The fire had built itself up properly by the time Vivienne put the ledger down.
Not closed it. Put it down. There was a distinction. Closing it would have been an admission. Putting it down was a temporary reallocation of attention, which was a different thing entirely and she was going to keep calling it that.
She looked at Eleanor.
Eleanor was writing something. Whatever it was, it was getting her full attention.... or the appearance of her full attention, which Vivienne had begun to understand were not always the same thing. Eleanor was capable of writing correspondence and reading a room simultaneously, and the room she was currently reading contained Vivienne, and Vivienne was going to have to say something eventually.
