A Midnight Bookmark

The hour grew late across the study, yet upon the open pages of an encyclopedia rested a brass ribbon bookmark whose delicate tassel trailed carelessly over the gilded edge like an unruly mooring line. A gentleman commander does not take his nocturnal rest amidst such scandalous negligence! Marching across the calfskin binding, I snared the fine braided silk loop with my curved silver claw. With dramatic theatrical poise, I threw my weight backward, hauling the silken cord taut between the heavy folios. Bringing the rounded golden guard of my rapier down upon the brass spine with an imperial clack, I tucked the tassel flush into the leather groove. Perfect decorum commands the night.