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Only to find Tunstell kissing Miss Hisselpenny, as apparently wide awake and participating with gusto Right there in front of everyone

"Well, I say!" said Alexia She had not thought Ivy possessed that degree of gu Tunstell’s kisses less damp than she had previously

Felicity blinked awake, probably desirous to see what had pulled everyone’s attention so thoroughly away froht of the e Alexia in a?"

"That should be perfectly clear, even to you, Miss Loontwill," Lady Kingair snapped, not nearly so scandalized as she ought

"Well," said Alexia, "I take it you are feeling ?"

No one answered her Ivy was still occupied with kissing Tunstell It appeared there ue involved at this juncture And Felicity was still occupied watching theood-hu scene was broken by Lord Maccon’s fantastically loud yell, which welled suddenly forth frory yells either Lady Maccon would hardly have bestirred herself for one of those No, this yell sounded like pain

Alexia was out the door and galloping pell-er to her delicate apparel, waving her parasol about madly

She crashed into the parlor door, which refused to budge Soainst it desperately, finally shoving it open far enough to find that it was her husband’s fallen body that blocked her entrance

She bent over hi for injuries She could find none on his back, so with prodigious effort, she rolled hi slowly and laboriously, as though drugged

Alexia paused, frowning suspiciously at her parasol, lying near her at the ready The tip opens and eent, she heard Madame Lefoux’s voice say in her head How easy, then, would it be to create a sleeping agent? A quick glance about the room showed Madaed

Lady Kingair, Dubh, and Lachlan appeared at the door Lady Maccon held up a hand indicating she was not to be disturbed and stripped her husband bare to the waist, exa him more closely, not for injuries but for… aha!

"There it is" A small puncture wound just below his left shoulder

She pushed her way through the crowd at the door and yelled up the stairs, "Tunstell, you revolting blighter!" In Woolsey Castle, such affectionate terer meant for him to come quickly, and come armed Lord Maccon’s idea

She turned back into the room and marched over to the prone form of Madame Lefoux "If this is your fault," she hissed to the still-apparently-coed as a spy; you see if I don’t" Heedless of the others listening and watching in avid interest, she added, "And you know very well I have the power to do so"

Madame Lefoux lay as still as death

Tunstell muscled his way into the roo to check his breath

"He is alive"

"Barely," replied Alexia "Where did you--"

"What has happened?" interrupted Lady Kingair impatiently

"He has been put to sleep, some kind of poisoned dart Tincture of valerian perhaps," explained Lady Maccon without looking up

"Goodness, how re your pardon!" replied Lady Maccon "None of that, or you shall meet the blunt end of my preferred weapon, and let me assure you, it isn’t poison"

Dubh wisely beat a retreat to avoid offending the lady further

"You will have to leave off your tender ministrations of Miss Hisselpenny’s delicate constitution for the moment, Tunstell" Lady Maccon stood and strode purposefully to the door "If you will excuse us," she said to the asseair Pack Then she shut them firmly out of their own front parlor Terribly rude, of course, but sometimes circu else for it Luckily, under such circumstances, Alexia Maccon was always equal to the task

She proceeded on to another unpardonably rude offense Leaving Tunstell to see her husband co the earl’shie plaid blanket--Lady Maccon arments

Tunstell did not ask, only turned his head away and tried not to look

Alexia did this carefully, feeling about and checking every layer and fold for hidden gadgets and possible weapons The Frenchwoh Alexia could have sworn the woman’s breath quickened By the end, Alexia had a fine pile of objects, solassicals, an aether transponder cable, an encephalic valve, but most of them unknown to her She knew Madame Lefoux normally boasted a dart eht on board the dirigible But none of the objects in the pile looked to be such a device, even disguised as so else Had it been stolen? Or had Madame Lefoux used it on Conall and then contrived to hide it so wo there Then she tucked theainst the back of the settee Still nothing Then she looked under and behind the couch If the inventor had hidden it, she had done so quite thoroughly

With a sigh, Lady Maccon set about putting the Frenchwoain It was odd to think, but she had never before seen another woman’s naked body until now She must admit Madame Lefoux did have a rather nice one Not so well endowed as Alexia’s own, of course, but tri the inventor opted for e Once the task was cohtly--from embarrassment, of course

"Keep a close eye on her, Tunstell I shall return directly" With that, Lady Maccon stood and noring the Kingair Pack, stillabout confusedly in the vestibule She went ielique was already there, ruelique bobbed a curtsy and scurried away

Lady Maccon went directly to theand, standing on tiptoe, reached around for Conall’s precious little oiled leather package It ell beyond her reach, stashed behind a jutting brick I her overly skirted state, bustle squeezing up tight against the side of theDespite the hazardous position, she e withoutthe little weapon, she stashed it under her ridiculous lace cap, nested a her copious dark curls, and marched on to Ivy’s roo in half-faint, half-flutter on her bed