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"And the countess stole him from Genevieve So Genevieve built an octoet his ratherand began swinging his monocle back and forth while he took up a slow pace about the room His white brow creased in one perfect line between the eyebrows

Lady Maccon rubbed her protesting belly with one hand and sipped tea with the other For once, the ic liquid was unable to disseminate any beneficial effects The child was not happy, and tea was not going to pacify the beast

The htened up in her chair expectantly

"The question re in ested Lady Maccon

"No, no, not possible, little cream puff They can’t come in here"

Vaham Palace? That should be relatively secure"

"No, no Political night, it is never a good idea to have too many queens in one place, let alone one palace"

"To be really safe and buy us soet her out of London"

"She won’t like that at all, but there is sense to the suggestion, bluebell"

"How long do we have? Iusually last?"

Lord Akeldaive her this information, she suspected, rather than over any possibility of his not having it "A newly made queen has months to settle, but an old queen has only a few hours"

Lady Maccon shrugged Only one solution readily presented itself It was the safest place she knew of--defensible and secure

"I will have to take her to Woolsey"

Lord Akeldama sat down "If you say so, Lady Alpha"

There was soave Alexia pause He sounded like that when he had recently purchased a particularly nice waistcoat She couldn’t understand why he should be so self-satisfied with this predicahted husband would say, va They couldn’t let the Westminster queen simply cool her heels in an alleyway behind Lord Akeldama’s and Lord Maccon’s respective houses What a scandal if the papers ever found that out! Alexia very much hoped Felicity was locked away "It will only be until we can determine what’s to be done with her And how to resolve this situation with Quesnel Hopefully without destroying any other perfectly innocent buildings" Lady Maccon tilted back her head and yelled, "Floote!"

The rapidity of Floote’s appearance suggested he had, indeed, been waiting just outside the door

"Floote, how es do we have in town?"

"Just the one, madam Just arrived back in"

"Well, that’ll have to do Hitch up the goers and have it brought round to the back, please I shall meet you there"

"A journey? But, madam, you are unwell"

"Can’t be helped, Floote I cannot justifiably send a hive of vampires into a den of olves alone and without diploers would never allow it No, soo with them, and that someone has to be me The staff at the castle won’t listen to anyone else, not on full an torooh Lord Akeldama’s house The vaer at her host

The baby inside of her had shifted It felt a little lighter somehow Well, as she to question such a helpful adjustly However, she also rocked from one foot to the other The infant-inconvenience had come to rest on a certain portion of her anato I really must visit your????uh????that is????um"

If he could have blushed, Lord Akeldama would have Instead, he took out a red lace fan froorously with it while Alexia tottered off to see to the necessary business She returned several longbetter about all aspects of life

Then she led the way onward through Lord Akeldarand staircase and past the servants’ stairs, through the kitchen, and out the back door Lord Akelda solicitously after her

Behind the house, past such shockingly vulgar objects as dustbins and a clothesline, the hive waited Much to Lady Maccon’s shock, there were gentlearments on that clothesline! She closed her eyes and took a deep and fortifying breath When she opened theain, she looked past the necessities into the delivery alley where a clot of vampires paced restlessly

Countess Nadasdy was there with Dr Caedes, Lord Ambrose, the Duke of Hematol, and two other vampires Alexia did not know by name The hive queen was not in any condition to converse on any topic, mundane or otherwise She was in obvious mental distress, her movements frenzied and her nerves overset She paced to and fro,at any noise A startled vahts and move at incredible speeds; this ability rasshopper-like Soainst one of herto escape from the loose circle they formed around her Occasionally, she would lash out at one of the hard into an exposed body part The entle her back into the center of the group, his wounds healed by the ti

Lady Maccon noted with relief that Quesnel had been transferred to Dr Caedes’s care It was clearly not safe for ascamp’s violet eye under his floppy thatch of yellow hair He looked terrified She gave hihtened al acquaintance, but she had once supported hi boiler, and he had trusted her implicitly ever since

Alexiaherself alone and Lord Akelda in a dramatic pose on the stoop behind her Frankly, she had been surprised he even considered walking through the kitchen He’d probably never even seen that part of his house before

She turned back "You aren’t facilitating this conversation?" Never had she known Lord Akeldanificant was afoot