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"Oh, Alexia, thank goodness What am I to do? This is such a terrible crisis of apex proportions Such palpitations of the heart Did you see? Oh, of course you saw He kissed ht there in public I am ruined!" She sat up "Yet I love him" She flopped back "Yet I am ruined Oh, woe is me"

"Did you actually just utter the phrase ‘woe isto, uh, check on those socks"

Miss Hisselpenny was not to be distracted from her majestic problems The removal of the dispatch case, not to mention her friend’s militant expression, went unnoticed

"He told h the various stacks of papers and rolls of parch for her ?

"He said that this was the true, the one, the only"

Lady Maccon gave a noncommittal murmur at that What else could one say to such folderol?

Miss Hisselpenny, unconcerned by a lack of response, continued to bemoan her fate "And I love him I really and truly do You could never understand this type of love, Alexia Not such true love as ours Marrying for practical gain is all very well and good, but this… this is the real thing"

Lacy Maccon tilted her head in sham surprise "Is that what I did?"

Ivy continued without acknowledgment "But we cannot possibly e "Mmm, no, I see that"

That ers down at her friend "Really, Alexia, you are not being even remotely helpful"

Lady Maccon remembered she had transferred her most important papers to her parasol after the first break-in and quickly snapped the dispatch case shut, locked it, and tucked it back behind Ivy’s stack of hatboxes

"Ivy, ht Honestly, I am, most sincerely But you must excuse me Necessity demands I handle a situation downstairs rather hurriedly"

Miss Hisselpenny flopped back onto the bed, hand to her head "Oh, what kind of friend are you, Alexia Maccon? Here I lie, in crisis and abject suffering This is the worst evening of my whole life, you realize? And you care only for your husband’s lucky socks!" She flipped over and buried her head in the pillow

Alexia departed the room before Ivy could come up with further histrionics

Most of the pack still stood outside the parlor door, looking confused Alexia glared at thelare, opened the door, and shut it once un to Tunstell, who took it but sed nervously

"You knohat this is?"

He nodded "Tue Tue Sundowner But ould I need it? There are no vampires here, or olves for that s currently stand"

"They are not going to stand like this forto say about it Poison does not work on a olf, and I intend to see my husband wide awake sooner than it would take for that stuff, whatever it h a huun ork just as well on daylight folk Are you authorized to use it?"

Tunstell shook his head slowly His freckles stood out starkly on his white face

"Well, you are now"

Tunstell looked like he would like to argue the point Sundoas a BUR position Technically the muhjah had no real say in the erent, and he had no wish to try her patience

She pointed an autocratic finger at him "No one is to come in or out of this rooer, not even Miss Hisselpenny Speaking of which, I reallyher in public It is htly

Tunstell flushed at that, his freckles fading under the red, but he kept to theto do now, randfather clock ticking sonorously in the corner of the roo terribly out of hand"

"To who do that she wore no cap "Just you do your job, Tunstell, and let me do mine I ant to know immediately if either of them awaken or worsen Understood?"

The redhead nodded

She scooped up the large pile of Mada the Her hair was loose about her face, but so circu the cap of booty in one hand and her parasol in the other, she exited the parlor, pulling the door firmly closed with her foot

"I ao in or out of that roo yourself, for the foreseeable future I have left Tunstell exceedingly well armed and with strict instructions to fire on any who attempt to enter You would not want to test his obedience to me, noould you?"

"Under whose authority have you done this? The earl’s?" Lady Kingair was shocked

"My husband has become"--Alexia paused--"indisposed at the er a BUR matter I have taken it underand hedging of yours long enough I have pandered to your pack probleh I want this plague of humanization lifted, and I want it lifted noill not have anyone else shot at, or attacked, or spied upon, or any further roo far too messy, and I cannot abide a mess"