Despite the machinations and misguided decisions by the mostly-absent King and Queen, court life continues to flourish. I guess any existence based on plotting, intrigue, gossip, cleverness, and position exists on a type of social centrifugal force.

Departures from Court are immediately made up by new arrivals, but The Inner Circle remains as stratified as ever as privileges remain jealously guarded. Where you sit, what treatment you receive, and whom you acknowledge as an equal mark those privileges. The Court offers a strange type of comfort and reason that is rare in a city so shallow and tawdry; it is the focal point of social life for its members. Those members protect each other by standing up for another’s good name and hiding that same person’s peccadillos. Courtiers actually work to get to The Inner Circle.

And despite my irrevocable decision to leave Court, I linger on, also knowledgeable of the perks of position. Riley is always commenting on my “wielding power”, but real power is never seen, only felt; and almost all would agree that whatever I did has been for the good of all. To the best of my knowledge no one has ever been banished from Court, although some have been moved to the fringe. It’s lonely on the fringe, but fabulous if you wear it well.

Carl Fisher invented Miami Beach as an escape from the mainland, a place where nothing was ever taken seriously, a city positioned for frivolity. Reality was never supposed to nip at the well-turned heels on the land he bought which is now South Beach.

We just follow the plan.