CHAPTER TWOIvan paused for a second on the top step of the Paris mansion he had just left and pulled on his gloves.
It was after midnight and bitterly cold. There was, however, no snow.
He tilted the angle of his top hat, grasped the silver handle of his elegant walking stick and walked jauntily out into the street.
He had just passed a most enjoyable few hours with a French aristocrat, a widow of mature years who used her beauty and considerable bedroom skills to enable her to remain in her late husband’s family home.
A hansom cab pulled up beside him.
For a moment Ivan almost climbed in and then he changed his mind and sent it on its way.
He decided to walk back to his hotel. Although the night was bitter, an almost full moon sailed through clear skies.
As he started out through t
