Obscurity, The Twenty-Fourth Chapter
In which a young debutante celebrates her engagement.
e 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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