Page 79 of Her Majesty's Necromancer
I pointed to the ghost hanging between us like a faint cloud. "There."
"Mr. Gurry," she said in her imperial voice. "Can you hear me?"
"Is she a necromancer too?" he asked. "Or just stupid?"
"She can't see or hear you."
"That answers neither of my questions, girl. You must be stupid too. Typical females," he added in a mutter.
"Mr. Gurry, I would appreciate your civility."
"I'm sure you would, but I don't care." The mist blew away to the ceiling, but returned immediately to me as if I'd beckoned it. "What's going on? What can't I leave?"
"I haven't dismissed you."
"You dismiss me?" He snorted. "I beg your pardon! If I were alive I would smack you for impertinence."
"And then I would beat you. Yes, Mr. Gurry," I added sweetly, "I am quite capable of doing so, even though I am a female."
His top lip curled in a snarl.
"I'm beginning to see why Mr. Fitzroy killed him," I said to Lady Harcourt. "He's insufferable."
Lady Harcourt stared wide-eyed at me. Gurry's spirit swelled to twice its size then flew at me so fast that I flinched out of instinct.
"You know him?" he spat. "You know my murderer?"
"We do," I said. "He was your pupil, wasn't he?"
"Where is he?" He swept around the room then came to settle in front of me again. "Is that dog here?"
"No. Tell us why he killed you, Mr. Gurry."
"That's what you want to know?" His low chuckle plucked at my taut nerves. "Why not ask him?"
"I'm asking you."
"I can't tell you. I don't know. He came across me in a lane one night, years after I'd finished teaching him. He held a long knife. Without so much as a word, he attacked me and cut my throat." He rubbed his neck above his collar. "I pleaded with him for mercy, but he showed none. He's a vicious animal, with no conscience and no soul. Take my advice and stay far away from him."
I glanced at Lady Harcourt, only to find her staring back at me. She urged me with a nod. "Well?" she whispered. "Has he told you?"
I shook my head. "Was it a chance meeting?" I asked Gurry.
"I don't know," he said. "Perhaps not. He was always devious like that, always plotting and scheming. I wouldn't put it past him to have planned the meeting for years. Who knows how long he harbored a grudge against me?"
"Why did he harbor a grudge?"
He turned his back to me. "I already told you, I don't know."
"You have no inkling? Surely you must."
"No."
"Mr. Gurry, please answer me so I can send you on your way."
He circled me slowly, his feet not touching the floor. The lines on his forehead folded together into a deep frown. "He was a willful dog. I tried to train him, but he wouldn't follow orders from the start. I had to employ more and more drastic measures to get him to listen."
"Did you beat him?"
