raych came in, blowing on his hands. "i'm all for deliberate variety in the weather. you don't want things under a dome to always be the same. today though, they made it just a little too cold and worked up a wind, besides. i think it's about time someone complained to weather control."

揑 don't know that it's weather control's fault," said seldon. "it's getting harder to control things in general."

"i know. deterioration." raych brushed his thick black mustache with the back of his hand. he did that often, as though he had never quite managed to get over the few months during which he had been mustacheless in wye. he had also put on a little weight around the middle and, overall, had come to seem very comfortable and middleclass. even his dahl accent had faded somewhat.

he took off his light coverall and said, "and how's the old birthday boy?"

"resenting it. wait, wait, my son. one of these days, you'll be celebrating your fortieth birthday. we'll see how funny you'll think that is."

"not as funny as sixty."

"stop joking," said manella, who had been chafing raych's hands, trying to warm them.

seldon spread his own hands. "we're doing the wrong thing, raych. your wife is of the opinion that all this talk about my turning sixty has sent little wanda into a decline over the possibility of my dying."

"really?" said raych. "that accounts for it, then. i stopped in to see her and she told me at once, before i even had a chance to say a word, that she had had a bad dream. was it about your dying?"

"apparently," said seldon.

"well, she'll get over that. no way of stopping bad dreams."

"i'm not dismissing it that easily," said manella. "she's brooding over it and that's not healthy. i'm going to get to the bottom of this."

"as you say, manella," said raych agreeably. "you're my dear wife and whatever you say-about wanda-goes." and he brushed his mustache again.

his dear wife! it hadn't been so easy to make her his dear wife. raych remembered his mother's attitude toward the possibility. talk about nightmares. it was he who had the periodic nightmares in which he had to face down the furious dors venabili once more.