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Miss Tarabotti then realized the state of her hair and was mortified Her captors had, of course, removed her hair ribbon and her two deadly hair pins--the one of wood and the other of silver Without them, heavy dark curls fell down her back in wild abandon Pathetically, she raised a shoulder and bent to the side, trying to push it away froly exotic she looked with loose hair in co features, wide all when he could spare a enuinely worried He also felt guilty, for if Miss Tarabotti was caught up in this ed her interest in the supernatural during their drive together? And her, a lady of good breeding! What could he have been thinking to talk so unguardedly of scientific pursuits? A woman of Miss Tarabotti’s caliber would not be content to let ued It must be his fault that she had been i lady?" asked the shadowedout his pipe and a small velvet tobacco pouch There was an octopus eolden thread on chocolate brown velvet

Mr MacDougall looked up from where he knelt "I certainly do This is Miss Alexia Tarabotti," he said angrily before Miss Tarabotti could stop hiht philosophically, the cat is well and truly out of the bag now

Mr MacDougall continued speaking, a flush staining his pasty, pudgy cheeks and a s lady of such standing as shabbily as this!" he sputtered "It is a grave blow, not only to the honor of the club, but also to that of the scientific profession as a whole We should remove her restraints this o? Alexia wondered Ah, yes, "Brash as an American" Well, they had won their independence somehow, and it was not with politeness

The man with the muttonchops filled his pipe bowl and nipped back into the hallway briefly to light it with one of the oil lamps "Why does that name sound farant vanilla-scented smoke into the cell "Of course-- the BUR records! Are you telling me this is the Alexia Tarabotti?" He took the pipe out of hisivory stem at Alexia for emphasis

"The only one I’veunbelievably rude -- even for an American

"Of course" The shadowed ether "This explains everything: her involve the hive, and her association with Lord Akeldama!" He looked to Miss Tarabotti severely "You have led us a all "Do you knohat she is?"

"Aside froive me the keys this minute!"

Miss Tarabotti was suitably iall’s insistence She had not thought he would be such a champion or possess such backbone

"Ah, yes, of course," Mr Siemons said At last the shadow man had a name He leaned backward out the doorway and yelled up the hallway Then he carabbed her face quite roughly and turned her toward the light in the hall He continued to puff on his pipe, blowing sall was further shocked "Really, Mr Sie," said Siemons "She seems perfectly nor, would one?"

Mr MacDougall finally got over his gentleh to allow the scientific part of his mental faculties to participate in the conversation In a voice colored with both hesitation and dread, he asked, "Why shouldn’t she be?"

Mr Sie smoke in Miss Tarabotti’s face and blew it instead at the A lady is a preternatural: a Ho for her since we first deduced her existence here in London Which, Iout that preternaturals existed at all Of course, if you follow the counterbalance theoreical I aht to look And, of course, we knew the supernatural set had ancient legends pertaining to certain dangerous creatures that were born to hunt them The olves have their curse-breakers, the vahosts their exorcists But we did not know they were all the saanisly uncommon, as it turns out Miss Tarabotti here is a rare beast, indeed"

Mr MacDougall looked shocked "A what?"

Mr Siemons did not share his shock; in fact, he looked particularly delighted all of a sudden--a lightning change of mood that did not strike Miss Tarabotti as entirely sane

"A preternatural!" He grinned, waving his pipe about haphazardly "Fantastic! There are so s we need to know about her"

Alexia said," You stole the paperwork from BUR"

Mr Siemons shook his head "No, my dear, we liberated and then secured ierous societal ele themselves as normal Our initiative in this matter will enhance our ability to assess threat and confir the supernatural conspiracy"

"She is one of theall said, still stuck on Miss Tarabotti’s preternatural state He jerked away fro Alexia in her seated position Luckily, she ed not to fall backward

He seean to wonder about the story of his brother beco a vampire How all’s back delightedly "No, no, no, ood man Quite the opposite! She is the antidote to the supernatural If you can think of an entire living organism as an antidote Now that we have her, the opportunities for study are endless! Simply think of e could accoarious His watery blue eyes shone with an excess of scientific enthusiasm