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Lady Maccon sighed, then asked the best question she could, given Lord Akeldama’s evasiveness "What can you tell elass "Not quite the right question, sweetling"

"Oh, very well What will you tellyour adopted daughter into her hive whether you like it or not"

"Hard line, my little marmalade pot, but better I will tell you that she is very old, and her concerns are not that of the shorter lived"

"No advice at all, not even for Prudence’s sake?"

The vaht s all the cards you have been dealt, are you, o More than that? Be careful What Queen Matakara says is never the whole truth, and what Queen Matakara is has been hidden by the sands of tier cares to win; it is that she does not play the game at all For you and I, my dear, who live for such petty diversions, this is practically impossible to comprehend"

"Then why ask to see Prudence? Why involve herself?"

"There you have the real danger, my clementine, and the real question, and, of course, there is no way for us to understand the answer"

"Because she is outside of our understanding?"

"Precisely"

"Unusual woman"

"You haven’t yet seen the way she dresses"

While Lyall tracked down dirigible possession records, and Lord Maccon dashed about looking for clues, Lady Maccon planned her trip Or, to be precise, she told Floote what she wanted and he ements and procurements The Tunstells were accounted for, andone of her drones along as alish hives

"She only wants to keep an eye on me," she objected to Floote while they conteyptian cli? Of course you do"

Floote said nothing

Lady Maccon cast her hands up into the air in exasperation and began pacing about the rooe

"Exactly! Madame Lefoux That woman simply cannot be depended upon I’m surprised the countess trusts her so far as she can throw her Although, I suppose being a vaain, perhaps she is sending her along because she doesn’t trust her Ithese days? Me, the vampire, the OBO, or herself?"

"A woman of conflicted loyalties, madam"

"To say the least! She must live a very complicated life I’m certain I could never be so duplicitous"

"No, madam, not in your nature I shouldn’t let it concern you"

"No?"

"You can be guaranteed of at least one thing, madam This time she doesn’t want you dead"

"Oh, yes? How can I know this?" Alexia huffed, and sat on her bed, her lace robe floating out around her in a waterfall of opulence "You know, Floote, I really enjoyed her company That’s the difficulty"

"You still do, nored this, in the ood for you to have so, madam"

"Like what? What do you mean, Floote?"

"Sensible Scientific"

Alexia paused "Are you speaking as my butler or as my father’s valet?"

"Both, madam"

Floote’s face was, as always, practically i, Lady Maccon was beginning to get the distinct iypt

"You don’t wantdown at his hands, perfectly gloved in white cotton, as was appropriate to upstairs staff

"I made Mr Tarabotti two proypt is not safe"

"And the second?"

Floote shook his head ever so slightly "I can’t stop you, o"

Alexia had read her father’s journals "I have done a great deal in e, for one"

Floote went back to packing "He would want you to live as you wished, but not in Egypt"

"I am sorry, Floote, but it’s ti parts of my father’s life, perhaps soht Floote’s loyalty was absolute Floote had stayed with her pregnant ed her nappies when she was a babe He had left the Loontwill household to attend Alexia after her ht for the first time, perhaps it was his loyalty to her dead father that was unshakable and she was ht, when her husband caainst hiht Conall knew his ell enough to sense the confusion and offer physical cos earlier In his touch, Alexia found reassurance She also realized that with both Conall and Ivy along, she was leaving her home interests unsupervised Lyall owed his loyalty to Lord Maccon, and she considered him an unreliable source ever since she found out he was behind the Kingair assassination attempt Lord Akeldama’s s reo all that week Biffy carved out what time he could for his precious hats but nevertheless found hiation and Egyptian travel He siued by the affairs of others

He did e to return to his duties as lady’s valet He rather adored Lady Maccon, and had from the moment she first appeared in Lord Akeldaly practical way of looking at the world He had once described her to a colleague as the type of fe had a proper place or she would see they were put into one of her own devising Although she did require his guidance in the manner of her toilette So far as Biffy was concerned, that, too, was an ad needed, and Lady Maccon would be lost without him

Which was precisely what she said as he fussed about with her hair "Oh, Biffy, how do you do it? So lovely, you know I should be utterly lost without you"

"Thank you very s and placed the back to take a critical look at his masterwork

"That will do, ?"

"Oh, so "

Biffy went to look at her row of dresses "How are preparations coown of cream striped in red with a cuirasse bodice of black velvet and a matched black underskirt He paired this with a forward-tilting wide-brireat array of feathers Alexia thought the hat a little ment and allowed herself to be trussed up