We shared a look through the darkness and listened as French customs officials boarded the carriage, stamping up and down the corridor, interrogating the conductor about each of the cabins’ occupants, occasionally knocking on a door and asking for papers. Engel would be awake, too, I thought. I’d give it an hour after we got under way, just to be sure he’d gone back to sleep. I looked for my watch, but my wrist was bare. Eva showed me hers: 3:40. There would be time, but none to waste. We didn’t speak until the inspectors had disembarked, the train had let off a burst of hot air, and we’d rolled out of the station. As we headed into occupied France, Eva snuggled up to me. “Lili told me you were quite a ladies’ man in Hollywood.” I laughed. “Lili’s been known to exaggerate from time to time.” “She said that all you had to do was look at a girl, and she’d fall at your feet. That no woman could resist you.” “She managed to resist pretty well.” Eva lifted her head, looked at me cockeyed, and let loose a wholehearted laugh.
