Tales From the Black Chamber Read Online Free PDF Page A

sense. He wore a smart green blazer with brown twill pants, and a beautiful parchment-colored silk tie that, upon closer inspection, had a pattern that was actually manuscript calligraphy. She thought it might be a Carolingian minuscule hand, but didn’t think it’d be a great first impression were she to grab and scrutinize his tie.
    â€œHi, are you Ms. Wilkinson?”
    â€œCall me Anne.” They shook hands.
    â€œJohn.” He opened the passenger door for her. “Hop in.”
    The car was quite new and had all sorts of sleek instrumentation. “You underplayed how nice your car is, John,” said Anne as he pulled away.
    â€œHey, thank you. I like it a lot. I’ve got a bunch of dinner options for you. You have any preferences?”
    â€œWhatever you like. At the risk of appearing indelicate, I’m starved.”
    â€œDo you like steak?”
    â€œVery much.”
    Ashton drove them downtown to the Capital Grille, an old-fashioned steak house that catered to Washington’s well-heeled population of lobbyists, real-estate developers, and attorneys.
    Anne ordered a rare Delmonico, much to Ashton’s evident satisfaction.
    â€œWow, you really do like steak.”
    â€œI do. Rare, like my books.”
    â€œOw.” He laughed.
    â€œToo cheesy? Actually, I’m a New Mexican. Well-done meat is a Class B felony in the state. Speaking of books, that’s a great tie.”
    â€œThank you. It’s The Death of Simon Magus from a colored version of the Nuremberg Chronicle .”
    â€œWow, that’s really cool. Where did you have that made?”
    â€œI actually found it in a hotel gift shop.”
    â€œCrazy! I actually saw a 1491 Latin first-edition in person once. During my year abroad, by coincidence, I went to the Ny Carlsberg Glyptothek in Copenhagen while they were having this exhibit of medieval esoterica. It was just amazing. Did you know that it’s possible that a young Dürer worked on the illustrations as an apprentice?”
    â€œI did not.”
    â€œIt’s true. My girlfriends went off to Tivoli, but I stayed the whole afternoon, even though they only had nineteen books on display. I’d get to the end, then start over. That was probably the moment at which it became inevitable that I’d end up as a rare-book nerd.”
    â€œOh, so your interest extends beyond their monetary value?”
    â€œTruth be told, as much as I like my job, it’s mostly a pretext to get my hands on lost, old, and rare books. It’s just for a short time, usually, but there’s nothing like actually reading them while you can touch them and smell them and hear the pages turn. It’s electric; it’s like a little time machine. But I’m babbling. I’m sure working for the Coolidge Foundation, you’re no stranger to the charms of old books.”
    â€œLove them. But hey, if you don’t mind my saying so, aren’t you a bit of a real expert on some of this stuff? I Googled you to find out your contact information, and found you’ve actually got a bibliography.”
    â€œWell, yeah.” Anne took a drink of her Zinfandel. “I don’t really consider myself a scholar, but I got interested in the content first, then the books as art and craft, and finally as a way to make a living.”
    â€œA pretty nice one, I take it. Congratulations on making partner.”
    â€œHow did you know about that?”
    â€œI spoke to Richard Edgecombe when I was trying to track you down.”
    â€œOh. Well, thanks.”
    â€œBack to your articles—they’re all about esoteric, occult, and unique books. Is that your thing?”
    â€œYes. When I was a girl, I was really interested in magic and ghosts and vampires and all of that, and it stuck with me.”
    â€œReally? I find it hard to picture you as a Goth.”
    â€œOh, hardly, no, I was math team, debate, all that sort of stuff. I got