Wrede, Patricia C - Mairelon 01 by Mairelon the Magician (v5.0) Page B

smugly.
                Hunch
snorted and rose stiffly to his feet. He had been sitting beside the door, Kim saw, presumably to block any attempt she might
make to leave. "You're late," he said to Mairelon.
                "Not
as late as I might have been." The remaining traces of amusement
disappeared from Mairelon's expression. "Are you ready to leave?"
                "Now?" Kim said, startled. She glanced
involuntarily at the tiny window in the top of the wagon's door. There was no
sign of an approaching dawn.
                "Now."
                Hunch
looked at Mairelon suspiciously. "There's three hours yet afore
morning," he pointed out.
                "Yes.
And we should be at least two hours gone by then," Mairelon replied.
                Hunch and
Kim were both staring at him. "What 'ave you gone and
done now?" Hunch demanded at last.
                Mairelon's
lips set in a grim line. Carefully, he put his parcel down on top of the
cupboards. After a moment, he looked up. "I haven't 'gone and done'
anything," he said. "Unfortunately, Andrew isn't likely to believe
that."
                "You
never went off to Grosvenor Square !"
Hunch gasped.
                "Give
me credit for some sense," Mairelon replied. "No, I met my esteemed
brother outside Renee D'Auber's."
                Kim's
eyes widened. Everyone in London ,
from the Prince of Wales to the poorest mud-lark, knew of Mademoiselle Renee
D'Auber. She was the only child of a French wizard who had fled his country
during the Terror and an English Countess who had been generally considered to
have married beneath her. Mademoiselle D'Auber had kept a foot in both worlds.
She was welcomed by all but the most stiff-necked members of the haut ton. She kept a select salon attended by magicians, bluestockings, and
intelligentsia, and she was rumored to be a dab hand at spell casting herself.
There were also whispers that she was personally familiar with some of the less
savory elements of London society.
The upper classes considered her wild and not altogether respectable; the lower
shook their heads in fascinated wonder at the strange ways of foreigners and
gentry, and pronounced her too clever by half.
                "You
'adn't ought to 'ave gone there," Hunch told Mairelon almost fiercely.
                "Where
else was I supposed to get willow root, black alder, vervain, and rue at this
hour?" Mairelon retorted irritably.
                "You
ain't a-going to 'ave a chance to use them 'erbs much if word gets out you're
in London ."
                "Renee
wouldn't give me away. And how was I supposed to know Andrew would be there? He
never used to like Renee. He shouldn't even be in town yet; the Season doesn't
start for at least a month!" Mairelon ran a hand through his hair in a
distracted manner.
                Hunch
opened his mouth, then closed it again. Kim thought he
looked more worried and upset than angry, and she filed that away in her mind
for later consideration. At last Hunch said, "I'll be getting the 'orses,
then."
                Kim
glanced at Mairelon's face, then looked away.
"I'll help," she said quickly as Hunch rose.
                To her
surprise, Hunch did not object. He simply looked at her and nodded. Kim blinked
and followed him out of the wagon. They started toward the end of the market
where horses could be stabled for a fee. As soon as they were well out of
earshot of the wagon, Kim looked up and demanded, "What was that
about?"
                "It
ain't your affair," Hunch growled repressively.
                Kim was
ready to argue, but Hunch's forbidding expression made it clear that she would
get no further information from him. She resolved to question Mairelon himself
as soon as she could find a good opportunity. She looked up. Hunch was chewing
on his mustache