Matilda didn't understand. She didn't understand at all, but she told the little librarian what the message was. "He wanted her to return," she said.
The librarian nodded, a happy smile on her lips. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you something."
"What's that?"
"I am Mrs. Gorka."
The librarian stood up and came around the desk. She opened a drawer and took out her hat and perched it jauntily atop her gray hair. "You see, my dear, Haron expects too much. He expects entirely too much."
Matilda did not say a word. One madman a day would be quite enough for anybody, but here she found herself confronted with two.
"We've been tripping for centuries, visiting every habitable star system from our home near Canopus. But Haron is too demanding. He says I am a finicky traveler, that he could do much better alone, the accommodations have to be just right for me, and so forth. When he loses his temper, he tries to convince me that any number of females of the particular planet would be more than thrilled if they were given the opportunity just to listen to him.
"But he's wrong. It's a hard life for a woman. Someday—five thousand, ten thousand years from now—I will convince him. And then we will settle down on Canopus XIV and cultivate torgas. That would be so nice—"
"I'm sure."
"Well, if Haron wants me back, then I have to go. Have a care, my dear. If you marry, choose a home-body. I've had the experience and you've seen my Haron for yourself."