The Girl in the Blue Beret - Bobbie Ann Mason [100]
“This is a romantic spot,” he said carefully. “We should be young again.”
“Pfft! In France, remember, age is different. The old are always young in their hearts.”
“I hope so.” Caroline had said something like that, he recalled.
Annette poured the wine and they clinked glasses. The wine was astringent. It puckered his mouth slightly.
She apologized. “I like it, but my sister always finds it treats her that way. She prefers the Bordeaux.”
He hadn’t yet told her that he had seen Monique, and when he mentioned it now, a flicker of a shadow crossed her face, but she brightened again immediately.
“Monique works very hard with her students—the disabilities with hearing and reading, the children who read back to front. She teaches them music.”
“Dyslexique?”
“Yes. She is a very good teacher, always helpful. Her students adore her.”
“So she is like her sister—someone who helps.”
She laughed and turned aside. She cut two thick pieces from the baguette and handed one to him.
They were silent a moment. Then, averting her face, Annette said, “Monique told you, didn’t she?” She was staring at the waterfall. “I could tell that you knew. It is in your tone, and in the way you observe me.”
He was startled, embarrassed. He wanted to see her face, to see what this moment meant. But she kept her face turned away.
“She told me very little,” he said. “I didn’t want to ask you about it. If it’s too painful, don’t say anything.”
“Oh, I can tell a story!” She waved her hand and looked at him. “I can make it very dramatic. But it is so worthless.”
“I doubt that.”
They locked eyes. “You don’t need to hear it.”
“No, I don’t have to hear it.”
Dropping her eyes, she sliced a piece of cheese for him. The waterfall was loud, intrusive.
She said, “I don’t tell it. I had asked Odile not to speak of it to you when we went to see her, and she understood. It is of no use to anyone. You have no interest in this.” She sighed. “My life is so small.”
He set his bread and cheese on the cloth and placed his hands on her shoulders. He said, “No. Your life is not small. You are a heroine. You saved men’s lives. You were active when others were afraid. Your life is not small.”
He saw tears coming in her eyes, and she allowed him to hold her. For a moment, he saw them with a passing tourist’s eye: lovers beside a waterfall, entwined in a romantic embrace, exactly the sight one was supposed to see on a scenic trail by a waterfall somewhere in France.
45.
MARSHALL HELPED ANNETTE WITH HER EVENING CHORES—taking grain to the horses, shutting in the chickens. Birds were twittering and trembling in the vines on the wall, and the peacock was roosting in a small tree. Annette fed the dog and cat.
“I should probably go find that hotel in Cognac,” he said, with a hesitation that left open a question for her.
“Do not go, please,” she said, touching his arm. “We must dine later. I have prepared some dishes. And I want to tell you what happened. Wait, please.”
She showed him where he could wash up, and he grabbed a clean shirt from his bag in the car. In the mirror above the sink his face was blank, he thought. He combed his hair and went to the terrace. She was still in the kitchen, and then she brought some cold Perrier and an open bottle of wine. She excused herself again to bring food from the kitchen, refusing his offer to help. The dog went with her. Marshall drank half a glass of Perrier, then sipped some of the wine. It had a metallic taste. He watched the cat washing her face. It was just after sunset, and the sky was still bright. A 727 was going over, a domestic flight, maybe from Bordeaux.
Annette returned with a small tray and sat down across from him. He shifted his chair so that he could see her clearly in the late light. She had changed into blue pants and a tight V-necked shirt. She seemed fresh and delicate, not like a country woman who had just hiked five miles. Bernard lay down on the tiles between them, his head on his paws.
“Am I a threat?” Marshall asked, regarding the dog.
“No, no. Bernard accepts you,” she said. “He