Second Chance Read Online Free Page B

the Dessant Cigarette dynasty, was released from prison after the French government received clamorous support for him from the entire newly developed Overseas Department of La Réunion.”
    She delved further into the article, looking for Louis’s name, and found it at last. “Duped into an unwitting marriage with a beautiful confidence artist, Louis Dessant murdered the private detective who pursued them throughout France. Dessant later found that his false wife had killed the mail-order bride he had actually arranged to marry on Réunion Island, and taken her place. By then, he was so deeply in love with the false Madame Dessant that he was willing to die for her, and nearly did so, allowing himself to be slowly poisoned to death in an alpine hideout. Mme. Celie Dessant (real name, Carola Christina Alese) put a gun to her head and committed suicide before her shocked husband, rather than allow the police to take her. She left him alone to face bereavement, arrest, betrayal, and a sentence of hard labor.”
    “Good God.” Bishou’s hands shook so badly she could hardly return the papers to the envelope.
    She sat in the bright, warm sunshine, feeling so cold she shivered. Deeply in love. Murder. Poison. Suicide. Well, that was passion, wasn’t it? That was what she was doing her thesis on — observing it, not living it. This was one hell of an observation.
    She thought again of Dr. Roth, President Lanthier, even Bat. All right, she promised them silently, I’m an academic and I’ll behave like one, don’t worry. Louis Dessant is just an interesting advisee, for two weeks only, and then he’ll be gone. Even as she said this to herself, she felt a twinge of unhappiness. She massaged her hands and feet to make the cold and numbness go away. The shock had been physical. Nothing had hit her that hard in years.
    Bishou took a deep breath. Get used to it , she told herself. The rest of your life is going to be like this. If you’re going to be a woman professor, Howard, expect to be alone.
    As Jean-Baptiste Howard, “Bat” her brother, had warned her, you just slogged through the traumatic times until you came out the other side. In the meantime, though, you tried to be fair to everyone else, and not let your outlook spoil their lives. Like they did for their younger brothers, who didn’t remember a time when their parents weren’t the victims of paralysis or dementia.
    She stood. All right, she could do that. Louis Dessant was probably in America, a place he’d never been, for a change of scene. The least she could do was make sure it was a good experience. Back into the academic shell, she told herself. Let’s go.
    They had already reached the morning coffee break when she stepped inside the Medlin Conference Center. Men sat everywhere, in the searing bright sunshine, talking and drinking coffee. She didn’t see Dessant among the men outside, not on the grass or benches or planters. Then she thought, No, he likes things more structured , and headed for the little coffee shop in the next building.
    He was alone, at a tiny table, his head resting on one hand, reading notes. He had a cup of coffee and nothing else. She thought he looked tired and discouraged.
    “Monsieur Dessant?”
    He looked up at her, surprised, and rose from his seat. “Mademoiselle Howard! I did not think you were coming.”
    “I’m sorry.” Bishou sat down in the opposite seat. “I had to teach, then I had to run some errands. I hadn’t meant to leave you by yourself. It’s my fault.”
    “Oh, no, no. I expect too much.” He switched from English to French as he sat down. “The first speaker was on medical and legal issues, and we have not progressed so far in France. I found it very tedious. I was just trying to find highlights to describe this to Etien when I return, in case we find ourselves with similar legal issues in the future. But I doubt it very much. I cannot imagine it happening to us.”
    “It’s good to be prepared,