"I am a trifle enervated."
"You must do as you like," said Dame Cora graciously.
"Etrune, shall we look over the blocks?"
The two ladies departed. Others of the group disposed themselves around the room. Glawen reflected that now might be as good a time as any to take leave of the party. Wayness sensed his half-formed intent; with a mere twitch of the fingers and a meaningful glance she indicated that she did not want him to go.
Glawen seated himself at the end of the couch as before.
Dame Clytie paced the length of the room, then seated herself opposite Julian.
Milo and Wayness busied themselves at the sideboard, and served cups of sweetened brandy along with sticks of dense dark pastry. Wayness told Glawen: "This is how we while away the long winter evenings at Stroma. You must dip the end of the hard-cake into the brandy, then gnaw away the part that has become soft. The process will seem pointless at first, but you'll find that you don't want to stop."
Dame Clytie waved away the proffered plate.
"I lack patience for so much gnawing."
Milo suggested: "Simply drink the brandy, if you're of a mind."
"Thank you, no. I am somewhat disturbed and brandy would only make me dizzy."
Milo asked solicitously: "Would you like to lie down and rest for a while?"
"Certainly not!" snapped Dame Clytie.
"My disturbance is purely mental. Not to put too fine a point on it, I am shocked and surprised at what I have heard over lunch."
Warden Ballinder smiled coldly.
"Unless I misread the signs, it appears that we are about to share Dame Clyde's surprise and perhaps participate in her distress."
"I can't understand why you are not already affected," declared Dame Clyde.
"You heard this gentleman, a Bureau B patrol officer, describe his work. Surely you noted his lack of self-consciousness-or could it be a moral vacuum? I find it unnerving in a person so young."
Glawen tried to utter a word of remonstrance but his voice was overborne by that of Dame Clytie, who would not be diverted from her thesis: "And what do we learn of Bureau B?
We discover indifference for human dignity and disregard for basic human rights. We learn of dire deeds done with a chilling finality. We find a swaggering arrogant autonomy, which the Conservator apparently does not dare to challenge.
Clearly he has abdicated his responsibility, while agents of Bureau B range the continent capturing, killing, deporting and who knows what else? In short, I am appalled!"
Warden Ballinder turned to Egon Tamm.
"There you have it, Conservator! How do you answer these extremely blunt charges?"
Egon Tamm gave his head a dour shake.
"The Warden Vergence speaks with gusto! If her charges were accurate, they would be a serious indictment of me and my work. Luckily they are balderdash. The Warden Vergence is an estimable person, but she has a selective comprehension which notices only what fits her preconceptions.
"Contrary to her fears, I monitor the work of Bureau B with care. I find that the personnel faithfully administers Conservancy law, as defined by the Charter. It is as simple as that."
Julian Bohost stirred himself.
"But in the end it is not so simple,
after all. The law you mention is clearly obsolete and very far from | infallible." | Warden Ballinder demanded: "You are referring to the Charter?" | Julian smiled.
"Please! Let's none of us be truculent, or irrational, | or even hysterical! The Charter is not divine revelation, after all. ItI was designed to control a certain set of conditions, which have changed;| the Charter remains:
a stark moldering megalith, glooming over the 3 past." I Dame Clytie chuckled.
"Julian's metaphors are perhaps a bit exaggerated, but he speaks to the right effect. The Charter, as of now, is moribund, and at the very least must be revised and brought into phase with contemporary thought." | Again Glawen tried to speak, but Dame Clytie's ideas seemed to i have a momentum of their own.
"We must come to an accommodation ', with the Yips; this is our great problem.
We cannot continue our abuse s of these submissive folk:
killing them and sending them away from their homes. I see no harm in allowing them the Marmion Foreshore; there is still ample space for the wild animals."
Milo spoke in wonder: "My dear Dame Clytie! Have you forgotten? The original franchise to the Naturalist Society established Cadwal as ;
a Conservancy forever, and specifically prohibited human residency, except as specified by the Charter. You can't contravene this state of affairs. "I "Not so! As a warden and a member of the LPF party I can and I will; the alternate course means war and bloodshed." ,1 She would have spoken on, but Wayness interrupted.
"Glawen, ^ have you something to say? What is your opinion of all this?"
Glawen looked at her sidewise; she vas smiling quite openly. Something cold clamped at his brain. Had she brought him here only so that he might put on an amusing performance? He said stiffly: "I am, in a sense, an outsider; it would be presumptuous for me to enter your discussion."
Egon Tamm looked from Glawen to Wayness and back to Glawen.
