Republished Sixth Chapter of “The French Courtesan, Who Came in from the Cold”

It was one of the most important days in Vivi’s life!

After reviewing the draft chapters that I wrote this past Christmas season, this is the chapter in which our heroine requested the most changes. She wrote, “Richard, you must understand that I remember almost nothing of the party and passionate night for which you devoted four chapters. I drank a lot of wine that night, unsuccessfully trying to get YOU drunk, but my mind was also a prisoner of the sedatives that the government doctor gave me. I do remember vividly the next day . . . the birthday of your mother and me. I also remember seemingly almost every minute that I was on your farm four days later. To me it was like arriving on another planet. I had never even seen dogs before that ran free, without a leash! I had never touched a goat or sheep before!”

Minimal changes were made to Chapters Four and Five, so there was no need to republish them. The changes are mostly the additions of newly available photographs and the telephone conversation between Vivi and my mother. In contrast, Vivi vividly remembers the details of her first visit to my farm the following Wednesday. She thought I should provide much more information and photos about that day.

Our house was decorated to the extreme because it was on the 1990 Shenandoah Valley Christmas Tour of Homes. Also, I baptized her in the Master Bathroom upstairs. Vivi says that she remembers those precious moments of becoming a real Christian, as if they were yesterday. Spoiler Alert! It was NOT your standard Christian baptism service. For one thing, it was conducted in a shower stall sans vêtements and was followed by a celebration of love between two people.

This past week, I found the photographs of the interior of our house during the Shenandoah Valley Christmas Tour of Homes. You will see exactly what Vivi saw on that Wednesday so long ago.