Re: The Secretary/The Crowned
"I didn't know," Mary said, looking up from the book she had been reading, "that we were permitted food and drink in the sitting car." She closed the book, placing a dark ribbon in it as a bookmark, and set it down next to her reticule. "Is that usual, on this train, or is it only permitted now that we've stopped?" She hesitated perceptibly between the penultimate word and the last, as if she had been considering some other and decided against, in favor of the blander term that had ultimately come from her lips.
She looked the man in the seat across from hers over carefully, taking in what she could from his appearance and making some determination, carefully. The scrutiny apparently did not find him wanting. She offered him a pleasant, if somewhat thin, smile. "Mary Jones-Foley," she offered. "Traveling on business with my employer. I'm usually not so forward but I suppose in this case the roof necessarily constitutes an introduction."