However, she was not clueless either. Despite her reluctance, she still politely lifted the hem of her skirt and excused herself from the newly acquainted friends: "Apologies, please allow me to take my leave."
Emily watched as Arthur and Clara walked out of the banquet hall, then turned to inquire with her lady friends.
"Who is she? I just arrived and haven't had a chance to exchange words with her?"
"No idea."
"She seems unfamiliar. I've never seen her at any of the Parisian dances before. She might be a foreign actress desperately trying to make a name for herself in Paris. These days, there are simply too many women of such a lowly kind."
"Then she should attend salons of playwrights or literary societies. If she could latch onto Vini, Hugo, Musset, or Dumas, they could write a starring role for her, and then she could shoot to fame."
