Patricia C. Wrede - Mairelon 02 by Magician's Ward

Author:Magician's Ward
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 2012-02-08T15:00:40+00:00

13

The rest of the week went by without incident. No spells tested the house-ward that Mairelon and Lady Wendall had set up, nor were there more burglars. Shoreham sent no news regarding the French wizards, and none of Mairelon’s spells elicited any trace of Ma Yanger. Hunch made several forays into the lower-class portions of London, but the only information he could obtain was that Ma Yanger was missing. The general presumption was that she had left for parts unknown.

Kim dutifully accompanied Lady Wendall on rounds of calls and attended several small dinner parties, about which she had very mixed feelings. Lady Wendall’s friends had, thus far, been very kind, but Kim could not help feeling rather like the central attraction in a bear-garden. She could only be thankful that Lady Wendall had decreed a quiet schedule until after the come-out ball, which she was already looking forward to with considerable apprehension, and she was a bit dismayed that Lady Greythorne’s musicale was considered quiet enough to meet Lady Wendall’s exacting standards. Her attempts to explain her real worries fell on deaf ears, so she fell back on something the toffs in the household would understand.

“What if that wizard tries something while we’re gone?” she asked at dinner the day before the event.

Mrs. Lowe looked alarmed, but Lady Wendall only smiled. “The warding spell can handle anything he is likely to cast, and a great deal that he isn’t,” she told Kim. “Richard and I renewed it just this morning.”

“I meant like that scrying spell at the opera,” Kim said. “Not something here.”

“I thought of that,” Mairelon said with a touch of smugness. “I hope he does; I’ve been working on something that will give him a surprise. And with any luck, it will let us know the identity of our mystery wizard.”

“I would prefer to receive assurances that there will be no disturbance at all,” Mrs. Lowe said. “Here or there.”

“What, exactly, are you planning, Richard?” Lady Wendall said. “Lady Greythorne is an understanding hostess, but for a wizard to cast spells in the home of a nonwizard without being requested … well, no matter what the provocation, it is not done.”

“I won’t be casting anything,” Mairelon assured her. “I’m using the same technique as our burglar—infusing an object with a spell to be invoked later. The only one who will notice will be the other spellcaster.”

“I sincerely hope you are right,” his mother said. “Your reputation cannot stand another scandal. And don’t tell me that your name has been cleared. Another muddle, and no one will believe it.” She paused, considering. “Unless, of course, it’s a more usual sort of scandal. I would rather you didn’t lose your fortune at cards, but if you could contrive to fall in love with someone’s wife, that might answer.”

“Really, Elizabeth!” Mrs. Lowe said in scandalized tones. “It would be much more to the point to advise him to behave with propriety.”

“There is no point to giving him that sort of advice,” Lady Wendall said.

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