The Last Suitor. A J McMahon
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have come to know me better you will realise I am always right. I have only ever been wrong on one occasion.’
Nicholas realised he was expected to ask about this one occasion, so he asked, ‘And what was that?’
‘You will laugh at me. I will not say,’ Tagalong declared, looking away defiantly.
Nicholas went through the motions, not caring less. ‘No, I insist on knowing,’ he said dully.
‘Very well,’ Tagalong said, ‘I will surrender to your insistent questioning. I once mistook a glass of Yountry wine for a glass of Rehunda wine. Now you know!’
Nicholas didn’t even bother to pretend to laugh. This kind of talk had been funnier yesterday for some reason.
‘You are very gloomy today, Mr Raspero.’
Nicholas was losing patience. ‘I’m fine, Mr Longman.’
‘Ah.’ Tagalong nodded and fell silent. He knew a quicker way to Mildgyd than the road they were walking along so they turned right down a side alley. A boy crossed the alley below them. They were coming down to a square when a woman’s shrill scream, suddenly cut off short, reached their ears.
Nicholas broke into a run on the instant, his wand out. He flipped himself through the air to go around the corner above head height, turning in mid-air to see what was before him. He hit the ground and rolled and jumped through the air. Tagalong jogged along behind without putting too much effort into it. By the time Tagalong reached the corner Nicholas was way out in front. Tagalong did not bother trying to catch him up. There was a carriage standing in the square, its door wide open. Nicholas flipped himself through the open gate of a neighbouring stableyard. The door to the stables was half open, and beyond it was the sound of muffled screaming, struggling and shouting. Tagalong followed him and was just in time to see Nicholas ignore the door and flip himself onto the roof in one movement, landing softly without a sound, after which the wandfighter promptly disappeared over the ridge of the roof. Tagalong ran to the door.
The tableau was set. Angela was struggling in the arms of two men, her dress half torn off, managing to get out a muffled scream now and then. There were seven men in the stables, laughing and making comments. Tagalong ran in, his wand drawn.
‘Let her go!’ he shouted, knowing that Nicholas would be there any moment now. He wanted Nicholas to see how Tagalong was bravely doing the right thing. ‘Let her go now!’
Pay was looking behind Tagalong, wondering where Nicholas was. Tagalong struck at Pay just as Nicholas came in through the back window. Pay shouted in anger and flattened Tagalong with one blow as Nicholas came falling down through the air and landed on the ground behind his enemies. Tagalong looked up from the ground to see Nicholas taking them down one by one. The fight didn’t take long. Tagalong got to his feet, holding his hand to his face. His lip was bleeding from the blow he had received. Beautiful, he thought. If this didn’t make him look like an innocent victim, nothing would. He spread the blood as much out as he could while appearing to gently massage his face, to make the bleeding seem worse than it was.
Nicholas stood over his bound enemies, holding their wands in his left hand, his wand still in combat readiness. He looked over at Tagalong briefly, then at Angela lying on the ground, pulling her torn dress around her in an attempt to preserve her modesty. Nicholas turned and walked away. He then stopped and turned around to look at the scene before him, his face expressionless.
Tagalong prayed that Nicholas wasn’t thinking too hard about all the rescuing he had been doing lately. ‘Is it you, Miss Ashton?’ Tagalong cried out.
‘You know her?’ Nicholas asked.
‘I have never met this lady before,’ Tagalong replied, ‘but all of New Landern knows her. This is Miss Angela Ashton, the famous actress. Miss Ashton, your deliverer is Mr Nicholas Raspero.’ Tagalong performed this introduction hastily, to try to gloss over the fact that he had just declared himself to be not in a position to make such an introduction.
‘I can only thank you for your swift and brave intervention, Mr Raspero,’ Miss Ashton said, speaking directly to Nicholas in a sweet, slightly husky voice; it was one of her stage voices that drove men wild. ‘I cannot thank you enough. I am in your debt, Mr Raspero. You will surely not be so harsh as to rebuke me for speaking to you so directly in this fashion, although I know it is surely to stretch the bounds of courtesy.’
Nicholas nodded, not really listening to her. ‘So these men get handed over to the law now, Mr Longman?’
‘They most certainly do,’ Tagalong said firmly. ‘They deserve to be punished to the full extent of the law for what they have tried to do.’
‘Yet surely I will be allowed to depart without further delay,’ Miss Ashton pleaded to Nicholas.
‘Of course you may, Miss Ashton,’ Tagalong said gallantly. ‘I have no doubt you wish to leave this place immediately.’
Angela gave a muffled cry as she saw the huddled figure of Hugo by the side. She jumped to her feet and rushed over to his side, her dress falling open in her distress to reveal a delicately sculpted shoulder. Nicholas could not help but notice, though he looked away promptly.
Angela was distraught at the sight of the barely conscious figure of Hugo. Hugo was barely conscious because it had been decided that for him to play at being completely unconscious was too hard. He could moan and move about a bit, which was an easier role to play than being stone cold still. Tagalong asked Nicholas to watch over their enemies and helped Hugo outside to the carriage. He returned with a rug which Angela wrapped around herself.
Tagalong took charge. ‘Mr Raspero, I wonder if you would be so kind as to escort Miss Ashton back to her home. I will remain here and see to it that these men are taken into custody.’
Nicholas thought about this for a moment. ‘Can you handle them on your own?’ he asked eventually.
Tagalong pretended to be offended. ‘Given that they are bound hand and foot, Mr Raspero, then the answer is surely yes.’
Nicholas nodded. ‘All right then.’ He turned to Angela. ‘Shall I escort you home, Miss Ashton?’
‘If you would be so kind,’ Angela said huskily, ‘I can only beg of you to take me away from here to a place of safety.’ Angela had been wondering how to play this game and she had settled on playing a role based on the waif Serena from The Gallant Company, who turned to the strong arms of her protector Sebastian, where she found both safety and love. It was a role she had played to wide acclaim, and she felt she could use this character as a starting point from which to approach Nicholas. She chose decorous clothes accordingly, as the more revealing garments she would later wear would come as a revelation of her beauty, although the torn condition of her decorous clothes helped make everything ambiguous.
‘All right, let’s go then,’ Nicholas said, waving towards the door. ‘After you, Miss Ashton.’
Once he had seated her in the flying carriage, Nicholas was only too happy to fly the carriage himself while Hugo huddled in the back seat, woozy and moaning softly. The flying carriage was a Wolstone, a gift to Angela from her first client, the only gift from him she had not sold.
Once Nicholas had arrived at her address, he found himself obliged to help Hugo up the stairs to Miss Ashton’s apartment. Once in Miss Ashton’s apartment, he was asked by her to wait while she changed, so he waited.
Angela took her time changing, thinking things over. She was not at all happy about having Nicholas in her apartment. She never brought clients here, and avoided any attempts on their part to see where she lived. As they were not interested enough in who she really was to pursue the matter, it was not too difficult to avoid having them here. It was easy enough to distract them with flirtation and bared shoulders if the subject ever arose. Jolly had insisted, however, that she bring Nicholas here, and so she had obeyed.
Nicholas for his part was wondering why there were six wands next door when Miss Ashton had told him she was alone. He was also wondering why the wand