The Paris Time Capsule Read Online Free PDF Page A

this tonight, before I go and see it. Before we go and see it, Cat.”
    “ Perhaps it would be better if I went alone.”
    “ Cat … I need to be there. It was my grandmother’s apartment.”
    Cat sighed. The idea of Loic Archer in the apartment, and all the complications and time this was going to take was more than off putting. She should be sorting things out fast, getting home to New York.
    But it seeme d she had no choice. “I’ll talk to Monsieur Lapointe,” she said.
    The walk back to the hotel seemed swift. Loic came into the lobby, nodded at Cat, and left.

Chapter Four
     
     
    Cat slipped on the pair of tiny diamond earrings that Christian had bought her the previous summer in the Hamptons. The morning sky outside was pink through the old panes of the hotel window. Bare leaved trees were silhouetted in the street.
    Cat surveyed her outfits. They were all laid out on the bed. She had bustled around earlier, dashed out in an old pair of jeans out to buy a croissant and tried Monsieur Lapointe’s office on the off chance, but there was no answer of course.
    W hy was it so hard to choose what to wear? Cat busied herself placing shirts with skirts, taking them away, lining jumpers up with pants, fake pearls, and a hat.
    Nothing seemed to work. Clearly, she could not stand about in her camisole and knickers for too much longer. Loic Archer would be in the lobby in a few minutes. Cat wiped a hand over her tired eyes. She had lain awake half the night. In the end, the most sensible decision was surely to give the inheritance straight back to Loic if he was indeed who he claimed to be. After all, the whole thing had seemed unreal from the start.
    The phone in the room started to ring. Quickly, Cat reached across to pick it up. The receptionist announced that Madame’s guests were waiting for her in the lobby. Guests? What guests?
    Cat grabbed an op-shop silk blouse. It was in perfect condition, and it teamed up well with her flared nineteen forties trousers. That would do. She grabbed her coat, slapped on some lip-gloss, brushed her hair again, and almost ran out to the corridor.
    There was a small party waiting in the lobby. Cat paused at the foot of the stairs and frowned. Monsieur Lapointe was in the thick of it, immaculate in a grey three-piece suit with a pink handkerchief today.
    His assistant appeared to be attempting to flirt with Loic.
    Loic stood a head above them both. It was hard to read the look on his face, but he caught Cat’s eye as soon as she came into the room.
    “ Ah, Madame Jordan!” Monsieur Lapointe bustled across to meet Cat. He kissed her on both cheeks.
    Loic , who was close behind, leaned down and kissed her too.
    Cat became a little bustled herself.
    Monsieur Archer has filled me in with progress,” Monsieur Lapointe said. “It is all very irregular.”
    Cat smiled.
    “Although,” Monsieur Lapointe said, “This is France.”
    “ Yes,” Loic raised a brow. “This is France.”
    “ I try to call you, Madame Jordan, several times, yesterday in the afternoon!” Monsieur threw his hands in the air.
    “ Oh, I’m sorry. My phone was flat. I tried to call you this morning too.”
    Monsieur Lapointe looked like a balloon that was deflating fast. “This is a very odd situation. I would never normally, you understand, appear like this in your hotel, Madame. But Monsieur Archer, he ring me again and ... we need to come to some sort of arrangement.”
    “ Thank you,” Loic said. He put a hand on Monsieur Lapointe’s back and started to move towards the hotel door. When Loic got there, he held the door open for everyone.
    The legal assistant slipped out first, throwing a charming smile up at Loic.
    “ Sorry about this,” Loic muttered to Cat.
    “ Look,” Cat said to Monsieur Lapointe on the pavement. “It’s no-one’s fault, Monsieur Lapointe. We’ll try and sort things out. But at the end of the day I think that the right thing to do is - ” She glanced at Loic.
    He shook