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"We will discuss it later," ordered Lord Maccon "Right now I ought to get her back home, or ill have a whole new set of proble?" asked his second

"In that state? You will only exacerbate the situation," mocked the earl

Alexia noted for the first tination--that Professor Lyall rapped in a large coat and wore neither hat nor shoes She looked with greater care; he did not have any trousers on either! Scandalized, she covered her mouth with one hand

"You had better scamper off back to the den," instructed the earl

Professor Lyall nodded and turned away, padding silently on bare feet round the corner of a nearby building A ent yellow eyes and a cloak in its mouth, trotted back into the street He nodded at Alexia once and then took off at a flat run down the cobbled road

The rest of the night was coria, Miss Tarabotti and Lord Maccon ran into a handful of young bucks, dandies of the first order with pinked collars and high-shine shoes, who offered thee The dandies were so inoffensively foppish and so entirely inebriated that Lord Maccon felt co them up on the offer He saw Miss Tarabotti safely to her door, the servants’ entrance, of course, and into the care of a worried Floote, the farinations Then Lord Maccon disappeared round the edge of a building

Miss Tarabotti peeked out herdirectly after she had dressed for bed She was not certain what it said about her lifestyle that she found it i to see an enor the back alley below her rooloves and beaded reticule doith a clatter onto the hall table of the Loontwills’ entranceway

Miss Tarabotti ushered her friend into the front parlor "Keep your voice down, oodness’ sake, reat her friend all the while She was so surprised by what she had just heard; she did not even have the capacity to take obligatory offense at Alexia’s customary hat-related abuse

Floote appeared with a heavy-laden tray and plucked the bonnet out of Miss Hisselpenny’s grasp He held the offensive article--a purple velvet affair covered with yelloers and a large stuffed guinea fowl--between thuer and retreated out of the room Miss Tarabotti closed the door firmly behind hi lady-twills were out shopping, but they were due back at any , and now Alexia could only hope they remained uninterrupted for sufficient tiossip

She poured raspberry cordial

"Well!" insisted Miss Hisselpenny, sitting down in a wicker chair and fixing one curl of her dark hair absent-lass of cordial and said flatly, "You heard correctly I said that Lord Maccon kissed e, so prodigious was her shock Instead she set her glass down on a small side table for safety’s sake and leaned forward as much as her corset would allow "Where?" She paused "Why? How? I thought you disliked hi "I thought he disliked youpoised and cagey She did so like to torture Ivy She relished the expression of avid curiosity on her friend’s face On the other hand, she was also itching to tell all

Miss Hisselpenny peppered her further "What exactly happened? Spare me no detail How did it coht, but there was still one last dirigible in the sky Floote helped roaned, "Alexia!"

"You said spare no detail"

Ivy gave her a dour look

Miss Tarabotti smiled "After I went to see the hive queen, someone tried to abduct me"

Ivy’s jaw dropped "What!"

Alexia passed her a plate of shortbread, drawing out the suspense Miss Hisselpenny waved it away frantically "Alexia, this is torment!"

Miss Tarabotti ceded to her friend’s nervous constitution "Two men tried to abduct me in a fake hackney cab as I left the hive house It was actually so"

Ivy remained silent and enthralled while Alexia detailed the attempted abduction Eventually she said, "Alexia, you should report this to the constabulary!"

Miss Tarabotti poured thelass decanter "Lord Maccon is the constabulary or,an eye on ain"

Miss Hisselpenny was even ued by this bit of news "Is he? Really? Where?"

Alexia led her to theThey looked out onto the road A as lantern post, his eyes firuely disreputable-looking, wearing a long tan duster and the most ridiculous wide-bri favored by Aled

"I know," agreed Miss Tarabotti fervently "But what can one do? Werewolves lack subtlety"

"That does not look like Lord Maccon," said Miss Hisselpenny, trying to make out the features under the hat She had met the earl only a few times, but still "Much too short"

"That is because it is not Apparently, he departed thisbefore I arose That is his Beta, Professor Lyall, all in all a superior being so far as one home to rest" Miss Tarabotti’s tone said she expected the earl to have told her that hiht"

Ivy twitched the heavy velvet curtains back to cover the frontonce more and turned to her friend "Yes, well, so it would see! Which, I must point out, you have yet to address You simply must tell me What was it like?" Miss Hisselpenny found most of the books in Alexia’s father’s library shameful to read She covered her ears and hummed whenever Miss Tarabotti even mentioned her papa, but she never hummed so loudly she could not hear as said But now that her friend possessed firsthand experience, she was simply too curious to be erabbedtoo ree I knew" Alexia fluttered her hand in the air and trailed off

"And do go on," encouraged Miss Hisselpenny, her eyes ith avid curiosity

"He used his tongue It made me feel very warm and dizzy, and I do not know quite how to articulate it" Miss Tarabotti felt odd telling Ivy about the experience Not because it was an indelicate topic but because she partially wished to keep the sensation to herself

She had awoken thatif any of it had actually occurred It was not until she noticed a large bite-shaped bruise on her lower neck that she accepted the previous night’s events as reality and not some sort of torturous dream She was forced to wear an ancient slate and navy striped walking dress as a result of the bite arh neckline She decided it would be best not to tell Ivy about the bruise, particularly as she would then have to explain why it was iive her a real olf bite