“Well, I would, if she’d bothered to have a daughter. Now, maybe if these two young rascals marry well, I’ll give their brides some tidy property. Only if I like the girls, though.”

Bascom was listening closely, but Marcus had wandered over to the window and picked up a discarded book. Bascom said, “That’s a long way off, Granmama. I won’t marry for years and years, and Marcus—”

Now he was the one to have a finger pointed in his direction. “I’m already making plans for you, young man! It’s never too early to pick out the proper girl. You keep that in mind. You marry a girl your great-grandmother likes, you can have a nice piece of land. Any of my estates you like the best? Hey? You’ve been to them all. Which do you like?”

“Granmama, he’s just a boy—” Kit murmured, but Bascom had come closer, a considering frown on his face.

“Well, my father always says Govedere is the most profitable of your lands, but I think Munetrun is my favorite,” he said seriously. “I like the house the best. It’s not as grand as Govedere, but I feel happy when I’m there. And I like the land. It’s so wild. I feel like you could go live there and no one would come bother you for years.”

Granmama was smiling oddly, but she kept her voice gruff. “And that’s what you want? To live tucked away somewhere completely isolated from the rest of the world?”

“Sometimes,” he admitted. “The city’s so crowded. Sometimes, I can’t concentrate. Sometimes, I just want to get away from everybody.”

“Well, Munetrun’s the place for that,” Granmama said, and now she allowed her smile to grow. “That’s where your great-grandfather and I lived when we were first married. I’ve always loved that estate. Doesn’t earn a damn dollar, of course, and it takes so long to get there that you’ve practically aged a year before you arrive, but that’s the place I’d choose, too. Not that you’ll get it. Fairenen or Glosadel is more like what I’d bestow on your bride—but only if I like her.”

“And I would be happy to have either of those, Granmama,” Bascom said, so seriously that both Kit and the old lady started laughing.

“So you shall, then,” Granmama said in delight, “so you shall.”

*   *   *