The Beast Within - Emile Zola [194]
As soon as she saw that he was able to understand her, Séverine had done her best to reassure him. As she pulled up the bedclothes, she whispered into his ear:
‘Don’t worry, darling. I’ve emptied your pockets and hidden the watch.’
He looked at her, his eyes wide open, trying to remember.
‘The watch? ... Ah yes, the watch.’
‘They might have looked through your belongings, so I’ve hidden it with some things of mine. There’s nothing to fear.’
He thanked her with a squeeze of the hand. As he turned his head, he caught sight of the knife on the table, which she had also found in one of his pockets. There had been no need to hide that; it was just a knife, like any other.
By the next day, Jacques was already stronger, and beginning to think that perhaps after all he wasn’t going to die there. He was overjoyed when he recognized Cabuche, standing near his bed, tidying things up and clumping round the room on his big, heavy feet. Ever since the accident, Cabuche hadn’t left Séverine’s side. He felt he had to do something to help. He gave up working at the quarry and came every morning to help Séverine with the heavy jobs around the house. He was like a faithful dog; he doted on her. She was a tough woman, even if she was only a ‘little-un’, as he put it. She did so much for others that she deserved to have someone do something for her. Jacques and Séverine got used to him being there. They talked happily together and even exchanged kisses, while Cabuche did his best to avoid disturbing them and tried to make himself as small as possible.
Jacques, however, was surprised that Séverine was away from him so often. The first day, on the doctor’s instructions, she hadn’t told him that Henri was downstairs, realizing that the thought that they were completely alone would have a calming effect on him.
‘Are we alone?’ he asked.
‘Yes, darling, absolutely alone ... relax and go to sleep.’
But she kept constantly disappearing. The next day he heard the sound of footsteps downstairs, and people whispering. The day after that, there were sounds of subdued laughter and hilarity, and the bright, animated voices of two girls talking incessantly.
‘Who’s that downstairs?’ he asked. ‘We’re not alone, are we?’
‘Well, no, we aren’t, darling. There’s another injured man downstairs, just underneath your room. I had to bring him here as well.’
‘Who is it?’
‘It’s Henri. You know, the guard.’
‘Henri ... Oh yes!’
‘His sisters have come to see him. It’s them you can hear. They laugh at anything. Henri is much better, so they’re going back tonight. Their father can’t do without them. Henri needs to stay for another two or three days until he’s completely well. Can you believe it? He jumped off the train and he didn’t break a single bone. The only thing wrong was that his mind had gone a complete blank. But he’s more like himself again now.’
Jacques said nothing, fixing his eyes steadily upon her.
‘You do understand, don’t you?’ she added. ‘If he weren’t here, people would start talking about us. So long as I’m not on my own with you, my husband has no cause for complaint. It gives me a good excuse for staying here. Do you understand?’
‘Yes,’ said Jacques, ‘that’s fine.’
He lay listening to the laughter of Henri’s two sisters until the evening. He remembered hearing it in Paris, from the floor below, in the room where Séverine had lain in his arms and confessed to him. Eventually quiet returned, and all he could hear was the sound of Séverine’s footsteps as she tripped backwards and forwards between him and her other patient downstairs. The door downstairs would close, and there would be complete silence. Twice, feeling particularly thirsty, he had to bang on the floor with the leg of a chair to summon her upstairs. She came into his room all smiles,