Page 62 of The Seven Sisters
Bel was taken aback by his direct approach. This man was a stranger who knew next to nothing about her, and yet they were sharing wine, bread and cheese –andintimacies – as though they had known each other all their lives. If this was the Bohemian way, Bel decided she wanted to embrace it wholeheartedly.
‘Gustavo, my fiancé, will make a loyal and caring husband,’ she replied carefully. ‘And besides, I think that often marriage is not just about love,’ she lied.
He looked at her for a while before he sighed and shook his head. ‘Mademoiselle, a life without love is like a Frenchman without his wine, or a human being without oxygen. But,’ he sighed, ‘maybe you’re right. Some people accept the lack of it and are prepared to settle for other things, such as wealth and status. But me, no.’ Laurent shook his head. ‘I could never sacrifice myself on the altar of materialism. If I’m to spend my life with another, I want to wake up every morning and stare into the eyes of the woman I love. I am surprised you are prepared to settle for less. Already I can see the passionate heart that beats inside you.’
‘Please, monsieur . . .’
‘Forgive me, mademoiselle, I go too far. So, enough! But I would very much like to have the honour of sculpting you. Would you object if I asked Monsieur da Silva Costa if I can practise my art using you as a model?’
‘You can ask him, but I couldn’t . . .’ Bel, blushing from embarrassment, did not know how to phrase the sentence.
‘No, mademoiselle,’ said Laurent, reading her mind. ‘Rest assured I will not be asking you to remove your clothes. At least, not yet,’ he added.
Bel was rendered speechless at the intimate insinuation. It thrilled and frightened her in equal measure. ‘Where do you live?’ she asked, desperate to change the subject.
‘Like any true artist, I rent an attic room, along with six others, situated in the alleyways of Montparnasse.’
‘You work for Professor Landowski?’
‘I wouldn’t quite use that expression, because I’m paid only in food and wine,’ Laurent corrected her. ‘And if the attic I rent with the others in Montparnasse is too crowded, he allows me to sleep here sometimes on a pallet. I am learning my craft, and there is no finer teacher than Landowski. As the Surrealists are experimenting in painting, Landowski is doing the same in sculpture with Art Deco. He is moving forward from the busy, overly fussy works of the past. He was my professor at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts and when he chose me to be his assistant, I was delighted to take up his offer.’
‘Where is your family from?’ Bel asked.
‘Why would that be of interest?’ Laurent chuckled. ‘Next you will ask me which social class I come from! You see, Mademoiselle Izabela, all of us artists here in Paris are simply whoweare; we throw away our past and live only for the day. We are defined by our talent, not our heritage. But since you ask,’ he said, taking a gulp of wine, ‘I will tell you. My family comes from a noble lineage and has a chateau near Versailles. If I hadn’t walked away from them and the life they wished for me as their oldest son, I would be Le Comte Quebedeaux Brouilly by now. However, since my father announced that he would cut me out of his will when I told him I wished to become a sculptor, as I said before, now I’m simply me. I have not a centime to my name, and anything I earn in the future will only come from these very hands.’
He eyed her, but she said nothing. What could she say when her entire life was based on all the values he’d just derided?
‘Perhaps you’re surprised? But I promise there are many of us who are the same in Paris. And at least my father didn’t have to deal with the ignominy of his son being a homosexual, as several of my acquaintances’ fathers have had to.’
Bel stared at him, horrified that he would even voice such a thought. ‘But it’s illegal!’ she couldn’t help exclaiming.
He tilted his head to one side and studied her. ‘And because bigoted regimes make it so, does that mean it’s wrong?’
‘I . . . I don’t know,’ she floundered, falling silent and trying to regain her composure.
‘Forgive me, mademoiselle, I fear I have shocked you.’
Bel saw the glint in his eye and could tell he was enjoying doing so.
Another sip of wine emboldened her. ‘So, Monsieur Brouilly, you have made it clear that you don’t care about money or material possessions? You are happy to live on thin air?’
‘Yes, at least for now, while I’m young and fit and living in the centre of the world here in Paris. However, I accept that when I’m old and infirm, and have never earned money from my sculptures, then yes, I might regret my actions. Many of my artist friends have kind benefactors who help them while they are struggling. However, as many of these benefactors are ugly dowagers who expect the young artist they’re supporting to gratify them in other ways, that is not the route for me. It’s little better than whoring, and I will not be a part of it.’
Again, Bel was shocked at the openness with which he spoke such words. Of course she’d heard of the brothels at home in Lapa, where men would go to have their physical appetites quenched, but it would never be spoken of in open company. And certainly not by a man to a respectable woman.
‘I think Idofrighten you, mademoiselle.’ Laurent smiled at her sympathetically.
‘I think that perhaps I have a lot to learn about Paris, monsieur,’ she replied.
‘I’m sure that’s true. So, maybe you can see me as your instructor in the ways of the avant-garde. Ah, I see the two wanderers have returned,’ he said, glancing over her shoulder through the window. ‘The professor is smiling – always a good sign.’
Bel watched as the two men entered the studio, still deep in conversation. Laurent busied himself collecting the remnants of lunch and piling them onto a tray, and Bel hurriedly added her wine glass to it, worrying that Heitor would disapprove.
‘Senhorita,’ Heitor said when he saw her. ‘I apologise for keeping you so long, but Professor Landowski and I had much to talk about.’
‘Not at all,’ Bel replied quickly. ‘Monsieur Brouilly has been explaining the . . . fundamentals of sculpture to me.’
‘Good, good.’ Bel could see Heitor was distracted as he immediately turned back to Landowski. ‘So, I visit Florence next week and then travel on to Munich. I will be back in Paris on the twenty-fifth, after which I will be in contact.’
