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"Never mind that now, Evy," said Felicity impatiently "The i dress, Alexia? You look horrible in white"
The afternoon papers reported the bulk of the news accurately enough Miss Tarabotti and Lord Akeldama’s names were left out, and the exacttheir sensational grisliness and illegal nature
The reports threw all of London into a fervor of speculation The Royal Society scrambled to deny any association with the Hypocras Club, but BUR coood many other scientists, some ell-known na, on the run, or in prison No one ever explained the octopuses
The Hypocras Club was shut down permanently and Its preht by a nice young couple froe whose success in the chaht thearded the entire affair as a travesty designed solely to ihbors, nice young couple or no, hailed froe and were involved in trade sent her into a fit of hysteria so pervasive her husband removed her instantly to the country ducal estates in Berkshire for the sake of everyone’s health He sold their town house
As far as Miss Tarabotti was concerned, the worst thing to result froh both club premises and Lord Akeldama’s house had been searched top to bottom, BUR never did recover her brass parasol
"Bah," she coh Hyde Park late one evening, "I did so love that parasol"
A carriage of dowagers swept past One or two nodded in their direction Lord Maccon tipped his hat to them
Society had come, albeit reluctantly, to accept the fact that one of thea spinster nobody One or titness the nods, had even co cautious overtures of friendship to Miss Tarabotti Miss Tarabotti further i the aristocracy as a force to be reckoned with by turning her large nose up at such sycophancy Lady Maccon-to-be was clearly as formidable as her intended
Lord Maccon took Miss Tarabotti’s arly "I shall have them make you a hundred such parasols, one for every dress"
Miss Tarabotti raised her eyebrows at hi down the dewan several tih I do not anticipate he will give you too much trouble"
Alexia, who had not yet had an opportunity to meet the other members of the Shadow Council and would not until after her wedding, looked at Lord Maccon curiously "Is he really that fainthearted?"
"Nope Simply ill-prepared"
"For what?"
"You,the insult with an endear way that Lord Maccon siht there, in the middle of Hyde Park Which made her sputter even more Which made him kiss her all who had taken possession of the brass parasol The poor youngAlexia’s, as soon as the Hypocras investigation was put to rest He took the parasol back to Aenuinely heartbroken to read the announceement in the Gazette He returned to his mansion in Massachusetts and threw hior and athe human soul Several years later, he married a veritable battle-ax of a woman and happily allowed himself to be bossed around for the remainder of his days
EPILOGUE
Miss Alexia Tarabotti did not hite to her wedding Apart fro that it clashed soured that when one has seen one’s affianced naked and covered in blood, one is no longer quite pure enough for white
Instead, she wore ivory: a suned with Lord Akeldama’s consummate assistance It took into account the new trend in cleaner lines and long sleeves, hugging her upper torso and showing her curves to perfection The square neckline of the bodice was cut quite low, h in the back and around her neck in a demi-collar, reminiscent of some exotic robe from the Rococo era It was held closed by an exquisite opal brooch at her throat and started a fashion trend in necklines that persisted for nearly three whole weeks
Miss Tarabotti told no one the dress’s design was a last-minute alteration due entirely to the fact that, two days before the wedding, the earl got her alone in the dining room for almost an hour As always, the bite marks she had left on hihed, not unhappily Really, the amount of attention he paid to her neck, one would think he was a vaious event He had been loaned to Miss Tarabotti for the duration of the wedding planning He knew a phenomenal amount about who must be invited, who should be invited, what the invitations ought to look like, which flowers to order, and so forth As brides was a tad overwhel Ivy well out of tasks that involved style of any kind, so that, in the end, everything looked lovely and ed not to clash Even Ivy
The cereht so that everyone could attend Just about everyone did: including the queen, Lord Akeldama and all his drones, and the cream of London society Most notably absent were the vampires, who had not even bothered to politely refuse invitations but instead snubbed the couple outright "They have good reason to object," said Lord Akeldaood reason, too, but I trust you, little innovator And I like change" He left it at that, despite Alexia’s pointed further inquiries
The Westminster hive proved the exception of the mass vampire cut direct Countess Nadasdy sent Lord Ambrose to observe the ceremony, but clearly under duress She also sent Alexia an unexpected gift, which arrived while she was dressing the afternoon of the wedding
"Did I not say she would get rid ofsmile
Miss Tarabotti was a little overwhelmed "You are in favor of a new position? With ed in a blase French kind of way "My master, he iz dead because of ze scientists Lady’s maid, it iz better than houseelique looked coy "Zer iz always claviger, yez?"
"Very well, then, welcoirl must, perforce, be a spy, but Alexia reasoned it was better to know and keep her close than force the hive into e of worry Why were the vaan i the last of Alexia’s coiled updo, arguing ht ear