The Clockwork Traitor: Family d'Alembert Book 3 by Stephen Goldin & Smith E.E.'Doc'

Author:Stephen Goldin & Smith, E.E.'Doc' [Stephen Goldin]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Orion
Published: 2012-10-22T00:00:00+00:00

Without Borov along, the afternoon passed quite easily and uneventfully. Both Jules and Yvette, while admitting that Edna had had no other choice but to banish Borov, were unhappy it had come to that. He was still a suspect as the bomber, and now they would no longer be able to keep an eye on his activities. Then too, if he hadn’t been planning on killing Edna before, the new set of circumstances might make that idea seem acceptable to him. As Jules put it when he found a moment to talk to the Princess privately, ‘When your life’s already in danger, it doesn’t make much sense to antagonize people or make new enemies.’

‘I appreciate your concern,’ Edna answered, ‘but what else was I to do? Order had to be maintained or the entire Progress would have fallen apart. And a person in command can’t help but make enemies – I’ve learned that lesson well enough at Court by this time. Borov’s no threat to me, though I am a little worried that he might take after you or Symond or Liu.’

‘Don’t worry,’ said Jacques Roumenier, butting into the conversation. ‘I’ll alert the guards and see to it that he doesn’t bother any of us again.’

By the time the hunt had finished, Symond had won the honours as best hunter. Edna was second, a mere two points behind. Jules was fifth – but then, he had not been trying very hard.

Back at Rockhold, dinner was served in people’s rooms to give them more time to prepare for the evening’s formal ball. Though, to be perfectly honest, none of the Progress’s participants were in a festive mood. The events of the last two days weighed heavily on everyone.

Nevertheless, they were all dressed in their finest array when they arrived in the Ballroom at the appointed hour. Princess Edna, of course, looked the most resplendent. She had, after all, the entire Treasury of the Imperial Family to draw on in choosing her wardrobe. But she was not the only scintillating star present, not by 10,000 parsecs! The garments of the different candidates had been provided by the dukes of their respective planets, and no expense had been spared to make them look as dashing and handsome as could be. As Yvette remarked to Yvonne, ‘I haven’t seen so much glitter in one room since the explosion in the sequin factory.’

Even Choyen Liu, normally the most conservative dresser of them all, looked impressive. The tight gold lamé pants clung to every curve of his leg, and his sleekly shimmering dark brown shirt was hand embroidered with gold thread forming intricate, almost hypnotic, loops and spirals.

As host and hostess, Baron Piers and Baroness Ximena led off the first dance, moving with a grace that belied their advanced years. The rest of the party applauded as they finished, then moved onto the dance floor in pairs to commence their own dancing. Edna chose Paul Symond as her first partner. Theoretically, that choice was meaningless, since she would have to dance at least once during the evening with each of the candidates.

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