Geoffrey started to answer, but Magnus cut him off. "Do not ask, sister—thou dost not truly wish to hear his answer."

Geoffrey flushed an angry red, but before he could blast, Gregory burbled cheerfully. "Mayhap 'twill help to banish the ghosts."

That gave Geoffrey pause. He cocked his head to the side, frowning.

"Real ghosts!" Gregory went on, his eyes shining. "I had thought they were but old wives' tales!"

"On Gramarye, old wives' tales can turn real, Gregory," Fess reminded.

Gregory nodded. " 'Tis a point. Are they true ghosts, or only some aspect of psi we've not met before?"

"So much conversation surely cannot increase productivity."

"Oh, thou art but a killjoy, Fess!" Cordelia scoffed. "How can we help but speak of so wondrous a thing as our very own haunted castle?"

"It is difficult, I know," the robot commiserated. "Still, you have been instructed to accomplish a task, and so much chatter inhibits your work."

"Then give us summat to quiet us," Gregory suggested. "Tell us more of our ancestors."

Fess was silent a moment; after thirty years of Rod's squelching him every time he tried to discourse on family history, it was a little difficult adjusting to the idea that somebody was interested again. Slowly, he said, "Gladly, children—but you had many ancestors. Of which would you like to hear?"

"That minor issue of which thou didst forbear to speak, yester eventide," Magnus said, too casually. "Papa did mention an ancestor who did seek to find a family ghost.''

Fess sighed. "You would remember that."

"Wouldst thou not also, under such circumstances as these?"

"I fear I would," Fess sighed, "yet I would prefer to gloss over it."

"Then speak of our ancestor who finished building the Castle Gallowglass!"

"D'Armand, Cordelia," Fess reminded.

"Aye, ninny!" Magnus jibed. "Canst thou not remember that Papa took the name 'Gallowglass' when he came to Gramarye?"

"Oh, forever!" Cordelia said crossly. "What matter if I slip in its usage now and again?"

"Great matter, if thou dost ever seek to discover thine ancestral home!"

"And which of us shall ever wish to leave Gramarye?" Geoffrey scoffed. "Cordelia hath right, for once."

"Once!" Cordelia squawked. Geoffrey grinned wickedly in answer. Magnus was silent.

"Well enough, then." Cordelia turned away and tipped her nose up, scorning Geoffrey. "Tell us of the ancestor who did finish Castle d'Armand."

"Which?" Fess almost seemed hopeful. "It was finished several times."

"Several?" Magnus frowned. "How long dist thou dwell therein, Fess?"

"From A.D. 3050, Magnus, till your father left home in 3542," Fess answered.

"Four centuries?" Gregory gasped. Geoffrey glanced at him in annoyance; he wasn't good with figures.

"Four," Fess confirmed, "which is most of the time that has elapsed since I was activated."

"But was it not a delight?" Cordelia demanded.

"On occasion, yes," Fess admitted, "but it just as often was not. It depended on my owner of the time."

"Thou didst esteem Lona highly," Cordelia said, "for thou didst build her castle for her."

"True, but I would have done so for any other owner who so commanded—and did, since that was only the first time Chateau d'Armand was finished. It was quite modest by Maximan standards, you see."

Geoffrey frowned. "I misdoubt me an her descendants could abide that."

"They had difficulty," Fess admitted. "In fact, her son and grandson each built an addition, but one that was dictated by her original plan, thereby finishing the castle a second and third time. Nonetheless, their neighbors' houses were far more grand. They were good souls, though, and envy did not bother them greatly."

"Not so their wives," Cordelia demurred.

"You have guessed accurately, Cordelia." Fess sounded surprised. "Yes, the wives found it quite difficult to accept such relatively modest quarters, the more so because they were themselves younger daughters of grander lords."

"Lords?" Magnus lifted his head, frowning. "I wot me an thou didst speak of factors and crafters. Whence came nobility?"

"By mail, Magnus, from the heralds of Europe. Maxima was, after all, a sovereign world, with its own government…"

"But thou hast said Maxima had no government."

"Not really, though I can understand how my remarks could have seemed to indicate that. Nonetheless, the Maximans did have some mutual means of coordinating logistics and resolving disputes, and they had annual meetings of the leaders of all the Houses."

Magnus nodded. "And if that assembly did declare the head of a household noble, who could contradict it?"

"Precisely. The Earl Mulhearn was the first to receive a patent of nobility, and the others followed in a rush. Your own ancestor, Theodore d'Armand, changed his first name to 'Ruthven' and applied to the Assembly for status as a duke."

Magnus whistled. "He saw no vantage in modesty, did he?"

"No indeed. In fact, Ruthven saw no point in anything that was not his own idea…"

"Tell us of him," Cordelia begged.

"Nay!" Magnus turned to her with a scowl. "I claim primacy. I wish to hear of the ancestor who sought a family ghost!"

"Thy chance hath passed." Cordelia turned on him. "You know Mama and Papa have told us…"

She broke off at the very credible imitation of a throat-clearing, and turned to Fess with a frown. Before either of them could say anything, the robot told them, "The distinction does not exist; it was Ruthven who wanted a spectre."

"Then we must hear of him!" Cordelia settled herself for a long listen.

"If it is absolutely necessary…"

"Why dost thou hesitate?" Magnus frowned, puzzled. "What harm is there in telling us of him?"

"Ought we not to know of all our ancestors?" Cordelia demanded.

"There are some aspects of family history that should perhaps wait until you are more mature."

"Oh, pooh," Cordelia retorted, and Magnus concurred. "An we are old enough to have witnessed lords who have broke faith with their king and rebelled, we are old enough to know the truth of our own family."

"There is some merit in that, I suppose…"

"What fun is there in hearing only good of our ancestors?" Cordelia demanded.

"She speaketh truly," Magnus averred. "Wouldst thou have us believe our forebears were wax figures?"

"Oh, they were all quite human, Magnus. It is only that in some cases…"

"Some were more human than others?"

"You might say so, yes."

"Yet accuracy is of the greatest import," Gregory pointed out."

"Aye!" Cordelia leaped on it. "Is not the truth thy prime criterion?"

"No, frankly, Cordelia—in my program, loyalty to my owners is primary."

"Thy current owner will not mind thy speaking the truth of thy former owners," Magnus pointed out.

"There is some validity to that," Fess said reluctantly. He was remembering how Rod had taken him to task when he had poked around in the family library and learned some of the facts about those ancestors that Fess hadn't told him.

"And there is the matter of loyalty to thy future owner," Magnus added.

"Which will be yourself, since you are the eldest."

Magnus blithely ignored Geoffrey's glare. "Thus, thy present owner careth not, and thy future owner doth desire thee to tell. Ought thou not to speak?"

Fess capitulated. "Very well, children. But remember, if you find your relationship with the subject of this tale distasteful, that you required me to tell it.

"We shall not reproach thee," Cordelia assured him.

"But an archway at the base of a tower cannot stand, Ruthven.''

" 'Milord,' Fess," Ruthven said sternly. "I am noble now."

"But the Assembly…"

"The Assembly will no doubt grant my request at its next meeting. After all, it raised Joshua Otis to Marquis, only last week; it surely can have no reason not to bestow a like title upon me."