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.Oh, most ladies played at stances at their parties, but there were some who took it a bit further than that.Thete were some who raised ghosts.The sort that had secret rooms, at the top of the tower or down in the basement, with vats of this and glass tubes of that, and nasty smells seeping out to drive the housekeeper crazy."Outside, the thunder died away, leaving only the heavy splatter of rain against the high small windows ofthe kitchen.More rain hissed down the chimney and made the fire smoke.The cook snapped an order at the pot girl, who obediently left her bucket and rattled the damper and plied the poker until the smoke settled.Then the pot girl crept closer to the table.The laundress slid a stool across the floor to her.Perched on top, the child wrapped her arms around her knees and shivered with delight as the older women began to swap tales of hauntings in old Waterdeep.With an absentminded gesture, the cook handed the pot girl a biscuit to nibble while the stories continued.While their tales of dark deeds in the City of the Dead rarely matched what Sophraea knew to be the truth (one or two exaggerations nearly caused her to giggle), each mentioned more than once the fashion for ghosts that plagued Waterdeep's finer homes for a brief time long ago."So the Adarbrents called forth spirits?" Sophraea finally asked."Not the current Lord Adarbrent," said the cook with stout loyalty to the man who had rescued her old mistress."But he had a cousin who frightened my old lady when she was girl.A truly nasty witch, if you know what I mean.She died from some ritual gone wrong and the family sealed up her rooms the very day that they buried her."Sophraea remembered the sour, cold smell of Lord Adarbrent's house.Perhaps something was dead behind the old noble's wainscoting, something more sinister than a mouse, and something that needed a stronger cure than the gift of a kitten.Suddenly the tales of haunting were interrupted by a very live bumping noise below their feet.A crash, like a stack of lumber knocked over by a man rolling around, could be distinctly heard."Old chimney flue," explained the cook."Carries sound up from the basement.Sounds like Furkin is having some trouble with those rats.""Oh," said Sophraea, jumping up from the table and starting toward the stairs."Perhaps I'd better go find my wizard now.""Good idea, dearie," the cook agreed."Furkin might be in a bit of temper later on.""When he gets loose," giggled the pot girl and was immediately shushed by the other women.With hurried thanks, Sophraea headed upstairs.As she left, she heard the cook remark, "Well, that's a nice polite and helpful girl for you.Look at all the vegetables that she's peeled and chopped.Of course, if anyone asks, we haven't seen her for ages, have we?"Upstairs in Stunk's mansion, Gustin made a great show of pacing back and forth, muttering the occasional odd phrase.He knew that true magic was much more than empty gestures, but, from his experience, the servants expected this kind of act.Stunk's valet, a portly bald man given to wringing his hands and muttering "please don't touch that," met Gustin at the top of the stairs leading to his master's private apartment.The young man supposed that the valet was watching to see that he wouldn't steal anything.Two more of Stunk's bodyguards stood stiffly on either side of the lacquered door leading into their master's bedchamber.When one thin male servant turned the corner of the hallway and yelped to see a wizard down on his knees drawing cryptic symbols on the carpet with a piece of charcoal, Gustin gained the general impression that the whole household's nerves were badly overset.He continued with his search, carefully lifting up curtains and peering under tables.The upper hallways were just as cluttered with bric-a-brac and expensive ornaments as the lower rooms.The brocade shoe could be almost anywhere and nearly invisible among all the other trophies that Stunk had displayed.Not for the first time, Gustin wished he had a spell that could reveal a desired object [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]