'aving you blabbing things all over London "
"What things?" Kim asked scornfully "You ain't told me
nothin', neither one of you "
"Hah " Hunch squinted at her, and his mustache seemed to
45
droop even more "You 'card enough to make trouble And
don't gammon me you don't know it, neither "
"Maybe " Kim studied Hunch She was rapidly acquiring a
good deal of respect for him, despite his appearance, he was
no fool "But 1 ain't no troublemaker."
"'Ow do I know that?"
"You've had time enough to ask questions about me all
round Hungerford," Kim said shrewdly "And if you ain't
done it, I don't know a sharp from a Robin Redbreast"
Hunch did not reply He also did not move away from the
door
Kim heaved an exaggerated sigh "Well, I ain't gom' to
stand here arguin' with you all night," she said "And 1 ain't
leavin' London half asleep, neither If you ain't letting me out,
I'll doss here "
She sat down on the chest with more confidence than she
felt, remembering her previous experience No explosions or
purple sparks followed, so she swung her feet up and
stretched out on top of it It wasn't as comfortable as it might
have been, but it wasn't cold and there weren't any rats look-
ing to share it with her It'd do
She grinned at Hunch's fulminating expression and closed
her eyes He'd think she was shamming it, and he'd watch her
closely to see that she had no chance to slip away So she
wouldn't sham There was no point in wasting however much
time Mairelon planned to take, and no reason not to take full
advantage of a warm, dry, safe place to rest She grinned
again at the thought of Hunch's probable reaction, and let
herself drop into sleep
The wagon door opened, and Kim came awake all at once
She gave an instant's consideration to the possibility of pre-
tending she was stil! asleep, in hopes of hearing something of
46
interest, then rejected the idea She'd do better to let them
know she was awake, as a sort of expression of good faith It
wouldn't calm Hunch's suspicions, but at least it wouldn't
raise any more of them She opened her eyes and sat up
Mairelon had just entered the wagon He carried a large
parcel under one arm and there was a worned crease across
his forehead, aside from that, he looked like one of the grand
swells Kim had occasionally seen going into the Drury Lane
theater He glanced from Hunch's dour face to hers Kim
grinned and stretched
The worried crease vanished and the corners of Mairelon's
eyes crinkled in amusement "Wise of you to have gotten
some sleep, Kim "
"1 thought so," Kim said 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 gnm line Carefully, he put his par-
cel down on top of the cupboards After a moment, he
looked up "i haven't'gone and done'anything," he said "Un-
fortunately, Andrew isn't likely to believe that"
47
"You never went off to Grosvenor Square'" Hunch gasped
"Give me credit for some sense," Mairelon replied "No, 1
met my esteemed brother outside Renee D'Auber's."
Kirn's eyes widened. Everyone in London, from the Prince
of Wales to the poorest mud-lark, knew of Mademoiselle Re-
nee 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 al! 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 personalty familiar with some of the less savory ele-
ments 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, "111 be getting the 'orses, then "
48
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
Kirn 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 again Kim snorted quietly and
turned her attention to considering what tittle she had
learned
Mairelon the Magician knew more than stage magic, that
was plain enough And she'd bet every farthing she was car-
rying that he was the "Mernll" that the skinny toff at the Dog
and Bull was so anxious to find Odds-on, Mairelon was gen-
try, too, or at least very well breeched Ordinary market per-
formers didn't have brothers who owned houses in Crosvenor
Square
Then there was the matter of the m
en who had tried to
follow Hunch He and Mairelon seemed to consider it more
of a nuisance than a threat, which implied that they were
used to dealing with such things And Mairelon knew Renee
D'Auber well enough to expect a welcome at her home
The whole thing had a havey-cavey look about it Frown-
ing, Kim considered piking off with her five pounds and leav-
ing Hunch to explain her absence to Mairelon The trouble
was, she didn't want to go She liked Mairelon Furthermore,
49
she trusted him. Whatever it was that he was involved in, she
was certain he hadn't lied when he'd told her it wasn't illegal.
It might be dangerous, though. Kirn's frown deepened She
didn't know anything about magic, but she'd been involved in
smoky dealings before. Mairelon might be able to use her
help. She blinked, surprised by the strength of her desire to
go along with the magician, then pressed her lips together,
determined to be objective. She shouldn't be staying with a
couple of culls on a queer lay without a good reason. She'd
had more than her share of close calls already Her luck
wouldn't last forever.
For a moment, she wavered; then she remembered Dan
Laverham. With a feeling of relief, Kirn stopped trying to
convince herself that she ought to abandon Mairelon. She
had to get away from Dan Laverham, and that meant getting
out of London. That was a good enough reason for anything!
Besides, if she sherried off now, she'd never find out what was
realty going on Kirn grinned to herself and hurried to catch
up with Hunch.
50
SIX
'^-W^' '-p' hey were on their way out of London within
JW_^^ 1 the hour Hunch drove from a tiny ledge on
f r the front of the wagon, while Kim rode inside
with Mairelon She would rather have been outside with
Hunch, despite his suspicions, for she disliked the closed-in
feeling of the darkened wagon Mairelon's assurance that it
was only until they were out of London, and her own
thoughts of Dan Laverham, were all that stifled her objec-
tions Kim was not anxious to be seen by anyone who might
take word back to that slimy character, small though the
chance might be-
The jolting of the wagon made her queasy at first, but the
feeling passed quickly. Mairelon watched her closely. "All
right now?" he said after a time.
"Right enough." Kim peered at him "You couldn't do
somethin' to make a bit of light in here, could you^"
Mairelon laughed. "I'm afraid you'll have to get used to the
dark. No wagoneer would keep a lamp lit while the wagon's
moving, not even on the best road in England," The wagon
51
Jounced across a rut and Mairelon grimaced "Which this
manifestly is not "
Kim hadn't been thinking of a lamp, but she let it pass
Mairelons point was clear enough a lighted wagon would
attract attention She stared at the window with some dis-
quiet She had no idea where they were going, she realized,
or even which direction Well, they hadn't crossed the nver,
so they weren't headed south, but that still left a lot of pos-
sibilities Suddenly she gnnned If she didn't know where she
was going, Laverham certainly wouldn't'
"Not going to sleep, I take it?" Mairelon said
The wagon hit a bump that nearly threw Kirn off the chest
"Ain't nobody could sleep through that," she said scornfully
when she was secure once more
"Sorry," Mairelon said "This wagon wasn't built to be nd-
den in "
"I never would of guessed," Kirn said sarcastically
Mairelon laughed again "I suppose that it is a bit obvious
If you aren't going to sleep, why don't we start on your
lessons?"
"Lessons? You mean, reading and magic?"
"Eventually, yes But you can't read if you can't see, and the
same thing applies to the kind of magic I'll be teaching you
We'll start on those later, after it gets light "
Kirn frowned "How much you planmn' on teachm' me?"
"If you're going to be of any real help with the show, there
are a number of things you'll need to know besides stage
magic," Mairelon said dryly
"What things?"
'The way you talk, for one " Mairelon looked at her and
hurried on before she could reply "You see, people expect a
performer to sound like a Duchess You don't, of course, but I
think that with a little training you could "
52
"Hunch don't talk like a gentry cove," Kim pointed out,
nettled
"Huh " Kim considered She hadn't known any truly suc-
cessful actresses, but she'd seen enough of the shows in Co-
vent Gardens to know that what Mairelon said was true On
stage, at least, the better actresses aped the accents of no-
bility The prospect of learning to do the same was not unap-
pealing "All right, then What's first?"
Mairelon let out his breath as though he had been afraid
she would think the suggestion insulting "First, you stop
using quite so much thieves' cant," he said bnskly "You'll
have to practice alt the time, until it seems natural "
"Practice talkin'7 Just to sound flash? I—" Kim stopped
"Oh That's what you meant, ain't it?"
"It's exactly what I meant," Mairelon said, and waited
"Mmmm " This was going to be harder than she'd thought
"What else?"
She could hear the smile in Mairelon's voice as he went on
with his instruction There seemed to be an endless number
of different things for Kim to remember to say, or not to say,
or to say instead of something else Mairelon was both pa-
tient and creative He explained each of his directions care-
fully He made up sample conversations and recited them in
different styles, so that Kim could hear the difference be-
tween the speech of a London costermonger and that of a
Sussex yeoman, a middle-class tradesman, or a north country
Viscount Then he had Kim imitate each of his voices, cor-
recting her gently whenever she slipped
It was an amusing way of passing the time, Kim didn't even
notice when the interior of the wagon began to grow lighter
She was almost disappointed when, shortly after dawn,
53
Hunch pulled into the yard of a coaching inn, temporarily
ending the lesson
While Hunch watered the horses, Mairelon produced the
package he had brought back to the wagon the previous
night To Kim's surprise, it contained a boy's jacket, shirt,
and breeches They were nearly new, and much finer than
the best clothing Kirn had ever worn "That's for me?" she
said in disbelief
"Of course," Mairelon replied "It wouldn't fit me, or
Hunch, either I'd intended to get you a dress as well, but
there wasn't time We'll have to attend to that later "
Kirn was reduced to near speechlessness Mairelon waved
away her attempts at thanking him and shooed her out into
&nbs
p; the inn's yard There he insisted that Kim wash as much of
herself as could be decently managed under the inn's pump
Hunch fussed with the horses and muttered into his mustache
throughout the entire proceeding Only then would Mairelon
allow Kim to try on her new clothes
Back inside the wagon, Kim shinned out of her own tat-
tered clothing immediately and pulled on the garments Mair-
eton had brought her The breeches were a little tight and the
jacket was a little loose, but the clothes remained the best she
had ever worn She shrugged her shoulders, testing the
movement of the jacket, then grinned and threw open the
wagon door.
Mairelon was nowhere in sight, but Hunch was standing
beside the steps. '"Ere," he said, and handed her a chunk of
fresh bread and a slice of cheese "We ain't stopping long," he
added in response to her look of surprise "Eat while you
can
This was entirely in accord with Kim's philosophy, and she
bit into the bread with great satisfaction "Where's Mairelon?"
she asked as she munched She was disappointed that he had
not stayed to see how she looked
54
"There " Hunch jerked his head toward the stable, but did
not elaborate
Kim nodded, her mouth full, and sat down on the steps to
finish her meal Mairelon returned just as she swallowed the