There was a cocktail party to attend at the French embassy that evening in honor of a visiting French concert pianist. Mary was tired and nervous and would have given anything to have gotten out of it, but she knew she had to go.
She bathed and selected an evening gown, and as she reached for her shoes, she noticed that one shoe had a broken heel. She rang for Carmen.
“Yes, Madam Ambassador?”
“Carmen, would you please take this to a shoemaker and have it repaired?”
“Certainly, Madam. Is there anything else?”
“No, that’s all, thank you.”
When Mary arrived at the French embassy, it was already crowded with guests. She was greeted at the entrance by the French ambassador’s aide, whom Mary had met on a previous visit to the embassy. He took her hand and kissed it.
“Good evening, Madam Ambassador. It is so kind of you to come.”
“It was so kind of you to invite me,” Mary said.
They both smiled at their empty phrases.
“Permit me to take you to the ambassador.” He escorted her through the crowded ballroom, where she saw the familiar faces she had been seeing for weeks on end. Mary greeted the French ambassador, and they exchanged pleasantries.
“You will enjoy Madame Dauphin. She is a remarkable pianist.”
“I’m looking forward to it,” Mary lied.
A servant passed by with a tray of glasses filled with champagne. Mary had learned by now to sip drinks at the various embassies. As she turned to greet the Australian ambassador, she caught sight of the stranger who had rescued her from the kidnappers. He was standing in a corner talking to the Italian ambassador and his aide.
“Please excuse me,” Mary said. She moved across the room toward the Frenchman.
He was saying, “Of course I miss Paris, but I hope that next year—” He broke off as he saw Mary approaching.
“Ah, the lady in distress.”
“You know each other?” the Italian ambassador asked.
“We haven’t been officially introduced,” Mary replied.
“Madam Ambassador, may I present Dr. Louis Desforges.”
The expression on the Frenchman’s face changed. “Madam Ambassador? I beg your pardon! I had no idea.” His voice was filled with embarrassment. “I should have recognized you, of course.”
“You did better than that,” Mary smiled. “You saved me.”
The Italian ambassador looked at the doctor and said, “Ah! So you were the one.” He turned to Mary. “I heard about your unfortunate experience.”
“It would have been unfortunate if Dr. Desforges hadn’t come along. Thank you.”
Louis Desforges smiled. “I’m happy that I was in the right place at the right time.”
The ambassador and his aide saw an English contingent enter.
The ambassador said, “If you will excuse us, there is someone we have to see.”
The two men hurried off. Mary was alone with the doctor.
“Why did you run away when the police came?”
He studied her a moment. “It is not good policy to get involved with the Romanian police. They have a way of arresting witnesses, then pumping them for information. I’m a doctor attached to the French embassy here, and I don’t have diplomatic immunity. I do, however, know a great deal about what goes on at our embassy, and that information could be valuable to the Romanians.” He smiled. “So forgive me if I seemed to desert you.”
There was a directness about him that was very appealing. In some way that Mary could not define, he reminded her a little bit of Edward. Perhaps because Louis Desforges was a doctor. But, no, it was more than that. He had the same openness that Edward had had, almost the same smile.
“If you’ll excuse me,” Dr. Desforges said, “I must go and become a social animal.”
“You don’t like parties?”
He winced, “I despise them.”
“Does your wife enjoy them?”
He started to say something, and then hesitated. “Yes—she did. Very much.”
“Is she here this evening?”
“She and our two children are dead.”
Mary paled. “Oh, my God. I’m so sorry. How—?”
His face was rigid. “I blame myself. We were living in Algeria. I was in the underground, fighting the terrorists.” His words became slow and halting. “They found out my identity and blew up the house. I was away at the time.”