Goodbye, Janette Read Online Free PDF Page B

careful too. Remember what I told you. No matter how much he insists, after you are married do not transfer the companies into his name. Just have him appointed the managing director of them. If he asks why you won’t do it, tell him that I did not leave the transfer papers with you.”
    “I’ll remember.”
    “That should keep him in line,” he said. “He wouldn’t dare try anything unless it’s all in his hands.”
    “I understand,” she said.
    This time he kissed her on the mouth. There was a faint saltiness to her lips. He drew back and looked at her. “No tears.”
    She shook her head. “No tears.”
    “Strange things happen during a war,” he said. “But you made some of it beautiful.” He kissed her again. “That’s for the little one. Tell her that I was sorry I could not wait for her to return from kindergarten.”
    “I’ll tell her.”
    They went down to the front door. Once again, he kissed her. Gently this time. “
Auf Wiedersehen, mein Liebchen.
”
    ***
    Maurice’s voice crackled with pleased excitement through the telephone lines from Paris. “The De Gaulle government accepted my proposal. You are now talking to the Marquis de la Beauville.”
    “M’sieur le Marquis,” she said. “May I offer my congratulations?”
    “Madame la Marquise,” he said. “That is not all I expect you to offer.”
    She laughed. “That is good news.”
    “There is even more,” he said. “I managed to have your old papers disappear from the files and have a whole new set for you.”
    “How did you manage that?”
    “Don’t ask how. It was expensive but it was worth it. Now there is no one who can point a finger at you. The new papers are in the mail to you. Now all you need are new photographs to attach to them, then go to the French Consul and sign them and it’s all over.”
    “But there are still some people in Paris who might recognize me.”
    “I thought of that too. Dye your hair blond and change the style. Shoulder length with waves is the latest thing in Paris right now and it would be perfect for you. Plucked eyebrows are also in fashion, as are dark eye makeup and blush-accented high cheekbones. Do that before you have the photos taken. And one more thing. You will notice your residency permit is made out in the name of Countess Tanya Pojarska. I’ve dropped the Anna for a reason. Just as Wolfgang had you drop Tanya because it was not a German name, I want you to go back to it, just in case anyone does try to put two and two together.”
    “I’ll go to the beauty parlor first thing in the morning,” she said. A thought flashed through her mind. “You seem to know a great deal about the latest fashion.”
    He laughed. “We own a perfume factory in Grasse, remember? It would be a simple step to jump from there into cosmetics. I’ve been studying the market. After all the drabness of the war years, it’s ready for a tremendous expansion—women are just bored with being plain.”
    “I think you’re right,” she said.
    “I know I’m right,” he said. “And I’m making all the contacts I can in that field.”
    “I hate to bring it up,” she said, “but there’s one thing you seem to have forgotten.”
    “What’s that?”
    “Our marriage.”
    There was a moment’s silence. “I thought we’d be married when you came to Paris.”
    “No,” she said. “I know the French. There will be too many papers to fill out and too many questions to answer. They will want to check everything and that will take forever. Besides, who knows what they might discover? Then all our plans will be for nothing. We’ll get married up here as soon as I have the papers completed. It will be much simpler.” She laughed. “Besides I like the idea of coming back to France as the wife of the Marquis de la Beauville.”
    She could almost see him preening over the telephone. “Of course, my dear,” he said quickly. “Anything you want.”
    “By the way,” she asked, “have you heard