“So good of you to make the time to come see an old woman,” Ms. Cygne says as she pours Lady a cup of iced tea, clearly angling for a you’re hardly old compliment. “I’ve been so curious how you’ve been. A poor girl like you, all alone in that big house, well, I’d be beside myself if I were your parents.”

Ms. Cygne has been asking Lady to come over on a monthly basis for the last few months, and recently has increased her requests for frequent contact to weekly tea times. It’s always only Ms. Cygne home, but the dessert she sets out – which she expects Lady to only take a sliver from – was clearly made by her cook. Ms. Cygne’s perfectly-manicured nails and “sensitive” nature would make slaving over a hot stove far too vulgar. This time she sets out a pear tart that would look perfect in a storefront window but which will likely be tossed into the trash the second Lady leaves.

“How have your studies been?”