Mattilon arched his brows in mock astonishment,
less in mockery than in astonishment. "The emperor
has all his clothes," said the Frenchman, laughing
quietly. "Regardless of who claims otherwise. You
start at the top of the line, as they say in New York.
No conflict, mon ami; he's not in our league as
you also say."
THE AQUITAINE PROGRESSION 79
"Why not?"
"He moves with saints and warriors. Warriors
who would be saints, and saints who would be
warriors. Who has time for such facades?'
"You mean he's not taken seriously?"
"Oh, no, he is. Very seriously, by those who have
the time and the inclination to move abstract
mountains. He is a pillar Joel, grounded in heroic
marble and himself immovable. He is the De Gaulle
who never followed the original, and some say it is
a pity."
"What do you say?"
Mattilon frowned, then cocked his head in a
Gallic shrug. "I'm not sure. God knows the country
needed someone, and perhaps Bertholdier could
have stepped in and steered a far better course than
the one we embarked upon, but the times were not
right. The Elysee had become an imperial court, and
the people were tired of royal edicts, imperial
sermons. Well, we don't have those any longer;
they've been supplanted by the dull, grey banalities
of the workers' credo. Perhaps it is a pity, although
he could skill do it, I imagine. He began his climb up
Olympus when he was very young."
"Wasn't he part of the OAS? Salan's rebels in
Algeria? They were discredited, called a national
disgrace."
"That is a judgment even the intellectuals must
reluctantly admit could be subject to revision. The
way all of North Africa and the Middle East has
gone, a French Algeria could be a trump card
today." Mattilon paused and brought his hand to his
chin, his frown returning. "Why on earth would
Talbot, Brooks and Simon walk away from
Bertholdier? He may be a monarchist at heart, but
God knows he's honor personified. He's regal,
perhaps even pompous, but a very acceptable client
for all of that.'
"We've heard things," said Converse quietly,
shrugging now himself, as if to lessen the credibility
of hearsay evidence.
"Mon Dieu, not his women?" exclaimed Mattilon,
laughing. "Come now, when will you grow up?"
"Not women."
"What then?"
'Let's say some of his associates, his acquaintances.',
"I hope you make the distinction, 1oel. A man
like Bertholdier can choose his associates certainly,
but not his acquaintances. He walks into a room and
everyone wants to be his friend most claim he is a
friend."
80 ROBERT LUDLUM
' That's what we want to find out. I want to
bring up some names, see whether they are
associates or unremembered acquaintances."
"Bien. Now you're making sense. I can help, I
will help We shall have lunch at L'Etalon Blanc
tomorrow and the next day. It is the middle of the
week and Bertholdier will no doubt choose one or
the other to dine there. If not, there's always the
day after."
"I thought you couldn't in the door?"
"Not by myself, no. But I know someone who
can, and he will be most obliging, I can assure you."
"Why?"
"He wishes to talk with me whenever and
wherever he can. He's a dreadful bore and,
unfortunately, speaks very little English numbers
mainly, and words like 'In and out,' or 'Over and
out,' and 'Dodger-Roger' or 'Roger-Dodger' and
'runway six' or 'Lift off five' and all manner of
incomprehensible phrases."
"A pilot?"
"He flew the first Mirages, brilliantly, I might
add, and never lets anyone forget it. I shall have to
be the interpreter between you, which at least
eliminates my having to initiate conversation. Do
you know anything about the Mirage?"
"A jet's a jet," said Joel. "Pull and sweep out,
what else is there?"
"Yes, he's used that one, too. Pull and sweep
something. I thought he was cleaning a kitchen."
"Why does he always want to talk with you? I
gather he's a member of the club."
"Very much so. We're representing him in a
futile case against an aircraft manufacturer. He had
his own private jet and lost his left foot in one of
your crash landings "
' Not mine, pal."
"The door was jammed. He couldn't
ground~ject where he wished to, when the plane's
speed was sufficiently reduced for him to avoid a
final collision."
"He didn't slap the right buttons."
"He says he did."
"There are at least two backups, including an
instant manual, even on your equipment."
"We've been made aware of that. It's not the
money, you understand; he's enormously wealthy.
It's his pride. To lose
THE AQUITAINE PROGRESSION 81
brings into question his current or if you will, lat-
ter-day skills."
"They'll be a lot more in question under
cross-examination. I assume you've told him that."
"Very gently. It's what we're leading up to."
"But in the meantime every conference is a hefty
fee."
"We're also saving him from himself. If we did it
swiftly or too crudely, he'd simply dismiss us and be
driven to someone far less principled. Who else
would take such a case? The government owns the
plant now, and God knows it won't pay."
"Good point. What'll you tell him about me?
About the club?"
Mattilon smiled. "That as a former pilot and an
attorney you can bring an expertise to his suit that
might be helpful. As to L'Etalon Blanc, I shall
suggest it, tell him you'd be impressed. I shall
describe you as something of an Attila the Hun of
the skies. How does that appeal to you?"
"With very little impact."
"Can you carry it off?" asked the Frenchman. The
question was sincere. "It would be one way to meet
Bertholdier. My client and he are not simply
acquaintances, they are friends."
"I'll carry it off."
"Your having been a prisoner of war will be most
helpful. If you see Bertholdier enter, and express a
desire to meet him, such requests are not lightly
refused former POW's."
"I wouldn't press that too hard," said Converse.
"Why not?"
"A little digging could turn up a rock that doesn't
belong in the soil."
"Oh?" Mattilon's brows arched again, neither in
mockery nor in astonishment, simply surprise.
"'Digging,' as you use it, implies something more
than a spontaneous meeting with odd names
spontaneously thrown about."
"Does it?" Joel revolved his glass, annoyed with
himself, knowing that
any argument would only
enlarge the lapse. "Sorry, it was an instinctive
reaction. You know how I feel about that topic."
"Yes, I do, and I forgot. How careless of me. I
apologise."
"Actually, I'd just as soon not use my own name.
Do you mind?"
82 ROBERT LUDLUM
"You're the missionary, not 1. What shall we call
you?" The Frenchman was now looking hard at
Converse.
"It doesn't matter."
Mattilon squinted. "How about the name of your
employer, Simon? If you meet Bertholdier, it might
appeal to him. Lieuc de Saint-Simon was the purest
chronicler of the monarchy.... Henry Simon. There
must be ten thousand lawyers named Henry Simon
in the States."
"Simon it is."
"You've told me everything, my friend?" asked
Rene, his eyes noncommittal. "Everything you care
to."
"Yes, I have," said Joel, his own eyes a
blue-white walk "Let's have another drink."
"I think not. It's late and my current wife has
malaise if her dinner is cold. She's an excellent
cook, incidentally."
"You're a lucky man."
"Yes, I am." Mattilon finished his drink, placed
the glass on the table and spoke casually. "So was
Valerie. I shall never forget that fantastic canard ~
I'orange she fixed for us three or four years ago in
New York. Do you ever hear from her?"
"Hear and see," answered Converse. "I had lunch
with her in Boston last month. I gave her the
alimony check and she picked up the tab. By the
way, her paintings are beginning to sell."
"I never doubted that they would."
"She did."
"Unnecessarily.... I always liked Val. If you see
her again, please give her my affectionate best."
"I wit.
Mattilon rose from the upholstered chair, his
eyes no longer noncommittal. "Forgive me, I
thought so often you were such a matched pair, I
believe is the expression. The passions dwindle, of
course, but not the de suite, if you know what I
mean."
"I think I do, and speaking for both of us, I
thank you_for the misplaced concretion.""
'ye ne comprends pas. "
"Forget it, it's antiquated doesn't mean
anything. I'll give her your affectionate best."
"Merci. I'll phone you in the morning."
L'Etalon Blanc was a pacifist's nightmare. The
club's heavy dark wood walls were covered with
photographs and
THE AQUITAINE PROGRESSION 83
prints, interspersed with framed citations and
glistening medals red ribbons and gold and silver
disks cushioned on black velvet. The prints were a
visual record of heroic carnage going back two
centuries, while the evolution in warfare was shown
in photographs as the horses and caissons and sabers
became motorcycles, tanks, planes and guns, but the
scenes were not all that different because the theme
was constant. Victorious men in uniform were
depicted in moments of glory, whatever suffering
there might have been was strangely absent. These
men did not lose no missing limbs or shattered
faces here; these were the privileged warriors. Joel
felt a profound fear as he studied the martial array.
These were not ordinary men; they were hard and
strong and the word 'capability' was written across
their faces. What had Beale said on Mykonos? What
had been the judgment of the Red Fox of Inchon, a
man who knew whereof he spoke?
. . . I know what they can do when we ask them to
do it Yet how much more could they do if they asked
it of themselves? wondered Joel. Without the
impediments of vacillating civilian authorities?
'Luboque has just arrived," said Mattilon quietly,
coming up behind Converse. "I heard his voice in the
lobby. Remember, you don't have to overdo it I'll
translate what I think is appropriate, anyway but
nod profoundly when he makes one of his angry
remarks. Also laugh when he tells jokes; they're
dreadful, but he likes it."
"I'll do my best."
'I'II give you an incentive. Bertholdier has a
reservation for lunch. At his usual place, table
eleven, by the window."
"Where are we?" asked Joel, seeing the
Frenchman's pressed lips expressing minor triumph.
"Table twelve. Now."
"If I ever need a lawyer, I'll call you."
"We're terribly expensive. Come now, as they say
in all those wonderful films of yours, 'You're on,
Monsieur Simon.' Play the role of Attila but don't
overplay it."
"You know, Rene, for someone who speaks
English as well as you do, you gravitate to the tritest
phrases."
"The English language and American phrases
have very little in common, Joel, trite or otherwise."
"Smart ass."
"Need I say more? . . . Ahh, Monsieur Luboque,
Serge, mon amil"
84 ROBERT LUDIUM - -
Mattilon's third eye had spotted the entrance of
Serge Luboque; he turned around as the thumping
became louder on the floor. Luboque was a short,
slender man; his physique made one think of those
jet pilots of the early period when compactness was
a requirement. He was also very close to being a
caricature of himself. His short, waxed moustache
was affixed to a miniaturised face that was pinched
in an expression of vaguely hostile dismissal directed
at both no one and everyone. Whatever he had
been before, Laboque was now a poseur who knew
only how to posture. With all that was brilliant and
exciting buried in the past, he had only the memo-
ries, the rest was anger.
"Et relief l 'expert f udiefaire den Tom pannier
aerJennes, -he said, looking at Converse and
extending his hand.
' Serge is delighted to meet you and is sure you
can help us," explained Mattilon.
'4I'II do what I can," said Converse. "And
apologize for my not speaking French."
The lawyer obviously did so, and Luboque
shrugged, speaking rapidly, incomprehensibly; the
word anglais repeated several times.
"He, too, apologizes for not speaking English,"
said Mattilon, glancing at Joel, mischievousness in
his look, as he added, "If he's Iying, Monsieur
Simon, we may both be placed against these
decorated walls and shot."
"No way," said Converse, smiling. "Our
executioners might dent the medals and blow up the
pictures. Everybody knows you're lousy shots."
"Qutest-ce que vous cites?"
"Monsieur Simon tient a was mmercier pour le
dejeuner, " said Mattilon, turning to his client. n en
est. tresf error il estime que l'o,~icier fran,cais eat l'un
ties meilleurs du monde. "
"What did you say?"
"I explained," said the lawyer, turning again,
"that you were honored to be here, as you believ
e
the French military especially the officer corps to
be the finest on earth."
"Not only lousy shots but rotten pilots," said
Joel, smiling and nodding.
"Est-il oral que was aver participe ~ nombKuses
missions en Asie d u Sud?" asked Lubeque, his eyes
fixed on Joel.
"I beg your pardon?"
THE AQUITAINE PROGRESSION 85
'He wants it confirmed that you are really an
Attila of the skies, that you flew many missions."
"Quite a few," answered Joel.
"Beaucoup," said Mattilon.
Luboque again spoke rapidly, even more
incomprehensibly, as he snapped his fingers for a
steward.
"What now?"
"He'd rather tell you about his exploits in the
interests of the case, of course."
"Of course," said Converse, his smile now fixed.
"Lousy shots, rotten pilots and insufferable egos."
"Ah, but our food, our women, our incomparable
understanding of life."
"There's a very explicit word in French one of
the few I learned from my ex-wife but I don't think
I should use it." Joel's smile was now cemented to
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