Memoirs of Les Amis de l'ABC

Chapter Twenty: Many Impossible Things

Never in her life had Sybill Fauchelevent appreciated how unbearably boisterous silence could be.

As Enjolras and Sybill sat in the Cafe Musain that afternoon, neither soul spoke a word as both were determined to suffer the silence. It was maddening. Behind Enjolras was window where the sun decided now was an opportune time to shine directly behind the golden-haired boy which created the appearance of a golden halo fitted to his head. His features appeared darker due to the beautiful light behind him. He was utterly absorbed in a volume with a title that Sybill could not quite read.She spared one glance at the man but upon noticing how stunning he appeared she regretted her choice at once. 

On the table before her, Sybill spotted a newspaper. To avoid the imposing figure before her trying to converse, she began to flip through it rather absentmindedly. It was difficult for the woman to calm herself to the point of doing such a menial, trivial task for she felt the most anxious she had in all of her years at this moment although she did not show it. Her expression seemed utterly casual to a fault. Her eyes followed words across the page in a trance. Although her hair had been carefully pinned that morning, strands had fallen from it in strange, small curls around her face. Enjolras looked to the woman once before biting his lip and returning to his book. 

Sybill did not notice for her eyes espied the thing she realized she must have been secretly searching for.

On the back of the paper, there was an advert which simply read:
Friday, 1 November of 1831. Noontide. In God's Eyes.

Sybill stared at the little advertisement. She read it four times over. Five times. Six times. It still did not make sense to her. Twelve times over she read the advert, and its cryptic message without fully being capable of comprehending what this meant.

How could this be? How could the man respond? How could this man wish to speak to her? Well, it was not truthfully Sybill Fauchelevent nor Nadine Proulx he called for. General Lamarque was searching for a learned man to debate ideals with, except he knew not that the anonymous man was a lady. What had she thought when she wrote to him? How utterly rash and juvenile! She could not attend a meeting with the General for she had learned only moments ago that he was not fond of women at all. Her mind raced with the sudden realization that she would have to reply to the man and soon.

Enjolras noticed Sybill's change in demeanor from across the table. He glanced at the paper that was before her. There was nothing peculiar that he could make out about the articles. His eyes flickered to the advertisement that Sybill had repeatedly read, but he could not grasp the meaning even of that cryptic message. Nothing appeared extraordinary about the page she was on for the entirety of it was advertisements. For some reason, Enjolras could detect that she was utterly panicked for the woman did not appear to breathe. A bead of sweat was on her forehead.

"Are you ill?" he whispered lowly. Even he heard how strange his voice sounded considering the pair were alone so he quickly cleared his throat to remedy the situation.

Sybill Fauchelevent nearly gasped from surprise at Enjolras's voice. Her breath caught immediately. Her green eyes flared to the man before her at once. The gaze was so fierce but with a terror that silenced him from speaking more. However, the fierce eyes also proved a challenge to him, and he cleared his throat again. There were no words spoken between the two, but their eyes were locked on one another.

"What is it that vexes you so, mademoiselle?" Enjolras finally inquired calmly.

"I would not anticipate it being of any relevance to the gentleman before me therefore I would not wish to distract you from the importance of your work with such uninteresting trifles," replied Sybill sardonically. Her demeanor proved her poised and distant although inwardly she felt herself scolding her wit for potentially earning her another round of banishment from Musain.