"I'm not comming on official business, Dame Honor," he said. An eyebrow curved, she cocked her head to one side, and he drew a breath he hoped she didn't notice and plunged in without further preamble.
"I'm sure you must realize that everyone knows about your meeting with Summervale." Her eyes hardened a bit more, and she nodded. "I realize the details of these affairs are supposed to be confidential, but the challenge was issued rather... publicly," he went on. "I've just been alerted that the media have picked up on it and that newsies from all the major services plan to be in attendance."
Honor said nothing, but he saw the hand on her desk clench as he continued.
"In addition, there's what I can only call a furor over the remarks which passed between you in Dempsey's, Dame Honor. There's some confusion over the exact wording, but there's general agreement that you deliberately provoked him into challenging you."
He paused, and she nodded again, silently. He wasn't certain whether it represented agreement or simple acknowledgment, and he rubbed an eyebrow in an unusual nervous gesture. This was going to be harder than he'd feared, and his baritone was quietly intense when he spoke once more.
"Dame Honor, I don't believe any reasonable person can or would fault you for that. Both Summervale's reputation and the fact that he set out to goad Captain Tankersley into striking him are well known, yet I can't say I'm happy about your meeting him. I don't approve of duels in general, and I don't like the thought of your tangling with a professional killer on his own ground, but that's your option under the law." Her eyes seemed to soften a bit, and he braced himself for her reaction to his next words.
"Unfortunately, a few members of the media have also picked up on the charges you leveled against Earl North Hollow." He paused, and his blue eyes invitedno, demandeda response.
"I can't say I'm surprised by that, Sir," she said. He frowned and rubbed his eyebrow again, and she felt the intensity of his measuring gaze.
"I don't doubt that you aren't surprised, Captain," he said after a moment. "What I want to know is whether or not you meant for them to."
Honor considered for a moment, then shrugged.
"Yes, Sir, I did," she said quietly.
"Why?" he asked bluntly, his voice harsh with either worry or anger, but she didn't flinch.
"Because the charges are accurate, Sir. Pavel Young hired Summervale to kill Paul Tankersley and me. He specifically directed that Paul be killed firstapparently because he hated him for 'betraying' him by siding with me, but also because his real motive was to punish me."
"Do you realize what you're saying, Dame Honor? You're accusing a peer of the realm of hiring an assassin."
"Yes, Sir, I am."
"Do you have any evidence to support that charge?" he demanded.
"I do, Sir," she replied with no discernible emotion at all, and his eyes widened.
"Then why haven't you presented it to the authorities? Duels may be legal, but paying a professional duelist to kill your enemies certainly isn't!"
"I haven't approached the authorities because my evidence wouldn't be legally admissible in a criminal prosecution, Sir." He frowned, and she went on quietly. "Despite that, it's absolutely conclusive. Summervale admitted his complicity before witnesses."
"What witnesses?" His voice was sharp, but she shook her head.
"I'm sorry, Sir, but I must respectfully decline to answer that question."
The admirals eyes narrowed, and Honor found it difficult to maintain her calm expression under their weight.
"I see," he went on after a brief, pregnant pause. "This evidenceI'm assuming it's a recording of some sortwas obtained under less than legal circumstances, and you're shielding whoever obtained it, aren't you?"
"Sir, I respectfully decline to answer that question."
White Haven snorted, but he didn't press it, and she inhaled in relief, only to stiffen as he leaned towards his pickup with a stony expression.
"Do you intend to challenge Earl North Hollow, as well, Dame Honor?"
"I intend, My Lord, to see justice done." Her voice was equally quiet, with the tang of distant ice, and he closed his eyes briefly.
"I want you to... think very carefully about that, Captain. The situation in the House of Lords remains extremely delicate. The Government managed to find a majority to support the declaration, but just barely, and its working majority is still very, very narrow. More to the point, North Hollow played a pivotal role in getting the declaration voted out. Any hint of fresh scandal attached to his name, especially one which involves you, could have disastrous consequences."
"That, My Lord, is not my concern," Honor said flatly.
"Then it ought to be. If the Opposition"
"My Lord" for the first time in her life, Honor Harrington interrupted a flag officer, and her voice was hard "the Opposition means very little to me at the moment. The man I loved was killedmurderedat Pavel Young's orders." White Haven started to speak again, but she went right on, all pretense of detachment vanished. "I know itand, I believe, you know itbut I can't prove it to the satisfaction of a court of law. That leaves me only one option, and that option, Sir, is my legal right in this Kingdom. I intend to exercise it, regardless of any political considerations."
She jerked to an incandescent halt, appalled at herself for speaking to an admiralany admiral, but especially this onein such fashion. Her veneer of self-control was far thinner than she'd realized, and electricity jittered in her nerves, yet she met his eyes unflinchingly, and her own were agate hard.
Fragile silence hovered for a moment, then, finally, White Haven squared his shoulders and drew a deep breath.
"My concern, Dame Honor, is not for North Hollow. It's not even for the Governmentor, at any rate, not directly. It's for you and the consequences of any action you may take against him."
"I'm prepared to accept the consequences, My Lord."
"Well I'm not!" His eyes snapped with anger for the first time, anger directed squarely at her. "Duke Cromarty's Government will survive, but if you challenge Pavel Young to a duelworse, if you challenge him and kill himthe Opposition will explode. You thought it was bad before and during the court-martial? Well, Captain, it'll be a thousand times worse after this one! The Opposition will demand your head on a platter, and the Duke will have no choice but to give it to them! Can't you see that?!"
"I'm not a politician, My Lord. I'm a naval officer." Honor met his gaze without evasion, but there was a pleading note in her voice which surprised even her. The hurt of White Haven's sudden anger cut deep. It was suddenly the most important thing in her world that he understand, and she raised one hand at her com screen in an imploring gesture. "I know my duty, my responsibilities, as a Queens officer, but doesn't the Kingdom have some duty to me, Sir? Didn't Paul Tankersley deserve better than to be killed because a man who hates me paid for it? Damn it, Sir," her quiet, intense voice shook with passion as she stared at him, "I owe Pauland myself!"
White Haven flinched as if she'd struck him, but he shook his head slowly.
"I sympathize, Captain. I truly do. But I once told you direct action isn't always the best response. If you pursue this, you'll destroy yourself and your career."
"Then what's the point, Sir?" The anger had gone out of her voice, and despair softened the hardness of her eyes, yet she held his gaze with a forlorn pride that cut him to the heart. "All I ask of my Queen and my Kingdomall I've ever askedis justice, My Lord. That's all I have a right to ask for, but I have a right to it. Isn't that what's supposed to separate us from the Peeps?" He winced, and she went on in that soft, pleading voice. "I don't understand politics, Sir. I don't understand what gives a Pavel Young the right to destroy everything he touches and hide behind the importance of compromise and political consensus. But I understand duty and common decency. I understand justice, and if no one else can give it to me, then just this once I'll take it for myself, whatever it costs."