1. Paris 1868
Dear precious Beth,
I hope you'll fine when I'm returning from Paris and Europe back to Concord! Although Flo and me are spending a lot of time together and have fun, I have to think often of you, my sweet angelic roommate at home!
Paris is such a lovely city and I'm sure you'd like it, with cozy cafes and such amazing music. And I had a very special day, when I met someone who could be your soul mate. So, be amazed!
I was painting at a lake, just to relax in the nature, and of course, there were also other people strolling on this beautiful summer day. The view of the blue water with lush green trees was formidable, but then I realized, that someone was watching me carefully. When I turned around, the young man blushed.
Apparently embarrassed, he stammered: "Pardon…je ..je.. vous prie de m'excuser, Mademoiselle. -je vous demande mille fois pardon."
I felt bad that he was so confused about it and I told him that he needn't apologize. At first, I thought that he would be a French inhabitant because he was speaking fluently. It turned out that he was here also a foreigner.
He introduced himself as Peter, I don't remember at the moment his complicated family name. He's from Russia, so far away! He is half Russian, half French (thus, he was speaking so well) and he seems to be a little be lost on the great world. He told me that he would be too French for Russia and too Russian to be a true Parisian. Peter is a charming young man, I guess he is between 20 and 30 years old.
And you'd like him! He seems to be bashful and socially awkward – and he didn't try to flirt with me. He doesn't seem to be good at such things. I showed him my picture and we were talking about art. You'd like him even more because he is a musician! He is currently composing his first opera (Voyevoda, he said, which means something like River dream, or whatever – a romantic comedy). And I told him about my attempts to become an artist and Jo's writing ambition. Ah, this poor guy! I wished that he could have someone like Aunt March or Aunt Carrol! It's not easy to get famous. It was good to speak with someone so determined about artistic attempts…
I don't know how, but I mentioned my possible engagement with Fred Vaughn. It turned around that also Peter is going to be engaged with-guess who? The famous singer Desiree Artot! Though, he didn't see, happy that I did know his spouse and praised her at once. He sighed and said he would like to become himself a famous composer and not just a poor teacher at the Conservatory in Moscow. Somehow, we got both second thoughts on this topic…
We both were chatting about love and freedom and art and we were feeding the swans swimming on the pond. He loves swans so much and so I painted them on my picture. He would love to compose also a ballet, as he loves it, like for example the splendid ballet La Peri. It's about a dreamer in search for his true, eternal love. So, I suggested him to try it once in his life.
Ah, and I told him about our Christmas, like about Jo and her wish for Undina for Christmas. It turned out that he loves that novel by de la Motte Fouqué, too, - you can tell Jo about that. He would like to write the second opera about it, he promised.
And Peter gave me finally a quick note of a song he composed. I'm sending it together with this letter, so you can practice it on the piano. You should get to know Peter, he's such a good man!
In return, I gifted to him my painting with the lake of the swans. He'd take it to Russia and we're hoping to see us again – hopefully, in Paris, his and my favorite city.
Lots of love,
Amy
P.S. Now I remember his name: Peter Tchaikovsky! I wonder whether we'll become the famous artists we're aspiring to be….