Frédérique, vol. 2

A thirty‑year‑old gentleman finds an unexpected comfort in his renewed friendship with Frédérique, a woman only a few years his junior. Their connection, however, is constantly shadowed by the town’s gossip, especially after a spiteful remark from Saint‑Bergame that suggests an illicit liaison. Determined to protect both his own reputation and Frédérique’s, he watches the social currents with a cautious eye.

One crisp morning, while idly reading theatre posters on a boulevard pillar, his attention is seized by a modestly dressed shopgirl whose dark hair and striking eyes seem to glow with a Mediterranean warmth. The brief encounter, a fleeting exchange of glances, leaves him distracted from the play listings and awakens a new curiosity that feels both innocent and unsettling. As she disappears down the street, he is left wondering whether this chance meeting might stir the delicate balance of his life.