Eric Wace, when asked, tells Sandra Tamarin that he strives after wealth and power because he wants to leave his children and grandchildren enough to enable them to stand off the whole world if necessary. She responds:
"'...the old fighting Dukes of Hermes were like so. It would be well if we had a breed of men like them again -'" (XII, pp. 218-219)
She has reddened, turned away and now walks away fast. Has she started to think of having a son by Wace or - maybe better still - by van Rijn? This question anticipates the plot of Mirkheim.
Indeed, earlier, Wace had inwardly reflected:
"...you are the Lady Sandra Tamarin, heiress to the throne of an entire planet, if you live; and you have turned down many offers of marriage from its decaying, inbred aristocracy, publicly preferring to look elsewhere for a father of your children, that the next Grand Duke Of Hermes may be a man and not a giggling clothes horse..." (II, p. 155)
In Mirkheim, Sandra's son by van Rijn is named Eric.
3 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
I think Eric Wace was being somewhat unfair about the Hermetian aristocracy. As we see them in MIRKHEIM, many of them were not in the least decadent, inbred, giggling clotheshorses!
I wonder when Hermes became an independent Grand Duchy in the Technic timeline? Sometime around AD 2200? That might give time for some to accuse the Hermetian aristocracy of becoming decadent by the time of THE MAN WHO COUNTS.
Ad astra! Sean
Sean,
We know that Eric has a jaundiced view of van Rijn so maybe his denigration of Hermetian aristos is OTT (over the top).
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
That is the simplest explanation: Eric Wace thinking like that from jaundiced prejudice.
Ad astra! Sean
Post a Comment