“What shall we converse about, then, should he overhear us?”
“Perhaps you should evince nostalgia over something, the better to remind him of your age?”
“Clever Jules,” she said. “We could perhaps discuss swords? These little things that they wear nowadays, can you really call them such?”
“Lighter can be an asset, Elisabeth, especially in a duel, when the quicker thrust is often the deciding factor.”
“But I feel less of a swordsman, wielding one? You know my beloved blade at home, it comes up to here on me—” she gestured delicately across her bosom— “yet it has the most marvelous balance, and with proper handling it can thrust faster than anything promenading tonight.”