EXTRACT FOR
Ondine
(Giselle Renarde)

When the porter helped me into my chair??"no easy task considering the girth of my gown??"and my ample skirts brushed Mr Drinkwater's stocking leg, he turned to me and my fingers went numb.  When he greeted me, "Hello again, Ms Fon," I lost my power of speech.



Sure, I'd considered the man an elitist bastard earlier in the evening, but champagne can cure even the most accurate of first impressions.  As I gazed at the man seated beside me, I found him staggeringly handsome and even rather charming.



"You must have made a deal with the devil," I said to Drinkwater, clasping his forearm a little too tightly.



"I beg your pardon?" he asked, considering me with a degree of suspicion.



His eyes were so like Gavin's they made me weak.



"Your skin is so smooth," I replied.  "There must be a portrait of you somewhere that keeps getting older while you stay young."



The porter, standing forgotten at my side, leaned over to whisper something in Drinkwater's ear.  They nodded, and the boy took his leave, returning moments later with a cup of black coffee in hand.   Reaching over my watercress salad, he replaced my wine glass with the coffee cup and Drinkwater instructed me like a nursemaid to drink up.



That was the moment I realized I couldn't say no to him.