The Last Suitor. A J McMahon
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his difficulty, Tagalong stepped in. ‘I am sure that if you assure this gentleman that our quarrel is over, he will release you from your bonds and peace and goodwill shall prevail over all. All you have to do is to say you are satisfied with everything.’
As far as Leggit was concerned it was time to move on. He had tried and failed to take down Nicholas; there was nothing more to be said about anything. ‘All right, I got no problems with nothing,’ he growled.
Nicholas waved his wand to untie their karn-bonds and flipped their wands back through the air to hang in front of Leggit and his men. They did not notice, being very unintelligent, that he sent each individual wand correctly back to its owner, but Tagalong did. Leggit and his men clambered to their feet, folding up and tucking away their karns, and pocketing their wands; Nicholas watched them do this, wand in hand, and although his wand was pointing downwards it was understood by all those present from the expression on Nicholas’s face that if they were to fight again Nicholas would not let them off so lightly a second time. Leggit and his men turned away, giving Nicholas unfriendly looks before departing the scene.
Nicholas and Tagalong had their duel. Nicholas took Tagalong down three times in succession like the ticks of a clock. Once Tagalong said that he had received satisfaction, he followed this by saying, ‘Now that we have been introduced, allow me to thank you for your assistance today, Mr Raspero.’
Nicholas laughed, realising then the trick Tagalong had played. ‘It was nothing, Mr Longman.’
‘Surely you will allow me to thank you in a manner far more substantial than merely spoken gratitude. Please allow me to take you out for lunch, my good Mr Raspero.’
Nicholas considered this invitation while he appraised the figure of Tagalong standing before him. Tagalong was a tall, slender man with curly brown hair, a freckled face, dark violet eyes and long thin fingers; a spirit of animation possessed him, as if winds gusted about within the hollows of his body making him hum like a tree on a windy cliff. Nicholas sensed at first sight, for he was a good judge of character, that Tagalong was dodgy and untrustworthy but nonetheless he saw no reason why he should not serve as a luncheon companion.
‘As it happens, Mr Longman, I have two luncheon vouchers for the Hortense Inn,’ Nicholas said, waving vaguely over his shoulder at the Hortense Inn, ‘so perhaps you might join me for lunch.’
Tagalong raised his mobile eyebrows in surprise as if he was learning of these luncheon vouchers for the first time, and said, ‘But I will now be doubly in your debt, Mr Raspero, both for saving me from those who would do me harm and in feeding me. Very well, Mr Raspero, I accept your kind invitation but on one very strict condition: you must allow me to repay in triplicate your doubled kindness when such a singular occasion shall arise.’ Tagalong paused and then exclaimed, ‘No!’ while holding both hands up in the air palms out as if to stop a runaway horse in its tracks, even though Nicholas had not moved a muscle, ‘you cannot deny me in all propriety and duty such a demand as this, which indeed is not even a demand as it does no more than merely express an inevitable consequence.’
‘All right,’ Nicholas said briefly, his face expressionless, ‘fine, you do all that then. Let’s go.’ With that he turned away and set forth for the Hortense Inn, followed by Tagalong.
The Hortense Inn was owned secretly by Jolly, and the staff had been instructed to give Tagalong and whatever companion he turned up with the best service they could. So it was that Nicholas found himself fawned over by professionals in the fawning business. It was a new experience for him. Most people took one look at his clothes and entirely failed to fawn. The staff at this restaurant seemed to think that they would remember the day they met him for the rest of their lives.
‘So what was that all about?’ Nicholas asked Tagalong, without much real interest.
‘I have alas incurred a debt which I cannot repay at present,’ Tagalong told him truthfully, and then continued less truthfully, ‘Those men were after repayment of that debt on behalf of a man called Fitzroy, to whom I owe the money.’
‘Well, good luck with all that,’ Nicholas told him. ‘If I’d known that was what it was about, I wouldn’t have helped you.’
‘You must understand,’ Tagalong told him, ‘I incurred this debt because of my Aunt Mamie’s substantial medical expenses.’
‘Even so,’ Nicholas said, not looking as if he believed one word of this story, ‘you can’t incur a debt and not repay it.’
‘That is quite so, Mr Raspero. I will repay this debt. I am just slightly late about it, that’s all.’
‘Whatever,’ Nicholas shrugged indifferently.
Throughout the lunch Tagalong was witty, charming, clever, funny and talkative, and Nicholas could not help but enjoy himself. He was too young not to be flattered by the attentions Tagalong was paying him, especially as Tagalong was an expert name-dropper who gave the impression of knowing everyone in town, an impression that was too shrouded by good humour and amusing anecdotes to be clearly discernible as largely a matter of implication. Nicholas laughed along with Tagalong, enjoyed the superb meal, drank two or three glasses of a very tasty wine which went to his head as he was not used to drinking and found the world to be a merry place. By the end of lunch, Nicholas was ready for anything.
‘Are you going to the engagement party of Mr Carver and Lady Lachance tonight?’ Tagalong asked him as they sat enjoying their coffee and delicious chocolate rolls topped with coconut.
‘No.’
‘And why not?’ Tagalong asked him with a mock sternness which made Nicholas laugh.
‘The lack of an invitation is my only excuse,’ Nicholas said wittily so that Tagalong roared with laughter which made Nicholas himself laugh proudly at his triumph.
‘That is easily remedied,’ Tagalong told him. ‘I have myself been invited and I am allowed to take a companion with me. Surely you would do me the honour of accompanying me?’
Nicholas was ready for anything, and this sounded good. ‘Certainly, Mr Longman, I’m happy to accept. What’s this party again?’
So Tagalong told him all about the engagement of Mr Hedley Carver and Lady Sofiya Lachance, with allusion to some mildly scandalous gossip which made them both laugh cheerfully. Nicholas realised that he was on his way to a party where the grandest people in New Landern would be gathered together, about twelve hundred of them or so, in the Regana Palace. It sounded good to him and he was excited at the prospect of being at such a party.
Tagalong had drunk much less than he had pretended to, and his merriness was largely feigned, but Nicholas didn’t notice. Tagalong’s mind was turning over, thinking everything through, improvising as he went along. His instructions from Jolly were to find out just how good Raspero was with a wand. That meant more than wandfighting; that meant other kinds of wand use. Tagalong’s intention was to see if Raspero could break them in to the Regana Palace. Given that the Royal family would turn up, the security there would be as tight as security could be. If Raspero could get them in, he could do anything. Tagalong understood that Jolly did not yet know whether Raspero would be an asset or a liability: if Raspero signed up for Jolly, a man of his calibre could be very useful indeed to Jolly; if Raspero refused to work for Jolly, well, Tagalong knew that Jolly would not be pleased. Tagalong’s job was to find out just how much of an asset or an enemy Raspero would be.
Tagalong realised he had to stay close to Raspero all day long. So as they left the restaurant at around two o’clock, he suggested that they go to Kenina Park. He asked Nicholas if he could do the Three and Nicholas said yes quite calmly. The Three was an exercise in the use of the wand requiring talent far beyond the ordinary and those wandfighters who could do the Three constituted an elite. Tagalong believed him but he wanted to see it for himself. His luck was out, however, the Table was closed for the day because of a mourning period for the recently deceased Keeper of the Rolls. Filing it away as a matter to be returned to later, Tagalong suggested they go visit some nearby friends of his. Using code words that told them he was on important business