In the conservatory, Pamela Primrose plays Poulenc’s Pastorelle for Piano perfunctorily. It is the penultimate piece in her practice period. Happily, she closes with works of Domenico Scarlatti, her favorite composer. With flying fingers, she plays sonati: D minor, G major, A minor, G minor, another D minor….
Pamela pauses.
Primping her pink pinafore, she sighs. Tonight is the big date with Albert. Will he turn out to be her true love? Barring that, will he at least fuck her quickly, so they can get on with the rest of their lives? She ponders this point, a little surprised at that she would think the word ‘fuck’.
She sighs again. It’s hard to live alliteratively.
Meanwhile, in Human Figure class, Albert sketches Molly ruefully; he’s bummed that she is so beautiful, yet unavailable. Tonight is the big date with Pamela; she is pretty and petite but seems a bit persnickety. Hopefully, she’s not prim, prudish or puritanical. So far as sex is concerned, there is no room for procrastination.
In his History of Banking class, Roderick listens intently to Mr. Rothschild. “In the last lecture, we covered the Peruzzi and Bardi banking families, how they built wealth through manufacturing and trade, then lost it all by lending to princes, popes and kings. Today we will cover the rise and fall of the Medici Bank.”
Mr. Rothschild proceeds to detail how numerous banking families competed in the latter half of the fourteenth century, but the Medicis emerged as the dominant banking family as they consolidated political control in Florence and were able to exile their competitors. Lending to kings and popes, the Medicis negotiated special privileges and subsidies that enabled them to earn above-average profits in the textile trade, which in turn increased the capital they could lend.
This arrangement worked well for many years, but the Medicis ran into trouble when Edward IV defaulted on his loans, causing the failure of the London branch in 1478. The bank continued to decline until 1494, when the Charles VIII of France, an ally of the Pope, invaded Florence and seized the remaining assets.
“Why do we care about this?” asks Mr. Rothschild, rhetorically. “The idea of a free market is sometimes cast by its supporters and detractors as a legacy from an earlier period. But the historical actors in the period we’re looking at had no concept of economic liberty. They built their fortunes through close collaboration with the state, facilitated the activities of the state, and owed their business existence to the state.”
Roderick thinks this is kind of interesting, but at the moment he is more interested in Megan’s seeming interest in Henry, and whether or not he should promote Emily to second girlfriend.
At seven-fifteen, Roderick, Molly, Emily, Anna, Henry, Megan, Natasha, Pamela and Albert gather outside the Auditorium for the screening of Bob Le Flambeur. It’s quite crowded, so they split up; Roderick sits with Molly and Emily; Anna with Natasha; Henry with Megan; and Pamela with Albert.
Megan chats animatedly with Henry. She begins to wonder if she should have that tattoo removed from her left inner thigh, the one that says “Roderick and Megan 4 Ever”.
Albert and Pamela chat about Domenico Scarlatti until the movie begins; then, as the streets of Montmartre unfold on the screen, he places his hand beneath Pamela’s pink pinafore, and is pleased to discover that her panties are not present. Pamela is shocked, deliciously so.
After the movie, Roderick and Molly return to his room and snuggle under the covers. Molly seems lost in thought. “I love irony,” she murmurs.
“Pamela and Albert seemed to get along well”, says Roderick.
“Yes, they did,” whispers Molly. “I hope it works out for them. They both want so desperately to…well, you know.”
Roderick snuggles Molly. “Speaking of which…”
