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"Isn’t BUR supposed to be covert? I could be covert"

Miss Tarabotti could not help trying again Professor Lyall, at least, liked her a little bit Perhaps he hed "You are about as covert as a sledgehammer" Then he cursed himself silently, as she seemed suddenly forlorn She hid it quickly, but she had definitely been saddened

His Beta grabbed him by the arm with his free hand "Really, sir, manners"

The earl cleared his throat and looked contrite "No offense meant, Miss Tarabotti" The Scottish lilt was back in his voice

Alexia nodded, not looking up She plucked at one of the pansies on her parasol "It’s sientleht sheen in the useful to do"

Lord Maccon waited until he and the professor were out in the hallway, having bid polite, on Professor Lyall’s part at least, farewells to the young lady, to ask the question that really bothered hioodness’ sake, Randolph, why doesn’t she just get married?" His voice was full of frustration

Randolph Lyall looked at his Alpha in genuine confusion The earl was usually a very perceptive"She is a bit old, sir"

"Balderdash," said Lord Maccon "She cannot possibly have more than a quarter century or so"

"And she is very"--the professor looked for a gentle it--"assertive"

"Pah" The nobleot a jot more backbone thangentlemen who’d cop to her value"

Professor Lyall had a well-developed sense of self-preservation and the distinct feeling that if he said anything desultory about the young lady’s appearance, he et his head bitten off He, and the rest of polite society, ht believe Miss Tarabotti’s skin a little too dark and her nose a little too prominent, but he did not think Lord Maccon felt the same Lyall had been Beta to the fourth Earl of Woolsey since Conall Maccon first descended upon theone and the bloody , no as yet ready to question why Conall had wanted the bother of the London territory, not even Professor Lyall The earl was a confusingFor all Professor Lyall knew, his Alpha ht actually like Roman noses, tan skin, and an assertive disposition So instead he said, "Perhaps it’s the Italian last nareed Lord Maccon, "probably so" He did not sound convinced

The tolves exited the duke’s town house into the black London night, one bearing the body of a dead vampire, the other, a puzzled expression

CHAPTER TWO

An Unexpected Invitation

Miss Tarabotti generally kept her soulless state quite hush-hush, even from her own fa, breathing hu Neither her family nor the members of the social circles she frequented ever noticed she wasMiss Tarabotti seemed to them only a spinster, whose unfortunate condition was clearly the result of a co personality, dark coht it toosoullessness to the ill-infor as having it known that her father was both Italian and dead

The ill-infor their ranks, a fa both inconvenient and asinine

"Would you look at this!" Felicity Loontaved a copy of the Morning Post at the asseht Honorable Squire Loontwill, did not divert his concentrated attention fro and toast But her sister, Evylin, glanced up inquiringly, and herin midsip of her e in the society section of the paper "It says here that there was a particularly gruesoht! Did you know there was an incident? I do not re in annoyance She had been under the i respectfully quiet and out of the society papers She refused to acknowledge the fact that the sheer number of people who had seen her with the dead vampire meant that any such endeavor was practically impossible After all, the earl’s purported specialty was accos before dawn

Felicity elaborated, "Apparently soenuine death, and Ilady discovered him in the library and fainted from the shock Poor laest, clucked her tongue syooseberry jelly "Does it say who the young lady is?"

Felicity rubbed her nose delicately and read on "Unfortunately, no"

Alexia raised both eyebrows and sipped her tea in un-characteristic silence She winced at the flavor, looked with narrowed eyes at her cup, and then reached for the crea a precisely even layer over the top of the toast "How very tiresome! I should love to know all the relevant details It is like so?"

"Well, the article continues on with a more extensive review of the ball Goodness, the writer even criticizes the Duchess of Snodgrove for not providing refreshreement, "even Almack’s has those bland little sandwiches It is not as if the duke could not see to the expense"

"Too true, lanced at the byline of the article "Written by ’anonymous’ No commentary on anyone’s attire Well, I call that a pretty poor showing He does not even irls were quite popular in the papers, partly for their generally well-turned-out appearance and partly because of the rearner between them The entire family, with the exception of Alexia, enjoyed this popularity immensely and did not seem toas so ritten

Evylin looked annoyed A small crease appeared between her perfectly arched brows "I wore oith the pink water lily trim simply so they’d write about it"

Alexia winced She would prefer not to be reown--so many ruffles