"What was that?" asked Baley, startled. A small and gray-brown animal was crouched in the grass. Seeing them, it hopped away in leisurely fashion.
"A rabbit, sir," said Giskard.
Baley relaxed. He had seen them in the fields of Earth, too.
Gladia was not waiting for them at the door this time, but she was clearly expecting them. When a robot ushered them in, she did not stand up, but said, with something between crossness and weariness, "Dr. Fastolfe told me you had to see me again. What now?"
She was wearing a robe that clung tightly to her body and was clearly wearing nothing underneath. Her hair was pulled back shapelessly and her face was pallid. She looked more drawn than she had the day before and it was clear that she had had little sleep.
Daneel, remembering what had happened the day before, did not enter the room. Giskard entered, however, glanced keenly about, then retired to a wall niche. One of Gladia's robots stood in another niche.
Baley said, "I'm terribly sorry, Gladia, to have to bother you again."
Gladia said, "I forgot to tell you last night that, after Jander is torched, he will, of course, be recycled for use in the robot factories, again. It will be amusing, I suppose, to know that each time I see a newly formed robot, I can take time to realize that many of Jander's atoms form part of him."
Baley said, "We ourselves, when we die, are recycled and who knows what atoms of whom are in you and me right now or in whom ours will someday be."
"You are very right, Elijah. And you remind me how easy it is to philosophize over the sorrows of others."
"That is right, too, Gladia, but I did not come to philosophize."
"Do what you came to do, then?"
"I must ask questions."
"Weren't yesterday's enough? Have you spent the time since then in thinking up new ones?"
"In part, yes, Gladia. - Yesterday, you said that even after you were with Jander - as wife and husband - there were men who offered themselves to you and that you refused. It is that which I must question you about."
"Why?"
Baley ignored the question. "Tell me," he said, "how many men offered themselves to you during the time you were married to Jander?"
"I don't keep records, Elijah. Three or four."
"Were any of them persistent? Did anyone offer himself more than once?"
Gladia, who had been avoiding his eyes, now looked at him full and said, "Have you talked to others about this?"
Baley shook his head. "I have talked on this subject to no one but you. From your question, however, I suspect that there was at least one who was persistent."
"One. Santirix Gremionis." She sighed. "Aurorans have such peculiar names and he was peculiar - for an Auroran. I had never met one as repetitious in the matter as he. He was always polite, always accepted my refusal with a small smile and a stately bow, and then, as like as not, he would try again the next week or even the next day. The mere repetition was a small discourtesy. A decent Auroran would accept a refusal permanently unless the prospective partner made it reasonably plain there was a change of mind."
"Tell me again - Did those who offered themselves to you know of your relationship with Jander?"
"It was not something I mentioned in casual conversation."
"Well, then, consider this Gremionis, specifically. Did he know that Jander was your husband?"
"I never told him so."
"Don't dismiss it like that, Gladia. It's not a matter of his being told. Unlike the others, he offered himself repeatedly. How often would you say, by the way? Three times? Four? How many?"
"I did not count," said Gladia wearily. "It might have been a dozen times or more. If he weren't a likable person otherwise, I would have had my robots bar the establishment to him."
"Ah, but you didn't. And it takes time to make multiple offerings. He came to see you. He encountered you. He had time to note Jander's presence and how you behaved to him. Might he not have guessed at the relationship?"
Gladia shook her head. "I don't think so. Jander never intruded when I was with any human being."
"Were those your instructions? I presume they must have been."
"They were. And before you suggest I was ashamed of the relationship, it was merely an attempt to avoid bothersome complications. I have retained some instinct of privacy about sex that Aurorans don't have."
"Think again. Might he have guessed? Here he is, a man in love - "
"In love!" The sound she made was almost a snort. "What do Aurorans know of love?"
"A man who considers himself in love. You are not responsive. Might he not, with the sensitivity and suspicion of a disappointed lover, have guessed? Consider! Did he ever make any roundabout reference to Jander? Anything to cause you the slightest suspicion - "
"No! No! It would be unheard of for any Auroran to comment adversely on the sexual preferences or habits of another."
"Not necessarily adversely. A humorous comment, perhaps. Any indication that he suspected the relationship."
"No! If young Gremionis had ever breathed a word of that sort, he would never have seen the inside of my establishment again and I would have seen to it that he never approached me again. - But he wouldn't have done anything of the sort. He was the soul of eager politeness to me."
"You say 'young.' How old is this Gremionis?"
"About my age. Thirty-five. Perhaps even a year or two younger."
"A child," said Baley sadly. "Even younger than I am. But at that age - Suppose he guessed at your relationship with Jander and said nothing - nothing at all. Might he not, nevertheless, have been jealous?"