He handed around the glasses and sat down in his chair. 'That's why I like this place, he said. 'Uncomplicated domicile. It was built three hundred years ago by a man who cared for dignity and had a certain ecological sense that made him build it of native limestone and the timber that grew upon the tract. He did not impose his house upon the habitat; he made it part of it. And, except for the autochef, it has not a single gadget.

'We're old-fashioned, said Elaine. 'I have always felt that living in a place like this was akin — well, say, to taking up one's residence in a sod shanty in the twentieth century.

'Nevertheless, said Blake, 'it has a certain charm. And a sense of security and solidity.

'You are right, it has, said the senator. 'Listen to that wind trying to get in. Listen to that rain.

He swirled the brandy in his glass.

'It doesn't fly, of course, he said, 'and, it won't talk to you. But who wants a house to fly and…

'Daddy! said Elaine.

'You must excuse me, sir, said the senator. 'I have my enthusiasms and I like to talk about them and sometimes I let them run away with me — and there are times, I would suspect, when I have bad manners. My daughter said something about seeing you on dimensino.

'Of course, Daddy, said Elaine. 'You never pay attention. You're so wrapped up in the bioengineering hearings that you don't pay attention.

'But, my dear, said the senator, 'the hearings are important. The human race must decide before too long what to do with all these planets we are finding. And I tell you that terraforming them is the solution of a lunatic. Think of all the time that it will take and the money that it will swallow up.

'By the way, said Elaine, 'I forgot. Mother phoned. She won't be home tonight. She heard about the storm and is staying in New York.