He remained silent, and she left his side of the desk. He tried to think, tried to remember the early days in the courtroom. And he must say something quickly-- "No--no honestly I'm glad you said it. After all, how long have we known each other, Jane?" "Ever since--ever since your election to the Quadrature almost ten years ago." "Yes--it's a long time, isn't it? Tell me, had you ever known anything about me before then?" "Why, only your name, your accomplishments. Your work for the great cause of politics and government as a journalist. I read a lot of your work. I thought there was never a man more devoted to his party since the formation of the Prelatinate itself. You were a great man then just as you are now, Doug--and you're third in worship only to the Prelate General himself." "Worship ... you mean public admiration, respect...." "Doug, how can you say such a thing? It's like--well, as if they'd said years ago that they--that they admired or respected their God!" He felt the muscles in his jaw slacken, caught them. "There's been a lot of progress since that era, of course. A lot of hard, exhausting work...." He was careful, lest any of his question-marks show. At any moment he could imagine her whirling upon him, shrieking "Imposter!" But she was taking the bait. "It seems impossible that there could ever have been a way of life without the Prelatinate, the Quadrature. Impossible even that there was once such a thing as war. How terrible it must have been--no conditioning, the constant killing of valuable adults...." * * * * * He let her words sink into his memory, pushed them, crammed them into it, then tried to make them follow through. "Ironic, isn't it, that without such beastiality there might never have been a world as we know it now. I sometimes wonder how often they thought about the future--if they thought about it as we do today. You know, Jane, I think about the future a lot. Remember what we were talking about just the other day--a week or so ago, wasn't it?" And he waited, tensed. Too far, perhaps-- "Doug--Doug you mustn't talk about that any more! The S-Council would have both of us in a minute if they ever heard us. The boys in white have sterilized people for less than talking about the desirability of inter-political marriages. But God, how I wish I'd been brought up a Liberal! Lisa wouldn't have had a chance!" "I suppose it would've made the children a problem...." "An understatement if I ever heard one! Your twin sons--I bet they're good solid Liberals by now! Do they--do they ever question, Doug? I've often wondered about kids, brought up in the family party from the time they're old enough to say 'Prelatinate'. Have Kurt and Ronal ever--do they ever show a streak of heresy--you know what I mean ... I should think kids'd rebel, try out some ideas of their own." "Well, did you ever, when you were a child?"