"I for one do not consider you an outsider and I would like to hear your opinions."
"Speak, Glawen!" called Warden Ballinder.
"Everyone else has I brayed his best; let's hear your performance!" ' Sunje said silkily: "If you fear that you might be chased from the house by an angry mob, why not make your farewells now, before you begin your speech?"
Glawen paid her no heed.
"I am puzzled by a conspicuous ambiguity which the rest of you seem to ignore. Or perhaps I am ignorant of an accommodation, or a special convention, which everyone else takes for granted."
Milo called out: "Speak, Glawen! Your misgivings are of no interest;
you have us hanging in midair! Break the suspense!"
Glawen said with dignity: "I was trying to introduce a ticklish subject with a certain degree of tact."
"Never mind the tact; get to the point! Do you want a gilded invitation?"
"We are ready for the worst," declared Egon Tamm.
"I ask only that you do not question the chastity of my wife, who is not here to defend herself."
"I could go call her," said Wayness, "if that is what Glawen has in mind."
"Don't bother," said Glawen.
"My remarks concern Dame Clytie. I notice that she has been elected to an office which derives directly from the Charter, with duties and responsibilities denned by the Charter, including unqualified defense of the Conservancy against all enemies and interlopers. If Dame Clytie demeans or diminishes or in any way seeks to invalidate the Charter, or despoil the Conservancy, she has instantly removed herself from office.
She cannot have it both ways. Either she defends the Charter in whole and in pan or she is instantly expelled from office. Unless I misunderstand her, she has already made her choice, and is now no more Warden than I am."
The room was silent. Julian's mouth had sagged open to show a pink gap. Wayness' grin had faded to a shadow. Egon Tamm pensively stirred a bit of hard-cake into his brandy. Warden Ballinder stared at Glawen under lowering eyebrows. Sunje said in a husky whisper: "If you are going to make a run for it, the coast is clear."
Glawen spoke: "Have I gone too far? It seemed to me that this question needed clarification. If I have been rude, I apologize."
Warden Ballinder said dryly: "Your remarks have been sufficiently polite. Still, you have said to Dame Clytie's face something which no one has cared previously to point out, even from an appreciable distance. You have gained my respect."
Julian said carefully: "As you yourself surmised, there are complications and subtleties here which you, as an outsider, could not be expected to perceive. The paradox you cite is only apparent; Dame Clytie was duly elected Warden and is as secure in office as any other, despite her progressive philosophy."
Dame Clytie drew a deep breath and addressed Glawen: "You question my right to office. But I claim my franchise, not from the
i Charter, but from the votes of my constituency. What do you say to| that?" I Egon Tamm said: "Allow me to answer that question. Cadwal isl a Conservancy, administered by the Conservator through Aramintal Station. It is not in any sense a democracy.
Governing power is drawn;
from the original grant to the Naturalist Society. That power flows toj the Conservator through legitimate Wardens and may only be used in the interests of the Conservancy.
This is my reading of the situation.:
In short, the Charter may not be invalidated by the votes of a few disgruntled residents."
"Do you call a hundred thousand Yips a few?" snapped Dame Clytie.
"I call the Yips a very grave problem which we surely cannot solve at this moment."
Glawen rose to his feet.
"I think that I must take my departure. It has been a pleasure to make the acquaintance of you all." And to Egon Tamm: "Please convey my thanks to Dame Cora." And to Wayness:
"Don't get up; I'll find my own way out."
Wayness nevertheless accompanied him to the door. Glawen said:
"Thank you for the invitation. I enjoyed meeting your friends, and' I'm sorry if I caused a disturbance."
Glawen bowed, turned, started up the path. He felt the pressure of Wayness' eyes on his back, but she did not call after him and he did not look back.
Syrene had dropped behind the hills; night had come to Araminta Station; stars blazed across the sky. Sitting by the open window Glawen;
could see, almost overhead, that strangely regular constellation known as the Pentagram, and off to the south the twisting progress of the Great Eel. ^ The day's events had receded in perspective; Glawen felt drainedl and quietly depressed. All was finished; nothing could make anyl difference, now. Conceivably events had turned out for the best--stilt| how vastly preferable if he had never gone to Riverview House that| day! Or perhaps ever. | Brooding was futile. The episodes of today, or something equivalent,;
had been inevitable from the beginning. Wayness had known as much. More or less tactfully she had tried to tell him, but, stubborn and' proud as any other Clattuc, he had refused to listen.
In regard to the events of the day, a mystery lingered. Why had Wayness brought him out to Riverview House, where, one way or another, he was sure to make a spectacle of himself?
He might never know the answer, and, in the course of time, he might not even care.
A chime summoned him to the telephone. The last person he had expected to see looked at him from the screen.
"Glawen?
