[ colleagues, friends, what's the difference really ]

That is so! It was a surprise to meet others of the City here, just as it is a surprise now with thee. In fact, Young Sinclair and I had another of our company when we arrived, but...

[ she seems reluctant to speak of it in the party setting, but after a moment she does, gaze dropping and her lips pressed tight. ]

But he seems to no longer exist here. He disappeared one day, and not a scrap of his presence remains -- it is most frustrating.