This diary is a work of sheer unadulterated derivative fiction. It is brought to you by the odd girls who created A Wasps' Nest, a story set, like this one, in Paris in the time surrounding the July Revolution of 1830. It is a work in progress, although if you email the authors they will tell you letter-perfect how it will end, as it is derivative.

Many of these characters are based cheerfully and with full knowledge of what would be copyright infringement if they weren't public domain on characters created by Victor Hugo in his towering novel, Les Misérables. Any attempt to find significant connections with the musical of the same name will cause headaches. We expect that in due time, there will be actual historical figures wandering through, such as the King of France circa 1830 and his assorted offspring. For information on Ferdinand Philippe Louis Charles Henri Joseph d'Orléans, try Wikipedia, and no, we did not make him up. Some of the real people may even enter or have entered into romantic relationships with fictional characters. If this offends you deeply, kindly refrain from reading the story. They are dead, and if Mary Renault can say that kind of thing about Alexander the Great, by God, we can say what we like about French royalty. We do not claim that it is true.

On the title and address: Antinous was the lover of the Roman emperor Hadrian who was deified after his death and, ironically enough, became an aspect of Dionysus. The title graphic is a bust of Antinous. The title is from a poem by Edgar Allen Poe titled "Hymn To Aristogeiton And Harmodius", a pair of Greek lovers who tried to kill a tyrant and hid swords in myrtle branches to do so. Myrtle, in this case, signifies love.

Do email us with feedback. It makes us happy.

~ Petronelle and Catherine

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