"Retained. I had to hand it in for verification. There was no trouble about that. No query as to its not being genuine. They just refused payment."
No money and no note-Dumarest's lips thinned with anger.
"What happens now?"
"About the note?" The Hausi shrugged. "I don't know. Usually the treasury is meticulous about settling accounts and it's obvious the matriarch intervened. At a guess I'd say you've lost out. Maybe you'd best forget it. Su Posta rules on Jourdan and you're hardly in a position to argue."
"Like hell I'm not!"
"As for the rest?" Ysolto Mbushia glanced at Ysanne then back at Dumarest. "The note was backing for the new generator you require. Without it the negotiations will have to be suspended. You realize my position? I cannot pledge myself to meet expenses without strong collateral. Now that the note has been denied you no longer have that. The goods you carry, the other things, they will meet the field charges, supplies and the cost of overhaul. There may be a little over for a certain quantity of fuel."
But there would be no generator and the ship was useless without that.
"The bitch!" Ysanne stormed in anger. "The old hag's doing this deliberately. Getting her own back for your having faced up to her. You saved her life and this is how she thanks you. So much for gratitude!"
"I don't want gratitude," said Dumarest. "I want what I've earned."
But how to get it? How to make a stubborn old woman keep her word? A woman who was the ruler of a world?
CHAPTER TWELVE
Could it have been Fydor? He had been on Jourdan when Sharon had died but so had Mikhail and Vasudeva and most of the others who would have any reason to have instigated her death. A dead end and she glared at the tablets lying on the desk before her, the small squares carrying names and dates and locations. Adjusted, placed in the right order, they should determine who had had the opportunity, the motive, the means.
Eliminate motive-they all had that. The means? She hesitated then decided all could have arranged for the thing to be done. Which left opportunity and that was no help at all because if they had the means their personal presence was unnecessary.
She'd come to a blank wall but stubbornly refused to recognize it. A computer could have handled the problem but then she would have had to confide in the technicians who would program it and they, in turn, could talk and so warn the one person she needed to catch unawares.
Again she manipulated the tablets. Fydor had been on the southern coast when Sharon had crashed and had been busy with a fishing project. Could he be eliminated? If so then Vasudeva was equally innocent and Mikhail had been too young for such devious machinations. Perhaps the accident had been exactly that and she was chasing shadows.
But Sonia?
The infection that had taken her life-could it have been deliberately administered? The suspicion had caused her to send Lucita to Lomund and now it sent her hands flying over the scattered tablets, assembling them in various heaps, the highest of which should yield the answer to her search.
She had played this game as a child but now it held a serious intent Lucita's life could depend on her skill and, with sick realization, Su Posta knew that her skill was not great enough.
"My lady?" Venicia was at her side. "The man Dumarest asks audience."
"Earl Dumarest?"
"From the field, my lady. He refused to be specific as to the nature of his business but hinted at a matter of the greatest delicacy,-which could touch your reputation."
"How?"
Su Posta hid her smile as the woman tried to be both knowledgeable and diplomatic. Any reason she gave would be a guess and it was simple to anticipate what one would be. A tall, strong man confined in a ship with a woman known for her tastes-did Venicia think her such a fool as to form an association with a blabbermouth? And yet even the possibility held a certain flattery, which she savored before putting the woman out of her misery.
"I will see him. The garden-in an hour."
She had always liked the garden with its winding paths and beds of flowers, its scented shrubs and the high walls which trapped the warmth of the sun so that the profusion of blooms which filled the air with their perfume seemed gifted with a special appeal. Here she had walked with her consort, now long dead, and here she, had played with her children when they had been small. A haven of peace and one which held the tender memory of years long past. The residence of ghosts-one of which seemed to have taken form as Dumarest walked toward her.
A trick of the light-it had to be that. An illusion born of shadows and fading gleams but for a moment she thought Donal had come to her as he had so long ago, tall and strong and radiating a firm comfort. Then, as he stepped nearer, she saw the small, telltale signs which set Dumarest apart from all other men she had ever known. The hardness, the almost feral determination, the aura of power, the stubborn independence which had brought him to her as she had guessed it would.
"My lady!" He bowed as, coming close, he halted before her. "You are gracious to have granted me an audience."
"It would have been ungracious to have refused. Your business?"
"A small matter, my lady, yet one of importance to me. The question of a certain promise which-"
"You hinted of damage to my reputation," she interrupted. "Do you dare to threaten the Matriarch of Jourdan?"
"I would be a fool if I did."
"And you are not a fool. I understand your meaning. I still fail to understand your words as reported to me. Just what could you do to hurt my reputation?"
"Nothing." He was blunt in his honesty. "The words were used only to gain your attention. Now that I have it the real nature of my business can be mentioned. The matter of a promise, my lady. One you were kind enough to put in writing."
"The promissory note?"
"Yes, my lady."
"Which as yet I have refused to pay?"
"An oversight, I'm sure. If you will give orders to your treasury the matter could be settled without further delay."
"And if I refuse?" She waited as the question hung in the air. "If I deny payment?"
Dumarest said, coldly, "As you have reminded me, my lady, you are the Matriarch of Jourdan. If you refuse to honor the note there is nothing I can do. Of course the incident will be known and questions may be asked and, later, perhaps, your word will have lost some of its value. You may even feel a sense of-not guilt, for how can a ruler feel guilty?-but, shall we say, regret?"
"For a man you are bold!"
"My lady-would you have me cringe?"
So Donal would have spoken and, for a moment, the illusion returned so that she trembled on the edge of throwing herself into his arms. Then she remembered her age, who he was and why he was here. Not why he had come-though he might think it just for his money, but why she had forced him to appear.
She said, "I delayed payment on that note for a reason. I wanted to see you again."
"My lady, you had only to command."
"Perhaps. Or you could have been in space by now, but never mind that." Her gesture dismissed the concept. "My Akita are dead. Did you know their prime function was to guard my granddaughter? Well, never mind, they are gone and can be replaced in time but, until then, I have need of dedication and strength to safeguard the heiress. I have decided that you are the most suitable person to undertake the responsibility. Lucita likes and trusts you and you have proved your abilities. Shall we regard the matter as settled?" She frowned as he made no answer. "Well?"
Dumarest said slowly, "You honor me, my lady, but I cannot accept the assignment."
"You cannot?"
"I have a ship, others dependent on what I do, a mission to be accomplished." He saw the expression on the raddled face, the anger glinting in the eyes. A woman rejected-maidservant or matriarch the reaction was the same. Only the threat was different.
"You refuse?" Her rage mounted as he nodded. "How dare you! Who are you to put self above the needs of Jourdan? My granddaughter needs to be protected and I have decided you are the best person to do it."