A spot of business

[Marie Darrieux]

Marie makes a round of the rooms of Eve, checking that all of the clientele are suitably happy, that her staff are coping and that the delicacies the establishment offers are not being spoiled. The clock in the entranceway chimes two am as she heads back to her office.

She pauses as she closes the door behind her, pleased once again at having made this space her own. A fine mahogany desk stands in one corner whi9le the other side of the room contains two settees and a table with refreshments in between. She sweeps the deep red velvet of her bustled skirt out and sits down to read a letter at her desk, her hand toying with one of her curls as she reads.

[Erika Leroux]

Erika enters Eve, a slight uncertainty lending hesitance to her step. Garbed in her usual subdued outfit and heavy veil, she approaches the nearest staff member available. She gives them her calling card, a simple, understated affair, explaining that she is expected.

[Marie Darrieux]

The middle-aged man in smart suit takes the card with a polite smile and reads it and then bows. "Good evening, and welcome Elder Leroux, Madame Darrieux said to show straight in, please follow me."

He leads her through a corridor past rooms with gauzy curtains and screens so only hints of the people within can be seen, but well-to-do clients can be made out smoking opium and being entertained by staff.

Towards the back of the building, he opens a door in to a room that is part office, part sitting room. "Madame, Elder Leroux to see you."

"Thank you Ford" Marie says in clear dismissal as she stands and then curtsies to Erica. "Good evening, Elder Leroux, it is a pleasure to welcome you here." She indicates the settees. "Would you like any refreshments?"

[Erika Leroux]

Erika smiles and nods her acknowledgement, before sitting.

"Madame Darrieux, I thank you for your warm welcome and your kind offer of refreshment, though the latter is not necessary. Forgive me if I seem somewhat unsettled or my manners are not as they should be. I have not spent as much time as perhaps I should have amongst our kind, and my etiquette is rusty, to say very the least."

She pauses, glances around the room and at Madame Darrieux approvingly, before continuing.

"If truth be told, I do not know where to begin, only that I was advised to speak with you by our mutual aquaintance and my fellow clan member Elder Viktor."

[Marie Darrieux]

Marie laughs easily. "Then I'll not worry too much about my own manners, if that suits you better." She unstoppers a decanter of port and pours a small amount in to a glass, though leaves it on the table.

"To be honest Elder Viktor gave me the same advice and no more explanation. But I think I can say with certainty that he is a man of considerable wisdom and cunning, whom we both respect, so let us assume he has good reason. Perhaps it might help if I explain what I do in the city in more detail?"

"My main work is in finding out anything people want to know about the city's underworld, in putting them in touch with the right people, brokering favours and, I'll be blunt, smuggling. The more profitable side of that is Opium, but I know how to get most goods and even people in and out of the city.

I have also done a few... favours for people like Elder Viktor, deeds people don't want associated with them or traced back to any of our kind."

Marie takes a small almond biscuit from the tin on the table and crumbles a few small pieces on to a plate and then tosses the biscuit in the fire.

"Does any of that sound like it might be of use to you?"

[Erika Leroux]

Erika considers this information. A...favour springs to mind easily. Too easily. She quashes the temptation back - she is here for a reason. If only she could work out wxactly what that reason is.

"Yes, it does. Perhaps not immediately for I have not yet fully found my niche here, but I believe I might be of use to you. From what was said, it felt to me that our mutual friend considered the potential of our working together to be beneficial.

I offer most of the usual knowledge gathering benefits of my clan, with the added benefit of managing Miss Daye. Certain of the more beautiful creatures find my presence more...acceptable because of her."

[Marie Darrieux]

Marie leans back and considers for a moment.

"That is useful indeed. Anything which smooths matters between the Clan of the Rose and my own is helpful, though matters are better here than they are in some cities, no thanks to certain members of the 'line of Kings'!" She says with heavy sarcasm, before she smiles a little at herself.

"I hope you won't find me impertinent of me to say so, but I find your relationship with Miss Daye fascinating. I can easily imagine how much she needs a talented and astute manager to guide her, but I'm curious what led to the arrangement."

[Erika Leroux]

"She needed me."

Erika says this simply, as a mother might about her child.

"She was a broken creature in the gutter, and unable to manage. I saw within her a rare beauty, and it seemed a pity to let such beauty go to waste. I pulled her up off the streets, took her in and gave the songbird a space in which she could sing safely. In return she gave me an outlet for the music that I love and a reason to return, albeit in a different capacity, to that which I once knew so well, the theatre.

In truth, I needed her as much as she needed me."

[Marie Darrieux]

Marie considers this seriously for a few moments. For once there is no smile on her lips, only frank pain.
"I envy you two your bond if I'm honest. You have managed to find something which makes your nights worthwhile, something which brings light. I... thought I'd found someone who gave me that, but I don't think he and I are destined to be able to help each other."

"You seem a good soul Elder Leroux. Maybe not as mortals judge such matters, but I get the strong impression we believe in the same things."

[Erika Leroux]

Erika reaches to touch Madame Darrieux's arm, but pulls back as she does so, settling instead for a sympathetic smile. It's faintly disconcerting on one with such features, but her blue eyes show honest compassion.

"I fear that with or without bonds we are destined to feel pain. I consider myself lucky in finding such a light, yet she dazzles so bright on occasion I am frightened she will burn me. Though I fear the darkness more.

Madame Darrieux, if there is any solace I might offer, be it simply an ear of an evening, then I offer it in friendship. For I agree with your impression."