"Ain't this a story, then?" She bites her lip ruefully. "I wanted one of them where the man don't notice the woman for an age, despite her being beautiful and that, but then, there is a fate, like a fairy or that, what brings 'em together and they dance in their arms and they are in love. D'you know such a story?"

She smiles. Apparently, her anger has dissipated with the promise of a better book. "That Nadine were gonna teach me to read my words more but she is a bitch and a liar and I shan't have nowt to do on her, Sir."

She sighs heavily. "So, M'sieur, you will have to do. A beggar can't choose, can she, really?"