‘How poetic! Trust Lili to turn sheer idleness into a romantic occasion,’ laughed Marie. ‘For goodness’ sake, De Woude, why don’t you say something? Here we are, all chatting away while you’re off in a trance, composing verses in your head, I shouldn’t wonder.’
Georges denied this with good humour, and they all set off, pushing aside the leafy twigs of overhanging bushes on their path. Lili was frightened out of her wits by a spider descending a long silvery thread, and De Woude’s removal of the insect gave rise to fresh bursts of laughter and jokes about Lili being a damsel in distress and Georges a knight in shining armour coming to her rescue.
‘What have we done to deserve all this attention, may I ask?’ said Georges.
‘Never mind, Georges, take no notice!’ said Lili. ‘They think they’re being funny. Oh, Paul, where are you taking us? It’s so hot, and quite slippery underfoot, too. How much further is it to that nice spot of yours? All these tiresome branches — ouch!’
She broke off to inspect her finger, which she had scratched on a thorn.
‘Why don’t you let me walk in front, then,’ offered Georges, and he spoke so softly and slipped ahead of her so quietly that the others, still laughing heartily, did not notice. He and Lili fell behind, with him carefully holding back each intruding twig to clear the way for her.
‘Let them laugh! You don’t mind about them, do you?’ he asked, a faraway, happy look in his eyes.
‘Not in the least!’ she replied calmly. She shook her head, on which she wore a wide sun-hat bedecked with wild flowers, and gave an arch smile. ‘It’s our turn to laugh at them, now. Who’s that shrieking at the top of his voice?’
‘Etienne, of course!’ said Georges.
Paul and Etienne had found a mossy bank beneath a young chestnut tree, from which an attractive panorama was to be seen: a stretch of meadowland, grazing cows, straight lines of water-filled ditches glittering in the bright sunlight, a windmill beyond, and in the distance a line of poplars, slender and tall.
When Lili and Georges caught up with the others they found them in raptures.
‘This is splendid!’ said Paul. ‘Plenty of cool moss to lie on and a fine, sweeping view.’
Everyone agreed, and they plumped themselves down on the ground, weary from their expedition. On the dark, dappled sward lay a scattering of discarded hats and lacy parasols, while stray sunbeams threw patches of shivering light on the crush of light cotton skirts.
‘It’s not so shady here after all. At any rate, I am in the full sun,’ said Lili, putting up her pink parasol. She shot an indignant glance at Paul, who had claimed a spot of deep shade, where he now lay sprawled on his back with a pocket handkerchief over his face.
‘Hush, Lili, no more talking now, time for a nap!’ he muttered.
‘It’s all very well for you to take a nap, but I’m burning to a crisp in the sun.’
‘Shall we go and look for a better spot, Lili?’ ventured Georges.
‘Yes, you do that — good idea,’ said Paul.
‘And give us a whistle when you’ve found one,’ said Etienne.
Georges promised he would, and set off down the sandy slope with Lili clinging to his arm.
‘They won’t whistle, just you wait and see,’ said Etienne.
‘Lili’s so fussy!’ yawned Paul.
His lethargy was too much for Etienne, who seized Paul’s ankles and dragged him some way, much to the girls’ amusement.
However, it was very hot, and as they were all beginning to feel lazy, they decided unanimously to wait until after lunch to take a proper walk. When peace had been restored between Paul and Etienne, Frédérique laid her head on Etienne’s knees, and he tickled her ear with a blade of grass while Paul pretended to sleep. Marie sat very still, moodily gazing out at the meadows and the ditches and the cows.
. .
The path Georges and Lili had taken was easy. Lili felt herself floating downwards as she held on to Georges’ shoulders with both hands, gasping with delight as he went faster and faster. He had given her wings!
‘How silly of them to stay where there isn’t any proper shade; look, there’s a clump of trees over there!’
‘Those chestnuts?’
‘They look promising. Shall we go and take a look?’
‘Very well.’
They made their way to the trees and found themselves in a lush, shadowy glade surrounded on all sides by blistering sunshine.
‘Isn’t it lovely here?’ cried Lili. ‘Look, wild violets!’
She seated herself on the mossy bank and began to pick the wildflowers within her reach. Georges sank down at her feet, too happy to say very much, and toyed with the red tassels of her pink parasol.
‘You ought to give a whistle, Georges, as a signal for the others to come,’ she said demurely, knowing full well that he would not.
‘I can’t whistle, I never could!’ he responded jovially.
She laughed and began to pelt him with her violets, which he promptly gathered into a little bunch and put in his buttonhole. Then he took her hand.
‘Do you love me?’ he said, holding her eyes. She placed her small white hands on his shoulders and leant forward, returning his gaze.
‘What?’ she murmured tenderly.
‘Do you love me?’ he repeated, and she leant closer, so that her hair brushed against his lips, receiving kisses.
‘Yes,’ she said, leaning her forehead against his. ‘Yes, I love you.’
They sat thus a while, and notwithstanding the rather uncomfortable position Georges was in, he delighted in feeling the weight of her sweet head. When she finally drew herself up, he moved to sit beside her, then lifted her arm and laid it around his neck.
‘By the way, my sister Emilie—’ he began.
‘What about her?’ she said.
‘Emilie has had a talk with my father. Don’t you think she might talk to your parents too?’
‘Oh, yes!’ she replied, beaming. ‘But I don’t know, I’m not sure whether—’
‘Emilie is a very good talker.’
‘You love her very much, don’t you?’
‘Yes, and I love you, too.’
With her hand on his neck she drew him a fraction closer, and kissed the side of his head — the first time she had ever kissed him. The soft, summer air beneath the leafy canopy was heavy with the scent of violets mingled with moss, and she ruffled the tawny hair above his ears with her fingers. The sensation was so delightful as to make her swoon away.
She listened blissfully to his low voice relating the conversation he had had with his sister, at a time when he didn’t even know whether Lili really cared for him. He had felt very anxious at first, but now he was full of confidence, whatever challenges the future might hold.
‘Emilie thought you wouldn’t consider marrying a man without money,’ he said. ‘Is that true? Won’t you have a penniless husband?’
‘Are you penniless?’
‘Well, I’m not exactly rich.’
‘All right then, I shall have a penniless husband. Oh, I can be very economical, you know. Sometimes I make one month’s dress allowance last for three, and I think I manage to look all right, don’t I?’
‘You look lovely.’
‘But you don’t strike me as being so very economical yourself. I think you probably have a great many more needs than I do.’
‘All I need is you. You are everything to me.’
‘Does Emilie like me?’
‘Of course she does. She’ll be like a mother to us. And you will come with me no matter where they send me? To Cairo? Constantinople? The Cape?’
‘To Lapland if need be. Anywhere at all.’
‘My own little wife!’
He held her close to his heart, and kissed her. The air was still, the world fell away, and they were alone in paradise, united in a love of such magnitude as had never been known before.