monsieur b, i believe?
why yes, i am monsieur b. thank you so much for recognizing me. it had been a long tine since anyone has.
do you mind if i sit down?
no, no, please do.
i have always been a great admirer of yours, monsieur.
thank you. my memory is not what it was. have we met?
briefly, at the conference of the s society at n, in 19 something or other. i am commissioner leroy, perhaps you remember me?
oh, of course, of course. if i recall, in those long ago days, we may have exchanged words - in print - good old print - not always the softest.
indeed! but i always truly admired you as a pioneer. tell me, how is the espresso here?
not very good, try the hot chocolate.
i will take your advice. waiter!
yes, monsieur.
a hot chocolate, please.
how do you like it?
the same as this gentleman.
very good, monsieur.
where were we?
in the dim past, exchanging thunderbolts.
thunderbolts in a clear sky.
waiting for a storm that never came.
oh, it came it some ways. the old castles and battlements are gone, or at least silenced. one can barely hear them muttering in the backgrouappendix -nd, soft waves in a low tide.
but the high tide never lifted our ships.
the ships that were never built.
and never sailed.
but they brought us here.
they left us here.
your hot chooiate. monsieur.
