I adore you! You know that, right? wonderful writer, a joy to read.
Have you ever cooked a souffle? I know, this is a minor critique compared to anything really germane to the story, like plot structure, characterization, or dialogue. But it acted kinda like a pothole. You wouldn't heat milk, stir it, then add butter and pepper. You start with a roux of butter and flour, heat it until the flour cooks a bit, slowly add milk to make a white sauce, and then add in whatever ingredients constitute your flavour, eg, chedder cheese, spinach, smoked salmon, etc. Then cool the sauce -- your base -- add in the egg yolks, in a separate bowl whip the whites, fold them in, and bake.
But no heating milk and then adding butter.... that's just.... wierd.
Sorry. Now I'll go back to reading the rest of the chapter.