"Did Dr. Vasilia suggest you show a greater interest in Dr. Fastolfe's work?"
"Why should she suggest that? I don't know anything about Dr. Fastolfe's work."
"Gladia might be interested in her benefactor's work and it might be a way for you to ingratiate yourself with her."
Gremionis' eyes narrowed. He rose with almost explosive force, walked to the other end of the room, came back, stood in front of Baley, and said, "Now - you - look - here! I'm not the biggest brain on the planet, not even the second-biggest, but I'm not a blithering idiot. I see what you're getting at, you know."
"Oh?"
"All your questions have served to sort of wriggle me into saying that, Dr. Vasilia got me to fall in love - That's it" - He stopped in sudden surprise - "I'm in love, like in the historical novels." He thought about that with the light of wonder in his eyes. Then the anger returned. "That she got me to fall in love and to stay in love, so that I could find out things from Dr. Fastolfe and learn how to immobilize that robot, Jander."
"You don't think that's so?"
"No, it's not!" shouted Gremionis. "I don't know anything about robotics. Anything. No matter how carefully anything about robotics were explained to me, I wouldn't understand it. And I don't think Gladia would either. Besides, I never asked anyone about robotics. I was never told - by Dr. Fastolfe or anyone - anything about robotics. No one ever suggested I get involved with robotics. Dr. Vasilia never suggested it. Your whole rotten theory doesn't work." He shot his arms out to either side. "It doesn't work. Forget it."
He sat back, folded his arms rigidly across his chest, and forced his lips together in a thin line, making his small mustache bristle.
Baley looked up at the unsegmented orange, which was still humming its low, pleasantly varying tune and displaying a gentle change of color as it swayed hypnotically through a small, slow arc.
If Gremionis' outburst had upset his line of attack, he showed no sign of it. He said, "I understand what you're saying, but it's still true that you see much of Gladia, isn't it?"
"Yes, I do."
"Your repeated offers do not offend her - and her repeated rejections do not offend you?"
Gremionis shrugged. "My offers are polite. Her refusals are gentle. Why should we be offended?"
"But how do you spend time together? Sex is out, obviously, and you don't talk robotics. What do you do?"
"Is that all there is to companionship - sex and robotics? We do a great deal together. We talk, for one thing. She is very curious about Aurora and I spend hours describing the planet. She's seen very little of it, you know. And she spends hours telling me about Solaria and what a hellhole it is. I'd rather live on Earth - no offense intended. And there's her dead husband. What a miserable character he was. Gladia's had a hard life, poor woman.
"We go to concerts, I took her to the Art Institute a few times, and we work together. I told you that. We go over my designs - or her designs - together. To be perfectly honest, I don't see that working on robots is very rewarding, but we all have our own notions, you know. For that matter, she seemed to be amused when I explained why it was so important to cut hair correctly - her own hair isn't quite right, you know. But mostly, we go for walks."
"Walks? Where?"
"Nowhere particularly. Just walks. That is her habit - because of the way she was brought up on Solaria. Have you ever been on Solaria? - Yes, you have been, of course. I'm sorry. - On Solaria, there are these huge estates with only one or two human beings on them, just robots otherwise. You can walk for miles and be completely alone and Gladia says that it makes you feel as though you owned the entire planet. The robots are always there, of course, keeping an eye on you and taking care of you, but, of course, they keep out of sight. Gladia misses that feeling of world ownership here on Aurora."
"Do you mean that she wants world ownership?"
"You mean a kind of lust for power? Gladia? That's crazy. All she means is that she misses the feeling of being alone with nature. I don't see it myself, you understand, but I like humoring her. Of course, you can't quite get the Solarian feeling in Aurora. There are bound to be people about, especially in the Eos metropolitan area, and robots haven't been programmed to keep out of sight. In fact, Aurorans generally walk with robots. - Still, I know some routes that are pleasant and not very crowded and Gladia enjoys them."
"Do you enjoy them, too?"
"Well, only because I would be with Gladia. Aurorans are walkers, too, by and large, but I must admit I'm not. I had protesting muscles at first and Vasilia laughed at me."
"She knew you went on walks did she?"
"Well, I came in limping one day and creaking at the thighs, so I had to explain. She laughed and said it was a good idea and the best way to get a walker to accept an offer was to walk with them. 'Keep it up,' she said, 'and she'll cancel her rejection before you get a chance to offer again. She'll make the offer herself.' As it happened, Gladia didn't, but eventually I grew to like the walks very much, just the same."
He seemed to have gotten over his flash of anger and was now very much at his ease. He might have been thinking of the walks, Baley thought, for there was a half-smile on his face. He looked rather likable - and vulnerable - with his mind back on who-knew-what conversational passage on a walk that had taken them who-knew-where. Baley almost smiled in response.
"Vasilia knew, then, that you continued the walks."
"I suppose so. I began to take Wednesdays and Saturdays off because that fit in with Gladia's schedule choice - and Vasilia would sometimes joke about my 'WS walks' when I brought in some sketches."