Page 13 of Daughters of Paris

‘Oh yes. Dancing and music and drinking. Smoking, too, if you’re daring enough.’

Colette wrinkled her nose. She had tried smoking at Gunther’s suggestion, but the thought of it now turned her stomach.

‘Dancing sounds exciting,’ Colette said.

Sophie gave her a wide smile. ‘Come on Saturday this week. Take the Metro to Abbesses to arrive at eight and we will meet you there.’

For the rest of the afternoon Colette was bright and sociable with all of her mother’s friends. They drank cocktails and talked of fashion and films and she felt invigorated, despite the long journey home. The company Colette had kept in England had been more sedate and serious, and towards the end of her stay every conversation had inevitably turned to the situation in Germany and the Chancellor’s ambition in Europe, which Colette had found insufferably tedious. Who were the British, on an island safe across the sea, to worry about land disputes in Europe? This salon with its gaily dressed women exemplified the best of Paris and, consequently, the best of France.

After the guests had departed amid effusive kisses and promises to attend cocktail parties and make visits to couturiers and galleries, Delphine called Colette back.

‘Ring for a fresh carafe of water, Colette. It’s too stuffy in here and I have a headache.’

Both women knew Delphine’s bad head was less due to the air and entirely a result of the number of cocktails she had consumed, but Colette went along with the pretence.

‘I’ll order some coffee too,’ she suggested. ‘I’m still tired from travelling.’

The coffee arrived with a plate of finger-sizemadeleinesdecorated with glace icing flowers. Colette ate one enthusiastically. Delphine narrowed her eyes.

‘I see your appetite is large. That’s good as I would hate to see you falling prey to any more bouts of sickness. We do not want any more illness, do we, Colette?’

Colette felt a creeping sense of disdain. Her mother’s voice was uncharacteristically full of steel but, despite that, Delphine talked in vague hints and euphemisms.

There had been no ‘illness’.

There had been a pregnancy and an undignified banishment acrossla Mancheso that Colette’s shame would never be known among Louis and Delphine’s circle. Delphine would never mention Colette’s unfortunate condition by name, nor refer to the circumstances under which she had been exiled to England. Colette wondered how any rumours of the disastrous end to her love affair had breached the walls of the house. Gunther had ended the relationship in the same conversation Colette had told him about her condition. Her stomach writhed with fury at the memory.

‘No, there will be no more bouts of illness.’

‘Good.’ Delphine reached out of hand and briefly stroked Colette’s forearm. ‘I regretted sending you away, but you know it had to be done. I’m so glad you’re home now and safe. There won’t be a war. Therewon’tbe. But if there was, I couldn’t bear to think you were across the sea from me.’

A chill rippled down Colette’s back.

Delphine’s cheeks dimpled. ‘Now, we must make plans. We need to have you fitted for some new clothes. The English fashions are so sensible. Nothing I would let you wear. I think lunch at Le Procope on Tuesday. A walk through theJardin du Luxembourgon Wednesday morning. A charity event at the Luciennes’ hotel to help those poor, displaced Czechoslovakian women who have taken refuge in Paris. On Friday evening we’ll dine with Madame Pirolle and her son Georges – he’s been married once but his wife died of pleurisy so he is once again looking for a wife. On Saturday—’

‘On Saturday,’ Colette interrupted, slightly awed by the schedule proposed. ‘I am meeting with Josette and Sophie for an evening visit to go dancing.’

Delphine looked approving. ‘Excellent. The hotel has a lovely terrace. I believe Josette even entertained the thought of marriage to a count from Brittany until she decided the climate by the sea would not agree with her complexion.’

She reached out and seized Colette’s wrist, her fingernails digging into Colette’s flesh. Five red talons. Colette looked up in shock. The movement had been smooth and speedy and totally unexpected.

‘Find a good husband, Colette. Your father is rich enough and well respected enough that you could attract a higher calibre than a would-be film actor, especially now relations with Germany are turning hostile. Take advantage of that.’

Colette eased her wrist free. ‘I will,Mère. Now, if you will excuse me, I am tired. This afternoon has been rather strenuous. I think I shall go lie down.’

‘I agree. I shall do the same until my headache goes,’ Delphine said, pouring the remaining dregs of a Seapea Fizz into a glass. She ambled over to the chaise longue in the window bay and lay down. Colette turned away, shaking her head. Delphine would be asleep there until Louis returned from the factory. She had not changed in the slightest.

Colette did not get as far as the bedroom before she heard her name being called. It was a girlish voice that she had not heard for nearly a year. She turned to find Fleur standing at the top of the stairs, holding a pile of towels.

Colette walked back along the landing to her, taking time to examine the girl who had once been her closest friend. She was much prettier than Colette was, Colette realised with a touch of envy. She had grown a little taller but was still small-boned and dainty. Her eyes looked incredibly large in her pale face, giving her a young and innocent air.

It was disappointing to see that her former friend was still working here when she had been so ambitious. Colette felt a little guilty that she had not written to Fleur, but then again, Fleur had not written to her, and she had promised to.

‘Fleur! I wasn’t sure if you still lived here. I haven’t seen you since I got back.’

‘That was only yesterday, wasn’t it?’ Fleur asked. She gave a nervous smile that flickered on and off her face rapidly. ‘I don’t work here all the time. Four days a week I work in a bookshop, butTanteAgnes still needs my help.’

‘Oh that’s good to hear,’ Colette said with genuine pleasure. ‘You always liked books.’

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