“It can be,” Effie said, more diplomatic than she usually was about her job, which was, more than anything, a means of supporting herself, and not that – stimulating, usually. But it could certainly be worse (being a secretary, or governessing), and if Miss Selden was trying to imply she and Brooks had a shared intellect on some higher plane, well – Effie was sure she could keep up.

“Are these your family’s books, or are some of these your own?” she asked hurriedly, to hopefully rebuff any more questions in advance. Miss Selden had mentioned her cursebreaker cousin, but there were full shelves of books on curses here.

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