She had
been here several times during the siege of Verdun in nineteen-sixteen when
her bed had quivered all night, and once a big gun had been trained on the
city and a shell had fallen near the headquarters of the staff. Last night
she had lain awake wondering if she did not miss the sound of the distant
guns, as she had in Passy where there was no noisy traffic to take their
place. There is a certain amount of morbidity in all highly strung
imaginative minds, and although she had developed no love for Big Bertha
nor for the sound of high firing guns attacking avions in the middle of the
night, there had been something in that steady boom of cannon whose glare
stained the horizon that had thrilled and excited her.
IV
On the right of the main hall of the house was the room she used as an
office; the dining-room was opposite; the salon ran the whole length at the
back. This was quite a beautiful room furnished in the style of the last
Bourbons, and its long windows opened upon a stone terrace leading down
into what was still a picturesque garden in spite of its neglect. There
were three fine oaks, and the chestnut trees along the wall shut off the
town from even the upper windows.
The oeuvre always managed to keep a load of wood in the cave and to-day the
concierge had raised the temperature of the salon to sixty-five degrees
Fahrenheit Alexina cleared a table and told the woman to set it for tea,
then went upstairs to change her dress.
Pages:
374
375
376
377
378
379
380
381
382
383
384
385
386
387
388
389
390
391
392
393
394
395
396
397
398