Unexpectedly, the young woman repaid him in kind with one of the most fantastic tales of Hollywood that he had ever heard—one that she had learned in the dining car of the Golden State Limited from a homicide detective, no less. And when she stood to go, he roused himself from his chair without his cane in order to take her hand and thank her for a delightful afternoon.

•

PRENTICE’S ORIGINAL PLAN THAT day had been to dwell for the hour after tea in the pages of Mr. & Mrs. Lamb. But having completed his daily exercise, waved off sandwiches, and conversed at length with a lovely young woman, when he finally rose to leave the lobby, he felt a sense of élan.

Why rush back to one’s quarters, he thought? Mr. & Mrs. Lamb were as genteel and sympathetic as any companions known to man. They would be the first to understand the cause of his delay. And with that, he headed out the lobby doors into the aromatic air as an autumnal dusk prepared to shroud the Hollywood Hills.

Edgar, the bell captain, was patting the roof of a taxicab having helped a guest into the backseat. When he turned to find Prentice before him, he snapped to attention.

—Mr. Symmons!

—Hello, Edgar. How are things?

—I’d say it’s shaping up to be a beautiful evening.

—I think you’re right, Edgar. In fact, it seems a perfect night to dine at Maison Robert. Could you see if William is free?

—Yes, sir, Edgar said with verve before jogging off to the lower lot.

Maison Robert . . . , thought Prentice with the smile of anticipation (as he crossed the drive to the large Tuscan pots where the gardenia bushes bloomed). How excited they would be to see him. Without mention of the months that had passed, and without a glance at The Book, Robert himself would lead Prentice to his old banquette. After cold asparagus soup, Prentice would have the porterhouse steak, potatoes dauphinoise, and a soufflé. Or better yet . . . When the waiter came for his order, Prentice would say: It is up to Bertrand! And when the last morsel had been picked from his plate, he would step once again through the kitchen’s swinging doors to proclaim the only word that applied: magnifique.

But as he was bending down to savor the smell of the blossoms, he heard the turn of an ignition and looked back to see a black sedan, which had been parked at the end of the drive, slowly rolling forward.

His heartbeat quickened.