The Confusion

If Daniel was a heap of sand, Leibniz—far more hardened than Daniel to long-range coach travel—was an obelisk. He sat perfectly upright, as if ready to dip quill in ink-pot and begin pe

Daniel had assumed his ears had deceived him when the Duchess of Arcachon and of Qwghlm had asked him to deliver Joha

Leibniz considered it for a few moments, then said: "Say! How is the youngest son of the Duke of Parma faring these days? Has he recovered from that nasty rash?"

"You have quite lost me, sir. I do not even know the name of the Duke of Parma, much less the medical condition of his youngest son."

"That was already obvious," said Leibniz, "for he has no sons—two daughters only."

"I am begi

"If you asked the Duke of Parma about Leibniz, he might recognize the name vaguely, but he would know nothing of Natural Philosophy, and of course it is absurd to think he would entrust a daughter to me, or you, on a journey. Almost all the nobility are like the Duke of Parma. They don't know, or care about, us, and we know little of them."

"You are saying that I have fallen victim to observational bias?"

"Yes. The only nobility who suffer the likes of you, or of me, to come within a mile of them, are those exceedingly peculiar few who (God help them!) have taken an interest in Natural Philosophy. They used to be more numerous, but now I can count them on the fingers of a hand: Eliza, Sophie, and Sophie Charlotte. Those are the only ones we get to talk to. They are desirous of exposing their young ones to Natural Philosophy. Given a choice between the likes of you or me, Daniel, versus some available—which is to say idle—retainer, uncle, stooge, or priest who would be inclined to ignore, molest, corrupt, or convert the child en route, such a woman will unfailingly choose the Natural Philosopher; for the worst we will do is bore them."

"I believe I did just that with little Joha

"That should serve you well when you get to Massachusetts," said Leibniz gravely, "for the Indians are said to be brave wrestlers all."

"After he has fenced with Jean Bart on the deck of a warship, to be shut up in a carriage with the likes of me for several days was a miserable fate."

"Pfui! A slow and excruciating death by lockjaw is the miserable fate of those who play too much with edged weapons," said Leibniz. "Eliza knows this. You served her well, even if Joha

"The foolish boy gave me an opening, by discoursing too much of mortars and ca

"You see? He'll never forget that! Every time Joha

"How far are we from this Pretzsch?"

"You are deceived by the understated style of the place," said Leibniz. "Behold, we are in Pretzsch, and have been for some minutes." He slid his window open, laid a hand atop his wig to prevent its ending up under a wheel-rim, and thrust his head out. "The Dower-house is dead ahead."

"What will you discourse of with the orphan," Daniel asked, "assuming she does not share Joha

"Whatever she likes," Leibniz said. "She is after all a Princess, and almost certain to be a Queen one day." He regarded Daniel skeptically.

"All right," said Daniel, moving. "I'll sit up straight."

THE TRAIN WAS THREE CARRIAGES, a baggage-wain, and several mounted dragoons. The latter had been sent down from Berlin, which was to say they were Brandenburgish/Prussian. Leibniz had met up with these Berliners in Leipzig. This had occurred only an hour after Daniel—who'd only just dropped off Joha

The train crossed the Elbe on a nearby ferry and pounded down the road for some hours until they reached Brandenburg, then stopped for the night at an i

"I would hear more of the work that Dr. Waterhouse purposes to undertake in Mas-sa-chu-setts," said the Princess carefully. She had got wind of this from remarks overheard yesterday.

"A fitting topic, but in the end a very broad one," said Leibniz. "Dr. Waterhouse?"

"The Massachusetts Bay Colony Institute of Technologickal Arts," began Daniel, "has been founded, and will sooner or later be endowed, by the Marquis of Ravenscar, who looks after his majesty's money, and who is a great Whig. That means he belongs to a faction whose bank and whose money are founded on Commerce. They are ever opposed to the Tories, whose bank and money are founded on Land."