The Phoenix in a Foreign Labyrinth
The Visitor
Chapter 19 – The Visitor
One day, an elderly gentlemen with grey hair and sporting a neatly-trimmed goatee came to the shop. Claude was at the front and greeted him as he would any prospective customer, but the man, who introduced himself as a Monsieur Dubois, explained that he had important business with Madame Claudel and asked if he could speak with her in private. Claude was mystified, but having established the man’s identity as a senior partner in an old and very respectable Parisian legal firm, he called Yune down from upstairs, and she and Dubois went into the small office just behind the shop floor.
Dubois introduced himself to Yune and presented his card. She enquired about what it was he had come to see her, but he first asked her to sit down and then said, ‘I regret most sincerely that I must be the bearer of very bad news regarding your friend Mademoiselle Alice Blanche.’ Yune’s eyes widened. ‘In short, I am sorry to inform you that Mademoiselle Blanche has passed away in a tragic accident at sea.’
Yune stared at Dubois incredulously. ‘She was en route to New York aboard the Titanic,’ he continued, ‘and, when disaster struck, at least according to the somewhat fragmentary reports we have received, she apparently insisted on her maid taking one of the last remaining places in the lifeboats instead of herself. And thus, she perished when the ship finally sank.’
Yune bowed her head for a moment while she collected her thoughts. Of course she had read the newspapers with their recent accounts of how the Titanic had foundered in the deathly-cold waters of the North Atlantic, but she had never thought that Alice might have been on board. Then again, it would have been just like her to have wanted to travel on the latest, the largest, the fastest, the most luxurious, the most expensive anything, and during its brief career, the Titanic had been all of those. But then to die by such a selfless act. Oh Alice, how you have changed since I first knew you, thought Yune.
After a brief pause, judging that it was now appropriate for him to continue, Dubois explained, ‘As the executor of Mademoiselle Blanche’s estate, I have come to make you aware of the provisions of her will.’ He produced an envelope with a wax seal, which he handed to Yune. ‘Firstly, she requests that you read this letter. You are asked, though, not to reveal its contents to anyone, not even your husband.’
Yune at once recognized the unmistakable look and feel of traditional Japanese paper. Her hands trembling, she broke the seal, took out the letter and started to read.