Page 27 (1/2)

"If the hat fits"

Rue had never before seen Paw so quickly cowed

Everyone was cal down The vampires and drones beetled off to their nearby hive under Percy’s annoyed instructions Although, no doubt, one or two re in a loose circle of lupine curiosity They seeal cat superiority, she took the attention as her due and ignored them

A touch at the top of Rue’s head distracted her

Quesnel had his hand buried there and was idly coed a bit at her long silky ears and she flicked them at him

He’d ridden her in the past A fact she had carefully not told her parents; it seemed oddly intimate But those had been necessarily hurried exploits She had hoped to practiseThe tere both skilled in the matter, and Quesnel had felt left out But then he disappeared to Egypt

"Get your greasy hands offstopped

Rue instantlyon here?" Uncle Rabiffano strode onto the croquet green

He was so very stylishly pulled together; everyone around him immediately became aware of how disreputable they looked Lady Maccon’s hands went to her hair, which was still up but full of flyaways Lord Maccon reached self-consciously for his cravat knot The other olves all looked guilty – cognisant of ruffled fur, scrapes, and the need to bathe

Uncle Rabiffano’s elegant dancer’s stride ate up the distance until he came to a stop in front of Paw

Lord Maccon tried to recover the conversational ground "What are you doing here, Beta?"

Uncle Rabiffano shook his head in a short negation, eyebrows raised "Delivering a hat to Baroness Tunstell, of course The real question is, what are you" – one graceful hand took in the a here?"

Lady Maccon stepped in "Biffy, darling, let lanced briefly at her "Oh, I can guess what is going on Not the particulars, but I knohy this is happening"

He turned his back on Rue’s mother, pointedly, and she winced

Rue’s jaw dropped, and because she was a wolf, her tongue lolled out No one, no one dismissed Lady Maccon Certainly not Uncle Rabiffano They were friends Good friends, Rue had thought

Uncle Rabiffano faced Lord Maccon, fighting stance now, not dancer’s "You’ve trained o"

Paw looked sad and militant at the same time