Shade answered, while Leisha remained curious:
"Did he marry three wives?"
"Didn't you just ask that question?"
Shade set down his dinner knife with his right hand and wiped his mouth with a napkin. The maid beside them served the next course.
Mia waited for Shade to feed her, while Angelina pretended to be interested in the new dish. No one else disturbed them in the quiet private room of The Club. It was quite suitable for a date.
"What I mean is, a man can marry three wives. Even in the Fifth Epoch, where gender relations were so unusual, someone managed to do that."
Her Royal Highness the Princess looked at Shade, and only then did he understand what she meant.
"I—"
"You don't need to promise me anything."
Leisha interrupted Shade as soon as he spoke. Her emerald eyes watched him:
"I trust you. I've always trusted you. But if you really want to do something, how about coming back to Yodel Palace with me tonight?"
Angelina carefully glanced at her elder sister. Leisha smiled at Shade:
"You can hide in our carriage later. Just turn into a butterfly and hide beneath my skirt. Doesn't Little Mia like my bed?"
It seemed Mia would be spending another night in the cloakroom tonight.
(Little Mia was running.)
Although Tuesday was the day Guardian Mr. Lathers had said a new upheaval of the earth would occur, Shade and the Witches planned to investigate again that evening. Thus, when he arrived in Randall River Valley during the day, he was still considering whether to visit the Academy's Librarian Miss.
Luvia had already gone to the Seer Association, and Miss Benanis was not at the Wilde Opera House. Thus, Shade expressed his confusion to Miss Lathers, and the young Blonde Young Lady