“Of course, it’s all the opposite,” she said, on the defensive. Had she mentioned Guy? Stupid, that would go nowhere. “Everyone babbles the opposite of what they really think. Thanks for the roses,” she said, hoping to cover her embarrassment.
“Don’t thank me, the card is signed
Crown? Oh no. Her father had always called her his princess.
“But I couldn’t find a crown so I brought you this instead.”
She felt something long and slim pressed in her hand. It shone and gleamed, like a dancing flicker of stars. Distorted but steady. She began to focus. Her dizziness had disappeared. “A wand . . . to make your dreams come true.”
She could see it now. She grinned. “They already have.” In more ways than one, she thought. “You sent Vincent’s file to the
Miles Davis responded with a resounding bark.
And a gust from the Seine blew in the hospital window, shifting the sheets, freshening the air, a foretaste of a mild winter.
*60 to 65 degrees Fahrenheit.
*At a conversion rate of seven francs to one dollar, this was a price of $10,000,000.
