Effie did her best to keep her expression neutral as the other woman sat down nearby to the new fireplace – she was going to keep supervising her, wasn’t she?
“I’m afraid that I know very little about you, Miss Selden,” Effie answered with clipped politeness, if not any real apology. She knew some bare facts about her, of course (she was a few years older than Effie; she worked as a librarian; her family was American); and certainly what she had done to Brooks... but her demurral of the question may as well have meant Mr. Watson doesn’t talk about you at all, in fact. “But I’m glad to make your acquaintance.”
In so far as this was actually making her acquaintance, with Effie on call here, and in the less-dignified position of having to repair their Floo. She shot a lingering glance at the bookshelves before lowering herself to the fireplace to begin work on the rerouting. If she was enduring this arrangement, she may as well learn as much about Miss Selden as she could while she was here.
“I’m afraid that I know very little about you, Miss Selden,” Effie answered with clipped politeness, if not any real apology. She knew some bare facts about her, of course (she was a few years older than Effie; she worked as a librarian; her family was American); and certainly what she had done to Brooks... but her demurral of the question may as well have meant Mr. Watson doesn’t talk about you at all, in fact. “But I’m glad to make your acquaintance.”
In so far as this was actually making her acquaintance, with Effie on call here, and in the less-dignified position of having to repair their Floo. She shot a lingering glance at the bookshelves before lowering herself to the fireplace to begin work on the rerouting. If she was enduring this arrangement, she may as well learn as much about Miss Selden as she could while she was here.
