My boy, it’s marvelous news,” said Eitingon in his Russian-flavored French, spreading a sliver of the foie gras on a toasted slice of bread. “She’s known to be an enchantress, and if you win her over, you can dispense with Sylvia.”
“Dispense with Sylvia?”
“You find her tedious, don’t you?”
Ramón recoiled inwardly. He didn’t find Sylvia tedious. He found it odd and annoying that Eitingon would think so.
“Of course you’re reluctant to toss aside what you’ve spent so much time winning.”
Ramón wanted to get up from the table and walk away, but he was there to make peace, to smooth things over.
“Go ahead.” Eitingon urged him to try the foie gras. “It’s ambrosial. Be sure to get some of that lovely jelly on top.” He took a swallow of the Château Latour and watched the younger man lean forward.
“Nice, isn’t it?” said Eitingon.
“Who is the enchantress?”
“Frida Rivera, the wife of Diego. She’s a direct link to Trotsky in Mexico. She’s arriving in Paris any day now.”
“And why do you say she’s an enchantress?”
“She’s famous for her conquests. Rivera is a great womanizer, sleeps with everyone. And she does the same. They’re quite the pair.”
“What brings her to Paris?”
“She’s Mexico’s delegate to the Fourth International Conference,” Eitingon said and laughed.
“She’s a militant?”
“I hardly think so. Rivera fancies himself a politician but he’s an amateur. After he was kicked out of the Party, he went over to the Trotskyists and became a great hero to them when he got President Cárdenas to give Trotsky a Mexican visa. Rivera gave Trotsky and his entourage a house and made a show of embracing the old Russian.”
“And why would Rivera’s wife come here as a delegate to the Fourth International?”
“She’s coming for an exhibition of her paintings.”
“Is she an artist?”
“Yes, in a minor sort of way.” Eitingon helped himself to more foie gras, inadvertently transferring a bit of the duck gelatin on the back of his hand to the scar on his chin, giving it a gloss. “She’s been in New York, where she captivated the press and all of high society. The newspapers and magazines wrote about her every move, calling her the surrealist woman.”
“I wonder what they meant?”
“You know about the surrealists?”
“Of course. Salvador Dali is Catalan.”
“Yes, sorry. Well, at any rate, Frida Rivera is having an exhibition here. You must attend the vernissage. That will be the perfect way for you to meet her.”