A couple of the gentlemen wore suits. The ladies wore dresses and tasteful make-up. The men smoked cigars. Their voices were lyrical and low. Like aging Latin lovers. They sipped amber liquid from heavy crystal glass.

Behind the terrace, two sets of double French doors had been unlatched on either side. The wisteria was in bloom, exuding a musky scent. The tinkle of crystal drew me through the open front door. The corridor went back to a massive curving staircase. I recognized Maria, the maid, walking straight towards me carrying a tray of empty glasses. She looked surprised. “Monsieur.”

“Bonsoir.” Kept moving. Not too fast, not too slow.

To the right was a drawing room. To the left was a dining room. Lunch with Simone and Bousquet had been in the room on the left. The drawing room on the right contained a pool table. A couple of guys were playing. Cognac glasses rested on marble surfaces. The room was stuffy with cigar smoke.

Maria went into the room on the left. I went after her. I spotted Simone before she saw me. She was multi-tasking her party, chatting to two older ladies while supervising Daniel, the gardener, who was fiddling with a champagne bucket. Daniel was better-dressed than earlier, looking uncomfortable in a collared shirt.

She saw me and put her hand to her mouth, settling her weight back on high heels.

“Tom!” She pronounced my name like comb, or dome, or Tome. “Tom, what are you doing here?”

She approached and looked up at me. I said, “Couldn’t sleep.”

She looked around for her champagne glass and found it. Grabbed the glass, sipped from it, then smiled, as if what I had said was a joke. “We’re not sleeping here either, Tom. As you can see.” She searched around again with her eyes. Found Daniel. “Daniel, please pour Tom a glass of champagne.”

Daniel nodded seriously and began to open a fresh bottle. His shirt was starched and looked weird on him, as if his sun-blasted face didn’t belong sticking out of that collar. He flashed eye contact and went back to unwrapping foil from the champagne bottle.

She looked up at me and grinned. “How did you know?”

I shrugged, “Sometimes, you know.”

She was already nodding. “Exactly. That’s precisely how it works.”

I took a glass of champagne from Daniel and thanked him. Simone put a hand on my shoulder and introduced me as her cousin to the ladies with whom she had been conversing, Nicole and Claire. She took my backpack. “I’ll put this in your room.” I didn’t complain.

The women seemed amused. Nicole and Claire had silver hair cut above the shoulders. Both asked me about my connection to Simone. I answered their questions. Gilles wasn’t in the room. I thought he might be upstairs in bed, or in a wheelchair somewhere. After a while I excused myself.