The Duchess of the Shallows by Neil McGarry, Daniel Ravipinto

messenger in the Wharves amongst the foreigners and sailors."
    "But he worked his way up," said Duchess, unable to contain herself any longer.
    Lysander nodded. "Somehow he pulled together the money to buy the company he started working for, as well as a few warehouses and a shipping concern. No one knows for sure just where the money for all this came from, but you'd better believe he didn't come by it running messages forAhé traders." He wiped at berry-reddened lips. "He's a bit of an art collector, I recall. Last year he turned one of his warehouses into a museum of sorts, with paintings and ornamented suits of armor and other things. The nobles used it as the latest excuse to venture into the Foreign Quarter. Stephan took me once." He rolled his eyes. "Most tedious evening of my life. A big empty space half-filled with junk and a boring, fat man preening over it all. There were one or two impressive things, I'll admit, and some of the pieces looked very old. One woman who was there said the collection rivaled the Davari's but I think that was just nonsense." House Davari was as old as it was wealthy, with a house high atop the hill in Garden, and its art collection was legendary.
    "I wonder if Eusbius made his money during the War of the Quills," said Duchess, thinking. "From what I've heard, there was a lot of money to be made smuggling food past the embargo."
    Lysander nodded again, picking up another strawberry. "That's my guess, and I'm sure he didn't stop when the war ended. And I'll wager that's how Hector knows him." Duchess agreed, but this time she kept her opinions to herself. Perhaps Hector was using her initiation into the Grey to settle some old score between him and Gallius, which did not ease her mind. Minette had once said that a man with a vendetta was like a rabid dog; he would bite any hand that touched him.
    She set aside that disturbing notion and got back to business. "So Gallius decided that the Eusbius name and crest were old and rare enough to add to his little collection, is that it?"
    "He approached the widow Eusbius and offered to relieve her debt in exchange for her hand in marriage." By Rodaasi custom, Agalia's husband would assume leadership of the House, making Ivan Gallius into the Baron Ivan Eusbius. "The wedding was small and hastily arranged," Lysander went on, "but official enough. They were joined beneath the gaze of Ventaris, even though I think Agalia follows Anassa." Duchess happened to know this was true, but again she said nothing. "The ceremony was attended only by the Baron's new stepson, Dorian. There's little love lost amongst that little family, I'm sure."
    "So she loses her debt and keeps her house, and he gets the title and becomes head of the household." Duchess' mind jumped two steps further as she picked up a strawberry and fingered it thoughtfully. "And now with both money and a title, he can buy a home in Temple District." She got up and went to the window, looking out onto the Shallows. "So in one move he went from Wharves smuggler to Temple aristocrat. The nobles must be furious." The wounds inflicted during the War of the Quills were still unhealed, and for someone like Gallius to rise so high so quickly was salt in the stitches.
    "He bought an older estate in the southern part of the district, which he spent what must have been a small fortune cleaning and refurbishing. And you're right, the nobility think it's horrific, but what can they do? It's even become something of a pastime, gawking at the lowborn idiot as he tries to make his way amongst his betters."
    "So every noble in the city is waiting for Eusbius to make a fool of himself. And what have Agalia and Dorian been doing during all of this?"
    "Hiding, from what I've heard," said Lysander. Duchess could scarcely blame them. The question remained why Hector would care about humiliating the new baron.
    "So why's Hector got you asking after minor nobles?" Lysander asked, toying with a crust of bread. She'd