murmur
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| n.低语，低声的怨言；v.低语，低声而言 | |
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27
unison
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| n.步调一致，行动一致 | |
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