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half-brother.
Jacob, who was just eighteen, was at the university in Jena most of the time, so that was a minor
problem. But, Dietrich explained, he worried about the influence ofFrau Hollister on his sister Anna, who
was just twenty-three. Even more, he worried about the influence of nineteen-year-old April, now
Christina's sister-in-law, on Anna.
Above all, he felt responsible because, under his influence and because of his urging, his stepfather,
Lucas Sartorius, had come to Grantville for several visits.
"It is my fault," Dietrich said. "I practically dragged him down to Grantville so that he could see where his
stepsons were working now. To show him that, given a reasonably stable interval in this eternal war, we
are not wasting the money he spent on our education."
To Grantville, where he had fallen under the spell of this Jezebel.
FrauHollister, in whose house Dietrich was necessarily living.
Erfurt, Summer 1634
"When can we expect the shipment to arrive?" Dennis Stull, Grantville's civilian head of procurement at
the USE's main supply depot for Thuringia and the rest of the central Germanies, had been impatient for
two weeks. He hated evasions. He expected a lot of them this morning.
"Never." The tall man seated opposite him Lucas Sartorius was his name reached across the desk
and handed Stull a letter. "This came in yesterday evening from our firm's factor in Luebeck."
"Never?"
"At the direct orders of Emperor Gustavus Adolphus, all of the grain shipments we are managing to bring
out of the Baltic are being diverted to supplying the armies in the north."
"Just how does he propose to feed the armies in the south? At Ingolstadt? In Swabia?"
Sartorius leaned back. "May I suggest that the king, ah, the emperor, is in the north himself and sees the
need there directly."
"Is this some version of 'out of sight, out of mind'?"
"A universal proverb, more or less. In the same category as, 'there's no use in crying over spilt milk.'"
"I don't intend to have Baner foraging in Franconia. We have enough problems going in Franconia with
the Ram Rebellion. And while I have no doubts at all that Horn has been foraging through Swabia just as
ruthlessly as Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar has been foraging through Swabia, I'd really like to try to keep it
within reasonable limits."
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"So that, if he prevails, there will be something left in the region for you to govern?"
"Or for Gustavus Adolphus's allies to govern. Parts of the region, such as Wuerttemberg, are Lutheran."
Sartorius turned from political speculation to business. "You do realize that no firm has a great deal to
offer right now. This year's crop of Polish grain is still in the field. It will be months before it can be
harvested and transported to the Baltic ports. During my career, I have traveled as far as Koenigsburg
regularly. Sometimes farther, up to Finland. Arranging exports and imports, contracts and sales. Every
year, my main stop was Gdansk. Danzig, the Germans call it. I am not giving you an excuse. It is a fact.
The only thing any factor can hope to find for the rest of this summer is grain that someone has, as you
say, 'stashed' because he was hoping for a higher price. 'Hoarding' is what we call it."
"Well, then." Dennis steepled his fingers together, his elbows on the desk. "Found any good hoards
lately?"
Grantville, Summer 1634
". . . absolutely outrageous," Dietrich Zuehlke finished.
Lucas Sartorius looked at him rather mildly. "Tina Marie and I merely went out for a pleasant evening at
the Thuringian Gardens. Had a few beers with friends."
"And finished it off in her bed."
"It's not a bad bed," Sartorius said judiciously. "A little narrow and involving some hazards with the
upper bunk. Overall, though, quite comfortable, and the absence of bedbugs is particularly delightful. I
plan to take several containers of this DDT with me when I return north."
"You should be thoroughly ashamed of yourself. My mother. . . ."
"I was faithful to your mother," Sartorius said.Well, reasonably. She never knew anything to the
contrary. Finland was a long way from Wismar, after all. "But she has been dead for two years."
"The horrible example she is setting for Anna and April and Carly. . . ."
"None of whom were home. April and Anna were still at the Thuringian Gardens, with their own friends,
when Tina Marie and I decided to leave. There is no reason for either of them to come into Tina Marie's
bedroom in the middle of the night. Carly was having a 'sleepover,' which should should have
guaranteed us a quite adequate level of privacy. If you had not chosen to follow us home."
* * *
"I am not here voluntarily."
Ludwig Kastenmayer looked at Lucas Sartorius. He'd seen a lot of men like this during his pastoral
career. Not bad men, in the sense of being evil. But not precisely well-behaved, either. Men whose
commitment to the Ten Commandments left something to be desired and who, although they appeared
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for church on Sunday, tended to leave for the tavern before the sermon started. "I guessed as much."
"I'm not, either." That was the older stepson.
"You do realize, Hans-Fritz," Sartorius said, "that you may be excused."
"No you may not." Dietrich glared at his brother.
Jonas Justus Muselius would probably have smiled if he hadn't been more concerned about certain
looming communications problems.
Sartorius, who had apparently decided to be difficult just for the sake of being difficult, or possibly
mischievous just for the sake of being mischievous, was speaking Low German thePlattdeutsch of the
northern flatlands and coastal regions.
Neither Jonas nor Pastor Kastenmayer spoke thePlatt . They spoke theHochdeutsch of the Saxon
uplands and the southern mountains.
This wasn't a matter of the dozens of variant dialects of the central Germanies. These were, really, two
different languages.
Jonas felt certain that Sartorius could speak High German just as well as his stepsons could. After all, he
was doing business in Erfurt. The man was just being contrary. Still . . . He got up and wandered over to
Kastenmayer's book case.
"What are you looking for, Jonas?"
"The Bugenhagen translation of the Bible." Jonas pulled a volume out of the cabinet, tucking it under the
elbow of his bad arm. "If Herr Sartorius prefers to speakPlatt , perhaps we can deal with unfamiliar
words by comparing passages in Luther's translation to the same verses as rendered by the goodDoktor
Pommer for our northern colleagues."
Kastenmayer nodded, his eyes glinting with amusement. He looked at Sartorius again. "Since the topic
of this meeting is your association withFrau Hollister, who certainly does not speakPlatt , how do you,
ah, communicate with her?"
Sartorius twitched his nose. "Verbally?"
"Yes." Kastenmayer's tone was firm. "In which language?"
"English. Or High German. Or a mixture of both. Usually a mixture of both."
"Great," Jonas said. "I'll call Gary Lambert."
* * *
"If I'm going to be hauled up before the Inquisition, Kitty, I want you to come along."
Kitty fiddled with the paper clip container on her desk. "They're Lutherans. I'm pretty sure that
Lutherans don't have an Inquisition."
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"They have something called a marriage court. AnEhegericht ."
"How are you getting involved in a marriage court?"
"If. Just if, mind you, Lucas Sartorius thought he might possibly want to marry again . . ."
"You have to be a witness to his good behavior or something?"
"They're sort of wondering if I'd make a suitable bride for a respectable businessman."
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