"I like knowing, if only for the sake of knowing." Biffy was an incurable gossip, he had just admitted it. That did not mean he was indiscrete, for all his curiosity, but he did feel a bit poorly that Krem thought his secrets might be spilled on Biffy's next round of pillow talk. "It's not for me to tell Dorian, unless you'd like me to."

Biffy affixed the first tiny leaf with careful, elegant fingers. His touch was not so delicate as Krem's but he liked to think that at least Madame Lefoux would not have thrown him out if he tried to be helpful.

"I am invested in the wellbeing of my friends."