"You have robbed—must repeat the world—robbed a highly respectable jeweler. You have insisted on my entertaining you to an exceedingly expensive, not to say ostentatious, lunch, though I was obliged to pawn my watch and chain in order to do so. During that indigestible meal—I'm feeling the worse for it at this moment—your behavior and conversation attracted the unfavorable attention of everyone present. I feel I have been publicly disgraced. I shall never be able to show my face in that restaurant again." –Uncle Andrew, The Magician's Nephew
This…was supposed to be a good day. No, it was supposed to be the best day in Andrew Ketterley's life. It was supposed to be the day that he would be glorified beyond mortal men and really recognized for his supreme skill as a magician. After all, he was the only person that ever managed to find a way between worlds. And when someone was brought back from another world? A real honest other world? They were supposed to…well…glorify his supreme skill as a magician and thank him profusely for bringing them here. Oh, and fall in love with him. That was always a bonus, you know, considering it was a beautiful woman and all.
Unfortunately for Andrew, it wasn't happening that way.
Thus far, the queen he had brought from another world had insulted him, demeaned him, threw Leticia across the room, and refused to address him as anything other than 'slave.' And this was not how Andrew envisioned the best day of his life to be.
Thankfully, the hansom arrived, and that meant Andrew's troubles should have been over. Of course, he had absolutely no idea what he was going to do once they got out of the house, but that wasn't important. The point being was he had to get the queen out of the house and then he could exercise his brilliant mind and think of…well, what he was going to do now.
"Lead on, slave!" barked the queen, and Andrew had no choice but to skitter on ahead of her, muttering apologies to Leticia under his breath as he ran out the house and onto the street. The hansom was waiting, and the cabby was sitting on the top. While the cabby didn't know Andrew personally, he knew of him, and the last thing he expected was to see the skinny old man in the company of a tall, beautiful woman whose dress alone was probably worth more than the entire cab and horse and cabby himself, standing in front of the cab with a look of disdain on her face as she surveyed the scene.
"This is it?" the queen said scornfully. "This is all you can procure for royalty in your world?"
"Er…yes, yes it is, ma'am, top quality cab, you know, quite expensive, rather." Andrew twisted his fingers together, cracking his knuckles nervously. He glanced at the cabby, who raised an eyebrow, and all Andrew could muster in return was a shrug.
"Very well, if that is all." And the queen didn't do anything, merely stood there looking superior. It took Andrew a moment to realize that he was supposed to open the door for her and do it now before she did anything like what she did to Leticia.
Andrew opened the door and bowed again for good measure. The queen barely acknowledged him as she stepped inside the cab. She had to stoop, for it was designed for people a lot shorter than she, and this fact momentarily brought a scowl to her face before she settled back into looking cold and aloof again. Andrew climbed in and sat next to her.
"Er," he said.
"Well?" She demanded. "I have little time and must begin the conquering of your world already. But do not expect me to do it like this. I am a queen and must have what befits a queen. I need slaves, clothes, jewels, bring them to me at once so that I may soon begin my campaign to bring your world to its knees."
The cabby looked down at Andrew through the trap door and this time gave him an even stranger look, his eyes flicking to the queen and raising his other eyebrow.
"Er," Andrew repeated.
"Well? Lead on, slave, I will not be kept waiting!"
Well, there weren't any slaves in London and hadn't been in a long time, and shopping for clothes was ladies' business, so the only thing he could think of was Smythe Jewelers, a ten minute cab ride from here, the fanciest jewelry store in this area. He didn't know what he'd do when he got there, as he had no money, but the queen…she was a queen, she had everything.
"Er. Smythe Jewelers," Andrew said finally, and the cabby shrugged and jerked on the reins and they started on their way.
"Is this the greatest city in your world?" the queen asked, looking out the window.
"Er. Yes."
"What do you call it?"
"London."
"And does it hold sway over much of the known world?"
"Well, England does, which, you know, we're in."
"Then it is perfect. I will choose this city as the seat of my power."
"Er. Well. Maybe you can do that."
"I am assuming that 'er' is the correct form of addressing royalty in your world, else there would be no reason for you to keep repeating it."
"Er. Yes. I mean, yes, yes it is, madam." No reason to tell her anything different. He gave her a sidelong glance to see if she knew he was lying, but she gave no indication of it.
"Good. Now, how far is this place?"
"Not that far."
"And there I will be able to obtain the jewels as befits my rank?"
"Absolutely, madam,"
The cabby pulled to a stop in front of the jewelry shop. "There we go, Mister Ketterley. Do you want me to wait?"
"Yes, yes, if you would."
The cabby nodded, and Andrew dropped the money into his hand, then got out of the cab and waited for the queen to come out as well. She stepped onto the London street, putting her hands on her hips and looking around. Several people stopped to stare…and who wouldn't, when an oddly tall woman was standing in the street dressed in preposterously fancy clothes and analyzing everything…but she ignored them. And the people, thankfully, ignored Andrew.
The jewelry shop wasn't particularly fancy, but it was one of the best places in the city and that's what really mattered.
"Right this way, madam. All the jewels you could want."
She nodded and waited for Andrew to open the door, and then breezed past him and into the shop. Andrew ducked in after her, narrowly escaping being slammed in the face with the door.
"Good day, madam!" said the jeweler, Smythe. He was a fat, cheerful man with a handlebar mustache, and was examining a diamond through a magnifying glass. He waved at the queen. "What can I do for you today?"
"I require all of your finest jewels." She replied.
"Well, you can take a look at my selection. I pride myself in having one of the finest in London."
"Then it will suit me well. Come, slave."
Smythe looked over his magnifying glass at Andrew and raised an eyebrow. And Andrew shrugged.
The queen swept around the room, critically looking at every single bit of jewelry on display. Then, without so much as a word, she drew her hand back and smashed the glass in one of the displays, reached in, and took out a large necklace of the finest pearls. She held it up, looked at it for a moment, before placing it around her neck.
Smythe dropped his magnifying glass. Andrew nearly fell over.
The queen then proceeded to do that three more times, taking the best pieces out of every display until she was well adorned with the best and most expensive jewels in London.
"Why…why you…" stammered Smythe.
"This will do well," The queen said, nodding with satisfaction at the large ruby on her finger. "Come, slave. I am finished here."
"Why, that's robbery, that's what it is!" Smythe got over his initial shock and stood up. "You put those back this instant, madam, unless you intend on paying for it!"
"Paying?" this time it was the queen's turn to raise an eyebrow. "I am the Queen of Charn, and you exist only to serve me. There is no reason why I would pay for anything belonging to my subjects! You should be honored in serving me this way. Perhaps I will let you live when I have conquered your world. Slave, I am done here, let us go!" And she swept out of the room just as dramatically as she entered.
"Thief! Stop right there, thief!" Smythe waved his arms in the air. "Get back here! I don't care if you're a woman, that's hundreds of thousands of pounds you've stolen! I'm getting the police right there and they'll lock you up, you madwoman!" he ran out and then nearly tripped over Andrew, who he forgot was there.
"You!" Smythe cried. "You let her in! Now either you pay for this damage, and the jewelry, or I'll have to report you to the police as well!"
"Er," was all Andrew said. And then he realized what Smythe was saying. "Must go. Terribly sorry about your jewelry, you know. Regrettable that she had to go and steal all that, really." He stood up and quickly left before the jeweler had a chance to say anyting else.
The queen was looking even more resplendent now, standing in front of the hansom. "Good," She said. "This was acceptable. What time is it now?" She seemed totally oblivious to the fact that she just robbed one of the most respectable jewelers in London and was going to get arrested by the police any second now. She stared at the door and Andrew opened it again.
"Afternoon, madam," Andrew managed to say when they were safely in the cab.
"Afternoon? Very well. Cabby!"
"Yes, madam?" the cabby looked down at them both. "Where to?"
"The finest eating establishment in London," she replied loftily.
"The finest?" Andrew echoed. "Madam, I beseech you to suggest something else, as I don't think I'll be able to afford…"
The door of the jeweler shop swung open again and Smythe ran out, waving his arms. His face was red and his hair was all a mess and he looked any minute like he was going to open the door and attack them both to get his jewels back. "Stop! Stop this instant, thief! You can't get away with my jewels!"
"Nevermind, let's go!" Andrew shouted. "Come on, let's hurry up before…you know, the establishment closes!"
The cabby pulled on the reins and they were off again.
"Hurry, I said!" Andrew bellowed. And then thankfully he did, and they sped away from the angry Smythe who gave up chasing them after about a block or so.
"Loud for a slave, you are," the queen said, giving Andrew a piercing look. "But effective. You will do very well as my servant. Clearly you know how to get something done when it must be done."
It was the closest to praise the queen had given him since her arrival, and it made Andrew sit straighter in his chair and nod proudly, momentarily forgetting the fact that the same queen who praised him had just robbed a store of countless pounds of jewels. She was a great queen, after all, from another world. And he could get anything done because he was the first person in all of England…probably all the world…that managed to find a way to bring things between worlds. The first to ever discover other worlds! His name would go down in history forever…Andrew Ketterley, magician. No, Andrew Ketterley: Master Magician. Capitalized, just like that.
"Well, you know, I am the best magician in the entire country," he said.
"You wouldn't have survived a day in my world after your birth," she replied. "Your kind was done away with thousands of years ago. But in this world you will suffice, as you do hold some semblance of power."
"That I do. My family, you know, we're a very old Dorsetshire family. My godmother was the last living fairy godmother."
"Fairies?"
"Yes,"
"Ah," She didn't sound so interested, but Andrew didn't care. He was, after all, Master Magician. Even the queen acknowledged his power in this world.
The cab came to an abrupt halt. "There we go," the cabby said. "Exact place you wanted."
Andrew opened the door, and even though he already knew where they were going, it didn't make it any better when they got there. Andrew knew this restaurant…everyone in London did…and, well, the odds of him affording any sort of lunch there were slim to none.
"Come now, slave! You will buy for me the finest food available in this eating establishment!"
Andrew's earlier confidence evaporated as soon as he really looked at the restaurant and really thought about what the queen was asking. This seemed to be happening a lot today.
"Madam, I, er, beseech you…to…perhaps…find a place more…suited to you…fine tastes," he said with an exceeding amount of bowing and scraping after he saw the look he was given.
"Why, is this not the finest eating establishment in London?"
"Well, it is, but…"
"But what?"
"It's not, you know, I can't exactly…afford it."
"What?"
Andrew cringed back from the queen's wrath. "I'm not a wealthy man," he admitted. "Magicians aren't really…believed…in this world. They aren't well paid."
"You brought me from my world," the queen began, her voice now low. "And now you tell me that you are unable to pay for what I require to conquer your world? You tell me that you, the only magician in this world, are incapable of giving me what I need after you have taken such time to bring me into this world? Is that what you're saying?"
"Er…"
"If it is," she was still speaking calmly. "Then I am afraid that I must kill you for misleading me, and seek out another magician who is more capable of doing my bidding."
Andrew looked at the cabby desperately, but the cabby only gave him a wide-eyed, slightly confused stare. No help from there.
Well, Andrew really didn't feel like being killed today.
"But there are means by which I can obtain money," Andrew said quickly. "And with that money I can entreat you to such a lunch that you deserve and then keep in your good graces and let you conquer our world. I am, you know, one of the only living magicians and…and…and therefore I can always be of assistance to you, most noble queen." He then proceeded to bow and scrape again, and it seemed to momentarily appease the queen.
Now Andrew had to find a way to actually pay for the lunch he promised. He was, in reality, completely broke. The only person who actually had money…and that Andrew borrowed from repeatedly…was Leticia, and she was all the way at home, and Andrew wasn't entirely sure she was still…er…uninjured after her first most unfortunate introduction to the queen. And even if she wasn't injured, even Andrew wasn't stupid enough to ask her for money right now.
The only thing Andrew could think of…
He winced at the thought. His family was respectable. The Ketterleys were not people to…to frequent…
Andrew's eyes fell on a pawn shop not too far from where they were standing. It looked slightly shady, as most pawn shops do, and had an equally shady looking man running the counter.
No. No, there was no way that he would stoop so low as to go to a pawn shop.
Then he took another look at the queen. Well, any other day he would never stoop so low as to go to a pawn shop.
"Bit of business I have to take care of first, madam," he said.
"Very well, but be quick. I will wait right here, and do not think of running off…know well that I can see into the hearts and minds of all men."
"I have no doubt of that, madam." Andrew added a few extra bows for good measure before scampering off to the pawn shop.
The man at the counter turned a very shady eye at him. "What can I do for you today, good sir?" he asked, while his eyes ran up and down Andrew's person several times to check for anything of value that was out in the open.
"Don't tell anyone I came here," Andrew muttered. He took out really the only thing he could think of selling…his pocket watch and chain. It was a really good pocket watch, Andrew's favorite, and he had it for many years and was at loath to part with it. It was a birthday gift from Leticia about six years ago…back then he wasn't borrowing money from her every day and was just starting his magical project and venture to other worlds. He really, really didn't want to sell it.
But the other option was to be killed by the queen and that would be the end of everything, no questions asked.
He showed the watch to the man. "How much is this worth?" he inquired very reluctantly.
The man snatched the watch out of Andrew's hand before he could say anything else. He squinted at the watch and turned it over several times in his hands, then bounced it up and down on his palm to determine the weight. He smiled, and nodded.
"Good watch you have here," the man said.
"I know," Andrew answered nervously. "My favorite."
"Then why are you selling it?"
"Have to. Just give me all it's worth before I change my mind!"
The man shrugged and paid Andrew for the watch. Andrew put the money in his pocket and then ran back to the cab, thankful that the man didn't ask his name. Oh, was there anything more shameful than this? He was a Ketterley and they never went to pawn shops, never sold their possessions for money. It simply wasn't done. The man was shady, the shop was shady, but the Ketterleys weren't. Well, as long as no one found out, he could hide his shame.
"Took you long enough," the queen said irritably. "Now let's go."
Andrew opened his mouth to say something about how positively abominable it was that she forced him to do something like this, but figured it wouldn't be the best idea to talk back to someone who could easily pick him up and throw him all the way down the street.
Andrew set off down the street with the queen following him. He ignored her scornful words about London, her continual remarks of how much of a peasant city it was compared to her own city of Charn, and how she had a lot of work to do with this world once she safely saw it conquered.
"The finest establishment in London," Andrew said, opening the door for her when they reached the building.
She swept past him and inside.
"Two for lunch?" the man inside said.
"Yes," the queen replied loftily. "And be quick with it, servant."
The man raised an eyebrow at Andrew, and Andrew shrugged. Third time today, he thought absently.
"Reservation?" he asked.
"I beg your pardon?"
"What name are you reserved under for lunch today, madam?"
"Jadis, Queen of Charn, soon to be queen of your world as well."
The man checked his list, then shook his head. "There's no reservation by that name. What about you, sir?"
"Andrew Ketterley," he said.
He looked again. "There's none by that name, either. Sorry, sir, madam, but you can't eat here unless you have a reservation."
The queen drew herself up to her full height, which was quite impressive. "Are you denying me my right to eat here?"
"I'm afraid so, madam. I really don't have much of a choice. Those are the rules of this establishment."
"Well, as your future queen, I am above such rules." She replied.
"You can't do that," Andrew coughed as subtly as he could. She turned around and gave him another one of her looks, lips pressed thinly together. "Or not." Andrew added in his regular voice.
Thankfully, she turned her fury back to the maitre d'. She picked him up with one hand by the collar of his fancy suit and brought his face very, very close to hers. "You will not deny me my right to eat here," she hissed. "Now, find me a proper escort to the table and inform the chefs of my arrival." And with that, she threw the maitre d' across to the podium he was at before. He crashed into it and fell to the floor.
He scrambled to his feet, eyes wide, frantically dusting himself off and trying not to look embarrassed as he got a series of looks from the people eating.
"Well, I suppose we can find a table," he said hastily.
"Excellent."
The maitre d' led them into the main room, and now all eyes turned to the queen, who looked very out of place even in such a fine restaurant. She appeared ten times more alive than anyone there, and in her ornate dress and fancy jewels…fancy stolen jewels, Andrew thought…it made her really look like a queen who was going to take over the world. Andrew didn't feel like telling her that it would be impossible and odds are she wouldn't be able to do it and would meet opposition. But then no doubt she'd say something about crushing all opposition once she had a proper army and enough slaves, and Andrew didn't feel like telling her they didn't have slaves here, either.
There were no tables available in the restaurant. The maitre d' circled three times but was unable to find anything, and came very apologetically back to Andrew and the queen.
"There appear to be no places available," he said, eyeing the queen nervously. "But if you want to come back later today, I can find…"
"I am sure one of these people," the queen began loudly, sweeping her arm in a grand arc around the restaurant. "Would be willing to give up their seats for a great queen such as myself."
No one stood up and left. The only movement was from the people closest to them, who leaned forward and were whispering among each other about strange women with equally strange delusions of royalty.
"Well? Which one of you will be honored enough to stand aside for me?"
Still, no one moved.
"Slave!" the queen barked.
"Yes?" Andrew stepped forward meekly.
"Evict one of these people immediately!"
Andrew figured it was worth a shot. He walked over to the nearest table and drew himself up to his full height and said, "As her official appointed magician, I must ask you to leave in the name of the queen," he said in what he hoped was an impressive voice.
They just stared at him. And then one of them laughed.
"Magician?" said the woman in a high, tinkly voice. "My goodness, you're just as delusional as your companion!"
"Now do go away," her man added. "You're ruining our lunch." Then they both ignored Andrew entirely.
The queen, however, did not like being ignored or having her slave ignored. She marched over to the table and cleared it with one sweep of her hand, sending the food, glasses, wine, and plates all crashing horrendously to the floor. "My slave asked you to leave!" she roared. "And you would do well to do such immediately before I am forced to harm you and your companion, commoner!"
The woman gave a little scream and then man stood up. "What preposterous behavior!" he said, standing in front of the queen and trying to look her in the eye. "You and your…your…" he looked at Andrew, not quite sure what to call the skinny, cringing man slightly behind the queen. "Friend." He finally decided. "Have no right to come in here and do this to us! Come now, Mina, we're going to complain to the management right now!"
"And the police," added Mina, looking at the wine stains all down the front of her dress. Thus the two of them marched out of the restaurant, the man still complaining loudly.
"Perfect," the queen said. She sat down in one of the fine chairs, ignoring the mess. "Slave, clean this up for me."
Andrew muttered something under his breath about having her do it, but she didn't hear, and so he…and the maitre d'…were stuck cleaning up the food and broken china and glass that was strewn all over the floor.
"What's going on?" the maitre d' demanded as he and Andrew threw out the food and brought the broken dishes into the back store room where the maitre d' said he would figure out what to do with later. "Who is that woman?"
"She's from another world," Andrew said almost apologetically. "I brought her here, so really, this is all my fault. I should have been more cautious about what I brought from other worlds into this one, sorry. Didn't know she was going to run around taking over the world and all."
The maitre d' now made it apparent that he thought Andrew was as mad as the queen. So Andrew shut up, the maitre d' stopped asking, and instead thrust a bundled up tablecloth into Andrew's hands. They went back to the table where the queen was sitting regally, and Andrew arranged the tablecloth, and then the maitre d' set down two glasses and a bottle of wine. Andrew sat down across from the queen and poured the wine for both of them.
"Now," the queen said grandly. "What sort of food is served here?"
The maitre d' gave them both menus and then got out of there as quickly as possible.
The queen looked over the menu critically. "What is…pesto?" she asked.
"It's…it's…Italian," Andrew said. "People here put it on bread. It's green and made with a variety of spices, olive oil and some other things."
"Hmm. What about…pate de foi gras?"
"Goose liver,"
"Goose liver? What barbarians the people of this world are!" she exclaimed causing several more people to stare in their direction. Andrew gave them a halfhearted wave.
"Is this what royalty of your world eat?"
"Afraid so."
"Hmm. It's still completely barbaric. What sort of royalty do you have here anyway? It is quite obvious that this world needs to change a great deal. They will all be thankful when I have conquered your world and brought about that sufficient change." She nodded at the man at the table next to theirs, who promptly looked away and pretended to be very interested in his menu.
"Yes, I suppose they will,"
"Don't suppose, it's a fact. The state of this city is absolutely appalling. And these people? These are your nobility? They seem nothing more than pompous peasants who think too highly of themselves and believe that looking down their noses at everyone will make them royalty." This was aimed at the lady on the other side of them, an old rich lady wearing more jewels than the queen and giving them a decidedly snobby look. She sniffed and looked away. "They clearly don't know the first thing about being royalty. They can be pompous all they want as long as they prove themselves worthy to rule over their subjects. But if this is all they do, then they will be the first I destroy when I have your world." She waved her hand dismissively. The old lady harrumphed and snapped her menu shut, scowling at the queen.
"Excuse me, sir, and madam."
Andrew jumped when the waiter arrived.
"What can I get for you?" the waiter asked.
Andrew ordered the cheapest thing on the menu. The queen, naturally, ordered the most expensive. The waiter wrote it down, then looked at them both again before leaving. Andrew sighed and put his head in his hands. He bet the people in the kitchen were talking about them already…strange man, that Ketterley, you know, odd fellow who let in a madwoman saying she was from another world, and she's sitting here insulting all the guests. That's what they would say.
"And this is supposed to be the greatest city in your world?" she said, loudly and scornfully. "My city had grand structures that reached to the sky and a palace in which one room alone could rival any of the buildings I have seen here. And this architecture, what utter rubbish! I will have all your architects executed immediately, if they aren't already dead. And what sort of establishment is this? In my world, the food would be prepared already and served upon our arrival. And here you must wait for it? And they're all positively slow. I will find new ones when I build my palace here. Perhaps I will just have this city destroyed entirely and rebuilt from scratch."
By then the few people who weren't looking at them were, and Andrew held his menu up in front of his face. There were some people here that Andrew had met at one point or another, and they were just as offended, or confused, or rolling their eyes, at this as everyone else is. Andrew buried his head in his menu when he heard several people muttering behind him about how poor old Ketterley must really be getting old if he went around bringing drunk women dressed like that into fine establishments like these.
"Slave! Listen to me when I talk to you!"
"Yes, yes, of course," Andrew put the menu down and pretended to be very interested in the tablecloth and the stains that were on the floor from the broken wine bottle.
Finally the food was brought. Andrew barely touched any of it, as he never much cared for fancy food. The queen ate, and all during that time remarked of how barbaric the food preparation was here as well and how she couldn't believe that people lived like this in another world that was supposed to be civilized and it was no wonder they never made as many advancements as Charn if they were like this all the time.
Halfway through the meal, another man showed up. This man was dressed much better than anyone else here, his mustache was bigger, his stomach was bigger, and just about everything else on his person screamed "manager".
"Excuse me, sir," the latest man said. "But as the manager of this facility, I am afraid that I must ask you and your lady to leave."
Andrew looked down at the half-eaten meal, surprised that no one asked sooner.
"There have been more than several complaints by the patrons of this restaurant that your companion has been highly disruptive and making them unable to enjoy their meals. We have a complaint from the maitre d' that…that…" He looked at the queen. "That she threw him across the room. Now while I find that improbably, the maitre d' seems to think otherwise. And I have had a thoroughly dreadful complaint from the former patrons of this table that she came in, knocked off all their food and silverware, and forcibly made them leave. And you don't have a reservation, either." He added as an afterthought. "And therefore I must ask you to pay and leave, if you would."
The queen stood up, and several people at other tables scooted their chairs back.
"You!" the queen said, pointing an accusing finger at the manager. "How dare you speak to me so impudently, fool!" She strode over to the manager and stood above him, hands on her hips, eyes flashing terribly. "You are far under your station to be speaking that way to a great queen such as myself! Why, were you to be in my world, I would have you executed immediately! As it stands, now, I have not yet brought your world at my feet." And this time she picked up the manager by the lapels of his coat, his feet dangling in the air, to the faint sound of the maitre d' in the front of the restaurant shouting "I told you so!"
"Madam!" the manager choked.
"Silence, fool!" she thundered. "I will have no more of this! I will vacate this foul place immediately and it will be the first that I destroy when I have conquered your world. You and all these other barbarians that live here!" And this time she threw the manager all the way across the room, and he landed on a table in the back, right in a man's pot roast. Then the table imbalanced, sending the manager, the pot roast, and the potatoes all to the floor. The water, wine, and gravy were splattered on the man and the woman…and the woman's very nice, very expensive dress.
And then the door opened.
"Police!" barked the men at the door. "We have word of a woman who robbed a jeweler of thousands of pounds of jewelry, and we have it on good authority that she came here!"
The queen's head whipped around to look at the officers. She left the table and walked to the door, snatching a large candlestick off the closest table. Then she brought it down on the first officer's head, and once he fell, she ripped the club from his belt and used it on the other two officers, and in a matter of seconds, all three officers were unconscious on the floor of the restaurant.
"Slave!" roared the queen as she kicked the bodies aside and walked out the door. A few seconds later, Andrew heard the startled shout of the cabby, a loud, terrified whinny of the horse, and the sound of the cab clattering down the street away from the restaurant.
"Regrettable violence," Andrew muttered, standing up. "Really must go." He dropped the money on the table, straightened his collar, adjusted his hat…
And then ran out the door as fast as he could.