The French Riviera has long been a favorite playland for dodgy characters of all stripes.

All hunt in James Whitendales office.

Faced with a vituperate Serbian nationalism and the despotic actions of Slobodan Milošević, who took power in the late 1980s, Slovenia and Croatia seceded from federal Yugoslavia in June 1991[…].

At one time Joan invented other names for her. 'Matilda' brought to mind dingy curtains, gray tent flaps, a slack-skinned old woman. How about Sharon? Lilliane? Elizabeth? Then, Joan didn't know how, the name Matilda became transformed. It started shining like silver. The il in it was silver. But not metallic. In Joan's mind the name gleamed now like a fold of satin.