As expediently as that? The thrill flashing in his eyes flattered me. I couldn’t remember the last time Eduard had been this happy to see me. He no longer visited, no longer brought gifts. We no longer talked about our future. We no longer talked about anything. The last time I ran into him, after returning home from my vacation at the sea with Anna and her family, I’d been stopping by to call on his mother.

“Johanna.” He’d been grabbing his hat. “Regretfully, I cannot stay. I am meeting some friends.”

As if we were nothing to each other. Even his mother had been shocked. She apologized on her son’s behalf after he had left.

Theo smiled at me, and I caught myself.

I will not think of Eduard while in Paris. My foremost resolution for the trip.

Eduard had openly courted me for three years, in front of his parents and mine, in front of our friends, then he inexplicably turned away. It’d become clear, even to me, that no proposal was coming. He was pretending that we’d been merely friends and he’d meant nothing by his attentions—which had been decidedly romantic! I was finished with being heartsick for him, heartbroken over him, letting him leave my emotions in tatters. Finished.

Theo just about pranced as we walked. “I cannot tell you how delighted I am by our meeting.”

His disarming sincerity made me want to be more sincere myself. Our letters had made a difference. Thanks to our long-distance conversations on paper, we were no longer strangers.

“I have a confession to make. I did not run into you by coincidence.”

He looked as happy as the boy pointing at the toy train in the shop window we just passed.

I glanced away from Theo’s hopeful eyes, the exact color of the Paris sky. “I wish to talk to you about Dries. He mentioned that you two no longer spend time together.” Theo had been my brother’s closest friend in Paris, and Dries needed the support. His miserable marriage grew worse by the day. “I wish he were not so lonely here. If I am the cause of the rift between you two… Maybe you no longer seek his company because I…” How did one diplomatically refer to a refused proposal?

Theo understood my unsaid words and stumbled in shock. “I’ve neglected Dries. You’re right. I treasure my friendship with your brother, Jo. It’s only that I received more responsibility at the gallery. And Vincent…”

“How is he? Painting? You last wrote that he moved to Arles and was happy there.”