Fox and Rabbit

Chapter 7

December brought a delightful white snow that coated the city like a blanket. Fires roared in every fireplace, and the smells of wine and pine were thick throughout the house. It would have been a pleasant time, should have, but with Vivienne's nerve Gabriel felt he was always walking a razor's edge. Several times he went to spend a night at their villa, usually after an argument or when his nightmares and hallucinations threatened to drive him to insanity. There they could not follow him. There he could be alone in his loneliness. The rooms collected dust and silence, but he found solace in their creaking quiet. He would wind up the little music box and place it on the nightstand, and it would play him a lullaby.

One cold evening, Gabriel went to a cabaret with Antoine and his friend, a count's daughter. Her name was Celine, and though she was too giddy and frivolous, she was much fun. She wore a huge wig of golden coils, adorned with bows and butterflies, and her cheeks were rouged with drink.

"Tell me, does your wife really own an Indian elephant?" she asked, calling for more champagne. "And an African zebra, too," Gabriel said. "Oh and she has the most prettiest red macaw."

"Does he talk?"

Gabriel winked. "He does, though he says some filthy things I couldn't tell you, mademoiselle."

"Oh!" Celine laughed, snorting into her glass. "What a bad bird!"

Antoine reached over and tickled her neck gently. "Nothing worse than what you've heard I'm sure, my darling."

"Your mouth is filthier than the stench of Paris and its rot," Celine said.

"My mouth is exquisite."

"Alright, Antoine, that we all know," Gabriel said. "It never ceases its exquisite yapping, either."

"Guilty." Antoine downed his glass and leaned back in his seat. "Cards, anyone?"

Celine clapped her hands together. "Yes, yes a game of cards!" A man walking past overheard and bent down to pull an ace from behind her ear, to which she giggled and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"You are so silly, Celine dear," Gabriel said as Antoine shuffled a deck.

Celine played with the ace. "Silly pleasures amuse me."

"Oh, you'll like Antoine, then."

"Quit it already, Abadie," Antoine said, playfully shoving Gabriel's shoulder. "Else I'll shuffle you a bad hand."

"I'll win anyways."

"Are we playing for money?" Antoine asked. He looked at Celine and wiggled his brows."Or perhaps something else?"

"Depends on your performance tonight," she sniffed.

"Picky."

"I choose my fun wisely."

Gabriel sipped on his champagne. "If your choice in men is any indication, you're all fun and little wise."

"Well I don't mind a pretty face, either," Celine said, smiling. Gabriel felt her foot slide over his leg under the table. He gave her a charming smile in return and they began their game.

They played a couple of rounds, drank a couple of rounds. Gabriel won something, but it all came jingling out of his pocket for more drinks. Celine tittered and giggled in his lap, while Antoine lay leaning on his shoulder, slurring something. "You are made of money, I think," he said, fingering the collar of Gabriel's shirt.

"Antoine, but your hair is spun from pure gold, and your eyes be two sapphires," Gabriel said. "Your cheeks two blooming rose rubies. You could sell yourself for a fortune."