by Howard Engel
We had a fine à l’eau together, although it would have been more in keeping with the season to have taken a grog or a hot-buttered rum. When we finished, he made a gesture as though he were reaching into his pocket for his wallet, but he stopped before he got there.
“I’ll get this last one,” I said.
“Well, I’ll match you for it in April. The next one is on me, Mike,” he said. And he gathered up his coat and hat and strode out onto the boulevard.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The author’s literary debts are enormous; a true accounting would add another dozen pages to this already name-studded volume. But I would like to thank by name individuals who have helped me bring the book to this final stage: Kildare Dobbs, Linda Kooluris Dobbs, Charles Oberdorf, Nancy Vichert, Sheila Kieran, Véronique Gaspard Le Drew, Frédéric Larsen, Dominique Roydor, Michelle Lapautre, Beverley Slopen, Cynthia Good, Mary Adachi, Donald Summerhayes, and my late wife, Janet Hamilton. I would also like to thank Mme Jacqueline Milan, the proprietor of the celebrated Closerie des Lilas, for her kindness and help.