The velvet glove

John Berridge, celebrated American author and playwright, is attending a social gathering at the studio of an artistic sponsor, Madame Gloriani. Berridge had traveled to Paris to attend a production of one of his plays and to meet the wealthy patrons who use his fame to warrant their own expensive but superficial membership of any lavish clique. To this salon Madame Gloriani invites the fashionable people and also those who want to attract the attention of the upper class. Berridge is so accustomed to these soirees that occasionally he becomes inattentive. This is how he meets aspiring author Amy Evans whose young restlessness overtakes Berridge in an attempt to show him "The Velvet Glove," the new book she has written, and to ask him to write a preface to it. Because he is temporarily confounded by her public bravery, he allows her to occupy his benumbed courtesy until he discovers they are in a taxi driving to her home where she has promised his supper. He is suddenly focused on this predicament and realizes that his mumbled niceties will not be accomplished. The rest of this encounter demonstrates Berridge's unpolished compassionless manner of extricating himself from this tangle of assumptions, expectations, and promises. Please Note: This book is easy to read in true text, not scanned images that can sometimes be difficult to decipher. The Microsoft eBook has a contents page linked to the chapter headings for easy navigation. The Adobe eBook has bookmarks at chapter headings and is printable up to two full copies per year. Both versions are text searchable.