Hari Seldon entered his office to find that Wanda and Palver had already arrived and were seated around the conference table at the far end of the room. As was usual with those two, the room was completely silent.
    Then Seldon stopped short, noticing that a new fellow was sitting with them. How strange-out of politeness, Wanda and Palver usually reverted¹ to standard speech when in the company of other people, yet none of the three was speaking.
    Seldon studied the stranger-an odd-looking man, about thirty-five years old, with the myopic² look of one caught up for too long in his studies. If it weren't for a certain determined³ set to the stranger's jaw⁴, Seldon thought he might be dismissed as ineffectual, but that would obviously be a mistake. There was both strength and kindness in the man's face. A trustworthy face, Seldon decided⁵.
    "Grandfather," Wanda said, rising gracefully⁶ from her chair. Seldon's heart ached as he looked at his granddaughter. She'd changed so much in the past few months, since the loss of her family. Whereas before she had always called him Grandpa, now it was the more formal Grandfather. In the past it seemed she could barely refrain from grins and giggles⁷; lately her serene⁸ gaze was lightened only occasionally by a beatific⁹ smile. But-now as always-she was beautiful and that beauty was surpassed only by her stunning¹⁰ intellect.
    "Wanda, Palver," Seldon said, kissing the former on the cheek and slapping the latter on the shoulder.

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