Irina decided to tell us what Katerina’s older brother, Paul (formerly Mikhail), had been doing for the past few days. It was just as boring as it had been at Tatiana Medvedeva’s tea.

Felicia had told me the teachers wouldn’t talk about why Paul had gotten expelled from Rasputin.

But he was doing well at his college. “He’s got to be smart to study chemistry and electronics,” Felicia said.

“But everyone knows Paul has a wild side. Anna went to dinner with him once, without telling her parents. They would have had a fit. He had a lot of conversation, but she didn’t think he had a future. ”

That was not the opinion of Irina Swindoll. She was like a radio station that only broadcasted “Paul.”

I envied Bo-Ra her ability to listen to another conversation. Since she didn’t admit to speaking English, she could get away with tuning Irina out. Matthew, Harriet, and I were obliged to pretend we were interested.

“Paul had a great academic career at Rasputin,” Irina told us.

“But he found the studies not to his liking.” Irina shrugged her heavy shoulders as if to say, You know what young men are like.

“His talents lay elsewhere, he decided. So he transferred to a conventional college, where he’s much happier, and his grades are so good! ”

“It can be hard to pick the right path to follow, among so many choices,” Matthew said. Tactful. I hadn’t been able to come up with anything to say.

The little wrinkle in Harriet’s brow told me she was deleting Paul from Soo-Yung’s eligible list. Irina would be an awful mother-in-law.

At least I got to eat my fill while Irina kept droning on and on.

The silence fell like a brick when none of us could pretend any longer that we gave a tinker’s damn about Paul. Even Irina could tell the topic was done.

Katerina was at the table across the room, in clear sight. Katerina was smart, nice-looking, interesting enough to be Felicia’s friend. Not once did Irina say anything good about her daughter.

As I swallowed the last bite of cake, I found Matthew looking at me with his brows raised. I guessed it was my turn to move the conversation along. “Do you live here in San Diego?” he asked, to prompt me. Since he was English, everything he said sounded polite.

“No, I’m from Segundo Mexia in Texoma,” I said, which didn’t appear to surprise anyone. “My husband and I are in town to… attend… Felicia through the week.”

Matthew asked me a few questions about my hometown, though he couldn’t have been really interested in a small town in a poor country. Harriet lived in the Boston area, in Britannia, and she had some funny stories to tell about it.

I glanced over at the other table.

Everything seemed fine. The young magicians had enjoyed the food and the tea, and the talk had never slowed down.

Felicia laughed a lot, Fenolla listened to Hasani El Masry in a serious way, and Katerina was talking to Mateo with a big smile on her face. She was happier than I’d ever seen her, for sure.

Matthew, who had finished eating before the rest of us, was watching his daughter with a little smile.

“Fenolla is a lovely girl,” I said. I meant it.

Matthew beamed at me. “She’s got her mother’s beauty,” he said. “A bit inclined to be too serious about herself, though.”

“Not everyone is a laugh-out-loud kind of person.”

He nodded to acknowledge that. “Your sister is an impressive young woman.”

“She’s scary, all right.” I could translate that from polite-talk.

Matthew laughed out loud. “She’s unique.”

Irina leaned across the table, her eyes wide and avid. “Is it true she killed her own grandfather?”

There was a moment of silence you could have cut with a knife. The smile dropped from my face. Matthew looked appalled.

“This is not something to discuss here,” Harriet said. Even Bo-Ra cocked her head.

It finally dawned on Irina that she’d stepped over a line. Dashed over a line, stomping her feet while she did it. “I’m sorry,” she said, very flustered. “I’ve just heard so many stories…”

Could she be that stupid? I looked at her without blinking for a long moment. She looked frightened.

Yes, she could be that stupid.

And guilty. She looked guilty. Huh.

“We should have wonderful weather the rest of the week,” Matthew said smoothly. Harriet agreed instantly and said that we’d been lucky so far and she was hoping that kept up.

The young people at the other table began laughing very loudly, and I turned my head to see that Mateo was making a spoon spin around in midair.

I was at his side in the blink of an eye.

“Not in a public place,” I said quietly.

“Not with civilians present.” The waitresses were staring at the spoon with wide eyes.

Though everyone in the Holy Russian Empire knew about grigoris and were supposed to revere them, grigoris were told to keep their magic practice “discreet.”

Mateo’s smile vanished and he let the spoon fall to the table. All the kids looked at me with a resentment… including Felicia.

Too bad. There were rules. I’d learned them. No public magic unless there was an emergency. An afternoon tea was not a dangerous situation.

I was wrong about that.

The two boys I didn’t know, Hasani and Joon-Ho, simply stared at me. They did not appreciate a woman’s cautioning them.

Mateo had better manners. “My apologies, Princess. There are so few people here, I forgot to be careful,” he said.

I nodded and returned to my seat. I couldn’t stand Felicia’s mortified expression.

Harriet muttered, “The little sneaks! They know better, or they ought to.”

“Fenolla should have forced the spoon down,” Matthew said, and he meant it. “She is the hostess. She knows the rules.”

“It’s hard to mind the rules when you’re young and having a good time,” I said, just to say something. I was still brooding over Felicia not stopping Mateo, and then acting all huffy when I did.

Irina glanced at her watch. “Excuse me, please,” she said, and rose to go through the doorway marked RESTROOMS . She took her purse with her. It was like she had an appointment in the bathroom.

Bo-Ra punched my shoulder. “We go,” she hissed. I didn’t move, I was so startled at this sudden English and the command in her voice.

I am a short woman, but the ancient Korean lady only came to my shoulder. She pulled me out of my chair, grabbed hold of my arm, and started yanking me toward the kids’ table.

The door to the hall was closing behind Irina.

“Matthew, did you invite Paul to this party?” I said, ignoring Bo-Ra’s violent tugging on my arm.

Matthew gave me a sharp look, decided I had a reason.

“Fenolla wanted to, since she thought it would please Katerina. I had reservations because I had heard he was wild, but I agreed. Then Irina called last night to say Paul couldn’t come, to my relief.

I was surprised to see him here with this other group.

He must not have cared for our company. Fenolla asked Clayton Dashwood instead. ”

I opened my mouth, closed it. Bo-Ra tugged even harder, and we started across the room.

“What’s happening?” Harriet called.

I jerked my head toward the kids’ table. “Bo-Ra thinks something is wrong here, and I do, too. Get ready to leave, please, Matthew.”

To give him great credit, Matthew called to one of the waitresses to bring him the check and hastily handed her cash to cover it. Harriet had already grabbed her bag and mine, ready to go.

We’d reached the table, and the young ones were looking up, even more annoyed at my second visit.

Bo-Ra pointed under the table, yanking my arm down in a violent way. “See,” she said. “See.”

I squatted, raised the long white tablecloth. Oh, shit.

“Get up,” I told the kids. “Out the door, now, now !” I yelled the last word.

They all stared at me like bumps on a log. Only Felicia pushed back her chair and stood.

Matthew was there suddenly. He bent to look under the table, too. He stood. He said in a very sharp voice, “Do not exclaim or ask questions. Rise and leave through the front door. Quickly.” Matthew didn’t look like an aristocrat anymore. He looked hard as nails and all business.

Everyone was moving by then, the girls grabbing up their handbags. Felicia hesitated, maybe thinking she should stay and help me do whatever I was going to do. To Clayton’s credit, he laid his hand on Felicia’s shoulder and said, “Right now!” He pushed my sister toward the door.

Felicia was abruptly no longer the butterfly, but the eagle. She called back to Katerina, “Up and out, Kat.” Fenolla and Mateo were just ahead of my sister.

Hasani and Joon-Ho had beat everyone out the door.

Matthew Gregory had stepped around them to hold the front door open. Bo-Ra ran out of steam all of a sudden. We were more or less hobbling fast. She could hear the bomb ticking , I thought. She’s saved our lives. Then I realized, Not quite yet.

“Where’s Mother?” Katerina called over her shoulder.

“She’s outside,” I lied, so the girl would move. Katerina began to slow down. I think she meant to help me with Bo-Ra. “Run,” I said, in the voice I used when I had to be obeyed. It worked.

Matthew, still holding the door, called to the two waitresses who were standing and staring at our sudden exit. “Ladies, there is a bomb!” he called. “You need to run out this door right now.”

The older waitress half turned as though she would go fetch the owner, but at the last moment she wheeled to move toward the door, grabbing the other woman’s hand and dragging her along.

The two waitresses broke into a trot and passed me. I was half carrying Bo-Ra, who had a death grip on my arm.

After what seemed like an hour, I got her out the door. Matthew let go. The door swung shut. Then Bo-Ra and I were across the porch. The older waitress slowed down. I had to shove her, hard. From the street, Felicia screamed my name.

Then we were down the steps into the front yard, still pushing for the street. I felt like I was walking through glue.

Matthew, who’d been in front of me, turned to face the teahouse, and his hands began to make a series of movements, very precise and full of angles. “Hurry,” he said, not looking at us but at the building. The two waitresses pounded past him.

I tried to do the same, but Bo-Ra sagged against me and I could not let her go. I knew it was important to get past Matthew, just from the strain on his face. I did my very best, but I didn’t make it.