A lady? Combeferre was polite enough not to comment upon this revelation, but surely his surprise showed on his face for a moment. This clever, pretty, practical girl did not fit any of the images, half-sympathetic or otherwise, that he had of aristocracy.
"There is a power in work," he agreed thoughtfully instead. "And usefulness can make the days sweeter. I confess, I have so much idle time at the moment, I barely know what to do with myself. 'tis unsettling." And even when he did begin his study again, his days would stretch ahead strangely empty with no secret meetings, no clandestine munitions runs, no staying up to wee hours, bent over tables in rooms filled with candle smoke, drafting words that might change the world. "This was the war they called the First World War, oui?" He had done some reading, enough to discover that not all the future was bright, and not all progress was ushered forward for the good.
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"There is a power in work," he agreed thoughtfully instead. "And usefulness can make the days sweeter. I confess, I have so much idle time at the moment, I barely know what to do with myself. 'tis unsettling." And even when he did begin his study again, his days would stretch ahead strangely empty with no secret meetings, no clandestine munitions runs, no staying up to wee hours, bent over tables in rooms filled with candle smoke, drafting words that might change the world. "This was the war they called the First World War, oui?" He had done some reading, enough to discover that not all the future was bright, and not all progress was ushered forward for the good.