The Wanderess by Payne Roman

Author:Payne, Roman [Payne, Roman]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Aesthete Press
Published: 2013-11-26T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-three

I was indeed a saint while Saskia was tramping around Paris looking for Adélaïse. I smoked myself to heaven in an opium den on the rue Saint-Honoré. I then got lost in my fog of pleasure and explored the old streets of the Rive Droite1. I contemplated all the possible reasons why the sun shines. I contemplated the moon too, knowing that the day is beautiful but that night would soon come and the moon would be almost full. I knew that some adventures would present themselves in the coming days, and new adventures are always exciting when one is in a new city.

I sold my sword on the rue de Rivoli—that beauty of silver and steel with the emerald handle which I bought in Barcelona the day of that horrible night at the theatre in Barcelona—a night I hoped to erase forever from my memory. With the money I received for the sword, I purchased a pair of diamond earrings for Saskia at the Place Vendôme.

When I returned home, everything was quiet. Saskia was still out. I poured a glass of wine to drink, and before I sat down to enjoy it, I opened the door to our patio and spilled the first sip on the ground to appease the gods, as is my custom. That was when Saskia entered. She was all in a tizzy…

“That stupid island!” she huffed, throwing her purse down. “You go there and the people are nice. You meet people. One girl even picks up on you and invites you to her home! Why aren’t people nice to me?”

“Drink some wine, Saskia.”

“No, no, that won’t help… First of all, the island was empty and desolate. I was desolate too. Nowhere was there anyone or anything that had to do with Adélaïse. Oh, I did see a few people! There were some here and there, and I tried your trick. I went up to each one and asked if they spoke English. They all shook their heads and said, “Français!” So I then asked them in French if they knew a lot of people on the island. One lady growled at me. “Ça ne vous regarde pas,2” she howled at me.

1 RIVE DROITE: (Fr) The “Right Bank.” This is the section of Paris north of the river Seine, which flows from the east to the west. The neighborhoods south of the Seine form the Rive Gauche.

2 ÇA NE VOUS REGARDE PAS: (Fr) "That is none of your business.

One man responded to my question by sneering at me: “Vous êtes bien trop jeune et trop jolie pour être inspectrice de police!1” Just then I’d had enough! I decided to come home. So when I was leaving the island, I passed a yard where an woman was sweeping up leaves. Her grey hair was all knotty and she had a dirty old broom. She reminded me a lot of the old gardener woman I met on that exact same island years before…”

“The woman who told you

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