01 Sorcery and Cecelia by Patricia C Wrede & Caroline Stevermer

Author:Patricia C Wrede & Caroline Stevermer [Wrede, Patricia C]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: f451, proofed, montag, Kate and Cecelia
Published: 2011-07-03T04:34:26+00:00

"Opening an artery—," I whispered, appalled. For a few moments, we sat in silence. Then I said, "Some splashed in Miranda's lap when I spilt it. It seemed to burn her."

"It must have been very uncomfortable," he said. "The catalyst doesn't have quite such a drastic effect on contact, but it still works. Miranda hasn't been quite as powerful since that day as she was wont to be. She'll recover, though. And it certainly hasn't made her any less malicious in the meantime."

I went on thinking for a moment, then said pensively, "I wonder why it burned my dress? There was a hole in the hem of my gown where it splashed me."

"I doubt that it actually burned the fabric," Thomas replied. "But somewhere in the grass of that garden there are the threads from your gown that the catalyst soaked. After all, you can't bring anything back through a portal of that nature unless it was with you when you came. Which is why I wasn't tempted into the garden myself. Why try to retrieve a chocolate pot across the threshold of a door I couldn't take it through?"

"Well, that was very thoughtless of Miranda," I said.

"Very. But she was never good at theory, so perhaps she didn't realize. Not everyone would. But I worked on the equations with the owner, so I was bound to know." Thomas looked very smug.

"I thought it was Miranda's garden," I said.

"No, she borrowed it for the afternoon. It belongs to Sir Hilary, of course."

"Of course," I said faintly. Really, it is very difficult for me to imagine Sir Hilary as a figure of Byzantine intrigue. What a good thing he has a more even temper than Miranda.

You and I might have been turned into frogs anytime these past ten years.

"I wonder what Sir Hilary thought of that little contretemps over the chocolate set," said Thomas lightly. "Doubtless he made short work of collecting the magic that got loose when Miranda was splashed with her own catalyst."

The door of the box opened and Georgy returned with Aunt Charlotte in tow. They were both in high spirits, for Aunt Charlotte had just given Caro Lamb the cut direct and Georgy was pleasantly scandalized at the discovery that Aunt Charlotte was acquainted with the dashing poetess at all. As the orchestra struck up, both Aunt Charlotte and Georgy craned their necks to see if the eccentric nobleman Lord Byron had come to the opera in his tireless pursuit of the fickle Lady Caro.

Thomas and I had no further opportunity for conversation until he had delivered us back at Berkeley Square. Georgy very kindly engaged Aunt Charlotte in a discussion concerning the next morning's church services, so I was left alone for a moment with Thomas.

I'm not sure what form of leave-taking I expected from him, but I was surprised when he turned to me with a sigh of resignation and said, "Try to avoid Miranda, will you? I don't know when I'll have the leisure to follow you about collecting hairpins again.

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