Re: The Aristocrat/The Carnie
There was as yet no food in front of the Count. His appetite, in public dining cars, was small. He liked small things designed to tease the palate, a flavor unaccounted for, a surprise. The Count enjoyed surprises all the more for rarely being surprised by anything. "I do say," he corrected the boy, with less indulgence and the twist to the corner of his mouth that suggested perhaps a misunderstanding.
The lady would as she would. It was of no account to the Count. She was not in his life, periphery or center and he bothered himself solely with those. He did not run. The shoes on his feet had leather soles, slippery. They were handcrafted and finely polished and had a tassel. The Count liked the tassel, he had seen it on an English gentleman's shoe and much admired it. "Perhaps she did." He sounded bored at the prospect. The Count thought love a fine thing for poets and contemplation. But it was a ruin.
"It is of no account to us." Generously, he included the boy in that assessment.