Was it a dream?
I'm not sure. But, perhaps I should give a bit of background first, for, in so doing, I might be able to understand.
To begin with, I arrived in Vichy at dusk, and it seemed the townspeople had already begun to shut their doors and windows, to pull across their drapes and shutters. How odd, I thought, for them to be doing this so early in the evening.
This was also the height of the tourist season, and I had begun to think that it was going to be impossible for me to find a place to stay for the night. However, through the kind intervention of Mademoiselle Lapin, the young lady who traveled with me to this place, we found lodging at the Hotel Rose.
As it happened, the hotel was almost filled to capacity, and the concierge wondered if Melanie--Mlle Lapin--and I wouldn't mind sharing a room.
I was quite taken aback by the inquiry, at first, since I'd never before shared a room with anyone. However, Melanie seemed to be quite pleasant after we boarded the coach, and said that it would be all right with her.
If there had been more rooms, I probably would have insisted on my own, but in light of the circumstances, I relented.
It wasn't a terribly large room, but there were two single and very comfortable looking beds.
" Do you wish to bathe first, Amanda?" asked Melanie, after we put our suitcases away.
" No, you go ahead," I replied. "I'll catch up on some of my diary entries."
" Tres bien --- very well."
As Melanie went to run her bath water, I retrieved my diary, and began to record the highlights of the day's trip from Paris to Vichy.