Araminta Station by Jack Vance

scamped before, and presently, somewhat to his own surprise, he discovered that the subject was not as difficult as he had assumed.
    To make the situation even more irksome, Sessily Veder now returned to Araminta Station. Sessily, one of Floreste’s Mummers, had met her mother and her younger sister, Miranda (better known as Squeaker), at Soumjiana on the world Soum. The three had then gone on to visit a wealthy Veder connection at his villa on the romantic Calliope Coast, between Guyol and Sorrentine on the world Cassiopeia 993:9.
    Sessily, a year or so younger than Glawen, was totally charming; everyone conceded as much. A joyful providence had graced her with every natural asset: a cheerful intelligence, a fine sense of humor, a friendly affectionate disposition; and in addition - almost unfairly - glowing good health, a beautiful slim body and an impish snub-nosed face under a cap of loose brown curls.
    Sessily’s only detractors were one or two of the older girls, namely Ticia and Lexy, who seemed pallid and severe when Sessily joined the company. “Vain little exhibitionist!” they muttered to each other, but Sessily only laughed when the comments were reported to her.
    For Sessily schoolwork came easily. She entered lyceum a year earlier than ordinary, which placed her in Glawen’s class. When she traveled, she took her lesson books with her and on her return to Araminta Station merged effortlessly into the work of her class.
    Sessily seemed to bring a vital new dimension to the lyceum. She was perhaps not consciously a flirt; still she took an innocent delight in exercising the wonderful new knack she had so recently discovered.
    Sessily was the main reason why Arles so reluctantly had given up the Mummers, thus abandoning Sessily to the attentions of Kirdy Wook, Banceck Diffin and others, even though Sessily had shown no one conspicuous favor.
    This year Floreste’s spectacles at Parilia would be curtailed. Sessily would take part, along with the orchestra and some others, but to Arles’ relief, neither Evolution of the Gods nor First-Fire would be presented, thus depriving Arles’ rivals of opportunities denied to Arles himself.
    For her part Sessily felt no partiality for anyone connected with the Mummers. At Soumjiana one or two incidents had taught her something of the almost frightening forces she could generate but not control. She had decided that after Parilia she would retire from the troupe. “I guess things will never be the same,” Sessily told herself. “Isn’t it odd? The only boy I like hardly looks at me, while the others become familiar if I’m so much as polite!”
    In this latter category Arles was preeminent. He had developed a tactic for intercepting her when she came to the refectory for lunch and taking her willy-nilly to a side table and there devoting the entire hour to a discussion of himself and his plans for the future. “The truth is, Sessily, that I’m one of those fellows who are not satisfied with just the ordinary! I know what is absolutely top quality in this world, and I propose to get it. That means going after it, with no ifs, ands, or buts! I’m not one of this world’s losers! That’s for sure! I’m telling you this so you’ll know the kind of fellow I am! And I’ll tell you something else, quite frankly. Arles reached across the table and took her hand. “I’m interested in you. Very much so! Don’t you think that’s nice?”
    Sessily pulled away her hand. “No, not really. You should broaden your interests in case I’m not available.”
    “Not available? Why not? You’re alive and I’m alive.”
    “True. But I’m going away on a solitary tour of the universe, or might become a Trappist monk.”
    “Ha, ha! What a joke! Girls can’t be Trappist monks!”
    “Still, if I did, I’d be very unavailable.”
    Arles said crossly: “Can’t you be serious?”
    “I am very serious . . . Excuse me, please. I see Zanny Diffin over yonder and there’s