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110: Debates
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2024-10-29 19:42:56“Are you feeling alright, darling?” Andrew asked when Evelyn wandered into the bathroom as he was finishing shaving.
Rubbing tired eyes, she started the shower warming and pulled the curtain around the tub. “Yes,” she replied around a yawn. “I didn’t sleep well though.”
“That much I knew.” He rinsed his razor in the sink, then wiped the shaving soap off one side of his face with a towel. Approving of his handiwork, he wiped the other side, then turned to her for a final confirmation. “You were thrashing around most of the night.”
She rested her hands along his clean-shaven jaw, her fingertips making a little wavy pattern as she drew them together towards his chin, then nodded her approval. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to keep you up too.”
“I didn’t say I was sleeping.” Rehanging the towel, he drained and rinsed the sink, then pivoted to face her again.
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The hotel’s ballroom was a gently baroque style. Its elegant space was replete with all manner of luxuries one would expect of a high-profile hotel, no matter where one might visit in the world—custom paneled with artfully etched-mirror and plaster walls, gold-leafed accents and intricate crown moldings. Above the near-magical dancefloor, which was lit from below, hung in the decorative ceiling, a ponderous crystal chandelier lit the warm wooden dancefloor beneath it. Along the periphery, undulating balconies supported by Corinthian pilasters gave an air of classicism to the space, but one not overly staid. These generous galleries provided seating for those who had only come for a meal, to watch the dancing or to listen to the orchestra. They’d dressed for a late dinner, but though the orchestra played, their music broadcast exactly as Evelyn had always dreamed of experiencing, she and Andrew hadn’t danced. In fact, they hadn’t stayed much longer than
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