Macha, Act II

Abstract Legrand recounts the fifty years that pass after his brief encounter with Macha Méril in Brazil. The two of them try to stay away from each other, but “from time to time, fate amuses itself by bringing us back together.” They pass on elevators at an airport, she going up while he goes down. They bump into each other at a television festival in Monte Carlo. Divorces and break-ups occur, but every time they see each other they are both involved with other people. The memory of Rio grows more distant, but for Legrand “the flame is never extinguished.” Then one day in 2013, after splitting up with his latest partner, Legrand finds an invitation to a new play by his friend Didier van Cauwelaert, starring . . . Macha Méril. He goes, and afterward, they have dinner. He keeps going back to the show, every night, and having dinner with Macha afterward. On their fourth date, he proposes—and she accepts.