“So what happened?” asked Troy. “How did you meet Pierre?”
“Pierre wasn’t until many years later. For a time I was angry. I threw myself even more into my work, as if the francs in my bank account would fill up the space he had left. And then I had a bad deal. I lost most of what I had worked so hard to save, what I had lost him for. And I knew, really knew that I was alone. That all my work and worry meant nothing. Even if I’d had a fortune, who would I have left it to?” He finished his wine. “So I took what I had and left France. I had traveled before, as I said, but now I traveled for myself. I would buy a one-way ticket somewhere, then work until I could afford another one-way ticket somewhere else. I bounced around like that for years. I met people, had a few little affairs. And then
