Chapter 5 ★Salon talk

The drawing-room in the Rue Cotentin is not very large, but every first Sunday of the month, at half past twelve, it is full of visitors, relatives, friends, acquaintances, Alexandre.Buhang invited them to lunch and spend the afternoon together.It was a ritual that Atelier's father was unwilling to give up.On the contrary, Soliman complained about these gatherings. He said that his niece was very tired and costly. Alexander responded: Dear uncle, without these social activities, lawyers cannot survive. It's a lawyer's hunting ground.Mr. Soliman shrugged, take it as you please.Alexander had actually finished his law studies when he came from Mauritius, but he had never done anything related.He's never defended anyone in court, he's always in business, investing his inherited money in things no one understands, or buying shares and shares in companies that have failed.But he was an artist, he was a good singer, a good musician, he talked a lot, he was handsome, with a curled beard and black hair, blue eyes, a tall build, and every Sunday party was a success.Justine loved her husband very much. In order not to disturb her, Mr. Soliman never criticized in public.But he just deliberately avoided these salon gatherings, using excuses to say that he was in poor health, that he had an appointment, or simply that he had a temporary business.Alexander wasn't easy to cheat, but he wasn't the type to embarrass himself either.He kept a distance from this uncle who appeared because of his marriage, and maintained a polite and ironic relationship, so his exotic style, his good mood, and his Creole accent were rarely What happened.

The atmosphere of these gatherings had always been familiar to Ardie, part of her family life, the backdrop of her childhood.When she was a child, she always had a quick lunch and rode on her father's lap for the longest part of the afternoon.This is the time when Father sits in a leather armchair chatting with his guests, smoking cigarette after cigarette, all rolled by himself on a gadget.Adie has the privilege. She can pick up a handful of black tobacco, put it on the rubber belt between the two rotating shafts and press it tightly, and then carefully lick the edge of the Yabo cigarette paper. Mother dared not say anything, but this Everything is going on under her condemning eyes, and sometimes some guests say sarcastically: At that time, she will be like George.Mulberry 【Note 1】, or Rosa.If Bonner [Note 2] also smokes a pipe, it's no surprise!Alexander will not feel embarrassed by this, he said: What's wrong with this?We have a lodger who smokes cigars and wears long trousers!Miss Deku, a peculiar woman.In her studio downstairs, next to the gardens in Rue Cotentin, she sculpts animal figures, mainly dogs and cats, out of stone.Her demeanor and dress and her smoky studio displeased many in the neighborhood, but she was lively and kind, so Mr. Soliman did not hesitate to rent her the house despite her rent. Didn't pay very well on time.Sometimes, he would take Eddie to visit Miss Deku.In that big room, only the dim light coming in from the glass ceiling, Adie shuttled among the animals whose postures were fixed, cats staring at tigers or sleeping cats, mad dogs, dogs sitting, dogs lying down, The straight front feet are set in front, and the head is stretched rigidly.Among the statues there were furtive figures moving, running, running to hide in corners, brushing Adieu's calf behind her, part of Miss Deku's living menagerie, Made up of stray cats that she fosters and feeds, she gives them away whenever anyone wants them.

【Annotation 1】George.Sang (1804︱1876): French female writer, pioneer of feminist literature. 【Annotation 2】Rosa.Bonner (1822︱1899): French female painter, the theme of her works is mainly animals. As a child, Atelier loved to sleep on her father's lap and listen to the conversation go on.One of Alexander's favorite armchairs was large and dark, the red winestain-colored leather worn to a shine by Alexander's duffel coat and trousers, and the armchair was soaked in a gentle smell that was slightly nauseating, It was mixed with tobacco, strange smells of the kitchen, and the cognac that Alexander liked to drink after meals.The voices of the crowd throw up fragments, fragments, Mauritian music rises and falls, Alexander's voice, women's high-pitched singing voices, Aunt Pauline, Aunt Wilhelmina, Aunt Melo .

blue eyes, blonde hair dear friend i assure you incredible! Oh my gosh, it's fucking terrible! Sooner or later, the topic will always go further and further away.This is something that will not change.Eddie might be able to pinpoint the exact moment at which everyone digresses.This happened after some sort of secret signal.Alexander pushed his plate away, and the curry left an orange mark on it, like a tide streak on the sand.The leftover vegetable leaves and spice granules on the plate imitate the seaweed laid on the beach by the tide, which is lifelike. Even though she's grown up and no longer sleeps on her father's lap, Atel loves the after-lunch hour, when her senses are dulled, she moves her chair toward her father's armchair, she breathes the bitterness of the cigarettes. Sweet smell, she heard him talk about the old days, there, on the island, when everything was still there, the big house, the garden, the evenings and parties on the cloister.

That's the old girl, Mi Lu, do you remember?We were always so hungry when we came back from Miss Brig's school that we all went to steal the mangoes from her garden, and she kept our leftover pits and threw us our own pits!The laughter spread, and the aunts talked a lot, especially Aunt Milu, who was Alexander's youngest sister. She had black hair, while the other aunts were blond, with pupils floating in green eyes. bad.That is his own fruit core!Everyone else giggled and said, "My own fruit core!"Alexander's favorite is to read aloud in Creole: mangue li gout, so noyau kili, mangoes are delicious, and what can we say about our own pits?

Why does Mr. Soliman keep acting like a stranger to all this?He cut the mooring cable, left the island at the age of eighteen, and never returned home.He looked down on his fellow countrymen, he felt that they were narrow-minded, liked the merits of Taoists, and were boring.One day Eddie asked him this question: Grandpa (she liked to call him that, and said you to him), why did you leave Mauritius?Isn't it beautiful there?He looked at her in bewilderment, as if the question had never occurred to him.Then he only said a few words: the country is small, and the people are small, but he didn't explain anything.

The human voice rises and falls.Some place names reverberate, Rose Hill, Bobasang, Adventure, Fushui, Balaclava, Mahebourg, Mocha, Minich, Grombassan, Stag Cave, Lingfengcao, Ebony, Old Four Boundary Monument, Wo Camp Love, Military District.There are also names, Die Fennan, Mara, Eleonoh.Becker, Odile.Du.Jia Dang, Madeleine.Passereau, Xie Lin, Etienne, Ontanet, and some men's nicknames, Ditch, Fat Thief, Lovely, White Iron, Stone Face, Li Niaobo, Lycian, La Lie, La Lai Slow, la mark, skinny monkey. Strangers feel excluded.The strangers are the Soliman family, Edel's uncles, aunts, and cousins. Their numbers are always at a disadvantage. People, with a straight-talking voice, a contagious laugh, humorous or vicious, and when they are together, whoever is talking, even a Parisian, they can handle.

Alexander, at least, did not hesitate to show a little respect for the inhabitants of the capital: Parisians are naturally clever, and their habit of ending debates with their words is not stupid at all. There are also occasional ones.Among them was a bald yellow man with dark eyes, and Adie hated him whenever he saw him.What does he do for a living?Not sure.One day, Adele asked her father this question.He is a factory owner.As if that wasn't enough, he added: He's a modern-day adventurer, and he makes money in the stock market. Claudius.There is no doubt that Talon had a great influence on Alexander.He responds to everything, he knows everyone, he says he has backers in politics and finance.But Atelier hated him not because of his opinions and his self-righteousness.One day, when she was alone in the corridor, Talon leaned over to her, caressed her neck, and his warm breath came to her ear.She was thirteen at the time, and she hadn't forgotten the terror she felt at that moment, the little man brushing the backs of his knuckles lightly over her neck and nape, as if he was thinking of strangling her.She ran away and locked herself tightly in the room, but she didn't say anything, and she could imagine her father apologizing in front of all the guests for her: My daughter is not feeling well, at this age, alas

Ai Die'er's favorite guest is a man named Luo Hong.Field's young man, English, curly red hair, pretty as a girl, often came to visit the Bouhuns.Ai Dier fell in love with him at first sight, and even thought he was someone in the family.During the chatting in different places, she learned that Luo Hong.Field was just a friend of the Bouillon family, or rather the son of Dr. Field, a childhood friend Alexander had met in Réunion.He, too, was from the island, but he had lost his singing accent, and was stamped with English manners and taste in dress, which seemed out of place in the salons of the Rue Cotentin.Adele likes his shyness, his cautiousness, and his cheerfulness.When he came into the living room, Eddie saw this flush around his face, and it pleased her, and she couldn't say why.She came and sat beside him and asked him questions about his life in England, his law studies, his hobbies, his favorite music, the books he had read, and so on.She appreciates that he doesn't smoke.Perhaps what touched her the most about this boy was that he had no father or mother.His mother died when he was born, and his father died of illness when Luo Hong was ten years old.He had an older sister named Edith, whose aunt Leonora raised them after their parents died and helped pay for their education.When Luo Hong came to Paris, he lived in this aunt's house in the Latin Quarter.Ai Dier imagined Luo Hong, a young man living alone in London without real family, she imagined that he could be her brother, she would adore him and support him, he would tell her about his life, she would be with him He shares her solitude.For her, it was also a way to escape the growing tension between her parents, their fights, their underground wars.

【Annotation】Reunion Island: Indian Ocean island, French overseas territory, located about 190 kilometers west of Mauritius. Justine and Alexander had had problems since she was very young.One day, after one of their quarrels, Adie turned back at them, with tears in her eyes, and yelled at them: Why didn't you give me a brother or sister?When you are old, who am I going to talk to!She remembered, yes, the look of shame on their faces.Afterwards, they didn't think about it anymore, everything was the same, and she never had another episode. The tone has changed a bit.Or, is it because Adie'er has suddenly entered puberty and pays more attention to the conversations in the Buhang family's salon?A certain rigidity, so to speak, a certain harsh tone.Alexander always liked to replay the old tune of anarchic revolution. When the great night [Note 1] falls, Paris will be occupied by fire and blood, and the bourgeoisie and landlords will be hanged on the lampposts at the intersection.Eddie remembered that the same thing had long been the subject of family jokes.When Alexander was bored, or when he and Justine had finished arguing, he would knock on the door of Adele's room: put away the bag, tomorrow we are going to the country, and the great night is coming.She wanted to protest: but what about school, Dad?He, beyond doubt: I don't want to be in Paris when it's on fire.They always went to the same place, and Alexander rented a country cottage on an annual basis, next to the forest of La Fehde-Allie [Note 2].He is going to watch the plane fly.In the cottage garden, with the help of a local carpenter named Bija, he built a model winged spaceship that, he said, would render flying machines obsolete forever.He was daydreaming, and one day, when Adele told him about her father's plan, Mr. Soliman muttered: So he spends his time on it when he doesn't do things.Adie never mentioned this matter again.But she loved going to the airport, walking in the dirt with her hand in her father's, among these strange machines with outflapped wings and stationary propellers.She knew the name of each plane, Ratkoye, Bukhage, Ochkiss, Palehon, Vasan, Umbe, Lian, Famon.One day, when she was with her father, she saw Helen.Boucher [Note 3] piloted the Godron︱Renault fighter jet.That was Helen.A few months before Boucher's death, it was June or July 1934.The plane seemed huge to her, with its shark mouth, short wings, and distinctive aluminum propellers.Eddie dreams of meeting Helen, of doing the same thing as her.Alexander smiled.We went to Orly to watch her fly, and that was it.But they never went, perhaps because they didn't have time.

【Annotation 1】The Great Night: Commonly used by communists and anarchists to refer to the moment of revolutionary rupture, the great night when anything can happen. [Annotation 2] La Fehdie︱Allier: A small town in the southern suburbs of Paris. 【Annotation 3】Helen.Boucher (1908︱1934): French female pilot who broke several speed records and died in November 1934 due to serious injuries caused by a landing stall. Everyone felt a certain rush, as if they were in a hurry to get something done.But what to do?Atelier listened to the grown-ups, listening to the grown-ups turn their thoughts over and over again.All this happened after lunch, when Ida, the maid, had just removed the cutlery.Alexander used a theatrical technique to get everyone to debate.On one side are Mauritians︱Reunionese, and on the other side are foreigners, Parisians, or people who have been assimilated.The topic is current affairs, but the conversation immediately goes beyond that, which is the confrontation of personalities, ideologies, and belief declarations.Adie wanted to write all this down, she thought it was too ridiculous and ridiculous. Kerensky [Note] understood, he said this, but no one listened to him.He knew what he was talking about, the Bolsheviks took power, and he was there from the beginning. 【Annotation】Kerensky (1881︱1970): Russian revolutionary, Prime Minister after the February Revolution of 1917, implemented a moderate policy of capitalism, and was later led by Lenin in the October Revolution by the Bolsheviks Faction was overthrown and exiled to the United States. Revolution is inevitable.But only Kerensky could do anything, he could tame the beast.He is their michapo [note]. [Annotation] Mihabo (1749︱1791): French writer and politician, who participated in the drafting of the "Declaration of Human Rights" after the French Revolution. He was the most eloquent politician in the Constituent Assembly and the one who stabilized the political situation at that time A central figure who died suddenly in 1971 when he was nominated to be the President of the National Assembly. Yes, but those miharbos, we all know what happened to them. Of course, everyone gave him up, everyone stayed out, as in Locarno. 【Annotation】Locarno: A small town in Ticino, Switzerland.This refers to the 1925 Locarno Peace Treaty signed between France, Italy, Belgium and other European countries and Germany to guarantee mutual non-aggression. After the uproar, it's time for everyone to yell at the same time.Then, there was a thick silence.Eddie looked at her mother, who was trying to pick up the conversation in a more neutral tone.She threw out a few words: Me, I am more worried about the price of people's livelihood materials and the price increase.She was immediately countered by Tallon: The price increase is not a cause for concern, ma'am, it is a sign of a better economy.In fact, what you really need to worry about is deflation and lower prices for people's livelihood consumption.When you go to the market to buy vegetables, you look at your vegetable basket. If you spend the same money, there are more vegetables, fruits, and fish in it. This is not the time to be happy, but to be worried. At this moment, Colonel Huahe, General Le Mercier's wife, and others shouted loudly again.Someone said: Everything has increased in price!Some people complain about the floating currency, the risk of currency devaluation, and unemployment.In a moment of silence, Aunt Pauling said: So now is a good time to buy.I've heard people say that on the Côte d'Azur, the prices for single-family mansions in beautiful neighborhoods near the train station are pitifully low!Justine said: Yeah, Côte d'Azur, did you see that picture in Listen Weekly?A reporter asked the hotel owner: How is this season?The hotel owner replied: not very good.What can you say, all our customers are in jail!Yet the passage did not elicit even a hint of laughter.It was around this time that Eddie heard the name Hitler being spoken.At first, they said Adolf.Hitler, as they say about AristidesBriand [Note 1] or Pierre.It was the same when Laval【Note 2】.Sometimes, she also noticed that Sheman would refer to the Chancellor of Germany, or the head of state of Germany.Later, gradually, perhaps as he came to power and became known to the world, they just talked about Hitler.Sometimes, too, she would hear Chemant, or Colonel Huahe, or even his wife (a tall woman with a sharp, angular face, wearing a hat with violets in it, and people called her Mrs. Colonel) in German. Said: Führer (Fuhrer), the Colonel's wife pronounces it like the French fureur, and Eddie often wonders whether this German word also has this meaning. 【Annotation 1】Aristides.Briand (1862︱1932): A French politician who once formed a cabinet for eleven times. In 1925, when he served as foreign minister, he signed the Locarno Peace Treaty with Germany. In 1926, he won the Award the Nobel Peace Prize. 【Annotation】Pierre.Laval (1883︱1945): A French politician who formed a cabinet twice in 1935︱1936 before World War II. Hitler said what Hitler did One night, Justin turned on the radio in the living room, and this weird voice came out, high above, a little hoarse, giving a speech, interrupted by applause or radio interference from time to time, It is not easy to hear clearly.Eddie listened intently, and her mother said: It was Hitler.Later, she said another word, and Alexander sneered when she heard it, and she said: I think this sound is so scary, it makes people tremble after hearing it.A voice is a voice, Adie thought, and she even had a strange feeling that it was very similar to Sheman's voice. Later, when it was all gone, Eddie tried to think of these Sunday afternoons in her parents' living room, the silence that would have made the sounds of these parties clearer: the exclamations of the aunts, their laughter, the coffee. Moments of the clink of the spoon in the glass and the music set by Alexander color the conversation with color.Schumann's sonatas, Schubert, Grieg, Massenet, Rimsky︱Korsakov's piano pieces.Edie waited eagerly for these digressions, and she sat at the piano to accompany her father who played the fife or sang.Alexander.Buhang has a beautiful baritone voice, and when he sings, his Mauritian accent fades away and blends into the music, and Eddie can imagine the island at the source, gently swaying in the trade wind Palm trees, the sound of the tide on the reef, kingfishers and turtledoves singing on the edge of the sugar cane fields.The submerged cathedral became a sunken warship at sea, perhaps, sunk in Grave Bay, and bells were heard from the poop as a ghostly sailor was ringing the bell for his shift.Once or twice when she was a child, the beautiful Miss Mould showed up, between songs, in a bright dress, petroleum blue or midnight black, with gold Creole rings in her ears , wearing a thick red wig that covered the little clips, so to speak, of the skin at the temples.She sang the operas "Aida" or "Iphigenie" with a beautiful voice, but her career had gone downhill, and she could almost only perform in the provinces. She worked in a shop and sewed costumes for theaters.Atel realized early on the place she occupied in her father's life.This matter can be traced back to before she was born, but the continuation of this story is still fermenting.There have been waves, even storms, and her parents' marriage ship has been on the verge of sinking several times.Later, time covered everything with a layer of oil, only some occasional light waves can still ripple the smooth surface.Mou De disappeared for many years, and Adie heard people talking about her love history with a banker, and heard people talking about her travels.When she walked into the living room of Bouhan's house without saying a word, there was a moment of dead silence.Adie'er's heart was pounding, she was waiting to hear Moud's high-pitched and delicate voice, even if she sang too high and would drop half a step or split, she still wanted to hear it.For some unspoken reason, Alexander.Buhang never publicly sang with her. In the evening, Adele excitedly retranscribed everyone's conversations in her notepad, as if these sentences were of incomparable importance and should never be forgotten: salon talk Enemy, make no mistake about the enemy, he is here, within, within our walls. Enemy within, this is the old tune of right-wing nationalism. (laughter) Laugh, laugh, you will see in a few years, when what happened in Russia happens to you, the man will go to London to be a driver, and the woman will go to Australia to be a little girl's family teacher! Australia, the country I love (Pauline), it's only in this new country that all people want you to be is yourself. Canada, snow, forests, it's this (mom) that makes me dream. It's too cold for me (Dad). Why not go back to Mauritius? Don't do it!I have tasted what it is like to live in Paris. Paris, capital of illusions (Chermont). A bunch of quacks (fathers). But the enemy, after all, you know, he's parading under your windows, instigating strikes, even in the department stores, in Saint-Maridan, in Lafayette.Sabotage, sabotage, and scuttling are the mottos of Moscow. My dear, you put the plow in front of the ox.You forget that it's all over the world.Starting with the British pound in 1931, the U.S. dollar has fallen by 41% in a few hours. Yes, Americans, but you all know they do whatever they want with their dollars.When the time comes, they will devalue the dollar! (Talon) Telling your financial stories all day long! (Pauline) Did you think you were meeting some banker?Is there really no way to talk about other things? Yes, yes (Mrs. General Le Mercier), with the colonel, we will talk about cars. He is only interested in this. Me, I love the Ford V8, it's got a lot of power (Dad). Yeah, but it's expensive, and we don't even know if we'll have oil next year (Mom).We, here, we have installed a boiler that can burn anything, and when it is burned, there will be heating. Even if the oil production is insufficient, we can still burn garbage. How horrible (Mrs. General Le Mercier), think about the smell. No way, you all know that smoke has no taste (Milu). Savings are also tasteless. In short, when the war comes, your boilers will have nothing to burn. War (Pauline), what the hell is this, whatever it says, it's going back to war, I'm pretty sure it's never going to happen, the Germans will never risk being defeated this time again. But not only Germans (Milu), but also Italians and Spanish. Japan has already started in China, did you see what they did in Shanghai? That's right, but what they want to eat away is the interests of Europe, and they have already started. Because are you interested in yellow people? (Mrs. General Le Mercier) I also don't want to believe that there will be a war (Chermans), all this is a conspiracy of the Red Army, Mussolini has said and reiterated that he will never attack France, he still has busy time in Ethiopia, Hitler, on the other hand, was busy dealing with matters in the Sudetenland area.That's not how it works, who's going to push us to war, everybody knows, just find out who's going to profit from this crime. As if it were just one day, always the same day.The voice of the conversation swelled and echoed in the huge living room. Everyone was talking at the same time. Justine, Pauline, and Milou used their singing voices. Alexander and the guests, Mrs. General Le Mercier, Colonel Huahe , Miao He, piano teacher Odile.Severin, and of course the unbearable Claudius.Talon, since that incident in the corridor, had been avoiding Atel.When he appeared, Ai Die'er habitually stayed at the other end of the living room, at Luo Hong.next to Field.Eddie was grateful that the young man wasn't part of the conversation.He was just sitting on the chair, straight, and Adie would look at his profile from time to time. His small nose, round chin, and curly red hair not only made him look like a girl, but also made him look like a girl. Giving his skin a fiery flesh-red color, as if he was deeply moved.He never responded to provocative subjects.Tallon, a loyal reader of the "French Action" [Note], began to accuse the gringos of deporting them from the country, or advocated that the Spanish refugees should be arrested by the gendarmerie and escorted immediately to Franco's army.At this time, he only frowned slightly at most. [Annotation] "Action de France": a propaganda publication founded in 1908 by the royalist party and the nationalist movement Action de France. Luo Hong.Field was a friend forever.He came back often, thin, elegant, and so different from the other young people Adele had met in Paris that he was strangely irrelevant.Only once did he speak in the salon.Tallon waved the bad newspaper he used to read, and began to accuse Britain: This is a country of traitors, rogues, and prostitution. These people are promoting the war. Don’t worry, they will send the French into the country. Slaughterhouses let themselves flourish, you've all heard it said: France has armored cars, London has safes!Luo Hong's innocent cheeks reflected the color of his hair, as if reflecting the red light of a fire.He spattered in anger as he spoke.You, you don't know what you're talking about, you, this is unacceptable, it's disgraceful, I assure you, Britain is our only ally, Britain will never give up on France!The scene was chaotic and indescribable.Everyone speaks at the same time as everyone else, and above the din is Talon's sharp voice, rising at the end, a typical bragging voice: Well, well, you are so naive, my poor child , are you too naive or are you pretending to forget that Alexander was sunk in the armchair, he was smoking a cigarette vigorously, obviously not paying attention to the commotion, he lowered his voice and said slowly: Well, don’t talk about England Now, you know that in Mauritius, everyone feels very different about this great country Or have you forgotten, sir, Talon continued, standing on tiptoes, but he was no longer speaking to Luo Hong.Field, he wants everyone to be a witness: what a horrible role Britain played during the last war, when the enemy slaughtered us, Britain refused to send troops.Aunt Milou has always been in favor of anyone firing on Britain, and she even founded a reversionist society in Paris in order to support a certain political party and advocate the return of Mauritius to the mother country of France.On this point, dear ones, we have to admit that Churchill's policy was unclear, and Chamberlain's was even more vague.Let us not forget that Bolshevism was exported to us from London. Talon: It's the same fable every time, the chestnuts are roasting over the fire and it's us who should pick them up.Luo Hong.Field couldn't interject any more.He got up to leave, despite Alexander's protests.As for Ai Dier, he leaned over to talk to her, this was the first time she felt that she had stepped out of her childhood, because Luo Hong regarded her as the only reasonable person.He said: Don't listen to what they say, miss, Britain is a great country, it is an ally of France forever, and it will never accept the criminal regime of Germany.But the uproar fell.This kind of thing never happens very long.Ai Die'er took Luo Hong's hand, and they went out to breathe the air of the garden.The tea was steaming in the cups, the little spoons clinked against the china, and Aunt Pauline's cinnamon cakes smelled mingled with the smoke from the cigarettes and cigars in the great drawing room.It's all noise and nothing but noise.No big deal. The world is miserable.Later, when Atel looks back, she will understand that she didn't see anything coming.That's the meshing mechanism of a set of gears.It was a machine that had already started, and no one could stop it.It started with the death of Mr. Soliman in late 1934.Adele remembers what family members told her about Mr Soliman's last moments.In the evening, when Ida, the maid, prepared supper for him, he complained of fatigue and headaches.Early in the morning, Ida found him lying on the bed, wearing a black and gray suit, shiny leather shoes on his feet, and a tie tied around his thin neck.He was so peaceful, so graceful, that Ida thought he was sleeping, but when she touched his hand, she felt the chill of death.The funeral was held three days later at the Church of St. Philippe-du-Holle.Samuel.Soliman, an infrequent churchgoer but understanding enough, placed an envelope conspicuously on the marble mantelpiece, containing his instructions and the plot number of the Montparnasse cemetery, and another for the A check from the parish priest to pay for the ceremony. Adie can see him one last time before sealing the coffin.Go, you can hug him one last time, he loves you so much!Mother pushed her, but she stood there, resisting.She doesn't want to.Finally, she turned to leave, covered her face, and quickly ran out of the room.She remained in the corridor, standing in front of a small table covered with a black tablecloth, on which were cards from condolence guests.It all looks like a bad show.Later, she heard her mother talk about this scene, saying that Atelier was so touched by the last goodbye.But her eyes had never done that before. She hadn't mentioned it to Shania.Samuel.Soliman's death was nothing compared to the death of Count Chavelov.One day she heard people tell the story of the last days of the Romanov family, how they were shot in the cave by the Red Army.But she was pretty sure Senia didn't cry, she never did.There was something hard in her blue eyes, hard and sad.Shania is a true heroine. 【Annotation】The Romanov family: The family of the tsars who ruled Russia from 1613 to 1917. Not long after, Alexander took Eddie to the notary, and notarized a document authorizing him to dispose of the inheritance obtained by his underage daughter. Mr. Bundy is an exaggerated man like a caricature. He loves beauty and is overly polite. He has a peculiar bearded beard, and the sharp-eyed Adie can see the traces of blackening.Alexander.Bouillon's nervousness was unusual, and his emotions were expressed in a stream of ramblings, incessant and comical with a Creole accent.He didn't explain anything to Adie, but that night, Adie heard loud voices in her parents' room, the door slammed shut, and even, in the silence of the night, there was something A sound like a sob.The next day, at lunch, it was just her and her mother, and Adele stared into her mother's face as if asking for an explanation, but Justine looked away.Her face was pale, with a trace of wrinkles at the corners of her mouth, but she was still beautiful.一張希臘雕像的臉，亞歷山大總是以這句話代替讚美。 公證人讓亞歷山大．布杭在一張扶手椅上坐下，正對他的辦公桌，艾蝶兒則坐在父親後面的一張椅子上。公證人自己還是站著，把一疊文件推到他的當事人面前，像是要盡快解決這件苦差事。您的父親想必已經讓您知道了？他好奇地對艾蝶兒說，眼睛則望著亞歷山大，所以回答問題的是他：其實我們沒有真的談過這件事，但是她母親和我，我們覺得還是得簡化這些程序，再說她的年紀邦第先生接下去說，一副理所當然的樣子：是沒錯，不過還是得他尋找適切的字眼。亞歷山大沒耐性了：親愛的。他拉著艾蝶兒的手，他想要看著她，但是他的脖子太僵硬領帶把他的假領子束得太緊讓他無法回頭。艾蝶兒望著父親的側臉，她喜歡他的鼻樑，他的八字鬍和絡腮鬍，還有他濃密的黑髮他不需要用染劑遮蓋銀灰色的鬍鬚她經常畫他的側臉，像古時候的火槍手，或是海盜，我沒跟妳說過這件事，妳知道妳舅公有多愛妳，對他來說，妳就像他的孫女，他一直都希望把大部分的財產留給妳，可是對妳這個年紀的孩子來說，這負擔太沉重了 接著，邦第先生開始宣讀。授權書的語言有點難懂，加上公證人說話結結巴巴，艾蝶兒不禁想起她的史地老師，還有在班上坐她隔壁的吉塞勒．阿姆藍對這位老師的批評：哇！樸久老師一講話，口水就滿天飛。艾蝶兒明白了這份文件的大意，就是讓她的父親可以全權管理、經營、出售她的財產，包括在這塊地上起造任何建築物，也包括為實現計畫所需的一切必要貸款。語句毫無含糊之處，然而，後來艾蝶兒回想起來，在那個當下，她以為父親決定繼續興建紫房屋，她的心裡還因此漾起一陣幸福的漣漪。 公證人結巴完了，他把文件遞給亞歷山大，讓他再看一次，在跨頁處畫押，在文件最後簽名，然後他們聊起其他事情。他們談到貸款、跟銀行交涉的事，或許也談到了國際政治局勢，但是艾蝶兒沒在聽。她迫不及待地想要走出公證人的事務所，走出這間堆滿廢紙的辦公室，走出這種令人窒息的氛圍，她要逃離這個男人和他的鬍子、他的黑眼睛、他的言語、他的唾沫。她和榭妮亞約在學校門口，她急著要告訴她發生的事，她要告訴她紫房屋不久就會從泥土裡站起來，向花園敞開大大的窗戶，還有一個映著秋日天空的水鏡。那裡會有一個房間是給榭妮亞的，她不必再住在渥吉哈街黯淡無光的一樓爛房子裡了，在那個庫房裡，全家都睡同一個房間，睡在床墊上。 一走到外頭，她就親吻父親。Thank you!Thank you!他望著她，不發一語，神情迷惑，若有所思。他要去蒙帕納斯，看看銀行，再去吃一頓單身漢的午餐，就像他常說的。艾蝶兒一步也沒停，往馬格杭街跑去。她不到十五歲，她剛剛失去一切。