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Rereading the Vorkosigan Saga: Memory, Chapter 26

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Rereading the Vorkosigan Saga: Memory, Chapter 26

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Rereads and Rewatches Vorkosigan saga

Rereading the Vorkosigan Saga: Memory, Chapter 26

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Published on December 11, 2017

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Rereading the Vorkosigan Saga Memory

This week, Miles invades ImpSec HQ with a squadron of witnesses, a spray bottle, and a black light and catches Haroche in the act of trying to cover his tracks. It’s like when Lord Peter gave Norman Urquhardt arsenic-laced Turkish Delight in Strong Poison. If you haven’t read Strong Poison, you should. It’s a Christmas story, it has a fake seance in it, and, if you aren’t already, you’ll want to be familiar with Peter Wimsey by the time we get to A Civil Campaign.

Miles is very busy with the dramatic denouement, and he handles it very nicely. It’s a treat to watch. While he’s traipsing around the building with his various friends and relations, he leaves Delia Koudelka to be the last man standing next to Duv Galeni in the cells.

Delia Koudelka is a creature of glamour and mystery. At Gregor’s reception, Miles saw her as the next generation’s Alys Vorpatril, and Ivan’s date (I can’t tell Martya and Olivia apart at this point) saw her as possessing the mysterious ability to not spill red wine. In chapter 26, it’s clear that Miles also sees her as a formidable combat operative, capable of defending a cell in ImpSec’s detention block against the homicidal urges of a thwarted Lucas Haroche. She is a picture of Barrayaran maidenly virtues—graceful, loyal, chaste, and badass. Why does this series have only seventeen novels, and what in the vast universe has Miles done that earns him the right to be the protagonist of so many of them while Delia Koudelka is roaming around unobserved? Where did she go to school? Was she Head Girl? I bet she was Head Girl. Or Student Council President or whatever they call it on Barrayar. What were her summers like at the family beach house? What are her career plans outside of marriage? I don’t mean to disparage Miles—I enjoy riding around in his head. But this reread is in its fourth straight book of Boy Stuff (or its eighth, depending on how you feel about Rian Degtiar’s role in Cetaganda and Elli Quinn’s in Ethan of Athos), and I’m feeling girl deprived.

Were it not for Barrayar’s outdated sexist practices, Drou would have been second-in-command at ImpSec for years now, working closely with Lady Alys to ensure that if anyone had to be arrested from an event at the Palace, it was handled gracefully and tactfully. Instead, Drou has been teaching martial arts classes. That’s a noble calling, but it’s a waste of Drou’s potential. Drou isn’t second in command at ImpSec, so Illyan assures Smetani that everything is fine when Miles and co enter the building. In my imaginary alternate ImpSec, Drou would have shelved the Komarran virus in biologicals, where it belonged, in a more secure container. Then, she would have coordinated with Alys to conduct covert surveillance of Galeni to evaluate his loyalty and his connections to his father’s conspiracy. They would have questioned Galeni about his connections before his promotion and the associated induction of his fast-penta allergy. I don’t know if Galeni would have been willing to submit to fast-penta interrogation at that point or any other—the interrogations he faced during his abduction were traumatic—but he could have made that decision under controlled circumstances, and the consequences on his career might have been managed by checking his statements against those made by other individuals in ImpSec custody. That’s not what happened, so Miles and Dr. Wedell are scanning air filters and Ivan is trying not to pass out from holding his breath. It’s easy to assume that only men misfile biological weapons when only men have the power to decide where ImpSec shelves things. I’m sure Drou and Alys would make mistakes too—there are a lot of ways ImpSec’s brass could be tactless to Galeni.

Galeni is the other major game piece whose movements are invisible in this chapter. This is at least partly because his movements are mostly back and forth across one cell in the detention block. Galeni is an analyst, and I wish we got to see him do more of it. Illyan visited him at least once or twice a week to discuss items of interest in his reports. That sounds like a lot of interesting reports! I freely confess to being interested in the minutiae of a lot of things other people find boring—this week I’m really into suburban zoning laws—but I think a novel about ImpSec analysts would not be boring even by more normal standards. I could use a Barrayaran “lower decks” story. I wouldn’t mind reading about ImpSec Janitorial Services either. The air filters plotline here is thrilling, even though it’s very brief. Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple is one of my favorite detectives because I admire her deep understanding of her domestic environment. ImpSec Janitorial Services is Miss Marple reincarnated as a military unit by a male-dominated bureaucracy. Which I suppose makes ImpSec HQ like a small village—everything happens in a small village. You see all of human nature exposed.

Join me next week, when Miles wraps up his case in a style that will at least partly justify my obsession with fictional British detectives!

Ellen Cheeseman-Meyer teaches history and reads a lot.

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Ellen Cheeseman-Meyer

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Ellen Cheeseman-Meyer teaches history and reads a lot.
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7 years ago

I, for one, wouldn’t mind seeing a Barrayaran version of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, who could give us another viewpoint from which to view their society.

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RiceVermicelli
7 years ago

Delia Koudelka is not the only Barrayaran woman of mystery here. A few books down the line, Olivia Koudelka will take on some bad guys with nothing but her evening gown and some decorative gourds. Barrayar is an empire with multiple frontiers, HOW are they letting all of these high-caliber people go to waste? What were they DOING at the beach house? And where do they get their evening wear? None of the formal gowns I have ever encountered would have been worth a damn for bandages (stiff and shiny fabrics are non-absorbent), so I wonder if the Koudelkas have some kind of special sourcing that explains (a) the utilitarian aspects of Olivia’s outfit, (b) how a family that admits to being strained by the cost of educating four young women is turning said young women out in clothes appropriate for high Vor social events and state dinners so often. The girls can’t just wear the same tuxedo to everything like President Obama did.

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Ellynne
7 years ago

On the question of clothing, I think the Koudelka sisters have been hired by Alys. I don’t know if their job is to work as her assistant hostesses, making sure conversations and events (especially events) flow smoothly, or if they’re well-dressed security, there to protect attendees or quietly lead them to an annex if an arrest needs to be made (maybe both?). But, Alys is obviously bankrolling their dresses. She and Drou get together to discuss what is fashionable but can still be fought in/used as weapons/converted to bandages as necessary.

Hmm, Drou must know some really interesting fashion designers.

As for Galeni, did it ever say if he had a fast-penta allergy before he joined the Barrayaran military? I can’t remember but I can see his father deciding better safe than sorry at an early age (or he could even be one of those very unlucky people with a natural allergy). It would be another reason for Aral’s personal influence to be needed for his career to move forward. 

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7 years ago

Congratulations on spoiling Strong Poison for anyone who hasn’t read it…

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Jill Redhand
7 years ago

@2: I think an argument would be that Barrayar isn’t letting all these women of vast potential go wasted, exactly, merely underutilized, or only permitting their potential to be expressed in strictly limited ways.  Much has been made of how Barrayar values soldiers above all else, hence Drou and Elena’s longing to be fighters in whatever way they can.  But Bujold always pokes holes in that all-encompassing soldier worship to repeatedly show how women work behind the scenes or in other ways to shape Barrayaran society.

Now, women having influence in the social sphere, like Lady Alys, or by standing behind powerful men, like Cordelia, is obviously not true equality, when a woman’s choices are so strictly curtailed. But with Cordelia and Alys and Drou and Ekaterin and Ma Kosti, Bujold is trying to make the point that the contributions of traditional women are just as valid and crucial as the public actions of Gregor or Aral or Miles, or the action-oriented feats of Elena or Elli or Taura, just in different ways.  Bujold’s essential point in her overarching theme of women’s rights on Barrayar, might be summed up as “Yes, women should be able to choose to be fighters or politicians if they want; but that doesn’t discount the importance of the traditional domestic/social roles they fill.” 

Hence, why Miles ends up with the proper Vor Lady Next Door.  It’s not that Miles is reverting to his conservative stuffy Vor upbringing after sowing wild oats across the nexus; it’s that when he was younger, less mature, and soldier-mad, he thought he valued the fierce lady soldiers and exotic galatic femme fatales more than traditional Barrayaran femininity, just as we the readers were more caught up in the space opera adventures.  But as Bujold shifted the focus on the books, and Miles matured, we saw a lot more of Barrayar’s women, allowing both us and Miles to appreciate the value of “traditional” femininity.

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LordVorless
7 years ago

Why does this series have only seventeen novels, and what in the vast universe has Miles done that earns him the right to be the protagonist of so many of them while Delia Koudelka is roaming around unobserved? Where did she go to school?

Miles obviously committed a vile act of mercenary subterfuge to take over the whole series, he’s probably holding somebody hostage.   There is brief mention of elite schools attended by certain individuals, it is not unreasonable that there’s also some sensitive schools for Imperial employees that may or may not be combined.   I don’t think there was mention of sending Delia to Beta Colony for a university stay, but I think one of the others (Olivia?  Martya? ) as well as Kareen did get to go.  

Were it not for Barrayar’s outdated sexist practices, Drou would have been second-in-command at ImpSec for years now, working closely with Lady Alys to ensure that if anyone had to be arrested from an event at the Palace, it was handled gracefully and tactfully.

With all due respect to Drou, that’s not a second-in-command position, that’s third or fourth-tier assignment.   Not an impediment to succession when it comes to Barrayar, because the last guy was the Regent’s Intelligence officer, and the guy before that…well, who knows what Negri’s actual duties were.

Instead, Drou has been teaching martial arts classes.

Was that work, or retirement work, or extra job work?

In my imaginary alternate ImpSec, Drou would have shelved the Komarran virus in biologicals, where it belonged, in a more secure container.

Or just incinerated it.   I mean really, what’s the point of keeping it around?

2, And where do they get their evening wear?

Estelle’s, most likely.   I don’t doubt that the Koudelka girls might well be receiving part of a stipend from A) being advertisement.  B) being security.   

I wouldn’t make too much of the bandage issue, it’s the future, it’s probably some material that absorbs sweat, blood, and other things because…SCIENCE!

 

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7 years ago

but I think a novel about ImpSec analysts would not be boring even by more normal standards

Have you watched the wonderful 2010 US TV series Rubicon? http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1389371/?ref_=nv_sr_1

Will Travers is an analyst at a New York City-based federal intelligence agency who is thrown into a story where nothing is as it appears to be.

Sadly, never released on DVD.

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7 years ago

@6, Yes! Traditional women contribute too! 

In fact Barrayar has a long history of formidable women who ran things while their men were playing soldiers or politics. Somebody was keeping the wheels turning making sure the crops got sown and harvested and the rest of the economy kept running. Modern Vor invariably recall their female elders as formidable, even frightening. His countess was the one person the infamous Pierre de Sanguinaire feared and the man who doesn’t fear Lady Alys is a fool, as a certain Vorrutyer discovers.

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7 years ago

“She’s marrying a policeman.”  “That’s all right- I’m marrying the prisoner.” [Runs off to reread Strong Poison.]

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AmyOsterholm
7 years ago

While we’re talking about good things to read before A Civil Campaign, don’t forget Georgette Heyer – even the title is reminiscent of A Civil Contract.

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RiceVermicelli
7 years ago

With due respect for both Alys and the suggestion, no one will ever convince me that the Koudelka daughters are being paid for their attendance at various high Vor functions, either “as advertisements” (good heavens, for WHAT?), or as additional security.

Kareen lurks on balconies engaging lordlings in sincere and philosophical conversation. Kareen is a darling, but she isn’t providing security for anyone from the balcony. Martya and Olivia are available to Miles and Ivan as last minute dates, and arrive and depart with the boys. All four young women eat and drink at these parties, and dance when invited.

I might believe Alys and Cordelia have contributed some dresses. I might believe in a thriving Vorbarr Sultana evening gown exchange. I might believe that Drou is doing security work at some of these parties, but not her daughters.

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7 years ago

@9 One downside of stability is an a lack of opportunities for women to take over while the men are off getting people killed.

IRRC, ACC is the first book where Miles doesn’t get anyone killed. 

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LordVorless
7 years ago

12, fashion can be driven by who is wearing it, and the people who get to dance with the Emperor is a potentially short list.   And they can’t be expected to be set up to be at parties EVERY night, so there can be opening, and there are ones that get priorities.   Might be they were even told to keep the spot open for reasons.

But yes, Drou is certainly shepherding some parties, that’s in Brothers in Arms quite expressly at that.

 

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LordVorless
7 years ago

13, is there an actual death in Memory?   

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7 years ago

@13 Um, not for lack of trying on Miles’ part. But it’s all just kneecapping and prison sentences in the end.

So I guess Memory is the first time Miles doesn’t get anyone killed.

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SoupDumpling
7 years ago

@12 As much as I adore the idea of the Koudelka girls as sponsored fashion plates/security at high Vor events, I have to agree with you that it stretches credulity. 

But how about the Koudelka girls as entry-level intelligence agents?  We learn in ACC that Lady Alys is Byerly Vorrutyer’s dead drop.  Imagine Lady Alys quietly manuvering conversations w/the Koudelka girls from “gossip” into “intelligence”, recruiting them gradually as Byerly was.  Young men spill so many secrets whilst attempting to impress pretty young women, well worth the price of four fashionable wardrobes.  

Though while we’re thinking about where the Koudelkas get their clothes: we’re told a lot about planetary macroeconomies, but very little about Barrayar’s microeconomy for things like food, clothing, and shelter.  For all we know, clothes might be dirt cheap, with high fashion distinguished by its wearer’s insider knowledge of The Best cuts, details, and accessories.  No matter how we look at it, the Koudelka girls get high Vor wardrobes because they know Lady Alys.  👗👗👗👗

(It’s interesting which microeconomic details are elucidated in the books.  Uterine replicators: definitely an upper middle class expense.  Food prices: mentioned briefly in the foraging chapters of Memory.  Clothing prices: mentioned not at all, except that impoverished widow Ekaterin can’t afford more than one nice dress in ACC.)

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7 years ago

@11 I’m currently re-reading all of Georgette Heyer – in publication order for no good reason – 1) because most of them are good*, and 2) because in one of them she uses a phrase and situation that many years later was exactly repeated in Heinlein’s ‘Time Enough For Love’ and I’m obsessed with finding it again. When I do, I’ll share…. I do hope RAH read them himself.

* the romances interspersed with battle scenes in “An Infamous Army” and “The Spanish Bride” are a bit challenging….

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SoupDumpling
7 years ago

One more on the Koudelka girls’ wardrobes (and then I’ll stop, I swear): In our world, prominent socialites and actresses (i.e. women who get photographed a lot) frequently get sent free stuff by hopeful designers of all kinds, in the hopes that she’ll wear/use/show the item marvelously, sparking a profitable trend.  Even in less papparazzi-infested Barrayar, this seems like a plausible method of filling the Koudelka closets.  (Heck, it’s happened in pretty much every age of fashion; I think Edith Wharton references such an arrangement in The Buccaneers.)

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7 years ago

@19 Even without paparazzi, anything that Alys or Laisa visibly approves of is going to see a spike in sales. The Koudelkas are known associates of the Vorkosigans and would be good models for upper-class prole fashion. 

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7 years ago

@17:

But how about the Koudelka girls as entry-level intelligence agents?  We learn in ACC that Lady Alys is Byerly Vorrutyer’s dead drop.  Imagine Lady Alys quietly manuvering conversations w/the Koudelka girls from “gossip” into “intelligence”, recruiting them gradually as Byerly was.  Young men spill so many secrets whilst attempting to impress pretty young women, well worth the price of four fashionable wardrobes.  

Just what I was thinking.  Even young Vor gentlemen who know who the Koudelka daughters have access to are culturally conditioned against thinking of women as people who can question subtly, listen carefully, and repeat what has been heard and seen to a handler.  When Miles used a 10-year-old girl as a courier on some unspecified mission because she could travel unnoticed, was he subconsciously inspired by observations of the Koudelkas doing the same kind of thing?

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LordVorless
7 years ago

17, considering Ekaterin, she’s thrifty to the point of parsimony, at least in regards to herself, so that’s probably not too revealing.   And she may not have had any real expectations of income or support, I wouldn’t be surprised if Uncle Vorthys was  rather more insistent on her staying with him than it appears.  And of course, most ladies, especially young ones, don’t want a full wardrobe of widow’s weeds anyway.

 

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Ola
7 years ago

@7 LordVorless – Drou is teaching martial arts because the family is stretched financially (ACC).

I wish we had the scene when Allegre and Ivan arrives with Haroche to the detention area only to be refused entry: “You will permit no one (…) – no one, not even your own superiors, to enter the prisoner’s block until I return.”

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Crane
7 years ago

I hope it’s not verboten to bring up fan fiction here, but for anyone who wants more Vorkosigan-verse stories about women, I recommend Scott Washburn’s “Tales From the Academy” and its sequel “Lieutenants”, which deal with the first women soldiers admitted to the Barrayaran military.

They’re very well-written and do an excellent job of capturing Bujold’s tone; I rarely enjoy fanfic, but these are exceptions.

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LordVorless
7 years ago

23, yes, she’s doing it for the money, but unfortunately, it’s lacking in context.   It’s been +20 years since she and Koudelka both took service.    That’s within the range of retirement, though obviously either could easily maintain an official or semi-official duty that would bring in some income.   And that’s already taking “Quit her ImpSec Post” to have children as a semi-temporary leave, rather than a long-term one.

24, what’s the time period on them?

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7 years ago

Drou is Gregor’s choice for replacement hostess while Alys is off playing Baba on Komarr. Obviously he wouldn’t have chosen her if she wasn’t socially adept and experienced and the party she hostesses goes off beautifully, The Koudelkas are part of the Emperor’s social circle. What more likely than the girls’ Winterfair and birthday presents from Gregor, Alys and possibly Cordelia are gift cards for high end dressmakers? 

Alternately, do the Koudelka girls sew? Making their own clothes could save their father a lot of money. Come to think of it there’s not much indication of what Delia, Olivia and Martya do when they aren’t escorting Miles and Ivan to parties. Kareen is away at school. Do her sisters attend classes at Vorbarra Sultana U.?  Do they work full or part time? Probably not given Kou and Drou’s financial concerns. It’s probably safe to assume that the other girls are also pursuing their education but what are the studying and with what intentions? Delia seems to have a clear idea of what she wants to do with her life but she needs a well placed husband if she’s to be a Lady Alys style behind the curtains politician. There’s no indication of any ambitions beyond marriage from either Olivia or Martya. Granted Barrayar being what it is that can be a career. As a countess Olivia is going to have serious responsibilities in a District that’s suffered from several decades of poor government. Martya is all set to become Enrique’s business manager and negotiator, seeing to it he has what he needs for his research and makes a decent profit from his intellectual property. Traditional women again. 

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7 years ago

To get back to Chapter 26. The denouncement is in its way heartbreaking. Both Simon and Allegre are faced with betrayal by a man they’ve know, trusted and worked with for decades. It must hurt. In a culture like Barrayar’s, where everything is personal, betrayal of trust must be a very bitter thing indeed.

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7 years ago

@27: Yes.  That bit when Haroche asks Illyan about the Yarrow case (in a couple of chapters) always gets me – both funny and heartbreaking.

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7 years ago

 @26. Lady Dona helped her brother managing the District so I don’t hope it was poorly managed for decades.

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Bruce H.
7 years ago

At some point in the filter checking, the maintenance chief tells Miles, “The filters are not serial numbered, of course.” What do you bet they will be before two more filter change cycles elapse?

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Devin
7 years ago

@29

I rather think it WAS poorly managed for decades. Not catastrophically so, just mediocre-at-best. I think it’s pretty well established that Pierre wasn’t terribly able or active (through no fault of his own, it’s not like he lied about his qualifications to get the job) and while I’ve great respect for Lady Dona, I’m not convinced she really made up the whole difference. Particularly since she also seemed to spend LOTS of time in the capital, hiding things from Ivan, etc.

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chuck
7 years ago

If there is not a statute of limitations on spoilers there should be. That story has got to be pushing 100 years old. 

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LordVorless
7 years ago

26, unfortunately, exactly what any of the Koudelka girls do is virtually unknown, there’s mention of Kareen having other friends, but they’ll never be named, Martya and Olivia seem to know the Countess Vorbretten (and whatever happened to Rene’s mother?  We’ll never know), but there is implication of getting an education, but yeah, details are virtually unknown.

29, Well, it has been run by Vorrutyer’s….

 

 

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Ola
7 years ago

@33 LordVorless – Olivia knew Tatya Vorkeres, now Countess Vorbretten, from school. Rene’s mother was never a countess, he succeeded his grandfather, so I suppose she will be dowager Lady Vorbretten, while his grandmother, if she lives, will be dowager Countess Vorbretten.

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LordVorless
7 years ago

34, indeed, and it points to a high quality private-school, still, the recounting of the former Count Vorbetten, his son, the late Commodore Lord Vorbretten, leaves out their wives.   Now I know Bujold practices often extreme economy of detail, but still…the only implication we have is that they’re not alive, since it’s not mentioned that Rene talked to his own mother after learning his genetic history, let alone his grandmother.

 

 

 

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7 years ago

I’m pretty sure the Koudelka girls would be on the payroll as assistants to the social secretary (Alys), not as any sort of security.  

We know that young Drou was army-mad and wanted to fight.  But in the latter books, we see that she can fill in for Alys as Gregor’s hostess for social events.  It seems to me that Drou, like Elena, got past her stage of being military-crazy, and found something else to do.  In her case, she probably rose with Alys through the ranks of Gregor’s social secretarial staff during the Regency, having fallen into Alys’s orbit when Alys took over her wedding planning at the Imperial Residence. 

My guess – Cordelia turned to Alys to be her social secretary when she was Gregor’s official hostess, as the Regent’s wife, and Alys found Drou, who was assigned to care for Gregor, to be a useful liaison to Gregor, for teaching him manners and social skills.  When Cordelia retired from the role of Official Hostess, as Aral stepped down from the Regency, Alys took on the role of Official Hostess, being clearly not a potential Empress, with Drou as a sort of deputy-hostess, also clearly not a potential Empress, and both comfortable at Gregor’s side as long time prominent women in his social circle. 

Sure, Drou’s daughters know how to fight.  But I suspect that their education was reminiscent of Gail Carriger’s “Finishing School” series, where learning how to deal with a fight was needed, but equally important was understanding and manipulating the social scene to achieve your ends.  Only with a solid course of university-prep academics, as well. 

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7 years ago

I wonder if the Koudelkas do make their own clothes? The sisters seem to coordinate their looks, possibly they or one of them designs the dresses and they know a reasonable dressmaker to help with the difficult bits – Lady Alys could probably help there. They seem to color code themselves; Delia is blue, Martya green and Kareen red. I don’t remember Olivia’s color but it may be yellow/gold/beige

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7 years ago

I doubt the Koudelkas make their own clothes – especially not the high-end clothes needed for formal Imperial events. Clothing made to that standard is a specialty task, for the most experienced and highly trained designers.  It’s also extraordinarily time consuming, and all the Koudelkas seem to be very busy people, with school, jobs, etc. 

They may, however have contracts with high-end designers, to wear their clothes to Imperial events, as a form of subtle advertising.  A Koudelka deal would be great for a designer – a chance to show four different dresses, on four attractive young women, at the most prestigious events of the year.  Plus Drou, to show styles for the next-older generation. These would be the styles for weddings, formal parties, proms, etc. for the next season. 

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7 years ago

Since Kou is ‘Commodore Koudelka,’ I assume that Drou had a career as an officer’s spouse, as described by General Fyodor in the Red Queen.  The martial arts work came from the added expenses of 4 university educations in a short time , plus, the grandmother’s illness. 

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7 years ago

in Winterfair Gifts, I think the dressmaker is stated to have made Taura’s dress with an industrial fabricator. The adjustments are an art performed by skilled labor, but the actual product is done by machine. 

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7 years ago

@41 – In addition to that, Alys sends Tej and Rish to a semi-custom shop of that type for an everyday high-Vor wardrobe in CVA.  

But Miles insists on hand-tailoring for his uniforms and clothes, and Mark asks Gregor for the number for his tailor.  So at the very top of the scale, hand work seems to be expected.  And a formal ImpRes event would be such a situation.  

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LordVorless
7 years ago

36, somebody has to be prepared to watch over the Emperor’s children.

37, Olivia did have white-and-beige on in ACC, and yeah, I do imagine they work together to keep themselves distinct, showing up wearing the same dress is probably ill-advised.

 

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LordVorless
7 years ago

42, Miles’s tailor also uses the computer-controlled laser-map like they had in the embassy in Brothers-in-Arms, he just knows some extra tricks.

 

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7 years ago

In ACC Kareen indicates that Drou’s career / life was over with her marriage to Kou. I doubt she was a regular hostess. And the girl were security cleared for imperial parties and regular dates to Ivan and Miles – and likely sometimes guests themselves but I highly doubt any payroll whatsover behind that.

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LordVorless
7 years ago

45, it was “and Mama had quit her ImpSec post as bodyguard to Gregor and his foster-mother Lady Cordelia in order to have Delia.” which is vague enough to be open to several interpretations.   After all, she was officially in a servant capacity to the Imperial Household.   

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7 years ago

, that is Kareen presumed her mother’s life/career ended at marriage or with child bearing. She’s obviously absorbed a lot of Betan attitudes.

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SoupDumpling
7 years ago

Paged through this chapter again and was reminded of other bits I love: 

– Miles traipsing through ImpSec with a growing crowd, the world’s weirdest mother duck

– The use of a properly controlled experiment, with both positive AND negative controls!  

– Haroche losing the will to fight when Illyan confronts him

– “Living’s hard.  Let the SOB stand his court martial.  Every last eternal minute of it.”

– “Where the hell were you Vorkosigan?” “Ah…” “Where the hell were you, my Lord Auditor?”

– “Arresting the acting head of ImpSec in the middle of ImpSec HQ proved to be a bit tricky…”

– “If we get straight truth in, maybe we’ve got half a chance of getting good judgement out.”

– “They aren’t as dreadful as the old cells.  Spent a month in ’em myself thirteen years ago.  Something about the Lord Regent’s son’s private army.”

Score: Miles 4, Illyan 3, Galeni 1

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7 years ago

 “Where the hell were you, my Lord Auditor?”

Snicker.

User the right title and you can be as irreverent as you please.

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gwangung
7 years ago

Hm. Being security cleared to escort various high ranking figures at socials isn’t nothing, actually. It’s sufficiently rare as to make it easier to get favors like getting appropriate clothing (either free or at a discount). Perhaps even as a gift. With the many possible explanations speculated here, we could probably conclude that it isn’t unusual for the gals to be dressed well at events….

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7 years ago

– Kareen only indicates that Drou quit working as a bodyguard when Delia was born.  The first two Koudelka girls were body-births, and stopping physically dangerous and demanding work, such as being a bodyguard, while pregnant, is entirely reasonable.

In Barrayar, Cordelia is clear at the end that she is assigning Drou to Gregor’s household, not because she’s a bodyguard, but for Gregor’s emotional security.  She’s the only surviving person who has been his caretaker all of his life.  Understanding that role and goal, I doubt either Cordelia or Drou would want Drou removed from Gregor’s household just because she had a child.  He needs his trusted caretakers. 

Miles said that Gregor got stuck with Ivan, the Koudelka girls and himself as younger playmates because they were politically “safe.” But I think there was another dynamic.  Cordelia wanted to give Gregor a stable home and household.  So she arranged that the senior women of his household (herself, Alys, Drou) could keep their children close while working for Gregor.  So there was on-site childcare for these women, tied to Gregor’s care, and so that he would have other children around him, growing up with him. 

To the kids, it probably just felt as if they spent a lot of time at the palace when small, without understanding their mothers’ jobs.

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7 years ago

From Gregor’s pov it’s like he’s got a passel of kid brothers and sisters. He seems to have enjoyed spending time playing with them and now that they’re all grown up he regards them as family and unquestionably loyal supporters that he can rely on. They apparently see themselves in the same light. Miles is agonizingly aware that he disappointed not just his emperor but his loving elder brother.

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LordVorless
7 years ago

How does Gregor look when disappointed?

Exactly like he does the rest of the time.  That’s what’s scary.

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7 years ago

@53 Next chapter. Then we find out what rage looks like on him… 

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7 years ago

@52 – That crowd of little kids may well be Gregor’s sanity.  When we see him at the end of Shards and the beginning of Barrayar, he’s dangerously isolated.  He lives with his mother, and servants, but he’s not old enough for school, and seems to have no contact with children.  There is no evidence of, say, a children’s party earlier in the day on his birthday, where he could be with friends.

So a bunch of kids, too young to know what “Emperor” is, and seeing him as a person first, is going to give him a chance to connect with people as people, rather than following in his father’s footsteps of seeing people as inferior things to be used and played with.

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7 years ago

In Cetaganda Miles tells himself firmly to take The Ceta Emperor seriously. Because to Miles Emperor means somebody who will play hide and seek with you. In Warrior’s Apprentice Miles reminds Gregor how he used to play Vorthalia the Bold to Gregor’s Emperor Xian, which is an adorable image; serious teen Gregor playing make believe games with his younger cousins.

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7 years ago

@55: I’d love to see a short tale about how Gregor met Henri Vorvolk, who by the time of “Warrior’s Apprentice” appears to be a close and trusted friend.

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7 years ago

Me too. Henri Vorvolk is obviously a very important person in Gregor’s life. The fact that they both inherited power early May have been a powerful bond. A youthful Count could come closest to understanding the pressures Gregor was under.

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LordVorless
7 years ago

And yet he ends up spending less time in the books than Martin, let alone Ma Kosti, or somebody else important.

 

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7 years ago

Because Henri is important in Gregor’s life not Miles’ and the books are about Miles.

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LordVorless
7 years ago

It still feels odd that their respective circles overlap so little.

 

 

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7 years ago

I would guess that Gregor had a second circle of friends from childhood – boys his own age he met while in school.  These would be people several years older than Miles, and in a different social circle, at least while they were children.  And once older, Miles was largely off-planet.  

Mostly young men (Barrayan elite schools seem to be segregated by sex) within a year of his age, and either high Vor or very, very rich and high status non-Vor, to afford Vorbarra Sultana’s best schools. 

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7 years ago

Lord Vorless, I think it’s just LMB’s economy with details. We don’t see Henri and Miles interacting but Miles clearly knows both Vorvolks well

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LordVorless
7 years ago

62, indeed his youthful schooling would be a significant influence, perhaps more so as he ages and puts his own men into place, though fortunately, the worst instincts seem to have been purged so far.

63, a possibility with Bujold to be sure.   But at least Miles knew Vormoncrief, though not, unfortunately, his widow.

More’s the pity.

 

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7 years ago

@63 Yes.  I just noticed that Miles dances with Lady Vorvolk, who he thinks of as someone who knows him well. 

Bibliophage91
6 years ago

@5 eMCM i’m Not worried about spoilers- I’m glad that you have finally pushed me to obtain these Dorothy Sayers books that so many wonderful writers adore.

 

Bibliophage91
6 years ago

@3 I adore the idea that Alys is bankrolling the Koudelka Daughters’ attendance, as security. 

@12 you rain on my mental parade of badass Koudelka Daughters, but sadly your logic does speak for itself. 

Bibliophage91
6 years ago

@32 Regarding a statute of limitations on spoilers, I was introduced to the concept directly myself.  Probably yes, it’s fair to prohibit in-verse spoilers, but unrelated works are fair game for open discussion.

But more about me, I binge-watched Buffy for the first time on DVD a decade after it came out, and was spoiled by online comments wrt a specific character death. Le sigh.

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4 years ago

 I just realized, rereading this chapter, that Delia is not going home tonight. She is definitely staying with Galeni after what they’ve been through, and tomorrow she will announce her betrothal to her parents who have had plenty of time to get used to the idea of Duv as a son in law.