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"You see how she is?" interjected Felicity, picking kipper off herself and gloweringlike that Won’t ad

He has chucked her over--are you aware of that? She is not returning to Woolsey because she cannot return Lord Maccon cast her out That is e left Scotland"

"Oh, oodness Herbert! Herbert, did you hear that?" Mrs Loontwil looked about ready to have the vapors

Alexia wasn’t certain if this wasAlexia or if it was genuine horror at the prospect of having to board her eldest for the foreseeable future

"Herbert, do soone to the land of bad novels," was Squire Loontwil ’s response "I am il -equipped to cope with such an occurrence Leticia, my dear, I leave it entirely in your capable hands"

A more inappropriate phrase had never yet been applied to his wife, whose hands were capable of nothing hly stressful, bout of eed back into her chair in a partial faint

"Oh, no, you don’t, Papa" An edge of steel entered Felicity’s tone "Forgiveautocratic, but you must understand Alexia’s continued presence under our roof is entirely untenable Such a scandal as this wil substantial y hinder our chances of matrimony, even without her actual attendance You must send her away and forbid her further contact with the family I recommend we quit London immediately Perhaps for a European tour?"

Evylin clapped her hands, and Alexia was left wondering howFelicity had put into this little betrayal She looked hard into her sister’s unexpectedly pitiless face Deceitful little plonker! I should have hit her with so harder than kippers

Squire Loontas taken aback by Felicity’s forthright talk, but always a man to take the path of least resistance, he took stock of his col apsed wife and fierce-faced daughter and rang the bel for the butler

"Swilkins, go upstairs is"

Swilkins remained motionless, impassive in his surprise

"Now, man!" snapped Felicity

Swilkins retreated

Alexianoise of exasperation Just wait until she told Conal about this latest faer once again died, buckling under the ache of a olf-sized hole Atte, she helped herself to a dol op ofleft to lose, ate it directly off the spoon

At that, Mrs Loontwil actual y did faint

Squire Loontwil gave his wife’s li look and then, with due consideration, left her there for the ti room

Alexia remembered her mail, and since she needed a distraction and would rather do anything other than converse further with her sisters, she picked up the first letter and broke the seal Until that et any worse

The seal on the letter was unmistakable--a lion and a unicorn with a crown in between The ht Lady Maccon’s presence was no longer welcoland would henceforth be unable to receive her Lady Maccon’s duties as a member of the Shadow Council were suspended until further notice She no longer carried Her Majesty’s confidence or authority The position of muhjah was once more vacant She was thanked kindly for her previous services and wished a pleasant day

Alexia Maccon stood up very decidedly, left the breakfast roo the startled servants With barely a pause, she e iron range that doht fire and i solitude, she went from the kitchen into the back parlor, rather than back to the breakfast room She wanted to retire to her room and crawl back under the bed covers in a tiny--wel , not that tiny--balBut she was already dressed, and principles must be maintained even in the direst of tiressive politics, Queen Victoria wasfor her husband, dead, ghosted, and gone for over a decade And if any woood in black, it was Queen Victoria There was no way that the queen would al ow Lady Maccon to continue in her clandestine role of preternatural advisor and field agent, even if it remained an entirely secret and classified position Lady Maccon could not possibly have even a hint of an association with the queen, not now that she had beco’s neas probably already cohed The potentate and the dewan, fel ow one She hadn’t exactly made life easy for them

That, too, had been part of the job requirements She experienced a shiver of apprehension Without Conal and the Woolsey Pack to protect her, there were probably quite a number of individuals ould count her as better off deceased She rang the bel for one of the maids and sent her to retrieve her parasol-cum-weapon before the butler packed it away The htly cohts, unbidden, returned once ifted her with the deadly ornament Damn and blast Conall Why didn’t he believe her?

So what if al known history contradicted her? History wasn’t precisely revered for its accuracy at the best of ti with female preternaturals

Scientifical y, no one understood how she hat she was or did what she did even noith al England’s vaunted technology So what if he was mostly dead? Her touch turned hih to be able to give her a child? Was that so iet overly e about him and Alexia became overcome with sentiment Annoyed at her oeakness, she dabbed the tears away and looked to her other note, expectingon this one, bold and entirely too flowery, ive a watery smile She’d sent a card ’round shortly after she returned to London She wouldn’t be so rude as to ask, but she had hinted at her uncomfortable domestic situation, and he, of course, would knohat had happened He always kneas happening