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Lady Maccon ground her teeth together "Felicity! What have you done? Oh, gracious ible to Scotland, wasn’t it?"

Felicity looked archly up at the ceiling

"You leaked nancy to the press intentionally, didn’t you?"

Felicity gave a delicate little shrug

Alexia was quite disgusted with her sister To be stupid was one thing; to be stupid and evil yielded up untidy consequences "Why, you conniving bit of baggage! How could you? To your own flesh and blood!" She was also scandalized "Do pull your dress up What a neckline!" Alexia was so out of teer fro two-story octopus "And?"

Felicity pursed her lips and looked at the ceiling

"Go on!"

"Oh, really, sister, there is no need to take that tone of voice with me All Lord Ambrose wanted was a few reports on your activities and health now and again Well, and the journal Until this recent change of address--then we thought if I were to take up residence with you, well, you know????And I’ve been visiting with the countess only now and again, let her have a little nibble, relay some information No harm done She’s perfectly lovely, isn’t she? Quite the motherly sort"

"Aside fro?" Sarcasm was, of course, the lowest form of discourse, but sometimes Alexia couldn’t resist such temptation as her sister offered That was probably how Countess Nadasdy felt Which explains those ugly shawls Felicity’s been wearing She’s been hiding her neck

They both turned to watch the countess as she conferred with two of her drones She wasto defend her territory with bothand, if Alexia’s eyes were to be believed, a tin of what looked to be pickled herring The vampire queen had the dee bird--a tit, perhaps If a tit could kill you with a mere nod of its little feathered head

"Felicity What did you tell her aboutI could think of, of course But really, Alexia, your activities are very dull I fail to see why anyone should be interested in you or that child of yours"

"You would"

With her hive busyup troops, the countess flitted back over, sat down, and looked as though she intended to return to tea

Lady Maccon narrowed her eyes, marched the last few feet to the beautiful cream brocade settee, and placed a very firm and very bare hand on the vaer than a proper English lady ought to be, and the countess was suddenly ill equipped to shake off such a grip

"No more tea" Alexia was quite decided on this point

The countess looked from her to her sister "Reuess it to look at you"

Alexia rolled her eyes, let go of the countess’s arave her a look of mild reproach "My sister cannot possibly have been an effective spy"

The vaed and reached for her tea--the ordinary kind She sipped at the bone china cup delicately, taking no pleasure or sustenance froht Alexia She looked at Felicity But, then, the countess probably thought Felicity was a waste of perfectly good blood

Her sister assumed a dramatically relaxed pose atop the tea trolley, her face petulant

Alexia reached for a treacle tartlet and popped it into her own ations recently, Lady Maccon," said the va to do with your father’s past, if what your sister has relayed is true And a ghost I know you are adverse to my advice, but trust me, Lady Maccon, it would be best not to delve too deeply into Alessandro Tarabotti’s records"

Alexia thought about Floote, who always see to tell her Or was allowed to tell her

"Did you vampires somehow haveorder? And now you are corrupting ths?" Lady Maccon put her hand back onto the va her mortal once more

The countess flinched but did not pull away "Really, Lady Maccon,sensation"

At which juncture Lord A on the couch

"Let go of her, you soul-sucking bitch!" He charged across the rooo and raised her parasol

"Now, Ambrose, no hars were showing slightly

Felicity was looking back and forth between the players around her with increasing befuddlement on her pretty face Since Felicity often wore such a look whenever atte herself, Alexia saw no reason to explain The last thing Felicity needed to knoas that her older sister was anythingFelicity still doesn’t know I’ past her

Lord Ah he would verythe parasol at the defensive, Alexia reached inside her reticule and withdrew Ethel She then lowered the parasol to reveal the gun now pointed at the vampire

"Back away a little, if you would, Lord A me feel most unwelcome"

Lord Ambrose did as he was told with a snorted, "You are unwelco everyone? I had an invitation!"

"Alexia, you have a gun!" exclaimed Felicity, horrified

"Yes" Lady Maccon relaxed back into the settee and allowed the gun to waver slightly over toward the countess "I should warn you, Lord Aun loaded with?????" He did not finish the sentence He did not need to

"I should never, of course, admit to the fact that Ethel here is equipped with sundowner bullets But a few may have accidentally ine how"

Lord Ambrose backed farther away

Alexia looked with annoyance at her sister "Get off the tea trolley, Felicity, do What a place for a young lady to be sitting Do you have any idea what kind of trouble you are in?"

Felicity sniffed "You sound just like Ma to act like Maasped

Lord A Lady Maccon’s attention distracted

Ethel swung once more toward the countess Alexia’s hand was reain

"Now," said Alexia, "I do so hate to do this to you all But really, our safest bet would be to get out of here And quickly"