d returned it to the drawer,
then took out the black one. He would say a Requiem for the Souls of
All the Faithful Departed--and hope that the Count was among them.

* * * * *

His Royal Highness, the Duke of Normandy, looked over the official
letter his secretary had just typed for him. It was addressed to
_Serenissimus Dominus Nostrus Iohannes Quartus, Dei Gratia, Angliae,
Franciae, Scotiae, Hiberniae, et Novae Angliae, Rex, Imperator, Fidei
Defensor_, ... "Our Most Serene Lord, John IV, by the Grace of God
King and Emperor of England, France, Scotland, Ireland, and New
England, Defender of the Faith, ..."

It was a routine matter; simple notification to his brother, the King,
that His Majesty's most faithful servant, Edouard, Count of Evreux had
departed this life, and asking His Majesty's confirmation of the
Count's heir-at-law, Alice, Countess of Evreux as his lawful
successor.

His Highness finished reading, nodded, and scrawled his signature at
the bottom: _Richard Dux Normaniae_.

Then, on a separate piece of paper, he wrote: "Dear John, May I
suggest you hold up on this for a while? Edouard was a lecher and a
slob, and I have no doubt he got everything he deserved, but we have
no notion who killed him. For any evidence I have to the contrary, it
might have been Alice who pulled the trigger. I will send you full
particulars as soon as I have them. With much love, Your brother and
servant, Richard."

He put both papers into a prepared envelope and sealed it. He wished
he could have called the king on the teleson, but no one had yet
figured out how to get the wires across the channel.

He looked absently at the sealed envelope, his handsome blond features
thoughtful. The House of Plantagenet had endured for eight centuries,
and the blood of Henry of Anjou ran thin in its veins, but the Norman
strain was as strong as ever, having been replenished over the
centuries by fresh infusions from Norwegian and Danish princesses.
Richard's mother, Queen Helga, wife to His late Majesty, Henry X,
spoke very few words of Anglo-French, and those with a heavy Norse
accent.

Nevertheless, there was nothing Scandinavian in the language, manner,
or bearing of Richard, Duke of Normandy. Not only was he a member of
the oldest and most powerful ruling family of Europe, but he bore a
Christian name that was distinguished even in that family. Seven Kings
of the Empire had borne the name, and mos