Ring of Fire II(155)

"Now, earlier in the war, when I was outside Ingolstadt, I wanted to play at the ballhouse there. With my officers."



"They wouldn't let you?" asked William.



"No. And I made them a very reasonable offer. I promised to leave my army outside, and to allow food carts to enter the city for the entire day."



Hobbes raised his eyebrows. "Oh. You wanted to play tennis in a city which you had under siege."



"That's right. It was very unchivalrous of them to refuse."



An hour later, Gustavus Adolphus was still rattling on about his tennis triumphs. His aide had to force him to go on to the next meeting.





Wendell Residence, Magdeburg

August 1633



"So, how was your trip?" asked Judy the Elder. "And would you like more salad?"



"No more, thank you," said Judy the Younger. She finished off the last leaf of lettuce and drank some weak beer. In Magdeburg, it was much safer than water. "The trip was fine, Mom. We even got to play a new kind of tennis in Halle."



"Who taught you?"



"We learned from Mister Hobbes. He's not just a philosopher, he plays tennis. Now that's something I bet Ms. Mailey didn't know.



"Anyway, we went to this gigantic tennis court, and they showed us how to play what they call 'royal tennis' in England. You play indoors, in kind of an enclosed monastery courtyard, and you serve onto a ten-foot-tall rooftop so it bounces on the other side, and then both players can bounce it off the walls, and there are goals you can sink the ball into to score a point, and—



"Who's 'they'?"



"Hobbes and his student."



"Somehow, I don't remember your mentioning him traveling with a student."



"Oh, yes, that's how come Hobbes was in Grantville in the first place. He was guiding one of the Cavendishes around Europe."



Momma raised an eyebrow. "One of the male Cavendishes?"



Fletcher Wendell, who had been paying more attention to the food than to the conversation, heard the magic word "male" and came alert. But he let his wife continue to examine the defendant.



"Yes."



"A fellow middle-aged philosopher?"



"Not exactly. William is around my age. Actually, younger than me."



Fletcher finally intervened. "You do remember our dating rule, young lady."



"Oh yes. But we weren't alone at the tennis court, there were a half-dozen of my friends there. Plus Mister Hobbes, who's an adult, and William's servants. So it was an adult-supervised group activity. Not a date."



"Servants, plural? Just what is William's rank?"



"He's the earl of Devonshire. And very rich."



"I hope you aren't planning to take advantage of him." Fletcher reddened. "I mean, economically."



"I haven't anything to sell to him right now. We're still waiting for the printers to finish the brochures for our South Sea Trading Company."



"Very funny."



"Our slogan will be 'Send Your Money South.' "





Magdeburg

August 1633



Heather was not, she admitted to herself, the sort of person who let her emotions hang out. In fact, she looked down on those who did.



But when you were interested in a guy, all those inhibitions kind of got in the way.



She had traveled all the way from Grantville to Magdeburg, and she wasn't even sure that William knew that she liked him.



Anyway, she had been happy when Judy had excused herself to spend a quiet evening with her family. Judy was a great friend and all, but she was just a little too pretty for Heather's peace of mind. When William was around, that is.



So, she and Kelsey were walking arm and arm in the market square, with Derrick and William behind them. "You know what to do," she whispered to her sister.



"Oh, look at that," Kelsey said, pointing to one of the stalls. "Isn't that darling? Derrick, come with me. I think I might need your help."



"What?"



"Come . . . now."



That left Heather alone with William. She was searching for the right way to start, when he spoke up.



"So how long have you known Judy?"



Arrgh, she thought. "For years."



Her little tryst went rapidly downhill from there. He wanted to know all about Judy's likes and dislikes. And was she betrothed to anyone.



Arrgh.



Kelsey and Derrick emerged. Kelsey took one look at Heather, and her smile died stillborn.



"The weather has suddenly gotten chilly," Heather said. "I want to go back to the inn. Now."





By the end of the week, when it was time to head back to Grantville, Heather had more or less forgiven Judy. And even William. He probably wouldn't like doo-wop music, after all.