I turned, treading water, and looked toward the gray rocky edges of the bay and up at the few mansions from modern to old-worldly stone that clung to its edges. Here and there steep steps were carved in stone among rugged green brush. I imagined the feats of engineering architects of old had to devise in order for these palatial cliff-side dwellings to stand the tests of hundreds of years. I wondered if the more modern ones would have such longevity. If we were still anchored here later, I’d love to sketch the houses. I hadn’t quite broken the habit of carrying a sketchbook with me everywhere I went that had been drilled into me by one of my first drafting professors.

I heard Dauphine call out to me.

I turned in time to watch her settle herself at the top of the slide, and then push off. She screeched the whole way down, her small body dumping into the water in a splash of gangly limbs. She came up gasping, making us both laugh.

“Not so graceful,” I said. “But it looks fun.”

“Your turn.”

“Will you wait for me here?”

She shook her head, feigning fear at being left alone in the water.

“I didn’t used to like being in the water by myself when I was younger either. Not even in a pool. Come on, I’ll race you.”

Dauphine giggled and squealed as she half doggy-paddled and half swam breaststroke furiously to the swim deck.

I pretended to try to keep up with slow strokes through the water but let her win.

Paco was watching us from an upper deck, chuckling. He’d finally lit his small cheroot, the smoke a faint apparition circling his head.

For the next couple of hours, we jumped, swam, and raced each other. Dauphine tried to convince me that it was okay to stop messing with my bikini top, as apparently many French women simply went topless. For a hot second, I imagined walking around the boat topless with her father’s eyes staring at my breasts. “I’m not French,” I explained in a choked voice, trying to shake the image.

“Yet!” She grinned. “I will make you more French, and you will make me American.”

I gave her a weak laugh.