Authors: Gloria Harchar
"
Oh. Well, then.
"
She looked at him with bright e
ye
s and held up her fabric.
"
What do you think? These are what I sought from the worms by the river.
"
He barely glanced at the cloth.
"
Similar to your hair, but not nearly as magnificent.
"
She blinked in surprise. Then she gave a radiant smile. He was just as shocked. What in the hell had gotten into him lately?
"
Bring that with you and any other colors you wish to introduce to the
haute ton.
"
He turned on his heel, intending to take refuge in the study.
She rushed after him.
"
What? Where am I going?
"
"
To London,
"
he answered shortly.
"
With you?
"
He halted, mere steps from his haven.
"
Don
'
t get any notions. This is only a business arrangement.
"
"
Of course,
"
she replied, her
eyes
shining as she stepped nearer and cupped her hand around her mouth.
"
But the mill isn
'
t our on
ly business partnership. My
crescendo
is nearly ready.
"
"
Your what?
"
"
You remember, my
crescendo
. I discovered
how women could read their
crescendo
, too. I asked the midwife and she told me.
"
"
The
hell
she did!
"
He
'
d fabricated
. How could anyone tell
Nicola
of something that didn
'
t exist?
"
Don
'
t curse. It
'
s true, she did. And she told me it all has to do with a woman
'
s temperature, which is why a husband always knows the right time for his wife
'
s
crescendo
. Although she didn
'
t call it that.
"
"What did she call it?"
"She wouldn't tell me, insisting that she loved your term much better."
She patted him on the shoulder and continued,
"
It
'
s all right. I know exactly how you feel—I was a little confused myself. But I know precisely what to do now, so I
'
ll instruct you on the whole process.
"
She
rushed toward the stairs.
"
I must warn my maid that we
'
re leaving in two
days' time
. Betsy!
"
He was losing his mind. He strode after her, determined to get a straight answer.
"
Instruct me on what?
"
he shouted.
"
Shhh.
"
She glanced over his shoulder.
"
Here comes my
Abigail
.
"
"
Nicola
—
"
"
I
'
m trying to tell you,
"
she enthused.
"
We can start our business of making
babes
as soon as we get to London.
"
With an exuberance that made his knees weak with desire—imagining as he did how active she would be in bed—she skipped up the stairs, leaving him standing in the
foyer
with a death toll chiming for his peaceful solitude.
I should be getting used
to
Maestro
'
s
perpetual frown
,
Glissando
thought, trying not to squirm on the lumpy seat of cirrus clouds. He
'
d been enjoying the house party that the Duke of Clarence was giving. He
'
d tried to convince
Allegro to join, but the overly-
conscientious pixie had decided to visit Symphony instead.
Glissando
shook his head. It had been enjoyable to
have Allegro with him when they posed as
the two old ladie
s. F
or the first
time they had worked
as a team—and
later
they had spread gossip about Falconwood
'
s heroism, which should help in getting their mission completed. Still, Allegro had a long way to go as far as being a really good agent. In
Glissando
'
s inestimable opinion, his partner
needed more practice
slipping between roles
.
The party had been superb, the lamb cutlets so tender they melted in his mouth. And the
fricandeau d I
'
oseille
was
to die for
... but all his enjoyment had ended with the abrupt arrival of the pompous Major C. In the puff of a mote all luxury had been left behind and now he sat like a mischief maker awaiting his sentence—which was the case, he supposed. Moodily, he glanced up at the Pixie King sitting on his throne of lavender and thought the dark clouds of a hurricane would be more welcome than Maestro
'
s look.
"
Do you have a confession to make?
"
he boomed.
"
Yes
,
"
Glissando
answered miserably.
"
I broke Article 3 by giving elixir to the Duke of Clarence
'
s mistress.
"
"
And do you realize what will happen?
"
"
There could be a slight misalignment between Venus with Neptune—but it
'
s highly unlikely.
"
Maestro ignored him.
"
What else,
Glissando
?
"
"
A radical change in the weather might occur, causing restlessness in
Human
s.
"
"
That
most likely will occur,
you mean,
"
Maestro corrected.
"
This will endanger not only your mission but others as well.
"
"
Yes
,
You
r Highness,
"
Glissando
murmured, tempted to bring up
Lumière
history where a change in weather hadn
'
t brought bad results to missions. But he dared not argue. At least not
ye
t.
"
Why did you do this?
"
Maestro questioned.
Glissando
rose and paced, agitated.
"
So I could get the Duke
'
s mistress to persuade him to insist that
Malcolm
bring
Nicola
to London with him. Aren
'
t we supposed to help them fall in love?
"
With a flutter of his wings,
Glissando
dropped to his knees, bringing his hands together in supplication.
"
Yes
, but—
"
Frustration over the difficulty of a successful union between
Malcolm
and
Nicola
welled up inside of
Glissando
. He jumped to his feet.
"
And wouldn
'
t that be difficult, if not impossible,
to do if they are living apart?
"
"
Yes
. However—
"
"
Don
'
t
you
want us to succeed in this mission,
You
r Excellency?
"
The wind kicked up and a clap of thunder rolled from Maestro
'
s
eyes
, and
Glissando
realized he
'
d overstepped his bounds.