‘She speaks very well,’ Jean-Luc added gallantly. ‘Her accent is excellent.’
Mac looked directly at the Frenchman, examining him, it seemed, rather as you would a laboratory specimen.
‘And where in France do you come from?’ he asked, unblinking.
‘I live in Paris now but I grew up in Lille, in the north. Do you know it?’
Mac’s eyes narrowed. ‘I’ve been through it in the car. It’s not the sort of place you stop to go sightseeing, though, is it?’
Hannah squeaked like a bat. ‘That’s rude!’
‘I’ve been to the Christmas market,’ Edie said quickly. ‘I bought all my Christmas presents there. It was great – very festive.’
Mac shifted his gaze from Jean-Luc back to his wife.
‘Have you had a good look round the village?’
Hannah nodded. ‘There are lots of nice shops.’
‘I need some shaving cream. I forgot to pack it. Coming with me?’
He extended his hand across the table. Hannah quickly stood up and took it briefly, before letting go.
‘What a shame to break up the party!’ Jessica piped up. ‘Hannah, you and Jean-Luc should arrange another time for French conversation. You might be fluent by the time you get home.’
It was such a provocative comment under the circumstances, Edie gave a silent gasp. Mac’s eyes narrowed even more and his mouth set in a grim, hard line.
‘Mais oui!’Jean-Luc replied easily. He was either unaware of Mac’s hostility or he was enjoying it. Edie couldn’t decide which.
Rising, the Frenchman pulled a scrap of paper from his pocket and asked his sister for a pen. After writing down his name and number, he passed it to Hannah before kissing her on both cheeks.
‘Call me if you would like some more practice. I’m mostly at home writing during the day. It would be nice to have a break.’
He glanced at Mac and gave a wide, disarming smile. ‘That is, if your husband will allow it.’
Mac’s frown grew deeper.
‘Of course he will!’ Jessica cried. ‘Hannah’s her own woman, aren’t you? She doesn’t take orders from men!’
It was with a great sense of relief that Edie watched Mac and Hannah move off. If they’d stayed any longer, Mac might have punched the Frenchman in the nose.
‘Right, I’d better do some work,’ Jean-Luc said, fishing some cash from his pocket and putting it on the table for his share of the bill.
‘I’ll see you later, big sister,’ he added, bending down to give her a kiss. Then he turned to Jessica and Edie and gave a small bow. ‘Lovely to meet you two ladies. I’m sure we will see each other again very soon.’
Edie had finished her Coke now and gestured to the waiter for the bill.
‘I’m very fond of my brother,’ Marina said in a low voice, when Jean-Luc was out of sight. ‘He has a good heart, but I fear he can sometimes be a little impulsive.’
‘He’s extraordinarily handsome,’ Edie replied. ‘Like a film star.’
Marina gave her tinkling little laugh. ‘I’m afraid he is like our father in certain respects. Women find him hard to resist.’
Without warning, her smile vanished and she looked at Jessica full-on. ‘And what do you do for a living?’
Her question seemed out of place, coming so soon after what had gone before, and Edie shifted uneasily.
Jessica uncrossed her legs and recrossed them the other way.
