Prologue
Prologue
Her eyes were blue, almost slate, yet commanding as storm or a hurricane, and caught by them, Evelyn could not look away. The woman, too, seemed to become one with her. Evelyn thought she saw her step falter for a second, heard her own child's fist-sized heart stumble to catch up with the moment as the woman came nearer and nearer through the smoke and laughter.
The first few drops of snow began to fall on the windows, and the voice drawled, ‘What town is this?’
Evelyn fought to lit a cigarette. ‘Paris,’ she said and saw a hint of a smile around the woman’s mouth, looking as wise as her eyes. They flickered, subtly, across Evelyn before the woman raised an eyebrow and watched Evelyn take a drag from her cigarette.
‘Dreadfully cold.’ She kept her voice on the same level. The smoke cast a shadow on her beautiful face. ‘And who are you?’
‘Yours,’ Evelyn said, quietly, smiling.