PARSENTS TO THE FAMILY
I slept heavily and when I whoke the curtains were drawn back and daylight filled ther room.
Francoise had left the room and I could hear voices coming from the bathroom. Then the voices ceased
and footsteps went along the passage.
So far all was well: the mother, the wife, the child, all three had been deceived.
I rang the bell. The young servant, Germaine, came to the door. I ordered coffee, and asked about
the rest of the family.
"Madame la Comtesse is still unwell and she is staying in bed. Mademoiselle Blanche is in church.
Monsieur Paul has gone to the glass factory. Marie-Noel is getting up. The others, your wife and
Madame Paul, are sitting downstairs."
Gaston brought coffee to me. I asked, "How is my mother?"
"You know how it is, Monsieur. In her body and in her mind Madame is stronger than anyone in the
chateau, but her character is different. She is not what she was."
I put on the clothes which he laid out for me. It was a strange feeling, wearing the clothes of
another man. I had not felt like this wearing the travelling clothes on the day before, but this
coat was personal. It was well-worn: it had a smell, not an unpleasant smell, butit had been in the
woods and the rain, and it had rubbed the ground and lain on summer grass and been near burning
leaves in the autumn.
"Will you be going down to the glass factory?" asked Gaston.
"No," I said, "not this morning."
"Perhaps Monsieur Paul is expecting you to go with him this afternoon."
I went to the place where I had hidden behind a tree when I saw the lights of Paul's car last night.
A woman was kneeling beside the river washing clothes. She looked up and said, "Good morning,
Monsieur le Comte." I walked along the paths and looked back at the chateau. Then I turned and came
back to the front of the house.
Francoise and Renee came out and waved to me, and Marie-Noel ran out from between them calling,
"Papa!" She jumped up as she reached me so that I caught her in mid-air.
"Why didn't you go to the glass factory?" she asked, "Uncle Paul had to go without you and it made
him angry."
"I was late in going to bed. That was your falut."
"Come on," she said, "Do people always like boys better than girls?" We walked hand-in-hand.
"No, I don't think so."
"Blanche says that they do ... Will you race me?" She ran on in front of me. We came to the carch.
The dog had been sleeping in the sun. She opened the gate of his cage and let him run out. He barked
at me.
"Come here," I said. "What the matter?" But he kept away and stood beside Marie-Noel as if to guard
her against me.
"Stop it, Caesar," she said. "Have you gone blind suddenly so that don't know your master?"
"Leave him alone," I said. "Don't excite him. He's all right."
As I walked towards the bridge, I saw Blanche coming along the road. Marie-Noel ran towards her. Her
face was frozen, she did not smile or speak to me.
"Caesar barked at Papa," said the child. "Do you think he's ill?"
Blanche said, "As you are well enough to be out of doors, you are well enough to come to me for your
lessons this afternoon."
"I don't have to do lessons today, do I, Papa?"
"I don't see why not. You had better ask you mother."
Blanche walked straight past me into the house.
"Mama doesn't say whether I am to have lessons. You know that."
"Am I supposed to give orders?"
She looked at me, very surprised.
"You always do."
"Well, it won't hurt you to have lessons if Blanche can spare the time. Now come upstairs. I have
something for you."
I thought that giving the presents would be much simpler if it was done at the dining-table at a
meal; but Marie-Noel might have hers now because of the disagreement about the lessons.
I gave her the packet. She took off the paper. When she saw the book she cried out with delight.
"It's just what I wanted! Oh, my dear sweet Papa, why do you always guess the right things?"
She threw her arms round my neck. I swung her roung and pulled her hair, both of us laughing. she
was so natural that she made me unafraid, sure of myself and of her .