‘Charles,’ said Sophie, ‘you will have to dance with the Comtesse.’

‘It will be a pleasure,’ he answered. ‘And later I hope that Mademoiselle Lottie will honour me.’

‘Of course she will, won’t you, Lottie?’

‘Thank you,’ I said.

Sophie looked over her shoulder at me as she laid her hand on his arm in a proprietorial manner and they walked away.

I was too stunned to do anything but stare after them.

‘It is so good when a marriage is a love-match,’ Madame de Grenoir was saying. ‘Those two … so happy. I have seen some who are far from happy. This is quite different … a very, very happy arrangement.’

When the dance began I was immediately taken on to the floor. I had no lack of invitations to dance and providing the men were suitable I was allowed to accept them. Madame de Grenoir kept her alert eyes on me as I danced and I was aware of her watching all the time. My partners were flirtatious, expressing ardent admiration, but I scarcely listened to them. I could not wait until the moment when Charles de Tourville came for me.

He was smiling in a manner which I can only call mischievous.

‘I have been waiting for this moment,’ he said, as soon as we were out of earshot of Madame de Grenoir.

‘Oh?’ I said. ‘Why?’

‘You are not going to pretend that we have not met before, are you?’

‘No,’ I replied.

‘You were a very naughty little girl and I caught you, didn’t I? Do you often have such adventures?’

‘That was the only one of that kind.’

‘You learned your lesson, I hope.’

‘I suppose we were a little adventurous.’

‘Not a little. Very adventurous, I should say. However, as long as you learned that it is unwise for little girls to stray into the dubious haunts of the city, good can come of it. I must say I was delighted to meet you.’

‘It wasn’t a surprise for you?’

‘Of course not. I knew who you were as soon as I discovered where you lived. Don’t forget our families are to be united. We have to know about each other …not everything, of course. That would be asking too much. But we should know those little things which cannot be hidden. Like a beautiful daughter, for instance. There has to be some explanation. I know that there was a charming sequel to the Comte’s English romance and that sequel so enchanted him that he kept her with him and married her mother.’

‘I think I would rather not discuss my family’s affairs.’

‘Our family’s. I shall be a member soon.’

‘Tell me about that woman … that fortune-teller, Madame Rougemont.’

‘One of the most notorious brothel-keepers in the town. Forgive me. You are an innocent young girl. Do you know what a brothel is?’

‘Of course I do. I am not a child.’

‘Then you will not need me to explain. She has quite a fashionable apartment in another district but she does a little business in the quarters to which you went. I am surprised that a young lady in your position should have gone into such a house … in such a street.’

‘I told you, it was an adventure.’

‘Is life in the Hôtel d’Aubigné so dull then?’

‘I did not say it was dull, but we are kept under strict control.’

‘Not strict enough, obviously.’

‘Well, we slipped out.’

‘You were fortunate that I was there.’

‘I have often wondered about that. What were you doing there?’

‘What every man does there. Looking for pretty girls.’

‘You! You mean …’

‘I mean exactly what you are thinking.’

‘But you are going to marry Sophie!’

‘Well?’

‘Why then … should you be looking for someone else?’

‘That someone else would have nothing to do with my marriage.’

I was horrified and desperately sorry for Sophie. Here was another of those blasé young men to whom marriage was a matter of convenience. Dickon was back in my thoughts. Oh, how could they behave in such a way!

‘I see that you are getting ready to despise me.’

‘I think I already do. How much longer does this dance go on?’

‘A little while yet, I hope. You are a very attractive young lady, Mademoiselle Lottie.’

‘I would rather not hear you talk to me like that.’

‘I was only telling the truth. When you grow up you are going to be irresistible, I know.’

‘I do hope Sophie is not going to be unhappy but I very much fear for her.’

‘I promise you that she is going to be the happiest bride in Paris.’

‘With you visiting Madame Rougemont? What when she discovers?’

‘She will never discover. I shall see to that, and it will be precisely because there will be some others to charm me and satisfy my baser instincts that I can be a figure of chivalric love to my bride.’

‘I think you are the most cynical man I ever met!’

‘Call it realistic. I don’t know why I am telling you the truth. It is not very flattering to me, is it? Oddly enough I have to tell you. But then you found me out, didn’t you? We found each other out. No use trying to cover up our sins after such blatant exposure. Still, I like you to know the truth about me. I have grown very fond of you, Lottie.’

‘When?’

‘Well, it began when I looked through a peephole and saw one of the most beautiful girls I have ever seen gazing into a crystal ball. A tall dark handsome man, said Madame Rougemont. Well, she was right, wasn’t she?’

‘Are you trying to flirt with me?’

‘You do invite it, you know.’

‘I think Sophie should be warned.’

‘Will you warn her? She won’t believe you. Besides, who are you to talk? What if I told of my first meeting with you in Madame Rougemont’s brothel? You would be in trouble then, wouldn’t you?’

‘And so would you. They would surely want to know how you happened to be there.’

‘So you see we are both caught in our particular web of intrigue. Dear Lottie, I do believe those wretched musicians are reaching their finale. I shall dance with you again this evening and then we will talk of more pleasant things. Alas … it is au revoir.’

He released me and bowed; then he gave me his arm and took me back to Madame de Grenoir.

I felt very disturbed and in a strange way excited. More than anyone I had ever met he reminded me of Dickon.

Madame de Grenoir chattered about the Tourvilles. ‘A noble family … not like the Aubignes, of course … but wealthy enough. They have a château somewhere near Angouleme and a hôtel in Paris like most noble families. It is an excellent match, and he is a charming young man, is he not?’

I found it difficult to sit there and listen to her and was glad to be dancing again. I was looking out for him all the time and once or twice I saw him; then he gave me a smile and flashed a message at me with his eyes which I was sure meant that he would be with me as soon as he could.

The time came and there I was dancing with him again.

‘This is the highlight of the evening for me,’ he said. ‘You don’t quite look so angry as you did. Have you thought better of it?’

‘I still think badly of you.’

‘And I still think you are enchanting. Do you know, I have come to the conclusion that sinners often are … more than saints, that is.’

‘I do hope Sophie is not going to be hurt. I am sure she doesn’t know you at all.’

‘I promise to keep her in blissful ignorance.’

‘I suppose you have had lots of adventures … with women?’

‘Right,’ he said.

‘I won’t call them love-affairs. They are not that … just sordid little adventures.’

‘I suppose you could be right again, but the pleasant thing is that while they are happening they don’t seem what you say they are.’

‘You have this modern French outlook.’

‘Oh, it is not modern. It has been like that for centuries. We make a success of living because we know how to set about it. Wisely, we don’t sigh for the unattainable. We take what is offered and learn to live with it without regrets. It is this realism, this acceptance of life as it is which puts us at the peak of civilization. It is why we are such wonderful lovers, so amusing, so charming. It is a matter of experience. Oddly enough the best mistress I ever had—to date—was the one my father chose for me when I was sixteen years old. It’s an old French custom, you know. The Boy is growing up. He will get into mischief so find a charming older woman who will initiate him. It is part of that sensible outlook on life which my countrymen have worked out to perfection.’