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"Why are you here, wife?" he asked bluntly

Lady Maccon leaned back, exasperated They were getting nowhere with this conversation "Conall, answer air?"

Lord Maccon frowned "I had not thought to try"

She gave hio of her and stepped back She watched hi happened

He shook his head and cah I a for my wolf form Not difficult, or even elusive, simply unavailable That part of me, the olf part, has vanished"

She turned to hielessness is connected to the Kingair Pack I saw you sneak away and talk to the Beta None of this pack has been able to shift inon? Since boarding the Spanker and traveling hoypt? Or is it a plague they have brought back? What happened to thelass, his big hands on her shoulders "They willna tell er Alpha here They owe me no explanation"

"But you are BUR’s chief sundowner"

"This is Scotland; BUR’s authority is weak here Besides, these people were enerations I may have no wish to lead them anymore, but I do not want to kill any of them either They know that I si here"

"You and I both, my love," replied his wife "You don’t mind if I wish to question your brethren on the matter?"

"I dinna see how you will make over any better than I" Conall was doubtful "They do not know you are muhjah, and you’d be wise to keep it that way Queen Victoria isna so loved in this part of the world"

"I’ll be discreet" Her husband’s eyebrows reached for the sky at that "Very well, as discreet as possible for ht better of it This was Alexia, after all "So long as you refrain frorinned maliciously "I shall be direct, but not that direct"

"Why do I doubt you? Well, watch out for Dubh; he can be difficult"

"Not up to Professor Lyall’s caliber as a Beta, shall we say?"

"Um, that’s not for me to say Dubh was nevernews "But this Niall, the one as killed in battle over seas, he wasn’t your Beta either?"

"Na Mine died," he replied shortly, in a tone of voice that said he did not want to discuss the ible fall, wife?"

Alexia stood, finished with her ablutions "Someone else is on the scent: a spy of soent, a member of the Hypocras Club, perhaps While Mada the observation deck, someone tried to push us over the side I fell and Madaed to stay , really, except that I nearly lost the parasol And I aible travel"

"I should think not Well, wife, try not to get yourself killed for at least a few days?"

"Are you going to tell me the real reason you came back to Scotland? Do not think you have thrown me off the scent so easily"

"I never doubted you, ave him her best, most fierce, battle-ax expression, and they went down to dinner

CHAPTER NINE

In Which Meringues Are Annihilated

Lady Maccon wore a dinner gown of black hite pleated trim and white satin ribbon about the neck and sleeves It would have cast her in a suitably subdued and dignified tone except that, due to the protracted arguotten to stuff her hair under a cap Her dark tresses rioted about her head, only partially confined by theLord Maccon adored it He thought she looked like soht be a topless about their rooine the wife of an earl appearing at dinner with frizzy hair Even in Scotland such things were simply not done

The rest of the company was already at dinner when they arrived Ivy had rejected the blue gown for a more excitable puce monstrosity, with multiple poufs of ruffles like so ht crimson tied in an enormous bow above the bustle Felicity had chosen an uncharacteristic white and pale green lace affair, which made her look deceptively demure

Conversation was already in flow Madaers, a bespectacled young ave him a perpetual expression of equal parts panic and curiosity They appeared to be ruraphor and forair’s Beta, Galum and uninterested in the world about theh to Ivy and Felicity on the inanities of life, such as the appalling Scottish weather and the appalling Scottish food Both of which the ladies entleair was in a fine fettle, waxing sharp and gru austere hands at the footrandfather and his neife for their unpardonable tardiness

Lord Maccon hesitated upon entering the rooh unsure of where to sit The last time he’d been in residence he would have sat at the foot of the table, a spot now ostentatiously vacant As a guest in his old home, his precedence was unknown An earl would sit in one chair, a family member in another, and a BUR representative in still another There was a cast to his expression that said eating with his forh What had they done, Alexia wondered, to earn his disgust and his neglect? Or was it soair noticed the hesitation "Canna choose? Is that not just like you? May as well take Alpha position, Graair Beta paused in his discussion with Felicity (aye, Scotland was terribly green) and looked up at this