She brought him in. He was a very young baby with fine, fair hair. His eyes were closed for he was sleeping, so I could not see what color they were. But I guessed they were blue. He seemed to be a healthy child.
“What’s his name?” I asked.
“Edouard. That was given him. And of course he’ll take our name. I would not have it otherwise.”
“So he will be yours, Madame Plantain, yours entirely.”
“That’s so. And I’ll never forget what he is doing for us. The first thing Jacques looks for when he comes in is this little fellow.”
She sat rocking the baby, who continued to sleep.
“I think it is wonderful that it has ended like this,” I said.
“It was like a miracle from heaven,” she said. “And I shall always believe it was such.”
It was on the first day of August that the term finished. The Princesse came to the school. She was going to take me straight to the château.
Madame Rochère gave her the respect due her rank and they spent a little time together.
As we left I was reminded of my arrival the previous September, and I thought what a lot had happened in one short year.
The Princesse was as affable and gracious as ever and we had a pleasant journey down to Bordeaux. At the station the Bourdon carriage was waiting to collect us and we made the journey comfortably to the château.
I was very much looking forward to seeing Annabelinda. The Princesse had told me that she had made a good recovery and was almost her old self.
“We make her rest a little each day because it was a long and trying illness. However, we feel that we have pulled her through most satisfactorily.”
Annabelinda was waiting to greet us with Jean Pascal beside her. She looked well and even blooming.
“It’s lovely to see you, Lucinda,” she cried. She hugged me warmly and I felt very emotional.
“Annabelinda, it’s wonderful to see you again.”
“It was an awful time.”
Jean Pascal had taken my hands and was kissing them.
“Welcome, dear child. How happy we all are that you are here. And how do you think Annabelinda is looking, eh?”
“She looks better than she ever did.”
He laughed. “That’s what I tell her. You see, my dear, you and I think alike.”
“And she really is completely recovered?”
“Yes…yes. There is no doubt of that. We are going to take care of her and make sure there is not a relapse.”
We went into the château, which always overawed me. My mother said she had felt the same about it when she was there. The past seemed to encroach on the present, and one thought of all the people who had lived there through the ages and had perhaps left something of themselves behind.
We ate in the intimate dining room, and Jean Pascal and the Princesse did seem genuinely happy to have me there. As for Annabelinda, she made me feel very welcome.
“I only hope your parents are not angry with us for keeping you away from them,” said Jean Pascal.
“They will spare us a little time, I am sure,” said the Princesse.
“If Annabelinda can come back with me, they will be very pleased,” I said.
“I think it is certain that she will be well enough to do that,” answered Jean Pascal.
The conversation continued in such a manner, but I felt there was a certain strain and that Jean Pascal was aware of it.
I was glad when we retired to our rooms, and I could not resist going along to Annabelinda’s.
She was in bed but not asleep.
She smiled at me. “I guessed you’d come along,” she said.
“Well, it’s so long since we’ve had a real talk.”
“Tell me about school. How were they when I left so suddenly? Was there a lot of talk?”
“They could talk of nothing else. They gave you all manner of diseases…from scarlet fever to beriberi.”
She smiled. “It was all rather grim, wasn’t it?”
“It’s all over now. You’re as well as ever. Tell me about it. What was really wrong?”
“Grandpère says I am not to talk about it. He says it will be better for me not to. I’ve got to put it all behind me. It could spoil my chances…”
“Spoil your chances? Chances of what?”
“Making the right sort of marriage. They are thinking about marriage for me. After all, I am getting old.”
“Sixteen?”
“Another year.”
“How would it spoil your chances?”
“Oh, nothing…forget it.”
But I refused to. “How?” I persisted.
“Well, the grand sort of family that Grandpère wants me to marry into think all the time of children…carrying on the family name and all that. They want their heirs to be strong. They would be wary of a wife who had…had what I’ve had.”
“What did you have? It’s all been rather mysterious. Was it consumption? If so, why not say so?”
“Grandpère says we should forget it and never mention it.”
“I see. People think that once you’ve had that, you might pass it on to your children.”
“Yes. That’s the idea. So not a word.”
“And they cured you here!”
“Well, not here. I had to go away. I haven’t been at the château all the time.”
“I gathered that.”
“I told you it was all rather secret. Grandpère’s idea. He arranged it all.”
“I remember I did get a letter from you with the postmark Bergerac.”
“Bergerac! I never want to go there again.”
“Isn’t it somewhere near here?”
“Well, some miles. I must have posted the letter when we were passing through.”
“Passing through…to where?”
“Oh, I don’t remember. I was rather ill at the time.”
“Why don’t you want to see Bergerac again?”
“Well, I want to forget that time…and your mentioning the place reminded me. All those places round about do. I had this terrible thing, you see.”
“It was consumption, wasn’t it?”
She nodded…and then shook her head. “I don’t want to say exactly…but…promise you won’t tell anyone I told you.”
“I promise. Was it Switzerland? That’s where people go. Up in the mountains.”
She nodded again.
“And they cured you?” I said.
“Completely. All I have to do in the future is…be careful. Grandpère says this is a warning. Once you’ve had this sort of thing…people are suspicious.”
“They think it can be passed on.”
“Grandpère thinks it could spoil my chances for the sort of marriage he wants for me.”
“What was it like in the sanatorium?”
“Oh, they were very strict. You had to do what you were told.”
“It sounds like La Pinière.”
She laughed. “But it’s all over and I want to forget it ever happened. I’m well now. I am going to be all right. I’m looking forward to going to London.”
“I expect your family will want you to be in the country with them.”
“Oh, Mama will want to be in London, I expect. As for my father and dear brother Robert, they’ve got their beloved estate to think about. They won’t worry about me.”
“I missed you, Annabelinda.”
“Don’t you think I missed you?”
“It must have been awful, so far away from everyone. I suppose your grandfather and the Princesse visited you during the time you were there?”
“Of course. They were marvelous to me. But I don’t want to talk about it. Please, Lucinda.”
“All right. Not another word.”
“And don’t forget. Don’t tell anyone about Switzerland. I shouldn’t have mentioned it to you, but you wormed it out of me.”