At lunch, Hazel asked Sush about why she had to get Greg bagels and coffee. Sush lied eloquently on the spot, saying that she lost a bet against the duke about his age, to which Hazel reprimanded, “How could you not know that? Everyone knows it’s a hundred and ninety! Five years older than the king! Last I checked, you’re thirty-five, so aren’t you supposed to have the memory of a thirty-five-year-old?”

“Unlike you, my brain cells are limited and I have to be selective about what I store in them. His age seemed too trivial to warrant a space in my mental archive.” The truth was she knew. Like...