we
like, do what we like, so long as it is consonant with the public
good."

"Ah, but who determines what is consonant with the public good?"

Ludovick could no longer temporize with truth, even for Corisande's
sake. "Look here, old man, I have read books. I know about the old days
before the Belphins came from the stars. Men were destroying themselves
quickly through wars, or slowly through want. There is none of that any
more."

"All lies and exaggeration," old Osmond said. "_My_ grandfather told me
that, when the Belphins took over Earth, they rewrote all the textbooks
to suit their own purposes. Now nothing but Belphin propaganda is
taught in the schools."

"But surely some of what they teach about the past must be true,"
Ludovick insisted. "And today every one of us has enough to eat and
drink, a place to live, beautiful garments to wear, and all the time in
the world to utilize as he chooses in all sorts of pleasant activities.
What is missing?"

"They've taken away our frontiers!"

Behind his back, Corisande made a little filial face at Ludovick.

Ludovick tried to make the old man see reason. "But I'm happy. And
everybody is happy, except--except a few _killjoys_ like you."

"They certainly did a good job of brainwashing you, boy," Osmond
sighed. "And of most of the young ones," he added mournfully. "With
each succeeding generation, more of our heritage is lost." He patted
the girl's hand. "You're a good girl, Corrie. You don't hold with this
being cared for like some damn pet poodle."

"Never mind Osmond, Eversole," one of Corisande's alleged uncles
grinned. "He talks a lot, but of course he doesn't mean a quarter of
what he says. Come, have some wine."

* * * * *

He handed a glass to Ludovick. Ludovick sipped and coughed. It tasted
as if it were well above the legal alcohol limit, but he didn't like to
say anything. They were taking an awful risk, though, doing a thing
like that. If they got caught, they might receive a public
scolding--which was, of course, no more than they deserved--but he
could not bear to think of Corisande exposed to such an ordeal.

"It's only reasonable," the uncle went on, "that older people should
have a--a thing about being governed by foreigners."

Ludovick smiled and set his nearly full glass down on a plinth. "You
could hardly call the Belphins foreigners; they've been on Earth longer
than even the oldest of us."

"You