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The rove va, the countess would not tolerate my presence in her current condition And I could hardly stand to endure such waistcoats as Dr Caedes seems to favor these days Not to ear"

Alexia looked over the vaentle the kerfuffle

"No, no, my crealance She had not stopped clutching her protruding belly since she first reappeared in his drawing room "If you are certain you can handle it with sufficient dexterity"

Lady Maccon took a fortifying breath, al Responsibility was responsibility and no baby was going to prevent her froht Her world, currently, was in disarray If Alexia Maccon was good at nothing else, she was good at putting things to rights and bringing order to the universe Right now the Westerial talents She could hardly shirk her duty for so lance at Lord Akelda hive Or she would like to say she strode; it was impy kind of shuffle

"Wait, Alexia! Where is your parasol?" Lord Akeldama sounded more concerned than she had ever heard hiesticulated in an expressive way and yelled back to him, "Underneath what’s left of the hive house, I suspect" Then she faced her h of this waggish behavior"

Countess Nadasdy turned and hissed at her Actually hissed

"Oh, really" Lady Maccon was revolted She looked at the Duke of Hematol "Would you like ers at him

Lord Ambrose snarled and leaped, in one of those fantastic supernatural feats of athleticism, to place himself between Lady Maccon and his queen

"Apparently not Have you a better solution?"

The duke said, "We could not have her mortal and vulnerable, not in such an unprotected state"

Behind the row of town houses, the Woolsey carriage drew to a stop, the chestnut travelers hitched up rather than the parade bays The countess leaped toward it as though it were so both aresture It was only an old-fashioned gingerbread coach with a massive crest on its side and just that kind of superfluous decadence that would appeal to Lord Akeldahtly e for Woolsey It was built to make an impression, not for speed or niliness warranted a vampire attack

"Well, then, as Lord Akeldama will not invite you in for tea and a sit-down, I was thinking ITake refuge there"

All the assembled vampires, even the countess, who see on around her, paused to look at Lady Maccon as though she had just donned Grecian robes and begun hurling peeled grapes at them

"Are you certain, Lady Maccon?" asked one of them, almost tiated and frail-looking, for all he held the struggling Quesnel as though the boy weighed no more than one of Mada us to stay, Lady Maccon? At Woolsey?"

Alexia did not see the source of their persistent confusion "Well, yes But I’ve only the one carriage, so you and the boy and the countess had best come with me The others can run behind Try to keep up"

Lord Ambrose looked at Dr Caedes "It is unprecedented"

Dr Caedes looked at the Duke of Hematol "There is no edict for this"

The duke looked at Lady Maccon, rolling his head froe was unprecedented, and so is the forthco child She but maintains her brand of tradition" The duke moved toward his mistress Cautiously, careful not to make any sudden movements

"My Queen, we have an option" He spoke precisely, careful to enunciate each and every word

Countess Nadasdy shook herself "We have?" Her voice sounded hollow and very far away, as though e fro, but with the child inside her creating a fuss and the prospect of a long drive ahead, she couldn’t remember what

The countess looked to Lord Aiven An invitation"

For acompletely on the faces of her three most treasured hive members Her supports Her tentacles "Well, let us take it, then No time to spare" She looked around, cornflower-blue eyes suddenly sharp "Is that laundry? Where have you brought me?"

With a nod to Lady Maccon, Lord Ae Quicker than the ain, his movements made smoother without the need to monitor a hat He leaped to the driver’s box, uncere the perfectly respectable coach up the reins himself Lady Maccon arched a brow at him

"Pardon rin that showed off his fangs to perfection

"I do not think it is quite the sa, Lord Ambrose," remonstrated Alexia

Dr Caedes and Quesnel climbed inside next And then, reluctantly, Lady Maccon She struggled a bit with the steps, and no va to offer her any kind of assistance, no touching, not even for politeness’ sake Once inside, she was unsurprised to find that the vaether on one bench so that she must sit alone on the other

Lord Ambrose whipped the horses up and they took off at a canter, far too fast for the crowded streets of London The clattering on the cobbles fully loud, and the carriage seeyrate around the turns far more than Alexia had noticed before Her belly protested the swaying

It ordinarily took just under two hours to reach Woolsey from central London, less time for a olf in full fur, of course The Count of Trizdale once claihflyer coach in only an hour and a quarter Lord A to break that record