“Gods, you’re trying to talk me into it.” Lila had thought he would help her find a loophole—not that she deserved one. “You want me to agree.”
“I thought you already had. I’m sorry, Lila girl. I had hoped things might be different.”
“You expected this all along, didn’t you?”
Her father nodded, eyes heavy. “I knew how it would turn out. I’d hoped to stop it last night by offering your mother the Unity hospital contract in exchange for your chief’s contract. She didn’t go for it, though. She still thinks that she can get the job on her own merits, and she’s probably correct.”
“She has hundreds of Randolph women she could choose from, and yet she believes that I am the only one who can succeed her. It’s madness. Others want it more. Others have more experience.”
“It’s how it has always worked, Lila, and there’s never been any doubt that you’re the best candidate for it.”
“It’s not how it always works. Many northern families don’t tie everything up by birthright any longer. And why am I the best candidate? Because I succeeded with Randolph General? I was fourteen years old, Father. Nothing I did was my idea. Everything came from my advisors.”
“From what I heard, you did have one or two novel ideas, but you’re right. Most of it did come from your advisors. You rejected a fair number of their bad ideas and quite a few atrocious ones. Your mother insisted they give you the spectrum. In the end, you sifted through the lot and picked the most profitable course of action, better than what Bea would have picked herself. You dared where she would not.”
He rubbed his chin, his beard raking against his nails in the quiet. “Lila, do you think it’s any different with me and your mother? She’s not a successful chairwoman because she has good ideas on her own. She’s successful because she surrounds herself with intelligent, savvy people and listens to what they have to say. She then sifts through the muck and selects the course she believes is right. It’s what leaders do. It’s what you did with Randolph General all those years ago, and it’s what you’ve always done with your militia. You’ve been training as chairwoman this entire time. You just didn’t know it.”
“Fuck you.” Lila hopped up from her place and paced around the table, her chair wobbling in place until it settled.
“Your mother didn’t come up with the plan. After it became clear you’d never willingly take on the prime role, she employed a dozen psychologists to suggest possible ways to change your mind. You haven’t been sparring against your mother all these years. You’ve been parrying blows from the best minds money can buy. I think you’ve done rather well, considering.”
“You let me think I’d won?”
“Think?” Lemaire snorted, and sipped his hot chocolate. “I’d thought that you had. Perhaps not the prize you wanted, but a prize nonetheless.”
“What’s that?”
“A reprieve. A chance to live the life you wanted, at least for a time. A chance to know exactly what might have been, to know that you’d accomplished what you’d always wanted. That’s what Bea did for you, Lila, whether you appreciate it or not. She never got that chance.”
Lila turned away.
“Should I have told you that it wouldn’t last forever, even though you knew deep down it wouldn’t? Should I have taken the pleasure of your occupation away from you?”
“Yes.”
“Getting mad at me isn’t going to change a thing. Even if Jewel hadn’t decided upon marriage, Bea would have pulled you from the security office eventually. We both know that. She hoped you’d get bored with the militia and come to the decision on your own. If Jewel hadn’t given up her position for marriage, she would have let you continue for a little while longer. That was what she wanted for you, and that’s what she claimed would happen eventually. She wanted it to be your idea.”
“I’m not bored. I like being chief.”
“Really? I rather thought you were a bit too interested whenever I called you for a job.”
Lila did not rise to the bait. “Now your jobs will just go away? Just like that? Who will you call in my stead?”
“Chief Shaw will have to figure that out. I’m up for election in the Allied Council this season. Head Councilman Abbot is finally stepping down, and I have enough votes to take the empty slot. If all goes to plan, I’ll be a councilman next session, crafting policy for the entire Allied Lands from the comfort of Paris.”
“And then you’ll make a play for head councilman in a few years?” Lila asked, unable to muster the energy to celebrate h
is achievement. “You’ll have your legacy, and I’ve lost mine. I’m to spend the rest of my life, mulling over spreadsheets and mergers, playing tennis and having tea with the other matrons, all so we can close deals and approve legislation.”
“You’re to conquer, Lila. How you do it is up to you. Despite what you believe, you are the best woman for the job.”
“Why?”
“Because you care,” he snapped. “You care about everyone in Saxony, not just the Randolphs or the other highborn, but all of them. Why do you think the workborn and the slaves respect you? Do you think it’s because of the blackcoat?”
He jammed his finger into the table. “It’s something I’ve tried to instill in you since the day you were born, not so you would take these jobs I keep offering you, but so you would act reasonably when you became chairwoman. You’re my legacy too, Lila. I didn’t want you to be the sort of matron who mows down the poorer classes just to make a few extra credits. Bea didn’t care about any of that until we met. I had to teach her to do so.”
Lila paused in her pacing. “Jewel cares.”