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Floote would do nothing of the kind To sit in front of his betters? Never! Biffy knew the h to know that So did Lyall, of course, but the Beta was trying to make the man uncomfortable

Lyall asked the questions while Biffy simply crossed his arms and observed the butler’s behavior He had been trained in just such a skill by Lord Akeldahtly, the dilation of his pupils, and the shifting of weight in his knees But very little changed about the butler during the course of the questioning, and Floote’s responses were always abbreviated Either theto hide, or Biffy was in the presence of a master whose skills far exceeded his oers of observation

"Sandy was in Egypt at least three ti to his journals, but he makes few comments as to his business there What happened the first ti of consequence, sir"

"And the second?"

"He ton, sir"

"Alexia’s mother?"

Floote nodded

"Yes, but what else did he do in Egypt? He can’t have gone irl"

No response ca for, at the very least?"

"The Teht up until he broke with them"

"And as that?"

"After you and he… sir"

"But he went to Egypt after that I re for then? It wasn’t us, was it? I land or BUR I know Queen Victoria tried to recruit him She offered him the position of muhjah He turned it down"

Floote blinked at Professor Lyall

The Beta began to get a little frustrated

"Floote, youUnless… Are you, too, sealed into silence under the Clandestine Act?"

Floote nodded the tiniest of nods

"You are! Of course, that would make perfect sense You couldn’t talk to any of us, not even Lady Maccon, because we are all eneents under the terms of that act It prevents supernaturals and their associates, including preternaturals, from access to certain scientific information Or that’s the ruave one of his little nods again

"So Sandy discovered soypt so severe it was included under the act even though it was outside the hoood of the Commonwealth"

Floote did not react

Professor Lyall see more useful out of the butler "Very well, Floote, youI’m certain Cook has made a botch of it without your supervision"

"Thank you, sir," said Floote with a hint of relief before gliding quietly out

"What do you think?" Lyall turned to Biffy

Biffy shrugged He thought that Floote still had ht that Floote didn’t want to tell the on--that it wasn’t just acts of parliaht that Lyall would want to believe the best of Lady Maccon’s father, no entle any one of his visits to Egypt, he, Sandalio de Rabiffano, would eat his own cravat Under the Teovernment, Mr Tarabotti was a nasty piece of work

Instead of any of these things, Biffy said, "Mr Tarabotti broke with the Teht But you would understand thehis head and looked like hea s more than a major act of parliament would be required to influence Sandy"

"Don’t you?"

"So while FlooteSandy silent about Egypt for those few years we had together before he died?"

Biffy only raised his eyebrows, allowing the Beta tih what he had known of his forht"

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Wherein Alexia Loans Mr Tued by Chancellor Neshi to perform an encore of The Death Rains of Swansea at a local theater for the benefit of the public The theater was open air, much in the manner of Ancient Ro of the dratted spectacle in an effort to distract her from her worries Lord Maccon was still off in his huff when they departed for the theater

The play was as much admired by the masses as it had been by the vampire hive Or at least Lady Maccon believed it was much admired It was difficult to determine with any accuracy, when praise was heaped upon the theatricals in a tongue entirely alien to all However, the approbation did seeenuine Lady Maccon, patroness, waited for Mr and Mrs Tunstell afterward, but so, too, did a collection of excited Egyptians, eager to touch the hero and heroine of the play, press sifts into their hands, and in one extreown

Ivy Tunstell took such accolades in stride as her due, nodding and s "Very kind" and "Thank you very much" and "Oh, you really shouldn’t have" were her pat responses, although no one understood her anybody language properly, that the locals were convinced that the Tunstells’ Acting Troupe a la Mode represented some species of prophesiers of the American tent-preacher variety Even the secondary actors, like Mr Tuained unexpected notoriety and companion acclaim