Mairelon the Magician by Patricia Wrede

Author:Patricia Wrede
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Tom Doherty Associates

FIFTEEN

Kim’s back was sore and stiff from her long, crouched-over walk to avoid Baron St. Clair, so she took things easier on the last mile to Bramingham Place. Once she reached the drive leading up to the house, she slowed even further. She enjoyed looking about at the bushes through which she and Mairelon had dodged the night before, though the manicured lawn and meticulous placement of the trees made her nervous. Besides, she was in no real hurry to complete her errand.

Slow as she went, the house drew inexorably nearer. Kim sighed and straightened her jacket. She had better get this over with before her nerve failed her. She went up to the door and knocked.

The door opened at once, and Kim thought she saw a faint, fleeting expression of surprise on the face of the butler who had opened the door. “Message for Miss D’Auber,” Kim said, touching her cap respectfully.

“Very good.” The butler held out his hand.

“The master said I was to give it only to her.”

The butler’s features stiffened into cold disapproval, but all he said was, “I will see that she is informed. Wait here.”

The door closed, leaving Kim standing on the step outside. Kim frowned at it. She had a vague idea that there was something not quite right about the butler’s action, but her knowledge of gentry kens was limited to the most likely location of the silver. She shrugged. Wait, the man had said, well, she would wait, then. She sat on the step and stared out across the drive.

Several minutes later, Kim heard the door behind her open. She could practically feel the butler’s disapproving stare digging into her spine, and smiled to herself. She twisted her head and shoulders around without rising and looked up with an expression of hopeful inquiry.

“Miss D’Auber will see you,” the butler said. His mouth was turned down at the corners and he was standing rigidly erect, as if to make up for Kim’s informality.

“Good,” Kim said cheerfully, and scrambled to her feet. “How soon will she get here?”

The butler winced. “She will see you in the green saloon. I would not presume to say how soon. This way.”

Kim tried to suppress a grin as she followed the butler. She was only partially successful, but as the man’s back was toward her it did not really matter. He led her down a short hall and showed her into a large room with pale green walls and spindly-legged chairs covered in green-and-gold-striped silk. There were two gilded pier tables between the windows, each with a large gold-rimmed mirror hanging on the wall above it, and at the far side of the room stood a small writing desk.

As the door clicked shut behind her, Kim eyed the chairs dubiously. They did not look as if they were meant to be sat on, but the two footstools did not look any sturdier and she couldn’t sit on the pier tables. She finally settled herself on a footstool, reasoning that if it collapsed under her she would be closer to the floor.

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