Scumbler

  as an eagle’s; his pitch, perfect; his understanding of

  the emotions deeply moving. He reaches us, crucially,

  naturally, where we live.”

  —Rebecca Sinkler, Philadelphia Inquirer

  “A luminous book…with each little turn, we see a

  new facet of forbearance and ineffable love.”

  —Chicago Sun-Times

  OTHER BOOKS BY WILLIAM WHARTON

  BIRDY

  DAD*

  A MIDNIGHT CLEAR*

  SCUMBLER*

  PRIDE*

  TIDINGS

  FRANKY FURBO

  LAST LOVERS

  EVER AFTER*

  HOUSEBOAT ON THE SEINE*

  COPYRIGHT

  Copyright © 1984 by Wilton, Inc.

  Previously published in hardcover by Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.

  This book is published in the United States of America and Canada.

  First Newmarket Edition.

  SCUMBLER. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this ebook on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins ebooks.

  96 97 98 99 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Wharton, William.

  Scumbler / William Wharton.

  p. cm.

  ISBN 1-55704-258-6

  1. Americans—France—Paris—Fiction. 2. Paris (France)—Fiction. I. Title.

  PS3573.H32S3 1996

  813’ .54—dc20

  95-30075

  CIP

  EPub Edition © JANUARY 2013 ISBN: 9780062278371

  Version 04192013

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  * Published by Newmarket Press