Page 39 of Mrs. Endicott's Splendid Adventure
“I don’t know what that was supposed to be,” Mavis said. “I didn’t like the look of it to start with, but it didn’t half taste good.”
“It pleased you, mesdames?” Henri asked, whisking the plates away.
“It was wonderful,” Ellie said. “If we stay here, perhaps you will teach me how to make such a dish.”
“It would be my pleasure to give you instruction,” he said. “But wait until you taste the poulet.”
Chicken was regarded as a luxury item at home, and Ellie roasted one on special occasions, but chicken had never smelled like this dish put before them: the rich, red sauce clearly had tomatoes in it, but so much more. The chicken fell off the bone.
“I don’t think I’ve enjoyed food so much for years,” Dora said when they had finished. “When one cooks for oneself, it is hard to get enthusiastic about food. It was usually the most convenient thing that didn’t require me to make saucepans dirty—a lamb chop, a piece of poached fish, or even scrambled egg or toasted cheese. Now I find I have quite an appetite.”
“Maybe this was all you needed to make you well again,” Mavis said.
Dora looked at her almost fondly. “Oh no, my dear. It’s my heart, you see. It’s gradually slowing down until it stops.”
“Then we’ll get it sped up again,” Mavis said.
Dora smiled. “If only you could. I was becoming weary of life until now. It didn’t seem to matter that the stupid heart would just stop one day. But now ... I don’t think I’m ready to go after all.”
There was no dessert tonight as Henri said that the main course was rich enough and he thought that fruit and cheese were more appropriate. Nobody argued with that. When he brought their coffees, there was the sound of male voices outside and some of the men came in.
“It’s cold enough to freeze your balls off,” one was saying, then stopped short when he saw that ladies were present. “Mille pardons, mesdames,” he muttered.
Ellie noticed that the big pirate, Nico, was amongst them, tonight wearing a navy woollen coat with the collar turned up. “Ah, the English ladies. So you are stuck with us, eh? You found your luggage, I hope,” he said. “We helped Louis move your automobile. He has told you what was wrong, yes?”
Ellie nodded.
“You are lucky you made it here with no water in your radiator,” he said. “And now it will take time to fix. You will have to stay here, I think. That pleases you?”
“Yes,” Ellie said. “We are happy to stay a little longer. This place is most agreeable.”
“More agreeable than those big towns,” one of the other men said. “There it is all about rich people showing off their wealth. What shall I wear today?” and he mimicked a woman tossing back her hair.
“What is more, the food is better,” a third man added. “Henri here knows how to cook. In those big hotels, they think the English don’t appreciate fine food. Although if you stay longer, do not let that Madame Adams cook for you. You will be poisoned in minutes.”
The other men laughed.
“So, will you take a drink with us?” Nico asked. “A cognac to finish the meal?”
“Oh, I don’t think—” Ellie began but Dora cut her off with “Thank you, why not?”
He snapped his fingers, and Henri produced small glasses of cognac while the men sat at the next table. The men introduced themselves: François, Jacquot, Luc, Nicolas.
“We do not stand on ceremony here,” François said. “You probably think it shocking that we introduce ourselves by our first names, but I think it easier than last names you probably can’t pronounce. Besides, you will move on and never see us again.”
“Eleanor, Theodora, Mavis, Yvette,” Ellie replied, feeling awkward with such familiarity.
The other women acknowledged this with a half-hearted bob and a muttered bonsoir.
“You all know French?” François asked.
“I do, although it is mostly of the schoolgirl variety,” Dora replied. “Yvette is French. This lady does not. We will have to translate for her, unless you gentlemen speak some English?”
“Not me,” François said. “Nico does.”
Nico shrugged. “It is long time now,” he said in English. “I do not practice and forget much.”
“So how is it at the pension?” Luc asked them. He was younger with a cheeky grin. “Is it up to your standards?”
