"William? What's up?"
"There's been a change of plans. Mister Hobbes says we're going to Madgeburg. Next Friday."
"That's pretty sudden."
"Yeah."
There was a long silence.
"Y'know, my parents are living in Madgeburg now. That's why I'm staying with Delia. She's a friend of the family. Mom and Dad usually come back once a month to visit me, but it might be fun to go see them instead.
"I could ask them if we could travel up with you and Mister Hobbes. If that's okay."
"That would be great! Uh, who's 'we'?"
"My girlfriends. I'm sure Heather would like to go; she's never been to Magdeburg. Perhaps some of our brothers. And I suppose we'd have to hire guards, or our parents would have conniptions."
William took a quick look across the lobby. No sign of his tutor. "Mister Hobbes told me that there's a real tennis court in Halle. That's on the way to Magdeburg. I could teach you all how to play."
"It's a date. I mean, that sounds like fun."
Judy called Heather. "William's going to Magdeburg. For at least a month."
Heather started wailing.
"Take it easy. I have it all worked out," Judy said. "We'll travel along, let him show us his royal tennis in Halle, maybe do some sightseeing together in Magdeburg. It'll give you a chance to make more of an impression on him, and of course I'll get to see my folks."
"Thanks, Judy. Wait, you aren't interested in him yourself, are you?"
"Honestly, Heather, I have no ambition to be the 'Mistress of Pemberley.' Do you know how often I have to shoo off worthless young noblemen who hear that I'm rich?"
"But William isn't worthless."
Judy thought it just as well that Heather couldn't see her expression at the moment. "That's not what I meant."
"And I think he likes you."
"What do you want me to do, Heather? Walk around with a paper bag over my head? Come along, talk to him, play some tennis, and see how it goes."
"Okay. But what will our parents say? We can't go without adult supervision, that's for sure."
"Hmm. Mister Hobbes is going, he's perfect. If he can get William safely across France, Italy and the Alps, he can get us from Grantville to Magdeburg.
"And we can say it's like a social studies field trip, going with this great political philosopher."
Heather pondered this. "They might think that his loyalties are to William."
"Right. Like he and William are going to carry us to their castle, like in some Gothic novel. Well, that's what the guards are for. So Hobbes can't hit us over the head with a copy of Leviathan."
When there wasn't any military traffic, personal messages could be sent, via radio, between Grantville and Magdeburg.
Judy sent her parents a radiotelegram:
WOULD LIKE TO VISIT YOU IN MAGDEBURG STOP
IF LEAVE THIS FRIDAY, CAN TRAVEL WITH PARTY OF THOMAS HOBBES, FAMOUS BRITISH PHILOSOPHER STOP
WOULD LIKE TO INVITE VICKY, MILLICENT, GABRIELLE, JOHN, HEATHER, KELSEY AND DERRICK TO JOIN ME STOP
Judy hadn't mentioned Hayley or Susan, because she knew they couldn't go.
DO YOU HAVE PREFERENCE AS TO WHICH GUARDS TO HIRE? STOP
CAN YOU ARRANGE LODGING FOR FRIENDS? STOP
This was the sales technique known as the "assumed close," that is, the questions were about guards and lodging, not about whether to go at all.
She soon received a reply:
DELIA CHOOSE GUARDS STOP
FELLOW STUDENTS STAY HERE STOP
HOW OLD THOMAS HOBBES? STOP
How lame, thought Judy. She composed a reply and handed it to the radio operator.
FORTY-FIVE STOP
JEESH STOP
HOBBES PHILOSOPHER, INFLUENCED AMERICAN DECLARATION INDEPENDENCE STOP
LIKE HAVING GUEST LECTURER IN SOCIAL STUDIES CLASS STOP
"Wait," Judy said. The operator handed the form back to her.
Is that a good reason for my parents to like the idea? Yes. Are they going to think it's my reason? No. So what will they do? They will keep hunting for my real motive. So what will satisfy their curiosity?
She thought a bit longer, and then scribbled an addendum:
HOBBES KNOWS WEALTHY ENGLISH FAMILIES, POSSIBLE INVESTORS GRANTVILLE BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES STOP
TRIP CHANCE TO PICK HIS BRAINS STOP
There. That fitted in perfectly with her 'Judy the Barracudy' rep. And it was true. Just not all the truth.
They were at the train station, which was the old B amp;O depot, waiting for the train to head out. William and the girls were chattering a mile a minute. All of Judy's invitees, save Millicent, had successfully reasoned, wheedled, screamed or otherwise buffaloed their parents into agreeing to "the field trip."
Hobbes was not happy. The point of going to Magdeburg was to get away from the girls. Not to escort them to the big city and teach them how to play royal tennis, to boot.
Not that Hobbes had any problem with teaching women. He had long been of the view that all humans are naturally equal, which implied that women are equal to men.
The problem was that if William got into any foreign romantic entanglements, his mother Christian would certainly blame Hobbes.
Upon interrogation, William had confessed that Judith Wendell had invited him to the movie. And then invited herself and her buddies along on this trip to Magdeburg.
It was small consolation that this Judith Wendell was, in some respects, a suitable match. She was the daughter of Fletcher Wendell, who was the "Secretary of the Treasury." As near as Hobbes could figure out, the equivalent British position was the "Chancellor of the Exchequer." The chancellor of the exchequer was almost always a nobleman; the present title holder was a baron, Francis Cottington. So it was safe to assume that this Fletcher Wendell was a nobleman, too.
Yes, yes, Hobbes had been told that the Americans didn't have a noble class. As a historian, Hobbes was familiar with several governments which were republican in name, but run by a small group of families. The Most Serene Republic, for example. Hobbes assumed that Grantville had a similar system.
The thought of William marrying Judy was amusing, in one respect. William had no idea how much Judy looked like William's mother Christian, when she was sixteen. Both pretty, redheaded wenches, accustomed to getting their own way.
The rail line from Grantville to Halle, when completed, would be almost ninety miles long. The track crossed "the ring," and then followed the west bank of the Saale as it leisurely wound its way through the forested limestone hills of Thuringia.
The train was powered by what the girls called a "pickup truck," and it drew three wooden cars on metal-topped wooden rails. The rails were not unfamiliar to Hobbes; there were similar structures serving a few British collieries. The "pickup truck," however, was a source of great amazement.
The train traveled at the astounding speed of ten miles per hour, without rest. William was quite excited, but Hobbes caught the quickly concealed smiles on the part of the up-timers. This is slow, by their standards, he thought.
Their parties occupied much of one rail car. The five in the Cavendish party of course, Judy and some of her friends, and two hired guards. This amused Hobbes a bit. He suspected that they were present to protect the girls from William as much as from bandits. Whereas Hobbes was intent on protecting William from the girls.
The first stop was at Rudolstadt, just outside the Ring of Fire. About three hours later, they pulled into the station serving the university town of Jena. Some students came onboard their car. One, more courageous than the others, spoke briefly to Heather, who was sitting nearest to them. She spoke to the young scholar with great animation, but occasionally glanced at William. To see if he is getting jealous? Hobbes wondered.