Orfeo Read Online Free Page B

himself across from her, he could not help but remark: “Yet this one seems particularly fine.”
    She smiled at this, her copper-red hair shining brilliantly in the sun as she moved her head, but she did not respond immediately. Instead, she took the hem of her delicately patterned coat and rubbed it softly between her fingertip and thumb, enjoying the sensation of the smooth fabric.
    “Do you like my ao dai ? I bought it from some Vietnamese woman in Algiers. I suspect it was intended for her daughter and at first she tried to convince me it wouldn’t fit but I knew otherwise. As soon as I saw it I had to possess it.”
    Baptiste smiled at this. “Thus it ever was. And yes, I do like it. You look... radiant in it. For some reason, however, I suspect your radiance today has less to do with a pretty outfit.” Leaning back in his chair he watched her with amused eyes.
    Lifting one of her bare feet into the chair beside her thigh, even Baptiste could not resist her charms for a moment. The arch of her foot was so small and delightful, like her slender torso half-hidden, half-revealed by the silk jacket pulled across it, that part of him wanted to kiss her. He shook his head at this and put the aberration down to the fact that these Vietnamese clothes made her look more boyish than usual. When he looked at her face he saw that she was smiling at him while she teased one of her auburn locks and dangled it against her lips.
    “He was here last night,” she said at last. Again her eyes sparkled as she spoke.
    Baptiste made a mock show of disgust. “Then I’m surprised you have any time for an old man today.” He paused and stared at her, taking in her aspect admiringly. She was radiant. “Though if you do have time, I expect to hear all the gory details.”
    “Gory?” she scoffed. “Since when have you become so melodramatic?”
    “I was born that way,” he said with feigned resignation. “It is the burden I have to bear, along with my poor choice in friends.”
    It was Ardyce’s turn to make a show of outrage now. “Is that how you see me?” her voice rose almost to a shriek and as she raised herself up into her seat the pale skin of her cheeks flushed red. “I should have you turned out of this house immediately.”
    “At least then I’d be able to find suitable refreshments,” he replied immediately, fanning himself once more with his hat. “I’ve been here almost half an hour and I’m still waiting for somebody—anybody—to offer me a drink.”
    Raising a hand to her mouth, Ardyce blushed more deeply now. “Oh, Baptiste, I’m so sorry. My mind’s been on... other things this morning. I’m far too dreamy to pay attention to all the proper details, so you must forgive me.”
    “You are forgiven, as always. But a drink would be appreciated...”
    Ringing a bell she asked him: “What would you like—a Sazerac? A Fizz?”
    “It’s barely midday! My liver will never forgive me if I start that way before two. A lemonade will do very nicely.”
    She smiled at this and looked up to see one of the maids, a young black woman named Lucy, enter the orangery. “A lemonade and one of my specials.”
    “So,” Baptiste said as the woman left the room. “Was it all that you expected?”
    Ardyce’s eyes shone as she regarded her friend. “More, much more.”
    Baptiste sighed. “Then I presume he’s one of those poor unfortunates who is thoroughly and resolutely heterosexual.”
    “You keep your hands off him, you old goat. I told you last night—he’s mine, all mine.”
    “Another toy to play with?”
    For the first time Ardyce frowned and she regarded Baptiste with suspicious eyes. “It’s not like that, not this time.”
    Once more he sighed. “It never is.”
    “I’m serious, Baptiste. This is different.”
    “It always is. I still remember the last one... wasn’t he some rich kid from California?”
    “Grant?” She waved her hands dismissively. “That was so long ago —and this