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Obscurity 1 Obscurity, The Prologue Free 2 Obscurity, The First Chapter Free 3 Obscurity, The Second Chapter Free 4 Obscurity, The Third Chapter Free 5 Obscurity, The Fourth Chapter Free 6 Obscurity, The Fifth Chapter Free 7 Obscurity, The Sixth Chapter Free 8 Obscurity, The Seventh Chapter Free 9 Obscurity, The Eighth Chapter Free 10 Obscurity, The Ninth Chapter Free 11 Obscurity, The Tenth Chapter Free 12 Obscurity, The Eleventh Chapter Free 13 Obscurity, The Twelfth Chapter For paid subscribers 14 Obscurity, The Thirteenth Chapter Free 15 Obscurity, The Fourteenth Chapter Free 16 Obscurity, The Fifteenth Chapter Free 17 Obscurity, The Sixteenth Chapter Free 18 Obscurity, The Seventeenth Chapter Free 19 Obscurity, The Eighteenth Chapter Free 20 Obscurity, The Nineteenth Chapter Free 21 Obscurity, The Twentieth Chapter Free 22 Obscurity, The Twenty-First Chapter Free 23 Obscurity, The Twenty-Second Chapter Free 24 Obscurity, The Twenty-Third Chapter Free 25 Obscurity, The Twenty-Fourth Chapter Free 26 Obscurity, The Twenty-Fifth Chapter Free 27 Obscurity, The Twenty-Sixth Chapter Free 28 Obscurity, The Twenty-Seventh Chapter Free 29 Obscurity, The Twenty-Eighth Chapter Free 30 Obscurity, The Twenty-Ninth Chapter Free 31 Obscurity, The Thirtieth Chapter Free 32 Obscurity, The Thirty-First Chapter Free 33 Obscurity, The Thirty-Second Chapter Free 34 Obscurity, The Thirty-Third Chapter Free 35 Obscurity, The Thirty-Fourth Chapter Free 36 Obscurity, The Thirty-Fifth Chapter Free 37 Obscurity, The Thirty-Sixth Chapter Free 38 Obscurity, The Thirty-Seventh Chapter Free 39 Obscurity, The Thirty-Eighth Chapter Free 40 Obscurity, The Thirty-Ninth Chapter Free 41 Obscurity, The Fortieth Chapter Free 42 Obscurity, The Epilogue Free

Obscurity, The Twenty-Fourth Chapter

In which a young debutante celebrates her engagement.

We last read The Twenty-Third Chapter, in which the widow was discovered in a rather unusual part of town. If you have recently joined us, start with The Prologue.

On the most perfect day, five young women took in a picnic luncheon near the bayou’s edge. They had gone to extraordinary measures to plan such an outing and their cooks had prepared the most insatiable meal. There were oysters freshly shucked, the most delicate mignonette, cheeses wrapped in crisp paper, and freshly baked baguettes.

Mlle. G— brought baskets overflowing with peonies from her garden, the very scent of them herbaceous against such a softly gusting afternoon. Mlle. L— provided chilled champagnes from her cellar, the taste of them sweet as a lilac blossom. Mlle. D— had her cook prepare tiny cakes to accompany them, a small rosette adorning each one. And Mlle. A— brought honeycomb for scraping onto their crusts.

Their attire was most decadent, each of them outfitted as though they were to attend a ball later that evening. One lady wore a gown of pink satin, French lace tied at the sleeves and décolleté and a ribbon about her waist. Another wore tulle, which floated around her in soft clouds of blush. Mlle. D— wore a gown of damask, woven with strands of gold so that it highlighted her fair features. And Mlle. A— wore a gown of aquamarine, the silk clinging to the light as though her gown were the very waves of the ocean, shimmering in the sun.

None wore jewelry save the debutante, whose fine necklace would have been a true rarity at the time of our story, much as it would be today. Four hundred diamonds were set into an elaborate collar that dripped delicately into her fine porcelain breast. Her dress was cut to accentuate it, it’s color the most opalescent shade of pearl. Layered skirts formed plumes of taffeta around her as she sat among her friends, the focus of their affections, yet she all too humble to accept them.

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