She glanced uneasily at her watch. It was nearing five o’clock. She’d expected Ralph’s call long before now. What if he did not telephone before she had to leave for the Plaza? He had warned her that he couldn’t be sure when the plane would land. A delayed flight and weather conditions could affect his arrival, but she’d said it didn’t matter. She’d remain in her office until the switchboard shut down a half hour after closing time. After that, he would know to try her apartment.

Victoria decided to cover all bases and dialed the work numbers of her apartment roommates to inform them of the situation and her scheme of rescue. She wanted them to make sure that Ralph understood that he was to introduce himself as her brother, Lawrence, when he met Beaumont Fournier. Victoria gave similar instructions to the switchboard operator, who was also excited to go along with the ruse. Nervously watching the minutes tick by, Victoria finally had no choice but to give herself a final check in her compact mirror before heading out into the fading light of the May afternoon to hail a taxi.

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER TWELVE

Victoria saw that Beaumont Fournier had chosen a table where she would be sure to see him among the after-work cocktail crowd, or rather, where he would not miss her entrance. You could tell a lot about people from their entrance into an unfamiliar place. Posture, the pause to take stock, the scan of the room spoke much about the person before the mouth could confirm or undo the impression. She advanced toward him, amused. He had chosen the perfect spot in the chandelier-lit lounge for Ralph to see and claim her. She offered her hand. “Monsieur Fournier,” she said.

“Please. Beaumont will do, and may I call you Victoria? It is such a…regal name. It quite becomes you,” he said in French and bowed over her hand to brush her skin lightly with his lips.

“I’d be pleased for you to call me Victoria.”

“And I was so pleased when I learned that the translator of Robert Desnos’s Deuil pour Deuil would be assigned my novel,” Beaumont said as he drew out her chair. “Accuracy is crucial to avoid the wrong impression of the original, a transgression of which I’ve never heard it said that you are guilty.”

“I’m surprised my name is mentioned in your circles, monsieur,” Victoria said.

“Robert is a friend of mine, I’m honored to say. He was very pleased with the quality of your work.”