Free Out of the Dark by Patrick Modiano Page B

his forehead and his neck with a big white handkerchief. He turned to Jacqueline:
    'Take a swim, if you like ...'
    'I don't have a suit,' said Jacqueline.
    'We can get hold of one ... I'll send someone to find you a suit ...'
    'Don't bother,' Linda said sharply. 'She doesn't want to swim.'
    Rachman lowered his head. He was still mopping his forehead and his neck.
    'Would you care for some refreshment?' he offered.
    Then, speaking to Linda:
    'I'm to meet Savoundra here.'
    The name conjured up an exotic silhouette in my imagination, and I was expecting to see a Hindu woman in a sari walk toward our table.
    But it was a blond man of about thirty who waved in our direction, then came and clapped Rachman on the shoulder. He introduced himself to Jacqueline and me:
    'Michael Savoundra.'
    Linda told him we were French.
    He took one of the chairs from the next table and sat down beside Rachman.
    'Well, what's new?' Rachman asked, staring at him with his cold little eyes.
    'l've done some more work on the script … We'll see ...'
    'Yes … as you say, we'll see ...'
    Rachman had taken a disdainful tone. Savoundra crossed his arms, and his gaze lingered on Jacqueline and me.
    'Have you been in London long?' he asked in French.
    'Three weeks,' I said.
    He seemed very interested in Jacqueline.
    'I lived in Paris for a while,' he said in his halting French. 'In the Hôtel de la Louisiane, on the Rue de Seine … I tried to make a film in Paris ...'
    'Unfortunately, it didn't work out,' said Rachman in his disdainful voice, and I was surprised that he had understood the sentence in French.
    There was a moment of silence.
    'But I'm sure it will work out this time,' said Linda. 'Right, Peter?'
    Rachman shrugged. Embarrassed, Savoundra asked Jacqueline, still in French:
    'You live in Paris?'
    'Yes,' I answered, before Jacqueline could speak. 'Not very far from the Hôtel de la Louisiane.'
    Jacqueline's eyes met mine. She winked. Suddenly I longed to be in front of the Hôtel de la Louisiane, to walk to the Seine and stroll past the stands of the secondhand book dealers until I reached the Quai de la Tournelle. Why did I suddenly miss Paris?
    Rachman asked Savoundra a question and he answered with a great flurry of words. Linda joined in the conversation. But I wasn't trying to understand them anymore. And I could see that Jacqueline wasn't paying any attention to what they were saying either. This was the time of day when we often dozed off, because we never slept well at the Hotel Radnor, barely four or five hours a night. And since we went out early in the morning and came back as late as possible at night, we often took a nap on the grass in Hyde Park.
    They were still talking. From time to time Jacqueline closed her eyes, and I was afraid that I would fall asleep as well. But we gave each other little kicks under the table when we thought that the other one was about to drift off.
    I must have dozed for a few moments. The murmur of their conversation blended in with the laughter and shouts coming from the beach and the sound of people diving into the water. Where were we? By the Marne River or the Lake of Enghien? This place reminded me of another Lido, the one in Chenevières, or of the Sporting in La Varenne. Tonight we would go back to Paris, Jacqueline and I, by the Vincennes train.
    Someone was tapping me heavily on the shoulder. It was Rachman.
    'Tired?'
    Across the table from me, Jacqueline was doing her best to keep her eyes wide open.
    'You must not have slept much in that hotel of mine,' said Rachman.
    'Where were you?' asked Savoundra in French.
    'In a place much less comfortable than the Hôtel de la Louisiane,' I told him.
    'It's a good thing I ran into them,' said Linda. 'They're going to come and live with me ...
    I wondered why they were showing us such kindness. Savoundra's gaze was still fixed on Jacqueline, but she didn't know it, or pretended not to notice. He bore a strong resemblance to an American actor whose name I