Wrede, Patricia C - Mairelon 02 (8 page)

           
"Kim
is hardly eccentric, Mother," Mairelon said.

           
"Nor
is she the only wizard in this household," Lady Wendall replied.
"Though if you can think of a more socially acceptable
description of her background than 'eccentric,' I will be delighted."

           
"I
am relieved to see that you are aware of the problem," Mrs. Lowe said
stiffly.

           
"Perhaps
Renee can recommend a suitable abigail," Lady Wendall went on. "You
must remember to ask her when you speak to her about Kim's clothes."

           
"Mairelon--"
Kim said, feeling desperate. The whole conversation was getting out of hand. If
one of them didn't say something soon, she was going to find herself presented
whether she wanted to be or not. And Mairelon had promised to speak with Mrs.
Lowe about it. . . .

           
But
Mairelon's face had the peculiar expression he wore when he had just had an
idea, and he was oblivious to anything else. "Renee. Of course; I should
have thought of that myself. You haven't anything planned this morning, have
you, Kim? Good;
finish
your breakfast, and we'll go
see Renee."

           
"I'm
finished," Kim said. "But--"

           
"Change
your clothes first," Mrs. Lowe said. "You positively cannot be seen
on the street like that."

           
Lady
Wendall nodded.
"
Just
what I have been saying.
I'll send a note to Madame Chandelaine this afternoon; there's no better
dressmaker in
London
."

           
There was
no use talking to any of them now. Maybe Renee D'Auber would have some advice;
she was a lot more sensible than most toffs. Kim rolled her eyes and left.

           
When Kim
and Mairelon arrived at Renee D'Auber's townhouse, a formidably correct butler
showed them up to the drawing room at once. There they found Mademoiselle
D'Auber busy at a small writing table. Her auburn hair was braided close to her
head, and there was a smudge of dust or ink on the point of her chin; she resembled
neither an elegant lady of fashion nor a wizard of power and skill, though she
was both. A stack of books stood on a side table next to her. A faint scent of
incense lingered in the air; Mademoiselle D'Auber must have been spellcasting
recently. As the butler announced them, she looked up and smiled.

           
"Monsieur
Merrill!
And Mademoiselle Kim.
It is of all things
good to see you."

           
"And
it is always good to see you, Renee," Mairelon said with a warm smile.

           
"You
are kind, but it is not often that you come so early," Renee said,
returning Mairelon's smile. "Sit down, and tell me what it is that brings
you."

           
As she
took a chair covered in wine-red silk, Kim watched her two companions with
curiosity bordering on bafflement. Though she had known both Mairelon and Renee
D'Auber for a year now, she could not begin to pretend that she understood
their relationship. There seemed to be no element of romance between them, and
she had observed them closely enough to stake her position as Mairelon's ward
that there was no physical intimacy, either. Yet there was an undeniable warmth
and familiarity in their conversation that, if Mrs. Lowe were to be believed,
was not fitting between an unattached man and a respectable young woman of
quality. Maybe it was because they were both wizards, or perhaps it had
something to do with the years Mairelon had spent gathering intelligence in
France
.

           
"Two
things," Mairelon said. "First, can you tell me anything about a
group of French wizards called
Les Griffonais
? They apparently had
something of a name in
France
before the Terror."

           
Renee
looked at him with considerable amusement. "And you expect that I will
know something of them? The Terror was nearly thirty years ago, and me, I was
not yet born." She held up a hand to forestall Mairelon's next comment and
continued, "I do not say I have not heard of them, but I wish to know why
you have this interest before I say any more. Otherwise you will not tell me
anything, and I shall perish of the curiosity."

           
"My
father bought part of a library collection that once belonged to a Madame Marie
de Cambriol. Lord Kerring down at the
Royal
College
says she was one of the
group
."

           
"And?"

           
Mairelon
sighed. "And somebody seems a little too interested in Madame's collection
for my peace of mind."

           
Mademoiselle
D'Auber looked at him with disfavor. "You, my friend, are entirely
English, which is a thing impossible to understand. And you are even more
impossible to get answers from than other English persons. Kim! What is it that
he means by this 'too interested for his peace of mind'?"

           
"Some
toff wizard broke into the house night before last," Kim said. "He
was looking for something in the library, and he had a spell with him that lit
up all the books from the Cambriol mort's collection."

           
"We
think he only wanted one of the books," Mairelon said, "but Kim ran
him off before he could take it."

           
"You
are sure?"

           
Mairelon
shrugged. "Andrew had an inventory done when my father died; everything on
the list is still there."

           
Renee
nodded.
"Very good.
Now I will tell you what I
know, which is not much. I never met this Marie de Cambriol, but the Sieur
Jacques de Cambriol was a friend of my father's. His wife died very suddenly, a
year or two after they emigrated, and when I was very little he used to come to
dinner with my parents."

           
"Was
the Sieur de Cambriol a wizard?"

           
"No.
I do not know what he was in
France
,
before the Terror, but afterward he was a gambler. Papa spoke of him often, and
tried to help when he could. He died nearly ten years ago, I think, in the
debtors' prison."

           
"So
they escaped the Terror and came to
England--
"

           
"No,"
Renee corrected. "They left France before the Terror began, the Sieur
Jacques and his wife and their friends." She frowned. "The Sieur used
to tell me the story, with much waving of hands. I am afraid I do not recollect
the details at all clearly--it was not a daring escape, you see, but simply
prudent. And the prudence, it did not at all interest me when I was a
child."

           
Mairelon
straightened. "The de Cambriols
and their friends
left
France
before the Terror? That wouldn't by any chance be the rest of the group of
wizards?"

           
"I
think it was," Renee said after some thought. "But I am not positive,
you understand."

           
"Do
you know who the others were?" Kim asked.

           
"
Les
Griffonais?
Let me think.
Madame de Cambriol, of course,
and the Comte du Franchard and his wife, the Comtesse de Beauvoix.
The duchesse Delagardie.
The Hungarian, Monsieur Laszlo
Karolyi. Monsieur Henri d'Armand. And Mademoiselle Jeannette Lepain, who as a
child I thought was of all things most romantic because she married a Russian
prince."

           
"Do
you know whether any of them are in
England
now?" Mairelon said.

           
"No,
I do not know," Renee said. "They were not, you understand, friends
of mine; I do not think even Papa knew any of them except Sieur de
Cambriol."

           
"Well,
at least now I have some names," Mairelon said. "Thank you, Renee. I
wonder whether Shoreham is still keeping track of the
emigres
. I believe
I'll stop in and ask him tomorrow."

           
"And
your other reason for coming to visit me?" Mademoiselle D'Auber said.
"You said there were two."

           
"What?
Oh, yes, well, that's Kim's, actually. Mother arrived this morning and says
she's not dressed properly; she thought you might be interested in helping
out."

           
"Mairelon,"
Kim said, thoroughly exasperated.

           
"Yes,
he is of all persons the most excessively trying," Renee said, nodding.
"Now you will tell me what it is he is trying to say."

           
"He
said it, but--Lady Wendall only wants me to dress better because she thinks
Mairelon's going to present me to Society. And he isn't."

           
Renee's
eyebrows rose expressively. "Not?"

           
"Kim
doesn't wish it," Mairelon said shortly.

           
The
eyebrows twitched,
then
rose even higher.
"Indeed. Then how is it your so-estimable mother is of the idea that you
will do so?"

           
"Gossip,"
Mairelon said.

           
"It
ain't just gossip!" Kim said. "It's what you said at that tea. Your
mother believes it, and the way she's going on, I'm like to be presented
tomorrow whether I want it or not."

           
"I'll
explain to Mother as soon as we get back," Mairelon said. "She'll
understand.
Though she would certainly enjoy managing
it."

           
"One
moment," Renee said, looking from one to the other. "I wish first to
know why it is that Mademoiselle Kim does not wish to be presented."

           
"I--"
Kim swallowed hard. "Look, this ain't--isn't going to sound right, but I
just don't like it. Making up to a bunch of old cats just because they say who
gets invited to a lot of boring teas and balls. . . . Doing the wizard stuff is
hard enough. And I'm not good at watching what I say." She gestured
helplessly. "It just wouldn't work."

           
"But
of course it would work!" Renee shook her head reprovingly. "You are
a wizard. It is expected that you will be entirely original. And there are many
advantages, you know."

           
"Like
what?" Kim said, half wanting to be convinced but not really believing it
was possible.

           
"Monsieur
Merrill's mama is exceedingly well known; if it is she who introduces you to
Society, you will be accepted by everyone. And it is often useful for a wizard
to know a great many persons. Also, if you are not presented, there will always
be persons who wonder why. Some will think that you cannot truly be a
wizard."

           
"I
hadn't thought of that," Mairelon said slowly, "but you're right.
They would."

           
"Why?"
Kim said. "That doesn't make sense!"

           
Renee
shrugged. "To them, it does. They cannot conceive that anyone would not
wish to be presented. If you are not, they will say it is because you
cannot
be, and since a wizard can always be presented, you must not be one. It is very
foolish."

           
"Well
. . ."

           
"There
is also Monsieur Merrill to consider," Renee went on. "A great many
people thought he had stolen the Saltash Set, and now they do not think he is
enough respectable even though the set is returned and milord Shoreham has
arrested the real thieves."

           
"That
is ridiculous!" Mairelon said.

           
Renee
waved his objection aside. "I say only what people think. And since you do
not often go to balls or parties, a great many persons of no intellect whatever
think that it is because you are not invited and not because, like Mademoiselle
Kim, you do not find it interesting. It would have been altogether better if
you had spent the Season in
London
last year, as we talked of then."

           
"I
did," Mairelon objected.

           
"You
spent it with milord Shoreham, and not at the balls and parties," Renee
said. "It is not at all the same. But if Mademoiselle Kim is presented,
you will
have
to go to balls, and people will see that you are quite
enough respectable after all. Or at least, that you are not
so
un-respectable as they had thought."