Rosemary Hoyt, a 17-year-old movie actress recently launched into celebrity, is vacationing with her mother in the south of France. They are staying in a beachside resort called Gausse’s Hotel, near Cannes. It is June 1925.

Already bored, Rosemary goes out to the beach for a swim while her mother secures train tickets for their departure in three days’ time. While swimming, Rosemary meets a group of Americans who recognize her from “Daddy’s Girl,” the movie that made her famous.

The group includes Luis Campion, Mrs. Abrams, Mrs. and Mr. McKisco, and Mr. Royal Dumphry. From a distance, Rosemary sees a young woman and young man who attract her attention as also coming from America; they seem to possess a magic quality about them.

The group of Americans makes conversation with Rosemary on the beach. They comment on her Hollywood celebrity and Mrs. Violet McKisco mentions that her husband is an aspiring novelist, though her husband scolds her for beginning to share the details of his newest, unpublished book.

While engaged in casual conversation with the group, Rosemary again notices the young couple she spotted earlier farther down the beach, as well as another man with them, a composer named

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