The Siren of Paris Read Online Free Page B

are underwritten with insurance in the event of a disaster. I would not take the risk, and who do you think ultimately is behind all that money with the insurance underwriters?” David explained as he pointed to Nigel’s chest.
    “There are thousands, you know, all searching for a way home,” Nigel said, waving his hands up in the air.
    “It does not matter, Nigel, if it is thousands or millions. If no one is willing to risk the money for those ships, they are not going to take us home.” David looked directly at Nigel’s face, trying to catch the attention of his eyes.
    “You’re right. I never thought of it that way,” Nigel said, defeated. “I felt sorry for the agent. He just looked at me and said ‘I cannot help you.’”

Chapter 4
    M arc looked to the front of the classroom. The semicircular, wheeled stage held no model. The instructor had just finished passing out bottles of ink and long wooden dowels.
    “Attention, please, attention. Listen to me,” the instructor rapped a stick on the desktop. “I am not unaware of what is taking place outside these walls of École Nationale Supérieure; however, the standards of instruction will remain the same. If you listen to every radio report, read every newspaper, and run to the underground every time you hear a siren, you will have no focus in this class and you might as well leave.”
    The students stared without any emotion at the instructor. Marc looked out the windows, crisscrossed with tape. As he turned back to the front, Marie, again in her robe, came through a door with her back to the class.
    “Today, you will stand as you draw. Break the dowels I have given you. I want you to draw on the full sheet of paper on your desk. You must focus and draw with your entire body, not just your little hands. Any questions?”
    The students stood and uncapped their bottles of ink. Some removed their gas mask canisters from the top of their desks. Marc spread out a large sheet of paper upon his table.
    “Excellent. Marie, if you please,” the instructor pointed to the cushions on the stage. She removed her robe and turned to face the class as she lay nude across the cushions.
    First, a student gasped. Another let out a laugh. A murmur rippled through the room. Marc’s face grinned like a fox. The instructor turned toward her and cupped his hand to his mouth. Marie looked up at him, wearing nothing but a gas mask as she tilted her head to one side.
    “Always up on the latest fashions,” he said with a smirk.
    “But, of course,” she said, and pulled off the mask.
    Marc took the dowel and dunked into the bottle of ink, looked up at Marie and then began to mark the page, all the while grinning with admiration.
    Later that evening, Marc met Dora for dinner.
    “Do you think this war is serious?” Marc asked her.
    “What war? There is a war? I had no idea!”
    “Dora, stop teasing.” Marc scrunched his brow.
    “Marc, for the past hour, all you have talked about is your art class and Marie. Do you realize that? I have not even met this woman, but I feel like I could draw her myself,” Dora said.
    “It is nothing. I think it is just due to the fact that I have to look at her so much.”
    “You mean look at her while she is nude, right?” Dora smiled as she stared at him.
    “Yes, yes, nude. I understand what you mean, but it is not going to go any place. She is the model and I am the student.” He averted Dora’s stare.
    “You really do like to tell yourself stories, and I think you believe them,” she said as the food came to the table. Marc nodded thanks to the waiter.
    “Have you seen Nigel or David recently?” he asked with a genuine sense of concern in his voice. Dora paused for a moment to consider her words.
    “Not with Marie, but yes, and they are staying put. Neither of them are happy about it, but Nigel’s own bank has recommended it. David, well, he is not eager for it,” she said, looking to the side.
    “Why does David not want to get