Page 49 of Sisters Making Mischief
The evening then passed into a blur, which as I recall ended with Felix trotting out to the storage shed, finding the accordion behind the tractor, and trying to playLa Vie en Roseon it and sing. Very badly. Despite that, it was fun. And I think I laughed more than I had in a very long time. I had to go out of the roomat one point, my sides aching, and Antoine had followed me, hoping for treats.
Isabel looked thoughtful as he finished. At least we thought he had finished; it might have been that he just got fed up with it.
‘Is that it?’
‘Bien sûr, yes, that is it,’ Felix replied.
‘It’s hardly Sacha Distel, is it? It reminded me of the time I got Chou’s tail caught in the barn door,’ she said, ‘that was very complex too. With several high notes. A combination of a yowl and a shriek. No hints of heather though.’
‘You don’t understand,’ he said, dropping the accordion onto his foot. It made a wheezing, grumbling sound that set us both off laughing again.
‘You are right,chèrie, I don’t,’ Isabel said, blowing him a kiss.
‘I hope you agreed to stock the notebooks,’ I said, wiping away my tears with a tissue.
‘I can’t see the point. Who needs such things?’
‘Any woman you talk to,’ I said, ‘I have at least ten notebooks.’
‘So you don’t need any more then,’ Felix said, his tone indicating that he had proved his point.
I gave a spluttering laugh. ‘We don’t buy them to write in, we like to have them, in case we want to write in them.’
‘S’true,’ Isabel nodded, ‘and the nicer the notebook, the less likely I am to write in it. They are for special things, not just shopping lists.’
Felix gave this some thought. ‘I have seen your shopping lists; you usually leave them on the table by mistake when you go out.’
‘We get them as presents, we give them to friends as presents,’ I said.
‘But why?’ Felix was genuinely puzzled, or perhaps it was the whisky.
‘Because we do,’ I said, ‘and that’s all there is to it.’
Felix shook his head slowly, trying to understand.
‘So when you get another one, do you think “hurrah, what a lovely notebook,” or do you think “oh dear, I already have ten”?’
‘Always hurrah,’ Isabel said, ‘and then I put it with the others, for when I need them. Eventually, the right moment will present itself.’
‘I bet you ten euros you will sell them all. Especially if they have gold swirly bits on the cover or peacock feathers. And if they have a little magnetic clasp, even better,’ I said. I stabbed the air with a finger for emphasis.
I was surprised to hear myself talking like that, expressing an opinion, trying to convince someone I was right. Having my feelings seriously considered. It made a change. Perhaps it was the whisky. Maybe it was just me feeling more confident than I had in years.
‘Well, okay, but I will never understand women,’ Felix said, picking up the accordion, ‘now shall I play something else?’
Isabel had slumped over at a slight angle, and she struggled upright in her chair.
‘I will give you ten euros not to,chèrie. Fifteen if it will convince you.’
After that we had a late start to the following day, and so we were sitting at the breakfast table having waved Felix and his headache off to work, when there was a familiar rap on the kitchen door, and Eugénie came in. She looked very chic in tailored trousers, a white sweater (no dogs in her house then; I wasn’t sure I would ever get the splatters of concrete out of myjeans) and a checked blazer, while we were still in our dressing gowns.
I think she was appalled at our slovenliness.
‘Que se passe t-il ici?’ What’s going on?
Well, I suppose she had a point, it was nearly ten o’clock.
‘Coffee,Mamie?’ Isabel said sweetly.
