dors poked her head through the door. "am i allowed to come in?"

"no, of course not. why should you think i would?"

"this is not your usual place."

"i know," sighed seldon. "i have been evicted from my usual place because of the stupid birthday party. how i wish it were over."

"there you are. once that woman gets an idea in her head, it takes over and grows like the big bang."

seldon changed sides at once. "come. she means well, dors."

"save me from the well-meaning," said dors. "in any case, i'm here to discuss something else. something which may be important."

"go ahead. what is it?"

"i've been talking to wanda about her dream-" she hesitated.

seldon made a gargling sound in the back of his throat, then said, can't believe it. just let it go."

"no. did you bother to ask her for the details of the dream?"

"why should i put the little girl through that?"

"neither did raych, nor manella. it was left up to me."

"but why should you torture her with questions about it?"

"because i had the feeling i should," said dors grimly. "in the first place, she didn't have the dream when she was home in her bed."

"where was she, then?"

"in your office."

"what was she doing in my office?"

"she wanted to see the place where the party would be and she walked into your office and, of course, there was nothing to see, as it's been cleared out in preparation. but your chair was still there. the large one-tall back, tall wings, broken-down-the one you won't let me replace."

hari sighed, as if recalling a longstanding disagreement. "it's not broken-down. i don't want a new one. go on."

"she curled up in your chair and began to brood over the fact that maybe you weren't really going to have a party and she felt bad. then, she tells me, she must have fallen asleep because nothing is clear in her mind, except that in her dream there were two men-not women, she was sure about that-two men, talking."

"and what were they talking about?"

"she doesn't know exactly. you know how difficult it is to remember details under such circumstances. but she says it was about dying and she thought it was you because you were so old. and she remembers two words clearly. they were `lemonade death.'"

"what?"

"lemonade death."

"what does that mean?"

"i don't know. in any case, the talking ceased, the men left, and there she was in the chair, cold and frightened-and she's been upset about it ever since."

seldon mulled over dors's report. then he said, "look, dear, what importance can we attach to a child's dream?"

"we can ask ourselves first, hari, if it even was a dream."

"what do you mean?"

"wanda doesn't say outright it was. she says she `must have fallen asleep.' those are her words. she didn't say she fell asleep, she said she must have fallen asleep."

"what do you deduce from that?"

"she may have drifted off into a half-doze and, in that state, heard two men-two real men, not two dream men-talking."

"real men? talking about killing me with lemonade death?"

"something like that, yes."

"dors," said seldon forcefully, "i know that you're forever foreseeing danger for me, but this is going too far. why should anyone want to kill me?"

"it's been tried twice before."

"so it has, but consider the circumstances. the first attempt came shortly after cleon appointed me first minister. naturally this was an offense to the well-established court hierarchy and i was very resented. a few thought they might settle matters by getting rid of me. the second time was when the joranumites were trying to seize power and they thought i was standing in their way-plus namarti's distorted dream of revenge.

"fortunately neither assassination attempt succeeded, but why should there now be a third? i am no longer first minister and haven't been for ten years. i am an aging mathematician in retirement and surely no one has anything to fear from me. the joranumites have been rooted out and destroyed and namarti was executed long ago. there is absolutely no motivation for anyone to want to kill me.

"so please, dors, relax. when you're nervous about me, you get unsettled, which makes you more nervous still, and i don't want that to happen."

dors rose from her seat and leaned across hari's desk. "it's easy for you to say that there is no motive to kill you, but none is needed. our government is now a completely irresponsible one and if they wish-"

"stop!" commanded seldon loudly. then, very quietly, "not a word, dors. not a word against the government. that could get us in the very trouble you're foreseeing."

"i'm only talking to you, hari."

"right now you are, but if you get into the habit of saying foolish things, you don't know when something will slip out in someone else's presence-someone who will then be glad to report you. just learn, as a matter of necessity, to refrain from political commentary."

"i'll try, hari," said dors, but she could not keep the indignation out of her voice. she turned on her heel and left.

seldon watched her go. dors had aged gracefully, so gracefully that at times she seemed not to have aged at all. though she was two years younger than seldon, her appearance had not changed nearly as much as his had in the twenty-eight years they had been together. naturally.

her hair was frosted with gray, but the youthful luster beneath the gray still shone through. her complexion had grown more sallow; her voice was a bit huskier, and, of course, she wore clothes that were suitable for middle age. however, her movements were as agile and as quick as ever. it was as if nothing could be allowed to interfere with her ability to protect hari in case of an emergency.

hari sighed. this business of being protected-more or less against his will, at all times-was sometimes a heavy burden.