to say what you feel is to make your own grave [introduction]

[thatcherly]

All right, so people--namely, Mrs. Kidd and her husband--were upset about Marlene's promotion. So what? If Howard Kidd had had a heart attack because she got promoted, then he could die, for all Marlene cares. She doesn't have time for niceties, particularly with men who looked down upon her

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[regency_twihard]

Here's a fellow Brit, sitting in the main room, a pot of tea and a tray of scones and clotted cream at her elbow, though she'll likely look like someone out of a Jane Austen costume drama on "the Beeb" or ITV.

Right now, she's reading some book called "Practical Magic", though there's not a whole lot of magic in it, and the women in it are a bit scandalous at times.

[thatcherly]

She sees the young woman and smiles a little. Marlene never used to read like that, but she does love a good book from time to time.

"May I ask what you're reading?" she says, rather politely, standing a distance away.

[regency_twihard]

She looks up. "Oh, I am sorry that I did not greet you sooner," she says, turning the book over. "It's an American novel by one Mrs. Alice Hoffman, entitled 'Practical Magic'. It's not quite as magical as the title would suggest, unless one thinks of family love and the love between sisters and mothers and daughters as a kind of magic.

"I'm Catherine Morland. And you might be...?"

[thatcherly]

"Marlene," she says crisply, still smiling, however. "I'm new here. I'm afraid I haven't heard of the novel."

[regency_twihard]

She curtseys, formal but friendly. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Madame Marlene," she says. "And I had not heard of it till I came here to this place. The library here is very well-stocked."

[thatcherly]

"Really? That's charming," she says. "Do you read a lot?"

[regency_twihard]

"Indeed: I mean to become a better, if not a great writer, and to do so, I am told, one must read many things, good and bad, to learn one's craft," she says.

[thatcherly]

"You're very smart to do that," Marlene says, grinning a little. "Clever girl."

[regency_twihard]

She beams, blushing. "Thank you, Madame Marlene," she says. "I hope to be at least as good a writer as Mrs. Radcliffe or Mrs. Anne Rice, both of whom I admire."

[thatcherly]

"So, what do you like to write about?" she asks.

[regency_twihard]

"I suppose that I like to write tales of the fantastic," she says. "Ordinary life can be...rather uninspiring, and so I write about the extraordinary.

"I have only written one book so far and I have another which I hope to put in print soon: there is a small printing press in the basement."

[thatcherly]

"Oh, that's fascinating," Marlene says, grinning a little. "I never was much of a reader, to be honest."

[regency_twihard]

"Some people are and some people aren't: but there is something in this place for everyone," she says.

[thatcherly]

"I hope I find that here," she says, and she means it.

[regency_twihard]

"May I ask...what position did you have in your world? You seem like a woman of some authority," she notes. She's heard of women having important jobs in other worlds...

[thatcherly]

"I worked at an employment agency," she says easily. "I did have some authority there, yes."