Chapter 21Near sunset, they were back at the library, Melanctha at a holoterminal, Lydia waiting for her in the arboretum.
Lydia was hoping to see the old woman again. She hadn't realized at the time that Giorgi Lillis was the mother of the deceased Empress Consort, Ambrosia Lillis, who'd died giving birth to Princess Cybill on the day that Lydia herself had been born.
A prim old man sat at the other end of the bench under the ferns, the trellis reaching high overhead. There was no sign of Countess Giorgi Lillis. Beyond him, she could see the entrance to the wing of holoterminals, where Melanctha had gone.
“Have you got a tube fare you could spare?” he asked, his voice a croak.
The request struck Lydia as odd. Earlier, she'd offered Giorgi enough money to take the pneumatube home, but
