I wrote to my father and told him that my return would be delayed. I mentioned that I had finished the picture of the Princesse and was pleased with it. I now hoped the Baron would be. I explained that he wanted me to take it to him and that this was what I was doing.
“He has promised to pay me,” I wrote, ‘and that is important. Some people think it is a little bourgeois to pay their bills promptly and sometimes never do, as you know well. It will be nice to have the money and if he likes the portrait I shall feel I really am on my way. ”
The Princesse had been delighted with the picture.
“It flatters me,” she said.
“No,” I told her.
“I just painted you at your best.”
She silently kissed me then.
“I’m sorry we have to say goodbye to each other,” she said sincerely.
“I have liked your being here. And now you know my secrets.”
“They will be safe with me.”
“Pray for me, Kate. Pray for me on my wedding night.”
I laid my hands on her shoulders and said: “Don’t be afraid. If you have done something which is not right, remember that he has too … much worse, I imagine.”
“You are a comfort. I hope we meet again.” Then I left the Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honore and Paris, which I had grown to love.
It was late afternoon when I took the train to Rouen.
The Demon
I arrived in Rouen in good time and there had to change to a branch line which would take me to Centeville.
As I stepped off the train I was greeted by a man in the Centeville livery. He said: “It is Mademoiselle Collison, I believe.”
“That is so.”
“There has been some trouble on the branch line and there will be no more trains through tonight. I have been sent from the chateau to drive you there. Have you the portrait?”
I told him I had.
“That is good. If you will follow me I will take you to the carriage.”
I did so, and as I stepped into the carriage I wondered when I was going to stop feeling that quiver of alarm every time I got into a vehicle of any sort.
It was foolish to feel this now. I was on my way to Centeville and since there were no trains that night it was very thoughtful of them to have sent the carriage.
We drove quickly through the streets of the town and came out into the open country. It was just beginning to get dark.
“Is it far to the chateau?” I asked.
“It’s a fair drive, Mademoiselle. We could be there in just over an hour. The roads aren’t very good though. It’s all that rain we’ve been having.”
“Do they often have mishaps on the railway line?”
“On the branch one now and then. They’re not like the main lines from ” No, I suppose not. “
We had been driving for about half an hour when the carriage stopped with a jerk. The driver got down and surveyed it. I peered through the glass but could not see very much. There would be a half moon later but it had not yet put in an appearance, and it was not dark enough to see the stars.
The driver came round to the window looking dismayed.
“We’re stuck in a rut,” he said.
“I don’t like the look of the wheel.”
“Where are we?”
“Oh. I know the place well. We’re about five miles from the chateau.”
“Five miles. That’s not so very far.”
“There’s a bit of forest over there … hunting place. There’s a lodge too. You’ll be comfortable enough. I reckon you could wait there while I get the wheelwright.”
“We are near a village then?”
“Not far. I know this place like the back of my hand. Nothing to fret about.”
I thought: Another mishap! And in another carriage! It seems that carriages and I do not get along very well together.
“If you would like to get out, Mademoiselle, I’ll take you into the lodge. Then I can get a message down to the castle. I reckon the best thing is for them to send up another carriage. Yes, that would be best. Shall I give you a hand, Mademoiselle?”
He helped me down. I took the miniature with me. I had no intention of losing sight of that. We walked across the road and I could see the forest he had mentioned; and yes, there was a house among the trees. I saw a light in one of the windows.
The driver knocked on the door, which was opened immediately by a plump woman holding a candle.
“Mon Dieuf she cried.
“Is it you then, Jacques Petit?”
“Yes, Marthe, it’s only old Jacques. I’ve got the young lady artist here. There’s been a mishap with the carriage. I don’t trust that wheel and don’t fancy going on with it. I thought at first of getting the wheelwright but perhaps I’d better leave it till morning. If you look after the young lady, I’ll take one of the horses and get down to the chateau. Then they can send for her.”
“Well, bring the lady in. Don’t leave her out there. What will she be thinking of us.”
She was a cosy-looking woman, large-hipped and large-busted, dressed in black with pieces of jet shining on her bodice. Her greying hair was drawn off her face and ended in a sizeable knot at the nape other neck.
“Come along in,” she cried.
“My goodness, you would have thought Jacques Petit would have looked to his wheels before he set out. It’s not the first time that sort of thing has happened, I can tell you.
Are you cold? “
“No, not at all thank you.”
“I keep a bit of a fire in the evenings. It’s cosy.”
There was a pot on the fire and something savoury simmering in it.
“You’d better make yourself cosy. It’ll take him the better part of an hour to get there. Then he’s got to see about a carriage.”
“It was fortunate that it happened here,” I said.
“It was indeed. I was just about to have a bite to eat. Will you join me? I’m Marthe Bouret. We’ve kept this lodge for years. It’s not used much now, but they used to do a bit of hunting in the old days. I remember the old Baron when he came here. But now … well, it’s very near the castle and they wouldn’t want to stay the night here, being only five miles or so away. The Baron used it when he was a boy, though. He liked to do that. Used to have his young friends here. I remember them days. Not much to offer you, I’m afraid. Just the pot aufeu.” She nodded towards the pot on the fire.
“Not as if I had been expecting visitors … but there’s some bread and some good cheese and a drop of wine. It’s castle wine and I can recommend that.”
“Thank you,” I said.
“You’re very kind.”
“Well, by the look of it it will be some time before you get anything to eat at the castle. I’ll just set a cloth on the table.”
“Do you live here all by yourself?”
“Just now I’m here by myself. It’s my job to keep the place in order.
This is my little cottage part. It joins on the lodge really. I have girls in to help me. We manage. “
“I see.”
“Is that the picture?”
“Yes.”
“Shall I put it out of harm’s way. I heard the Baron is very eager to see it.”
“Yes. That is why I have brought it myself. I am anxious to know what he thinks of it.”
“I’ll put it here on this table. Wouldn’t do to get the stew on it, would it? Then you’d have to do your work all over again.”
“It’s well wrapped up,” I told her.
“Shall I take your cloak or do you want to keep it on?”
“Thanks. I’ll take it off. It’s very warm in here.”
She took my cloak and hung it in a cupboard. Then she opened a drawer and took out a white cloth, which she put on the table. I was rather hungry and the stew smelt appetizing. She took plates to the fire and ladled it out.