rious this is! We need to consecrate the Sacred Dish before we
can make any more progress in the Mysteries "
Robert roiled his eyes and Mairelon hid a smite. Kim felt
sorry for Jonathan She knew what it was like to lose some-
thing she'd depended on having, even if she didn't know any-
thing about druids or magic And after all, it wasn't bis fault
he'd gotten hold of the Saltash Platter instead of some ordi-
nary silver tray that no one else would have cared about. A
thought occurred to her, and she said suddenly, "Whyd you
pick the Saltash Platter for your Sacred Dish? 1 mean, would
any old wicher cheat do, or does it have to be this particular
one?"
271
"It was perfect," Jonathan said sullenly. "It's exactly the
right dimensions, and the pattern has the proper balance of
natural form and abstract design- It took me two years ,of
hunting to find it, and it had to be stolen!"
"Well, if all you need is something that size and shape,
can't you use one of the fake platters? There's enough of 'em
around "
Everyone looked at Kim, and she flushed. "It was just an
idea."
"And a very good one," Mairelon said. "One of the false
platters should suit you admirably, Aberford, Better than the
real thing, in fact; you won't have to worry about your spells
getting tangled up with the ones that are already in the Salt-
ash Platter and exploding, or doing something equally unex-
pected. "
Jonathan, who had opened his mouth, closed it again,
looking suddenly very thoughtful. The Earl of Shoreham's
lips twitched, and Renee D'Auber put up a hand to hide a
smile, Andrew only looked bewildered, and St. Clair and the
other prisoners studiously ignored the exchange.
"I doubt that there will be any fuss over ownership of one
of the duplicates, either," Mairelon added.
"1 think I can guarantee that no official questions will be
asked," Shoreham put in, "Provided there is no fuss made at
this end, of course. I should warn you, though, that I can't do
a thing about gossip." He glanced m the direction of the
door, where Lady Granleigh and her party had long since
vanished.
"Gossip won't do anything but increase our membership,"
Robert commented. "We might even get a couple of fellows
who'll pay their subscription fees. That would please Austen
no end,"
"Yes, wouldn't it?" Jonathan said, failing to sound anything
—272—
like as offhanded as he plainly wanted to. "Very well, we'll do
it."
"Good. I have two at my wagon; you can come by this
evening and pick one up," Mairelon said "It's just down the
road, on the left-hand side as you head toward the village."
"This evening? But I thought—"
"f have a few things still to do here," Mairelon interrupted,
"and it won't be convenient for you to wait Trust me,"
"Yes, and your mother was in an awful taking when 1 left,
Jon," Robert put in. "Cod knows what she's like by now-
She'll have half the county out hunting for you if you don't
get home soon, depend on it "
"Oh, very well," Jonathan said ungraciously. He swirled his
cloak unnecessarily and stalked to the door of the lodge. "I
shall wait upon you this evening," he told Mairelon in porten-
tous tones, and left,
"Silly young chub," Mairelon said, but not loudly enough
to be heard outside.
Andrew frowned- "Wait a minute. Didn't somebody say his
horse ran off? How is he planning to get home, wherever
home is?"
"Oh, Jon never plans anything," Robert said in a resigned
tone. "Except ceremonies. He'll probably take my horse. I
think I had better come along with you and Bramingham,
after all, Mr. Stuggs- 1 can stop in the village for as long as
you need help with that lot, and then borrow a horse to get
home on "
Stuggs nodded and handed him a pistol "Right, then,
Move along, now, you lot."
"I think I'd best go with them, at least as far as the coach,"
the Earl of Shoreham said to Mairelon as St. Clair, Jack
Slower, and Dan Laverham started toward the door, flanked
by Robert and Mr. Bramingham- 'Two of them are wizards,
—273—
after all, and it wouldn't do for them to take advantage, so to
speak "
"You always were a cautious one," Mairelon told him "Shall
I come and help?"
"No, no, you've done enough already/' Shoreham replied
quickly "And it'll only take a moment You stay here " He
followed Brammgham, who was bringing up the end of
Stuggs's little procession, out the door
Mairelon gazed after him with an abstracted air "Now, do
you suppose he was being subtle, tactful, or merely cow-
ardly^" he asked the window Laverham had broken
"'E's a-doing of 'is job," Hunch said "Which you ought to
'ave been, too, instead of breaking into 'ouses and things
while I was gone."
"That was my job," Mairelon pointed out "Or part of doing
it, anyway, which comes to the same thing."
"You might 'ave got shot," Hunch said doggedly
"Yes, well, I didn't, so there's no need to go on about it,
especially since the main reason you're so nattered about it is
that you missed out on the fun "
"Nattered about it?" said Andrew in a puzzled tone
"It's one of Kirn's expressions," Mairelon said "Very de-
scriptive " He paused, looking at Andrew, and Hunch closed
his mouth on whatever further comment he had been about
to make "It's good to see you again, Andrew," Mairelon said
after what seemed a very long time
"It's good to see you, too, Richard," Andrew answered in a
low voice "For a while I wasn't sure I was going to "
"What? You haven't been listening to Hunch, have you?
That business on the Peninsula wasn't anything like as serious
as he claims "
"I can see that Hunch and I are going to have to have a
long talk," Andrew said with a crooked smile "But that wasn't
what 1 meant "
274
"Yes, well, actually I know that, but it doesn't matter,"
Mairelon said quickly
"It matters to me," Andrew persisted. He took a deep
breath and went on, "I misjudged you very badly five years
ago, and I want to tell you that I know it now, and I'm sony."
Renee D'Auber gave a small nod of satisfaction, and a slow
grin began to spread across Hunch's face Kirn felt like cheer-
ing, but she didn't dare- She was almost afraid to breathe, for
fear someone would notice, and remember she was there, and
make her leave
"All right," Mairelon said gently, his eyes on Andrew's face
"You've told me Apology accepted Can we'leave it at that?"
"You mean I—you'll—that's all?"
"Realty, Andrew, were you expecting me to demand satis-
faction?" Mairelon said in the mildly exasperated tone he used
with Hunch and Kim "A pretty thing that would be; you are
my brother, after all, not to mention that dueling's illegal Or
did you think I'd throw a fit of temper? I could turn you into a i
frog for a few minutes, if it would make you feel better, but
I'd really rather not It's the devil of a nuisance to measure out
all the ingredients for the powder, and I can never remember
the proper endings for the verbs "
Andrew laughed "I—well, thank you, Richard Will you
be coming home now?"
The words were a question, but his tone made it clear that
he expected Mairelon to answer yes Kirn's heart lurched as
she realized just how inevitable that yes was, and how much
it would mean The Mairelon she knew was an act, a trick to
fool the Runners, and the trick was no longer necessary He
would become Richard Merrill again, and go back to a gentry
life she could hardly imagine She tried to be glad, but all she
could think was that there would be no place in that life for
her She wrapped her arms around herself and hugged hard
At least she had the five pounds Jasper Marston had paid her,
—275—
and the clothes Mairelon had bought Maybe Mairelon or
Shoreham would give her a few guineas more for her help
with Laverham It was as much as she had wanted when she
got into this, she couldn't help it if her wants had changed
somehow since then
"Home," Mairelon said, rolling the word as if he were
checking its taste "Not just yet, I think Until the word gets
out, I prefer to lie low We'll stay here for a few days, then
start back to London Is the old stable still there^"
"In London?" Andrew asked, bewildered
"No, in Kent The one we used to climb on the roof of,
when we were boys "
"Oh Yes, it's there Why?"
"It would be a good place to leave my wagon I'll send
Hunch down with it once I'm settled in London "
"And not before," Hunch put in darkly "You ain't fobbing
me off with no tale this time, Master Richard "
"You're going to stay in London for the Season, then?" An-
drew said with an uncertain look in Hunch's direction
"It is an excellent plan," Renee D'Auber said "You will be
the nine days' wonder, and it will be entirely plain to every-
one that you had nothing to do with the robbery "
"I expect I'll have more to do than attend social events,"
Mairelon said with a hint of sarcasm "Shoreham is bound to
want me for all sorts of things Which reminds me, there was
one other thing 1 wanted to attend to Kimi"
Kim )umped and nearly fell off her footstool "What?" Her
throat felt scratchy, and she experienced a sudden desire to
run She knew what he was going to say, and she didn't want
to hear it
"Why did you tip that table over on Laverham when he
was in the middle of that spell a few minutes ago?" Mairelon
asked
"The tabled" Kim said blankly The question was so com-
276
pletely different from what she had expected that she couldn't
quite grasp it
"Yes, the table " Mairelon looked at her sternly "I've told
you more than once that interrupting a wizard is dangerous,
and if you claim you forgot, I won't believe you So why did
you interrupt Laverham?"
"Because his spelt was queer as Dick's hatband anyway,"
Kim said "You know that"
"Yes, I knew it," Mairelon said "But how did you know?"
"It was the words," Kim said- She frowned, trying to think
how best to describe what she had sensed when Laverham's
spell began to go wrong
"You speak the Latin, then?" Renee D'Auber said, raising
her eyebrows in polite incredulity "Or the Creek, perhaps?"
"! ain't got no need to speak it," Kim snapped, wondering
why they were staring at her like that "Laverham's words
weren't They weren't lined up neat and proper like they
should of been "
"Should fcape," Mairelon murmured "And I did warn you,
Kim, about reverting under stress "
"Do not be hard with her," Renee reproved him "It is not
at all wonderful that she should have the difficulties after all
that has happened "
"No, the wonderful part was the bit about the words,"
Mairelon said "Kim, do you mean that you can feel when
someone is casting a spell?"
"I don't know about that, but I can tell when somebody
says some of them—of those shiny, sharp words you use for
spelts," Kim replied carefully
"You mean like apheteon'> Or perhaps—" Mairelon rattled off
a long, bumpy sentence and raised his eyebrows at Kim
"No," Kim said, happy to be sure of something "Those
sound right, but they don't have no edges They're just non-
sense "
277
"And these?" He said a short phrase that crackled and glit-
tered
Kirn flinched and nodded. Maireton stared at her- "My
Lord," he said in a low voice. "No wonder you weren't hurt
when the spell shattered."
"There ain't nothin' wonderful about that," Kim said, staring
in turn. "I ducked, that's all"
Renee and Mairelon exchanged glances. "Nothing wonder-
ful about it at at!," Mairelon agreed. "For a wizard."
"What?" Hunch gasped. "That Kirn, a wizard? She ain't no
such thing!"
"Not yet," Mairelon said, smiting. "But with proper training
she will be."
"Me?" Kirn said, stunned, "Me, a wizard? Me?"
"Ah, bahl" said Renee to Mairelon. "You do not explain at
all well, I find, and so you are frightening her." She stepped
forward and put a comforting arm around Kirn's shoulders. "It
is because you can feel the magic, which is a thing very diffi-
cult for most people to learn and for some quite impossible.
So you have the talent for magic, and now, if you wish, you
will come to London and get the training."
"Of course she wishes," Mairelon broke in. "Kim likes
London, We'll start the lessons as soon as we've found a
house to hire for a few months, and—"
"Richard!" Andrew sounded horrified. "Are you mad? You
can't live with this . . . girl in the middle of London!"
"Really, Andrew, you're as bad as Hunch," Mairelon said.
He gave Kim an uncertain, sidelong look that Kim, in her
confusion, found impossible to interpret, "I'll make Kim my
ward; that will satisfy the proprieties."
"But, yes!" Renee said before Andrew could object again.
'That will do entirely well. And you and Mademoiselle Kim
will stay with me to begin, and there will be no foolish gossip
such as Monsieur Andrew Merrill fears, because I will be
278
there and everything will be proper." She tilted her head to
study Kim, ignoring the brothers Merrill.
"It is a great pity we cannot take you to France," Renee
went on "But there is a dressmaker 1 know who will do well
enough, although she is entirely English. You will be. quite
charming in a gown, f think." Her eyes nickered from Kim to
Mairelon and back, and she smiled to herself, as if con-
templating a private jo
ke.
"Hold on a minute, Renee," Mairelon intermpted. "I'm not
spending hours at some dressmaker's, I refuse. Positively."
"But of course you will not," Renee said gently. "You will be
spending hours with Milord Shoreham. He will want the de-
tails of all your work, and he is very persistent."
Mairelon looked at her with a blank expression that
Changed slowly to chagrin. "Oh, Lord, you're right again. It'll
take hours. Days."
"Naturally," Renee said. "And while you and Milord
Shoreham talk, Mademoiselle Kim and I shall shop for the
kind of clothes that will be proper for your ward to wear in
London." She turned back to Kim and leaned forward con-
spiratorially. "But we will save the boy's clothing for other
times, because, all the same. Monsieur Richard Merrill is not
at all proper and of a certainty you will need them,"
"It ain't fitting, Master Richard," Hunch grumbled, but he
was not chewing on his mustache at al!, and Kim decided he
was only complaining for the form of the thing
"Well, Kim?" Mairelon said, "You do want to come, don't
you?"
"Come?" Kim shook herself, thinking Me, a wizards, and
gave Mairelon a look full of scorn. "Do I look like a looby?