It was a bold thing to say; it had Don Juan smiling in response. There was something about her, he thought — in the haze of drinks he'd already consumed it was hard to pinpoint what it was. Was it just that she was attractive, or was there something else? Her voice had a ring to it that was pleasing on the ear.

"No, no," he said with a languid shrug, still smiling. "You all can get away with so much, if you look like that while you do it." The look he offered her was lascivious. Flattery would get you everywhere, and all that. Someone had said that; he forgot where the phrase had come from. But she did look good, with the form fitting dress, and her hair done like that. She looked like she'd worked at it. It wasn't hard to distinguish the women who were dressing up, putting on a show of themselves, from the ones who were just going through the motions.

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