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"Return? Oh, did the hat not suitto do with hats" Lady Maccon was getting impatient

"Yes, certainly, if madam would simply wait I shall be at your serviceher nowhere She moved away fro her parasol as a kind of cane and exaggerating her limp so that sympathy drove those ladies out of her ho did not already know her face and rank This arnered her more attention, rather than less, and she was left with a distinct feeling of inertia

Madame Lefoux’s hats were of the latest style, a nu for any save Ivy and her ilk Cabinets displayed other accessories as well-- caps, hair pins, and bands all decorated beautifully There were reticules of varying shapes and sizes; gloves; and dirigible accessories such as velvet ear protectors, skirt ties, weighted heles There was even a line of les trimmed with feathers and flowers And, last but not least, a rack displaying Ivy Tunstell’s hair lady ished to keep her hair untangled and her ears hile still sporting the latest ringlets They had gone so enjoyed a brief spate of popularity during the winter months, but were still on display in deference to Mrs Tunstell’s finer feelings

Alexia completed her circuit of the shop and came to a decision Given that any kind of stealth was out of the question, shea fuss

"Pardonbehind the counter Really, how long did it take to find a hatbox?

"Yes, ht with you"

Lady Maccon reached down inside herself for her nored, young lady!"

That got the girl’s attention She actually turned around to see who this interfering feave her the full once-over "Lady Maccon?" she hazarded a guess

"Indeed"

"I had been warned to keep an eye out for you"

"Warned? Warned! Were you, indeed? Well, now I am here and????and????" She floundered It was terribly hard to be angry when one wasn’t "I have a very grave matter to discuss with your patroness"

"I told you, ize, but she is not available this evening, even for you"

"Unacceptable!" Alexia was rather pleased with both the word choice and her execution Very co olves will do for a girl Nohere to go from here? "I’ll have you know I have been swindled! Absolutely swindled I will have none of it I shall call on the constabulary You see if I don’t"

By this tiirl had attracted the attention of the entire establish for hairible travel, and I desire a set that le pair of the appropriate shade Where are they all?"

"Well, you see, madam, we are currently out of the darker colors If madam would like to put in an order--"

"No, madaht this veryher foot, but that was probably excessively dramatic, even for this audience

Instead, she waddled over to the rabbed a cluster of her own curls, artfully arranged over the shoulder of her blue and green plaid visiting dress, and waved theh physically repulsed by the mismatch

"You see?" She stood away and pointed with the tip of her parasol at the offending hairirl did see So, in fact, did all the other ladies present What they saas that Lady Maccon, only a few days from her confinement, had still extricated herself from bed and the bosom of her husband’s affection in order to come to this very shop to buy hairmuffs They must, perforce, be back en mode Lady Maccon, wife to the Earl of Woolsey, was known to fraternize with the trendsetters and fashion leaders of the ton She herself arb, especially in her present state, but if she was buying hairmuffs, then Lord Akeldama approved the accessory If Lord Akeldama approved, then the vampires approved, and if the vampires approved, well, that was si end

Suddenly, every lady in that shop had to have a set of Mrs Tunstells’ Hairmuffs for the Elevated Lady Traveler They all stopped ad over and swarmed the little stand Even those who had absolutely no intention of ever setting foot on board a dirigible suddenly were in a mad passion to own hair descended to the ground--witness the craze for decorative goggles

Lady Maccon ar for theat each other while they tried desperately to snatch the colors thatand soirls obligingly descended into theto convince the ladies not to purchase right away but to place an order for the appropriate color and perhaps lets as well

In the resulting chaos, Lady Maccon extracted herself and lurched, as stealthily as ithin her limited capacity, to the very back of the shop Here, in a shadowed corner under an attractive display of gloves, was the handle to the entrance to the ascension cha quietly open Alexia noted with relief that the cha for her She cla the door to the shop closed behind her

After many months of friendship, not to raphor repairs, Alexia was more than familiar with the operation of Madame Lefoux’s ascension chahtened her was now standard procedure on her visiting rounds She flipped the lever that operated the windlass machine and did not even stu thud

Lady Maccon waddled down the passageway and thuuring that Madame Lefoux probably could not hear her knock, for inside the chamber was always a cacophony ofover all the piles of machinery, but she eventually became convinced that Madame Lefoux really was not in residence Nor was her new contraption The shopgirl had not lied in the interest of social niceties Madame Lefoux was definitely unavailable Alexia pursed her lips Genevieve had said so touches to the latest invention Alexia debated trying to re the papers behind They’ll probably be safe enough She placed them on a nearby metal tabletop and was about to depart when she heard so