Baudet rang the bell on the front door of the Beaulieu residence. The maid answered. “Monsieur Baudet, good morning.”
“Good morning to you.”
“Come in, please. Am I correct in thinking you have come for my mistress, Aldessa?”
“You are correct. Please inform her of my arrival.”
He spoke with confidence, standing erect in the hallway as the maid disappeared through a side door. A time passed, it seemed an eternity.
“She’s keeping me waiting!”
“She’s keeping me waiting!”But then, the maid returned. “Through here, monsieur.”
She led him out of the gloomy entrance hall into a room bathed in colour and sunlight, so bright that he had to blink to take in his surroundings. It was a room he did not know. An upholstered couch ran the length of one wall, with various armchairs along the other.
