madamemoreauâ:
âOh, thatâs funny,â Vivienne said, adopting a pensive expression. âI always thought you might be quite good to have around, if you need a punch or two thrown at someone.â She throws her friend a wink. âNo idea why, but there you are!â
âMmm. Well youâre definitely doing better than me then, love!â Vivienne glanced around them before wandering to a desk and perching on it. âOh, not at all! If anyone forgets having the pleasure of your company, perhaps itâs best to assume the poor dear is a bit dim.â She pauses slightly. âThatâs terrible, isnât it? ⌠Oh well, heâs not here to hear me. What do I care?!â
She wondered whose arm mightâve been lucky enough to be attached to Lusineâs that night. It hadnât escaped her â over the years, as sheâd gotten close to some of Parisâs ladies of the night â that there was a sizeable chance that some of their most generous clients might be gentlemen who Vivienne had shared the odd glass of wine or bit of chat with herself. Once or twice, sheâd even wondered about mentioning a name or two, to see how astute her theories might be. Mostly, she had held off, thinking it was tacky. But sheâd be lying if she said she wasnât curious.
Vivienneâs gaze followed Lusineâs to the bookshelf. Before long, she couldnât resist the urge to make her way over. âWell,yes, exactly! I shouldâve taken that as some sort of hint, really. Old Reginaldââ At least, she thinks thatâs his name â âHe must be about 91, by the look of him. I vaguely remembered him as being quite charming a number of years ago, so I had thought I might be in for some fun. He is sweet, in a rather musty way. Not much for dancing though, sadly.â
Her eyes fall on the book again. âAnything to note in that? A nice murder, or something? An earnest proposal of marriage, maybe?â A smile suddenly crosses her face. âYouâre really a sappy romance reader? Hmm. I ought to have sent you one or two, to keep you company on your travels.â
âA musty way!â Lusine exploded into a bout of giggles. âPoor dearâ both you and him. Iâm unsure if thereâs such a thing already, but if not, there really ought to be some type of etiquette-like classes for these men to take that will help them know how to properly interact with women.âÂ
Lusine shook her head at the flipping pages beneath her. âThen again, they do just fine without it, donât they?â she said with an apparent bitterness on her tongue. âEven if there was such a thing, their pride wouldnât dare--âÂ
âIâm rambling!â she said in a quick breath, snapped the book shut, and placed it back on the shelf. âNothing interesting in here, Iâm afraid, just numbers and such. It would be wonderful to open one of these bricks only to find that itâs been hollowed out with a copy of Venus in Furs tucked inside.â Her fingers grazed the many spines on the shelf before the hand dropped to her side. âToo much to wish for, I suppose.âÂ
âSometimes,â she admitted to the question. âThey can be quite entertaining, depending on the story. Some are funny, some sweet, others are... well... Do you not indulge from time to time?âÂ











