Chéri smiled with gratitude and nodded. The lady was wondering alone, so, they assumed, she could walk at least most of the way to the Diamond Pony without being embarrassed. They offered her the most inconvenient of the packages, the long, skinny one and made a gesture “thank you, madame.” They added, in a formal French.

“To the Diamond Pony, Madame” alternatively, if she was, Chéri would have rather have her abandon them right away. “But you can leave things to me on the corner, it will be a smaller distance.” There was a grateful warmth in their smile that expressed what the less than chatty frenchman wasn’t going to say.