[ *takes place in a somewhat-battered Victorian-style hotel long after the Victorians have gone out of style. The woman speaking can be understood in a drawn-out transatlantic accent where each syllable is more familiar as a landscape unto itself rather than an individual part of a word. In her room it is possible to the point of probable that somewhere on a faux-silver tray is an abandoned cup of tea, a vial of expensive honey, and a polished brass spoon so small it could almost be useless.The top to the vial (whether it was a cork, a stopper, or a twist-on cap) is inexplicably missing ]*