Parisian Affair

by Gould, Judith

  Princess Karima offered her hand and let Allegra hold it for a moment, then repeated the gesture with Todd.

  'This is my friend, the Honorable Marcus Setville-Penhurst,' Princess Karima said, indicating him with a wave.

  'So pleased to meet you,' Marcus boomed in his plumiest old Etonian voice, shaking both of their hands vigorously.

  Princess Karima noticed that Allegra wasn't wearing the ring, but wasn't surprised. She assumed she would have put it in her room safe in the Duke and Duchess of Windsor Suite at the Ritz.

  'Please,' she said, 'now that you're here, won't you have a seat?' She indicated chairs grouped near the chaises she and Marcus had occupied. Then she turned to Mimi. 'Mimi, please bring a bottle of the Louis Roederer Cristal.'

  'Out, madame,' Mimi said, then turned and left.

  'Oh, you mustn't go to any trouble,' Allegra said. 'We'll only be a minute. Really.'

  'It's the least I can do,' Princess Karima said graciously, seating herself on the chaise longue again. 'You paid a great deal of money to get to wear my ring, and by doing so you've made an enormous contribution to my charitable foundation. Your money will help so many of the less fortunate.'

  Allegra and Todd had taken chairs facing the chaises, and Marcus, fascinated with Karima's show of hospitality, spread out on his chaise longue again.

  'I have to confess that I didn't buy the ring for myself,' Allegra said.

  'Oh?' Princess Karima said. 'Who did you buy it for?'

  'I'm sorry, but I'm not permitted to say,' Allegra replied.

  Princess Karima looked thoughtful for a moment, then said, 'It's a pity I won't get to know who it is who's helping my foundation, Ms. Sheridan. Nor will I know who the woman is who will wear the ring.'

  'I don't think it will remain a mystery for long,' Todd said. 'We be- live the owner is waiting until he gives it to his companion.'

  'Ah, so he's saving it for a surprise,' Marcus said amiably.

  'I think so,' Todd said.

  'American, I suppose,' Marcus said.

  'He is, yes,' Allegra said.

  Mimi shuffled into the conservatory with a silver tray laden with tulip- shaped glasses and a bottle of chilled champagne. She set it down on a table and began pouring the wine. When she finished, she handed one glass to Allegra, then to each of the others, before turning and leaving the room.

  'A toast,' Marcus said, raising his glass. 'To Ms. Sheridan for placing the successful bid at Dufour.'

  'Yes,' Princess Karima chimed in. 'To your success,' she said, lifting her glass.

  They all sipped the champagne.

  'It's too bad the ring is not for you, Ms. Sheridan,' Princess Karima said. 'You are a very beautiful young woman, and it would look perfect with your coloring.'

  'Thank you,' Allegra said. 'I've always thought that you are one of the world's most beautiful and stylish women.'

  Karima laughed. 'You're very kind,' she said, 'but you're speaking of a woman who no longer exists. That Princess Karima is now considerably older and hopefully wiser.' She shifted her gaze to Todd. 'It's a pity, Mr. Hall, that you didn't buy the ring for your fiancée.' Her eyes were full of mischief.

  'It was a little beyond my budget,' Todd said with a laugh.

  'I daresay it was beyond most everyone's budget,' Marcus allowed.

  'But if I'd had the money, I certainly wouldn't have hesitated to get it for Ally,' Todd said. He reached over and took her hand in his, smiling.

  'How lucky you are, Ms. Sheridan,' Princess Karima said. 'To have such a handsome young man in love with you.'

  'I—I, yes,' Allegra said. She'd never been one of those girls who'd followed Princess Karima's life in the society press, but she had to admit the woman was not only stylish and a great beauty but also formidable. The thought of taking her on as an opponent was frightening.

  'Do you work in America?' Marcus asked.

  Allegra nodded. 'I'm a jewelry designer,' she replied.

  'How interesting,' Princess Karima said. 'Do you work on your own?'

  'Yes,' Allegra said. 'So far at least.'

  Princess Karima shifted her gaze to Todd. 'And you, Mr. Hall. Do you have some sort of occupation?'

  'I'm a landscape designer,' Todd lied. 'And I have to tell you that I'm stunned by what I can see of your gardens.'

  'Oh, it's far too early to see them at their best,' Princess Karima said. 'They will be lovely in late spring and early summer.'

  'But the bones are fantastic,' Todd said enthusiastically. 'The layout is exquisite.'

  'Yes,' Marcus said. 'I've always thought the same thing. They're so perfectly laid out that they're beautiful even in the midst of winter. Karima is responsible for that.'

  'You mean that you designed them yourself?' Todd asked.

  Princess Karima nodded. 'Yes, with a little help.'

  'Unbelievable,' Todd said. 'They look as if a world-class landscape designer had done them.'

  'You flatter me, Mr. Hall,' she said. Then after a pause, she asked, 'Would you like to see them?' Her dark eyes questioned him.

  'I would love to,' he said, 'if it's not too much trouble.'

  'Come along everyone,' Karima said, rising to her feet. 'Let me get a coat, and we'll all take a stroll so you can see more.'

  She swept out of the room, and Allegra, Todd, and Marcus got up.

  'Karima takes her gardens very seriously,' Marcus said. 'They give her great enjoyment.'

  'And peace,' she said, reentering the conservatory in a dramatic floor- length sable coat with a hood. 'They are a wonderful place to sit and contemplate life.'

  She smiled and went to one of the French doors, which Marcus opened. Princess Karima went out onto the terrace, followed by Allegra, Todd, and finally Marcus.

  'Let's go around and start in the knot garden, shall we?' the princess said, leading the way.

  They had walked for several minutes, when Allegra abruptly stopped. 'I'm sorry,' she began. 'Is it all right if I run back to the bathroom, then catch up with you? I'm afraid I can't wait.'

  The others stopped and looked at her. 'Of course,' the princess said after a beat. 'Go through the conservatory and the dining room. You'll reach a hallway. Turn to your right and go down the hall. You'll see one on your left.'

  'Thank you,' Allegra said. She turned and rushed back along the well- tended gravel path toward the terrace. When she reached the conservatory doors, she looked back. They were around the corner of the huge house, out of sight.

  She hurried through the conservatory and dining room, then down the hallway. The expensive scent the princess wore lingered in the air and unnerved Allegra slightly. It was almost as if she were present, watching Allegra's every step. On her right, the first door she came to was ajar. Looking in, she saw that it was a moderately sized room and obviously used as an office. A large desk was positioned in front of a window. Behind it was a chair that faced the doorway.

  Allegra looked up and down the hallway, then went into the room and walked around the desk. She peered down at the neat stacks aligned on its gleaming surface. Among them were piles of expensively engraved invitations, magazines, catalogues, bills, personal correspondence, and—

  What's this? she wondered.

  Leaning down for a closer look at a letter-size stack, she saw that at the top of it was a copy of a wire transfer from a Paris bank to a bank in Geneva. For several million euros. Must be her foundation, she thought. Quickly thumbing through part of the small stack, she saw that there were innumerable like transfers, all of them for millions of euros and all from Paris to Geneva.

  My God, she thought, realizing that the breathtaking amounts added up to over a hundred million euros, she's really serious about this charitable foundation. Whatever it is.

  She thumbed through several more of the wire transfers, but suddenly stopped. She felt a chill run up her spine, and the hairs on her arms stood up. Why she had such a reaction, Allegra couldn't really say, but what she saw presented a conundrum. The
lower half of the stack was made up of similar wire transfers, but they were all from the bank in Geneva to a bank in an Arab state. It seemed extremely odd to Allegra that these huge sums of money were being transferred first to Switzerland, then to an Arab country.

  Why not send the money directly to the second bank? she wondered. Why go through Switzerland? A quick second look showed her that the amounts were identical in every case. Fifteen million, for example, would be sent to Switzerland, then fifteen million wired to the Arab bank.

  Allegra looked over at the open doorway, then back down at the desk. A black alligator address book beckoned to her. She opened it and flipped through, but nothing leaped off the pages at her. It was like anyone's address book, complete with scratched-out addresses and telephone numbers and new ones written in their place. Then just as she was about to replace it, a piece of notepaper fell out. On it were three names: Ali, Hassan, and Nessim. Each was followed by a telephone number. She took a pencil from a silver holder and jotted down the bank account numbers of the Swiss and Arab banks first, then the three names with their corresponding phone numbers. That done, she folded the piece of paper and put it in her pocket. Giving the desk one final sweeping glance, she didn't see anything else that appeared to be of interest.

  She went back to the doorway, peeked out, and looked both ways. No one. Out into the hallway she went, then realized that she actually needed to go to the bathroom. Maybe it's my nerves, she thought. She found it where Princess Karima told her it would be, quickly made use of it, then hurried back out to the conservatory.

  She was startled by the elderly maid, who was emptying ashtrays into a silver silent butler. The old woman looked up at her with suspicious, narrowed eyes. 'Mademoiselle?' she asked.

  'I was just using the loo,' Allegra said with a smile.

  The old woman continued to stare at her but didn't say anything, and Allegra rushed on outside with the irrational feeling that the maid knew she had been snooping. She gives me the creeps, she thought, anxious to be with Todd again. When she caught up with Todd and the others, they were walking through a formal parterre. Its walks were pea gravel, and the beds, all lined with small formally clipped boxwood, were planted with hundreds of rosebushes.

  'There you are,' Marcus said cheerfully.

  'Are you okay?' Todd asked. 'We were beginning to worry about you.'

  'I'm fine,' Allegra said with a smile. 'Now at any rate.'

  'You found everything you need?' the princess asked.

  'Yes, thank you,' Allegra said.

  They walked on, the princess telling Todd about the various roses that would eventually be blooming, and he in turn asking her questions about them. After strolls through several garden 'rooms,' the greenhouses, and a small portion of the park, they returned to the conservatory, where Marcus refilled their champagne glasses.

  'You've been awfully generous with your time,' Todd told the princess, 'and it's been a wonderful experience for me.'

  'I'm glad you've enjoyed it,' she replied graciously, lighting a cigarette.

  'I wondered if you would mind clearing up something for me?' Allegra asked.

  'What's that?' Princess Karima asked, blowing a stream of smoke into the light-filled room.

  'After I placed the successful bid on your ring at Dufour, I went to pick it up, and they gave me a ring that wasn't yours.'

  'What?' Princess Karima exclaimed, sitting up in her chaise longue.

  'Yes,' Allegra said with a nod. 'They told me that they had made duplicates for photographic purposes and to save on insurance costs and so on. Your pieces were so valuable they didn't want to let them out of the auction house. They didn't want to take any chances.'

  'Oh, I see,' Princess Karima said.

  'I think it's awfully odd that they gave me the duplicate, don't you?' Allegra said.

  'It's preposterous,' Marcus burst in. 'Absolutely outrageous.'

  'It was merely a mistake,' Princess Karima said with a shrug. 'They are so busy, you know. Mistakes are made.'

  'But a mistake like this?' Allegra said. 'If I weren't a gem expert and hadn't examined your ring prior to the auction, I could have easily left there with the wrong ring.'

  'I have no idea what could have happened, Ms. Sheridan,' Princess Karima said. 'If you have questions, ask the people at Dufour, not me.'

  'Oh, I'm sorry,' Allegra said. 'I didn't mean to imply that you had anything to do with their deception or—'

  'Deception!' the princess exclaimed. 'That's hardly likely, Ms. Sheridan.'

  'Oh, I think it is,' Allegra said. 'I think they were deliberately trying to pawn off a ring on me that wasn't the one I'd bid on. I'm wondering why they would try to keep yours.'

  'This is nonsense,' the princess said as if she had a bad taste in her mouth. 'Absolute nonsense. You don't know what you're talking about.' She smashed her cigarette out in an ashtray. 'It was merely a mistake.' Then she added in an emphatic voice, 'Which they corrected.'

  'Only after I confronted them about it,' Allegra persisted, 'and Monsieur Ramtane Tadjer from Jules Levant came to my rescue.'

  'Ramtane. . .,' the princess began, her voice drifting off. Then, 'He knew about this?'

  Allegra nodded. 'He saw what was happening, and he looked at the ring with his loupe, too. He knew at once that I'd been given the wrong one.'

  'He's the owner of Jules Levant,' the princess said to Marcus.

  'Oh, I know who he is, darling,' Marcus said.

  'Well, Ms. Sheridan,' the princess said, 'I wish I could answer your question, but I think it was merely a mistake. Nothing more or less.' She rose to her feet. 'Now, if you don't mind, I have a busy evening ahead of me.' She looked from Allegra to Todd.

  They quickly put their champagne flutes down and got up, knowing the dismissal for what it was. Nothing more would be learned from Princess Karima.

  'Thank you so much,' Todd said. 'I really appreciate your hospitality after our barging in like this.'

  The princess merely shrugged.

  'It was so wonderful to meet you,' Allegra added. 'You're such a generous person.'

  Princess Karima looked at her as if she didn't know whether she was being sarcastic.

  'I wish you both luck,' the princess said. 'It will be interesting to find out whom you've bought my ring for. I hope the woman who wears it will be worthy of it.'

  'I'm certain she will be,' Allegra said. 'And thanks again.'

  Mimi appeared as if she'd been summoned out of thin air. She indicated the doorway into the dining room with a hand.

  'Good-bye,' Todd said.

  'Good-bye,' Princess Karima and Marcus said in unison.

  Allegra and Todd followed Mimi to the front door, then made a bee- line for the little car, where they buckled up before Todd drove them down the gravel lane to the ornate iron gates. The gates opened as they approached, and he sped past them and out onto the highway.

  'Jesus!' Allegra exclaimed. 'Am I glad that's over.'

  'How'd you do in the house?' Todd asked.

  'I'm not sure,' she said, then told him what she'd come across on the desk.

  'It could be nothing,' Todd said, 'but on the other hand it could be a huge story.'

  'I know,' she said. Then, taking the slip of paper out of her coat pocket, she read the names off to him.

  'Same case,' Todd said. 'Could be nothing, but might be something really big.'

  'I'm not sure what to do with any of this information.' She took a deep breath and let it out. 'I'm just glad to be out of there.'

  'You did wonderfully,' Todd said, placing a hand on her knee and squeezing it. 'I loved you playing an adoring fan of hers, then getting a little tough about the problem at Dufour.'

  'And you were great as a landscape designer,' she said. 'I was about to believe you myself.'

  Todd laughed.

  They drove on toward Paris, discussing the information they had, wondering what to do with it. 'Not even Hilton Whitehead is going to be of much use when i
t comes to Swiss bank account numbers,' Todd said, 'or those in the Arab bank.'

  'No,' Allegra agreed. 'Getting information out of them would be next to impossible, even for a government, much less an individual. I just think that it's really odd that she transfers first to Switzerland, then to the Arab bank. It makes no sense to me. Unless, of course, she wants the money immediately available for distribution in Arab countries.' She looked over at Todd. 'Do you get the impression from what you know of her that she would be doing charity work in the Middle East?'

  Todd shook his head. 'The opposite from what I've read. She's tried to erase her connection to the Middle East since she was young, making herself as European or international as possible.'

  'Maybe she's had a change of heart,' Allegra said. 'Maybe she's going back to her roots.'

  'Maybe,' Todd said, 'but you'd never know it from the way she lives. I mean, look at what the newspapers and publicity releases call the mill- house. It's really a huge estate worth millions of dollars, and it must cost a fortune to maintain. It's not like she's taken a vow of poverty or anything.'

  'No, but as luxuriously as she lives,' Allegra said, 'she really has cut back.' She paused thoughtfully. 'I'm more confused than ever, but one thing I'm fairly certain of: she knew about the ring switch at Dufour. She defended them just a little bit too much as far as I'm concerned.'

  'I'm not sure,' Todd said. 'She seemed surprised about it to me.'

  'No, I don't think she was surprised for one single minute. I think she knew about it.'

  'Maybe you're right,' Todd said. 'Female intuition and all that, but she would've fooled me.'

  'It's going to be interesting to call these telephone numbers and see what happens,' Allegra said, looking at the slip of paper.

  'That's something Hilton Whitehead may be able to help us with,' Todd said. 'Tracing the numbers.'

  'Do you really think so?'

  'Maybe,' Todd replied. 'He's got connections all over the world in the communications industry.'

  'Then we should give him a call,' Allegra said.

  She rummaged through her shoulder bag until she had her cell phone in hand. 'Besides, I want to tell him about Sylvie and Paul.'