A letter dated January 19, 2005
My Dearest Bridgette,
New York City has been a great deal of fun these past few years. The casino does well here and it would fit quite nicely with your tastes and styles. I know it has been far too long since the last time I wrote you, but you must forgive me, I have been very busy going from here to there and building the casino so that I may send you back some money to keep you in the lifestyle that you have grown accustom to. Now don’t pout when reading that, you and I both know it is true that you have come to expect a certain level of freedom and frivolity in your life and someone has to pay for it so do take my words as they are meant and not twist them into something monstrous.
My friends are as they always have been though I am deeply concerned with the fact that it appears that the games are starting once more. Perhaps they never stopped and I simply chose to not pay attention to them, but I think there are games that you play with your friends and games you play with your enemies and the two are certainly not the same. I am feeling like the line between the two has begun to be crossed and I fear that I do not have the stomach to stick a knife in the back of a friend; it simply does not feel right. I don’t have many that I would call friend and the ones that I do possess I like to remain so. They are my friend for a reason.
There was a formal event that I have recently attended and a number of those that were in attendance truly made an impressive show. A dear friend of mine from New Hampshire came down with a number of others from his city and made an excellent showing for themselves. They were all well mannered and quite gracious and were very quick to accept me into their conversational circles. One was wearing a beautiful dress with dragons that was quite exquisite; you would have loved to have had it in your closet. Others were dressed in the varying styles of the modern times, a few from times of the past in the city, but all looked fabulous. Well, all save a few looked fabulous. There was a, well, there was a pirate that was there and I truly wished he had attended in full regale instead of just his hat; he would have made an impressive presentation had he done so. There were a few others that chose to not wear the appropriate attire and it did bring down the overall luster and shine of the evening.
There was also a great to do about someone doing a few things that apparently were not as subtle as he would have liked them to be as he was accused and dealt with that very night. It turns my stomach to think how uncouth some in our society truly are in what they do, but in some cases they are in a position that allows them a certain leeway in dolling out what they believe is their privilege, their prerogative. As in all things, time will change who is allowed to do what and to what extent they are allowed to do so. I look back to my time with W and D in Dodge and it is remarkable that their luck held out for as long as it had. Why D was one of the luckiest poker players I had ever had the privilege to sit at a table with. Now, what made it more embarrassing was that the man sipped whiskey all day long and I could have sworn that he was half-drunk every moment of every day, but a sharper wit and surer shot I have never come across. They were young guns then, but to get to my point they eventually grew old and moved on to another phase of thier lives giving way to others, new young guns, that played the same game but were of an age to do so. There is always someone just around the corner that is stronger, smarter or faster, though perhaps in D's case not faster.
I did travel up to Hartford for a little bit and I must say that the city simply is not New York. It is pleasant enough and nothing occurred that troubled me, but I prefer the lights, the hustle and the bustle of this city. I did meet a lovely lady there and she granted me the honor of spending some time with me and allowing me to get to know her. She has a fire and spirit about her that I truly marvel at, she is quite vigorous. She is also quite intelligent and the combination is mesmerizing. I will be heading a bit farther north to visit that same friend that visited New York as well as a few others that live there. I expect it to be a wonderful time and am looking forward to spending some time in the quieter city.
Now Bridgette, you must tell me when you will visit so that I may make certain that everything is in order here. Please do write me soon, I do love receiving your letters. I have greatly missed your presence and your skills of conversation.
With Everlasting Adoration,
Marcel