After dinner he was sleepy. He said to hell with the accounts and went upstairs to bed, leaving Fritharik already snoring on his mattress in front of the door. Padway would not have laid any long bets on Fritharik's ability to wake up when a burglar entered.
He had just started to undress when a knock startled him. He could not imagine . . .
"Fritharik?" he called.
"No. It's me."
He frowned and opened the door. The lamplight showed Julia from Apulia. She walked in with a swaying motion.
"What do you want, Julia?" asked Padway.
The stocky, black-haired girl looked at him in some surprise. "Why—uh—my lord wouldn't want me to say right out loud? That wouldn't be nice!"
"Huh?"
She giggled.
"Sorry," said Padway. "Wrong station. Off you go."