@@@@@I can’t pretend to understand, but this
@@@@@I
can’t pretend to understand, but this ancient boulevardier beside me casually mentions that he’ll
call in the Deuxième—the Deuxième, Monsieur Bourne! For some that is no less than France’s
Gestapo! Even if I survived, I’m marked by that infamous branch of the governmentI’d no doubt
be sent to some horrible penal colony halfway across the world—oh, I’ve heard the stories of the
Deuxième!”
“Really?” said BernardineSounds positively marvelous
“Besides,” continued Lavier, looking hard at Jason as she yanked the pointed white hat off her
head, a gesture that caused the driver, seeing it in the rearview mirror, to raise his eyebrows
“Without me, without my presence in decidedly different clothing at the Meurice, Carlos won’t
come near the rue de Rivoli Bernardine tapped the woman’s shoulder, bringing his index finger to
his lips and nodding toward the front seatDominique quickly added, “The man you wish to confer
with will not be there
“She’s got a point,” said Bourne, leaning forward and looking past Lavier at the Deuxième
veteran“She’s also got an apartment on the Montaigne, where she’s supposed to change clothes,
and neither of us can go in with her
“That poses a dilemma, doesn’t it?” responded Bernardine“There’s no way we can monitor the
telephone from outside in the street, is there?”
“You fools! I have no choice but to cooperate with you, and if you can’t see that you should
be led around by trained dogs! This old, old man here will have my name in the Deuxième files the
first chance he gets, and as the notorious Jason Bourne knows if he has even a nodding
acquaintance with the Deuxième, several profound questions are raised—once raised by my sister,
Jacqueline, incidentallyWho is this Bourne? Is he real or unreal? Is he the assassin of Asia or is he
a fraud, a plant? She phoned me herself one night in Nice after too many brandies—a night perhaps
you recall, Monsieur le Caméléon—a terribly expensive restaurant outside Parisin the name of powerful, unnamed people you threatened her! You demanded that she reveal
what she knew about a certain acquaintance of hers—who it was at the time I had no idea—but you
frightened herShe said you appeared deranged, that your eyes became glazed and you uttered
words in a language she could not understand
“I remember,” interrupted Bourne icily“We had dinner and I threatened her and she was
frightenedShe went to the ladies’ room, paid someone to make a phone call, and I had to get out of
there
“And now the Deuxième is allied with those powerful unnamed people?” Dominique Lavier
shook her head repeatedly and lowered her voice“No, messieurs, I am a survivor and I do not fight
against such oddsOne knows when to pass the shoe in baccarat
After a short period of silence, Bernardine spoke“What’s your address on the avenue
Montaigne? I’ll give it to the driver, but before I do, understand me, madameIf your words prove
false, all the true horrors of the Deuxième will be visited upon you
Robert Ludlum ?? THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM
284
Marie sat at the room-service table in her small suite at the Meurice reading the newspap