So she says, and instantly proves the whole strumpet thing all over again with the provocative arch of her leg. Stephen shoots Gwenaëlle another look, implicitly communicating something along the lines of I know what you’re doing and I’m actually powerless to stop it so I’m just gonna have to sit here and suffer. Thanks.

There’s a recurring trait to the people he’s drawn to. It’s always the ones who push him, who challenge him, who don’t take his shit and leave him a little discombobulated —

“Someday we’ll get to have a little vacation on the beach in Rivain or the like,” he says, both warning and affectionate and perhaps a little wistful, “and we won’t be surrounded by our colleagues, and this will play out very differently.”