The Beast Within - Emile Zola [32]
‘Were the Lachesnayes unkind to you? Come on, tell me.’
She had to admit that, since Berthe’s marriage to Monsieur de Lachesnaye, their friendship had not been what it used to be. Poor Berthe! Her looks didn’t improve. She was so plain, and she had a red nose! The good ladies of Rouen spoke very highly of her; she was a woman of distinction, they said. Being married to such an ugly, intractable, tight-fisted husband could so easily have rubbed off on her and made her as insufferable as him. But no, Berthe had been perfectly civil to her old friend, and Séverine wouldn’t hear a word said against her.
‘Well, then, it must be the President who’s done something to upset you,’ said Roubaud.
Séverine had been answering his questions quietly and calmly, but at this she suddenly flared up.
‘Don’t be stupid!’ she said sharply.
Her voice had suddenly become more agitated, and she spoke more quickly. You hardly ever saw him. He hid himself away in a cottage, in the grounds of the château, with a gate that opened on to a deserted country lane. He came and went as he pleased. No one ever knew whether he was there or not. He didn’t even tell his sister when he was coming. He took a carriage at Barentin, had himself driven to Doinville in the middle of the night, and then spent days on end shut up in his cottage without anyone knowing a thing about it ... He never bothered anybody!
‘I only asked because you’ve often said that when you were a child he used to scare you stiff.’
‘He didn’t scare me stiff, as you put it. Why must you always make things sound worse than they are? He didn’t laugh much, it’s true ... He had a way of staring you in the face, with his great big eyes ... it made you look away. I’ve seen people so nervous they couldn’t say a thing. Everyone was frightened of him because he was strict and very clever. But he never spoke unkindly to me. I always thought he had a soft spot for me ...’
She had begun to speak more slowly, with a dreamy, faraway look in her eyes.
‘I remember ... when I was a little girl, the children used to play together in the grounds. If we saw him coming, we’d all run away and hide; even his daughter, Berthe. She was always frightened she’d done something wrong. It didn’t worry me; I just stood where I was. He’d come up to me and I’d stand there, looking up at him, smiling, and he’d give me a pat on the cheek ... Later on, when I was sixteen, whenever Berthe wanted to ask him a favour, it was always me she sent to speak to him. I’d go up to him, look him straight in the face and say what I’d come to say. I could feel his eyes looking right into me. I wasn’t bothered, because I knew he’d say yes to everything I asked for! ... I can see it now ... Doinville! When I close my eyes, it all comes back — every tree in the park, every corridor, every room in the house.’
She fell silent, and sat with her eyes closed. A quiver seemed to run over her hot, flushed face, as she remembered those days gone by, and things she dared not tell him. She remained lost in thought; a little tremor moved across her lips, pulling at the corner of her mouth.
‘He’s certainly been very good to you,’ said Roubaud, lighting his pipe. ‘He brought you up like a young lady, he made sure your little bit of money went straight into a savings account and he even added to it himself when we got married. Apparently, he’s going to leave you something in his will.’
‘Yes,’ murmured Séverine, ‘the house at La Croix-de-Maufras. They built the railway through the grounds. We used to go and spend a week there sometimes. I’m not really counting