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Alexia Makes an Unexpectedly Dae was an oddly peaceful affair This made Lady Maccon nervous Because they kept to supernatural hours, the Maccons, the Tunstells, the collective progeny, and the acting troupe had nothing to do with the other travelers except at supperti those convocations, when Alexia and her co hours, and the others their evening’s amusement before bed, all travelers were required to socialize The steamer was outfitted with only first-class conified Atlantic lines, and Alexia was delighted to find passengers behaving as first-class frequenters ought Everyone was civil and politics never came up at table The actors provided h the acceptable avenues of conversation and the occasional ing in mad, passionate affairs with so the vapors when the cook ran out or stealing the skipper’s hat for a scandalous dance routine They behaved themselves as much as could be expected and did not stray so far away from the upper crust as to coof bread roll cricket certainly stretched the boundaries of propriety

Trouble, when it inevitably cainated in the hter’s favorite toy, a large

Early on in Prudence’s life, Lady Maccon had written to her friend the clockmaker Gustave Trouvé, with an order for one of his er, slower, and less deadly She’d had this outfitted with a small leather saddle and had, inadvertently, started a new craze in children’s toys that kept that good gentleman busy for the next year Lucrative, as it turned out, the s

Prudence showed this particular toy such favor as tofor any trip--let alone one of several weeks--despite its bulky size Alexia and Prudence had taken to occupying the first-class lounge andafter supper, Alexia with a book and a weather eye to her daughter, and Prudence with her ladybug and a gratifying willingness to wear herself out by running after it, or on top of it, or, on several occasions, under it Sometimes one or two of the actors would join theht pause in their respective activities to listen, Lady Maccon sos strayed too far toward the "Old Tattooed Lady" and the like

It hen Lord Maccon joined theht and Prudence, in a fit of exciteainst his went askew They had been very careful, but it was so unexpected that even Lord Maccon’s supernatural reflexes were not fast enough This was co a father, his instinct was to reach out and catch his daughter before she hit the floor, not, as it ought to have been, to leap away

Prudence fell Lord Maccon caught And a olf cub dashed about the lounge causing chaos and panic Prudence had been wearing a pretty pink dress with multiple frills, a nappy, and lace pantalettes The nappy and the pantalettes did not survive the transition The dress did Prudence re it in wolf form, to Alexia’s unparalleled amusement

Prudence’s olf nature seemed less driven by the need to hunt and feed than it was to run and play Alexia and Conall had discussed whether this was a product of her youth or her metanatural nature She also made for a very cute wolf cub, if Alexia did say so herself, so no one in the e was afraid of her, but the unexpectedness of the cub’s appearance did cause surprise

"Gracious me, where did you come from, you adorable little fuzzball?" exclai the villain in The Death Rains of Swansea He rab for said fuzzball,into the well-endowed lady soprano sitting at the piano She shrieked in surprise He grappled for purchase and ripped the bodice of her raspberry and green striped dress She pretended a faint froh Alexia noted she kept an eye on a nearby steward to ensure her corseted assets were fully appreciated, which, fro man’s crimson blush, Alexia assumed they were

Prudence the wolf cubto squir the kind ofa pink frilly dress and confined to a small area She completed her tour at her father’s feet, at which point, operating on so that had caused the accident in the first place, all the while avoiding her parents’ grasp

They probably would have caught her at soe Unfortunately, a deck steward opened the door, carrying a long package under his arible And this letter And here is a oodness!"

Which hen Prudence s

"Catch her!" ordered Alexia, but it was too late Prudence was off down the corridor Alexia ran to the door, just in tihter’s fluffy tail as it disappeared around a corner

"Oh, dear"

"Lady Maccon," said the lounge steward sternly froistered animals are not allowed on board this vessel! Even well-dressed ones"

"Oh, er, yes, of course I will naturally pay any fine for the inconvenience or da will be rectified the et , Conall?"

With which Lord and Lady Maccon went dashing after their errant child

Everyone left behind was very confused, especially when they found a torn child’s nappy next to the forgotten ladybug and no evidence of little Lady Prudence anywhere in the lounge

"You look tired, Professor No insult intended, of course And youto believe that that little wrinkle about the pocket of your waistcoat indicates exhaustion"

"How very wise of you, young Biffy, to note myelse significant occurring around town of late?"

Biffy wondered if this was some kind of olf test to assess his skills of observation Or perhaps Professor Lyall wanted to knohat inforht impart to a fellow pack member, or whether he would keep his own council, or whether he would tell Lord Akeldama, or whether he would tell Lady Maccon He would, of course, tell all parties He wouldn’t tell the, but he would tell the the information in the first place? In this, he and his fors for their own sake Biffy liked to know things for the sake of others