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Authors: MaryJanice Davidson
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again.
"I was in a group that came to pay tribute after Nostro's , ah, accident on the grounds. Perhaps you didn't notice me."
"No, definitely not." Then, because it's possible she was disappointed (but who could tell? she was a damn robot), I added, "Sorry if I missed you in the crowd."
"Quite all right, my queen. Of late you had… a full agenda."
I laughed unwittingly. The robot had been programmed to make amusing observations! "That's one way of putting it."
"Something to drink? We have a Chateau Leoville Poyferre you might like."
We did?
"My king, that is as tempting an offer as I've received all year, but I must return to my duties. I only came by to beg the queen a favor."
She did? At least she was speaking English.
"Well," I said, "come on in."
"Thank you, my queen."
To save time, we took the parlor right next to the front hall, and ole Marjie got right to it.
"As you know, I am head of the library downtown."
She
was
a librarian! I pretended like I knew, and nodded.
"I am starting a newsletter for the vampire community."
"You are?"
"It was your idea, my queen. ' Fer cryin ' out loud, why don't you guys get a newsletter or something, I mean, cripes.'"
Sinclair grinned. "It has the ring of authenticity."
"When did I say that?"
"On the occasion of our first meeting, which you do not remember."
"Well, excuse me, I might have had a few things on my mind that day! If you don't come right up and introduce yourself, don't bitch about me not remembering you!"
"I apologize again," Marjorie said tonelessly, "for all my shortcomings."
"And you're stealing lines from
Gone With the Wind
!"
At last, the robot loosened up a little. She even smiled a little. "You have seen the movie?"
"Only about eight thousand times. It's not in the book, but it's a great scene… the one where Rhett almost gets called out, but he won't fight because he knows he can totally kick everybody's ass, and killing Charles Hamilton would be annoying and a big waste, so he just bows and leaves."
"I think that touches on a rather large theme of the book
and
the movie," Marjorie said thoughtfully, crossing her ankles like a lady. "Because we see Rhett's bad side frequently, but usually we only see his good side in relation to Scarlett ."
"Yeah, like when he brought her the hat after the blockades tightened, and stole a horse for her so she could
get
out of town and see her mom. Who was dead. But Scarlett didn't know that."
Marjie was smiling patiently through my excited interruption. "But here, he has a chance to shoot a man from his own hated planter class, in a way that is societally acceptable, and instead, he—"
"Vamooses to the library, which is where he meets Scarlett and all that other stuff happens."
"Love. Death. War." She sighed. "Those were the days."
I ignored the uber -creepiness of the psycho librarian and went on in the same, uh, vein. "You know, I never thought of it like that! That from the very beginning, he was redeemable."
Marjorie shrugged. "I have been reading that book since the year it was published, and every time, I find something new. Extraordinary!"
Well, shit! Anybody who liked GWtW couldn't be that bad. Right? Right. "Listen, I'm sorry we got off on the wrong foot. I'm terrible with names and faces, and I'm sorry I didn't remember you."
"That's quite all right, my queen," she said, and this time it seemed like she meant it. "As I am here to ask a favor, I'm hardly in a position to sulk."
"Yeah, well. Never stopped me. What's up?"
"Well, as I mentioned earlier, I'm the local librarian."
Local library? As in, there was more than one? "Sure, sure. I remember."
Sinclair shot me a look, which I pretended not to see. He hadn't said a word for a couple minutes, but he seemed relieved we weren't going to scratch each other's eyes out.
"And as I
"I was in a group that came to pay tribute after Nostro's , ah, accident on the grounds. Perhaps you didn't notice me."
"No, definitely not." Then, because it's possible she was disappointed (but who could tell? she was a damn robot), I added, "Sorry if I missed you in the crowd."
"Quite all right, my queen. Of late you had… a full agenda."
I laughed unwittingly. The robot had been programmed to make amusing observations! "That's one way of putting it."
"Something to drink? We have a Chateau Leoville Poyferre you might like."
We did?
"My king, that is as tempting an offer as I've received all year, but I must return to my duties. I only came by to beg the queen a favor."
She did? At least she was speaking English.
"Well," I said, "come on in."
"Thank you, my queen."
To save time, we took the parlor right next to the front hall, and ole Marjie got right to it.
"As you know, I am head of the library downtown."
She
was
a librarian! I pretended like I knew, and nodded.
"I am starting a newsletter for the vampire community."
"You are?"
"It was your idea, my queen. ' Fer cryin ' out loud, why don't you guys get a newsletter or something, I mean, cripes.'"
Sinclair grinned. "It has the ring of authenticity."
"When did I say that?"
"On the occasion of our first meeting, which you do not remember."
"Well, excuse me, I might have had a few things on my mind that day! If you don't come right up and introduce yourself, don't bitch about me not remembering you!"
"I apologize again," Marjorie said tonelessly, "for all my shortcomings."
"And you're stealing lines from
Gone With the Wind
!"
At last, the robot loosened up a little. She even smiled a little. "You have seen the movie?"
"Only about eight thousand times. It's not in the book, but it's a great scene… the one where Rhett almost gets called out, but he won't fight because he knows he can totally kick everybody's ass, and killing Charles Hamilton would be annoying and a big waste, so he just bows and leaves."
"I think that touches on a rather large theme of the book
and
the movie," Marjorie said thoughtfully, crossing her ankles like a lady. "Because we see Rhett's bad side frequently, but usually we only see his good side in relation to Scarlett ."
"Yeah, like when he brought her the hat after the blockades tightened, and stole a horse for her so she could
get
out of town and see her mom. Who was dead. But Scarlett didn't know that."
Marjie was smiling patiently through my excited interruption. "But here, he has a chance to shoot a man from his own hated planter class, in a way that is societally acceptable, and instead, he—"
"Vamooses to the library, which is where he meets Scarlett and all that other stuff happens."
"Love. Death. War." She sighed. "Those were the days."
I ignored the uber -creepiness of the psycho librarian and went on in the same, uh, vein. "You know, I never thought of it like that! That from the very beginning, he was redeemable."
Marjorie shrugged. "I have been reading that book since the year it was published, and every time, I find something new. Extraordinary!"
Well, shit! Anybody who liked GWtW couldn't be that bad. Right? Right. "Listen, I'm sorry we got off on the wrong foot. I'm terrible with names and faces, and I'm sorry I didn't remember you."
"That's quite all right, my queen," she said, and this time it seemed like she meant it. "As I am here to ask a favor, I'm hardly in a position to sulk."
"Yeah, well. Never stopped me. What's up?"
"Well, as I mentioned earlier, I'm the local librarian."
Local library? As in, there was more than one? "Sure, sure. I remember."
Sinclair shot me a look, which I pretended not to see. He hadn't said a word for a couple minutes, but he seemed relieved we weren't going to scratch each other's eyes out.
"And as I
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