“Thomas Nashe?” Her cheeks burned; she hadn’t heard of him but the way this conversation had started did not give Adrienne much hope that he would make a sudden departure from the current topic. The Choise of Valentines sounded a bit more familiar to her, but not by much. Perhaps it was only the word Valentines that Adrienne knew. She shook her head, still decidedly looking downward, examining his boots. It was a mistake to take another sip of tea just then.

The perfunctory tone combined with his suggestion of her seeking pleasure elsewhere - on her own - caused an involuntary gasp to whistle down her throat in a mixture of air and hot tea which then caused her to nearly double over as she coughed. “I - I beg your pardon,” She wheezed, hand over her mouth as tears stung her eyes. She was entirely at a loss as to what to say next. Mercifully; painfully; she continued to cough and had to settle on placing the teacup down before she clapped another hand over her mouth and turned three quarters away.

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