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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 cocked her head and
^ pushed her hair back. "Besides, it was the only chance he'd ever get to
have sex. Now, how could I deny him?"
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Her eyes were wide and she conveyed an air of innocent seriousness.
Jarrod laughed. "You're impossible," he said. "I sup-
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pose you'll be telling me that the whole thing was a noble 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-
THE UNICORN PEACE + 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 damned 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.
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Would he? Well, the whole thing was rather intrigu-
ing, and though her beauty was different than it had been at twenty, she was a
very desirable woman. "Com-
pliments first," he teased.
"Oh, all right," she said. "I just hope Joscelyn hasn't
inherited your vanity. Yes, I'd still like you to be the father. As I said, I
like my son."
"If we had a daughter, it would be a shame if she took after me." He chuckled.
"So you are thinking about it."
"It has a certain perverse appeal," Jarrod said, still not willing to be
entirely serious.
"In that case," Marianna said, raising to her feet in a single, fluid motion,
"I think we should adjourn to the bedchamber and discuss it." She smiled at
him wickedly. "I'm supposed to be leaving in three days."
She held out her hand. Jarrod put down his glass and got to his feet with
considerably less grace. He took her hand.
They started gently, tentatively, exploring one anoth-
er's bodies. They became more sure and more sponta-
neous and, to Jarrod, it began to feel like the most natural thing in the
world. He had wanted to make love to her for a very long time. Passion mounted
as they joined and, when it was over, they lay together, breath-
ing and pulse returning slowly to normal. He bent his head and kissed her
hair.
"Three days, did you say? I think it would be best to make absolutely sure,
don't you?"
She turned and punched him lightly on the arm- "An-
imal," she said. "You men are all the same." She gig-
gled softly. "Under the circumstances, that's more true than ever."
"Absolutely the same?" he asked, knowing that she would understand what he
meant.
THE UNICORN PEACE + 125
"Uhm." She seemed to be considering the matter.
"There are only two significant differences,"
"Really?"
She tipped her head back and looked up at him, eyes bright with mischief. She
waited. Then, "The other Jar-
rod doesn't have scars on his back, and . .."
"And," he prompted.
"He was a virgin and you most certainly are not."
He gave her a little shake and she chuckled softly.
"Contrary to popular opinion," she said drowsily, "it has been a long time
since there was a man in my bed."
She yawned and then there was silence.
ChAptCR 13
W, hile Celador was preparing for a Magical dis-
play, Angom, capital of the Umbrian Empire, was also caught up in excitement.
First there had been the trial of Simian the Hermit, then the rumor of a
massacre in
Baldania and now an official visit by the Mother Su-
preme. The Holy Church of the Mother was the official religion of the State
and the head of the Church was, technically, the Emperor's equal. Amulpha, the
Mother
Supreme, came as visiting royalty, but the truth was that she had been
summoned by Varodias. The formalities were maintained, by the fact was
otherwise.
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The two met in the Private Stateroom. They sat op-
posite one another in ornate bezelwood chairs and pre-
sented a study in contrasts. The Emperor was thin, the face made longer by a
receding hairline and a sharply pointed beard. He was elegantly but soberly
dressed.
The Mother Supreme was tall, stout and florid, her face made rounder by her
wimple. She was dressed volumi-
nously in gold. Tradition, hallowed by five hundred years of practice, decreed
that, in the presence of the
Mother Supreme, the Emperor should come down from the throne. This Emperor
preferred to avoid that; hence the choice of the Private Stateroom. Though the
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