On Diomedes, the resident's wife commits adultery with Flandry in her private suite where, surprisingly, the window remains uncurtained:
the view is grim;
hail, thicker and harder than Terran, dashes the vitryl of the window;
an ember sunbeam shines through a gap in the clouds;
the scene is blue-black, lit by lightning;
"Past every insulation and heaviness came a ghost of the wind's clamor." (p. 447)
OK. Clamoring wind pierces the insulation even if reduced to a ghost of its real self. Thus also, Flandry enjoys Lady Susette's company but is reminded of the real threats without. He must pump her about recent guests in the Residency.
Kaor, Paul!
ReplyDeletePart of the problem for Susette was that there was so little for her to in a small outpost like Thursday Landing. Not even looking after children, because the medications humans needed to take to live on Diomedes made women temporarily sterile. Sometimes, if such a person was a scientist or scholar, the study of Diomedes itself would have given Susette an outlet.
Ad astra! Sean