The Dream Spheres - Elaine Cunningham [92]
Rhammas Thann rose to meet his son, reaching his hand out in the gesture of one comrade to another. Danilo took his father's hand as if this were the most normal situation in the world. They sat down across a small table and for a few minutes engaged in the sort of meaningless talk that oiled the wheels of every such meeting the room had ever hosted.
Finally Rhammas got to the point. "You enjoy considerable personal wealth. The fund your mother and I started for you at your birth has increased a thousandfold and could keep you in style for the rest of your days. You have also your share of the wine business and the increase on your investment in the bard's college. I hear both are doing exceptionally well."
Danilo nodded cautiously. "That is the shape of things."
"I have cause to ask that you part with some small portion of your ready cash," Lord Rhammas said stiffly, and with obvious reluctance. The man paused, grimaced, and squared his shoulders to steel himself for words yet to come. "A matter of some delicacy has been brought to my attention. It is one I would just as soon keep from your mother's eyes."
"Ah." Danilo settled back in his chair and considered the summons in this clear light.
Of all his siblings, Danilo was the least involved in the Thann family affairs-and the son least likely to report back to Lady Cassandra. Judith, the sister nearest him in age and temperament, also tended to follow her own mind and inclinations, but Judith's husband, a merchant sea captain who cut a dashing figure and who claimed distant ties to Cormyr's royal family, owed his position and wealth to the Thann family shipping concerns. He was therefore as devoted to Lady Cassandra's whims and moods as any lapdog. Judith was as yet too besotted to realize what manner of toady shared her bed, and she held back nothing from her husband. Lord Rhammas would get little discretion from that quarter.
"A personal matter?" Danilo took care to keep his tone even, to ask a question without offering censure.
"That is so. Before I proceed, I must have your word that this will not be bandied about in one of your inane ballads."
"So pledged," Danilo said shortly. The comment stung more than it should. As well accustomed as he was to his family's indulgent disdain, it was becoming increasingly difficult to maintain the role he had chosen to play.
"Very well, then. A woman of my acquaintance finds herself in distress and wishes to leave this city quietly and soon. Discretion is imperative. Your mother tells me you have some connections among the Harpers. You have managed such things?"
"Many times," Danilo assured him. Of course, never once had he considered that such skills might enable him to attend his father's mistress-and by the sound of things, a woman inconveniently with child.
Danilo was not certain how he should feel about the matter. Bastards were nothing new among the nobility, or among the common folk either, for that matter. Many marriages were made for gain or convenience, and children conceived outside such unions were usually acknowledged and granted some measure of acceptance.
Even so, he could understand his father's desire to keep this matter entirely from Lady Cassandra's eyes. If his father wished to discharge his responsibilities with extreme discretion, Danilo was not about to gainsay him. He was not certain, however, whether this unexpected request should rightly be viewed as an insult or an expression of confidence.
One way or another, it mattered not. This was the first thing his father had ever asked of him. Whatever Rhammas thought of him, Danilo could hardly refuse.
"I will see the lady safely out of the city in a matter of