Encounter in Paris
A few months after my trip to Istanbul on the Orient Express I received an unusual letter. It had been mailed to my publisher, who had forwarded it on to me. When I opened it, I found that it had been written by one Mademoiselle Madeline Du Bois. Now, I had never met Ms. Du Bois, and yet she wrote as though we were old friends. In fact, as I read on, she hinted that we had been more than friends. She wrote that she would be visiting Paris in a few days, and she was hopeful that I could meet her there.
I was fascinated! Who could this woman be? I assumed that she must have read some of my books, and fantasised that we had met. But then I came to a paragraph that said, "I'm certain that you will remember my sister, Contessa Juliette di Lombardi. Juliette will be staying with me in Paris. She would like to meet you again and discuss your latest book."
Juliette! My beautiful Contessa, whom I had met and made love to on the Orient Express! I had of course thought about her often, but I had assumed that I would never see her again. But here was an opportunity to meet with her once more.
Immediately I realised what had happened. Juliette had not been able to write to me herself, of course, so she had convinced her sister Madeline to write to me and arrange a rendezvous. They did not know my London address, and so they had written to my publisher, and asked him to forward the letter to me. And the letter had been worded very carefully. In the event that it was opened by someone else, they would have assumed that it was Madeline and I who were romantically linked. As Madeline was not married, that was perfectly acceptable.
Of course I sent a telegram to Madeline at the return address shown on the letter saying that I would be delighted to meet her and her sister in Paris on the suggested date.
It was late afternoon as the 'Fleche d'Or' drew into the Gare du Nord in Paris. As I looked anxiously out of my compartment window, I spotted Juliette on the platform, with an attractive younger woman whom I assumed to be her sister Madeline. As soon as the train stopped, I stepped out onto the platform and hurried over to them. "Madeline!" I called out. The girls saw me, and Madeline ran over to me and threw her arms around my neck. "James, darling!" she exclaimed. "It's so good to see you again!"
Madeline unwrapped herself from me. "You remember my sister, Juliette?" she asked. "Of course," I said, taking Juliette's hand and kissing it. "I'm very pleased to see you again."
Juliette blushed and smiled her lovely smile. "I loved your latest book," she said. "I hope that we will have a chance to discuss it while we are here."