An introduction to the pronunciation of French

Sitting there, hunched over my drink, I knew thisБЂ”or sensed itБЂ”and was trying to avoid any contact with the world not based on business. But an intermediaryБЂ”the womanБЂ™s friendБЂ”took matters into her own hands, suddenly at my shoulder insistent on making introductions. The woman and I got to know each other a littleБЂ”and from time to time, over the next few months, weБЂ™d see each other in England and in New York. After a while, I came to understand that she was from a very wealthy familyБЂ”that she kept an apartment in New York. That she spent her days mostly traveling to runway shows and buying things with her mother. That she was of British, French, and Eastern European background, spoke four languages beautifully, was smart, viciously funny, and (at least) a little crazyБЂ”a quality I usually liked in women. Okay. She had a problem with cocaineБЂ”something IБЂ™d moved past. And her T-shirts cost more than the monthly salaries of everybody I ever knew. But I flattered myself that I was the one guy sheБЂ™d ever met who really and truly didnБЂ™t give a shit about her money or her bloodline or what kind of muddleheaded upper-class twits she moved with ...»