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"No insult intended, dear cousin," replied Rue, anxious to get out of the cloying atmosphere of the hive quickly "But it is actually your ward I wish to see"

The countess was taken aback at such a request "Quesnel? But I thought you two loathed each other"

"No, cousin, loathe is such a strong word We have been known to clash on a few occasions"

The countess raised one perfectly arched eyebrow "Indeed? I believe you once stole poor Ambrose’s vampire abilities merely so you could dunk Quesnel into the duck pond"

Rue blushed Admittedly, Quesnel’s behaviour had been very bad indeed, but she had escalated o"

The queen looked misty-eyed "Was it? Ah, tiht," said a ht French accent "I was down from university I remember it well"

Rue whirled to face Quesnel

The man advanced towards her

Quesnel Lefoux was one of the few e He was unlike the large gruff olves of her father’s pack, easily swayed by feant courtiers of Akeldaossip and cheeky innuendo Quesnel Lefoux was a different breed entirely, which accounted for a great deal of Rue’s difficulty with the orised He was of ht He moved like a dancer but had the manners of an academic and an inflated opinion of his own repartee He smiled easily and was inclined to wit rather than wisdo one of the e He was a terrible flirt, which everyone bla abilities always failed her around hi her head spin with banter, or overwhel her with the desire to dump tea on his head, sometimes both at the same time

"Lady Prudence, to what do I owe this unalloyed pleasure?" Quesnel took her hand and bent to kiss her wrist, lips whisper-soft and actually daring to touch skin He was entirely huard Except that she badly wanted to box his ears for the impertinence

Instead Rue simply withdrew her hand as soon as was polite She resisted the urge to rub at the spot his lips had touched "I was looking for you, Mr Lefoux If you could spare ed a pointed look with the vaed – the barest hint of a own There was a dangerously covetous look in her blue eyes However, she nation

Quesnel tilted his head "Very well, mon petit chou, corounds?"