Belle - Lesley Pearse [157]
When Belle asked her nervously whether she was horrified, Madame Albertine gave one of her expressive Gallic shrugs. ‘Why should I be? I think you are to be admired for your courage and fortitude.’
Belle glowed and felt a great deal better about herself.
*
Christmas Day was just as lovely. First Belle went to church with Madame Albertine and even though the service was all in Latin, and the hymns in French, she loved the smell of the incense, the way everyone was dressed in their best clothes, and the old church was very beautiful.
Belle had put on her best dress, a pale blue crêpe which fitted like a glove down to her hips. It had a ruffle round the neck and another one around the hem which swept up at the back to her waist, creating a kind of bustle effect. She had bought it in New Orleans while she was still at Martha’s, but she never wore it there as the girls said it made her look like a schoolmistress. Belle knew that wasn’t the image it created at all; it was just that all the girls at Martha’s were expected to wear low necklines.
Madame Albertine admired it and said it was the perfect dress for Christmas Day. She gave Belle a blue velvet flower to pin in her hair, which matched the dress perfectly.
After church a few friends came back to the house for a drink. It was the only time during the day that Belle felt a little uneasy and on show, for none of these people could speak English, and they all kept looking at her.
Madame Albertine’s maid was preparing the roast goose while she was entertaining, but once the company had gone home, Belle went into the kitchen with Madame to help out.
The Christmas lunch was to be eaten at three, and there were just three guests, all gentlemen. Madame Albertine had explained before they arrived that they were all businessmen who were unable to get home to their families for Christmas, and that she had quite a reputation for taking in strays at this time of year.
Fortunately all three men spoke quite good English, and though they kept lapsing back into French, they spoke to Belle often enough for her to not feel left out. With champagne before lunch, and then wine, Belle couldn’t retain the men’s full names or what their business was, but it was enough that she could use their Christian names – Pierre, Clovis and Julien.
They all flirted with her and paid her extravagant compliments, and Madame Albertine seemed pleased that everyone was getting on well. Later they played cards, and Belle learned some games she’d never played before. The gentlemen left around eight in the evening, and when a couple of neighbours called in to see Madame, Belle went up to her room, where she fell sound asleep as soon as her head touched the pillow.
On Boxing Day Arnaud and Avril sent their carriage over to collect Belle and take her to their house for lunch.
They had a small but delightful home high on a hill on the outskirts of the city with an incredible view of both the sea and Marseille. There were several other guests, most of whom spoke good English, but Belle didn’t feel very comfortable for she had a feeling Arnaud and Avril might have told the other guests about her. Nothing was said, they were all pleasant enough, but she felt she was being studied closely, and the men were a little too familiar, so she was quite relieved when it was time to go back to Madame Albertine.
The following morning Madame asked Belle if she would like to go to a dinner party that evening with Clovis, one of the gentlemen who had come to lunch on Christmas Day. ‘He is expected to bring a partner with him, and as he enjoyed your company and thinks you are the prettiest girl in town, he hoped you liked him enough to agree to accompany him.’
Belle was flattered to be asked. Clovis was a man of sophisticated tastes, who had spoken about loving opera and the ballet, and though he was only about thirty she wouldn’t have expected him to want the company of someone