"I first saw her in April when her parents moved from Arrame on the other side of the pass." "Her name was Eliane but everyone called her Elle or "that girl"." "Her father, old Devigne, was paralysed after a fall from a ladder." "Her mother was German." "Devigne met her while doing forced labour." "They call her Eva Braun." "Back to work." "You don't even know who Eva Braun was." "I first saw her at the cinema while on fire duty." "She was playing the star." "She'd won a beauty contest... as "Miss Camping-Caravanning"... and acted like a star ever since." "I thought she was good looking... but no more than that." "She said she sat close to the screen to get some peace." "The truth was she wouldn't wear glasses... and couldn't see from further back." "Get a move on!" "What's the hurry?" "Can't hang about. 'Bye." "Small towns are all alike." "The film ends and thirty seconds later everyone has vanished." "With M. Loubet's wife there wasn't much time for words." "We used the aisle... to have a carpet under us." "The place needs a coat of paint." "I usually drove my brother's van home." "His driving sent me crazy." "We'd load up the back with kids." "They'd fall fast asleep on the way." "Everyone's asleep here." "I've stopped." "A fireman needs all his puff." "Before, I smoked like a chimney." "Find yourself a girl?" "Eva Braun's daughter." "You done it with her?" "Not tonight." "Her mother was with us." "What about other nights?" "Twice." "Last Saturday and the one before." "Where?" "In the van on a tarpaulin." "How was it?" "What an arse!" "Really something." "It was too cold to undress." "I just pulled up her skirt." "What an arse!" "You get nought for conversation." "You're a fine bunch." "Don't call me Pin-Pon." "What is it?" "What's going on?" "I'll catch pneumonia!" "I thought you were in a hurry." "If I die, I'll take you with me." "My brother, Mickey, is a haulier and amateur cyclist." "He's as daft as a brush... but we get on well." "We don't need to talk much." "You ass." "Now there's no more water!" "Mother!" "My other brother, 13 years younger than me, was born when father died." "He's the intellectual of the family." "Father would call him "Doctor" if he were still alive." "Our father walked here, all the way from Southern Italy." "Like all Italians, he was set on going to America... but he never had enough money for the ticket." "He ended up marrying my mother who came from Digne." "They took in her sister who's been stone deaf since Marseilles was bombed." "She's called Cognata by everyone but my mother." "What vegetables do you want?" "What's that?" "She wants peas as usual on Sundays." "Ace, two and three, as usual." "My aunt's choice never varies. "Don't confuse Fate," she says." "And it works." "She's won twice" "I'd go for her." "What with, may one ask?" "It's not that difficult," "The town chemist and a visiting friend of my nephew's had her." "And even one of those Portuguese workers." "Wake up." "A fellow needs a break." "If your eyes were that blowtorch, she'd not sit down for a week." "We all call my boss Henry IV." "He's the best boules player I know." "I went to school with his wife, Josette." "Can I fetch your mother anything?" "Some steaks." "Five normal and a big one for Bou-Bou." "Say they're for us." " Why?" " You know steak like he knows limos." "I've a Delahaye with leather seats." "I swapped her for an old van." "She takes up all my spare time but she still won't go." "Three hundred metres." "Sixty metres." "Better than last time." " It's the gaskets." " You saw me change them." "She's allergic to gaskets." "No, it's the oil intake." "If you ask me, she's allergic to everything." "We'd better push her back." " Poor Pin-Pon!" " Don't call me that!" "Mrs Nosey Parker." "What's to stop us making a complaint about the pollution?" " Do you know the Braun girl?" " Just about." "If you want my advice, you'll keep well away from her." "I didn't ask your advice." "You can meet her any Sunday at the Bing Bang dance." "That place makes me feel old." "Come along and I'll do the rest." "I don't need your help I can chat her up as easily as you." "You're wrong there." "I'm not smitten!" "The Bing Bang came to one village or another each Sunday." "The kids followed it around." "For a bit, I danced with Mickey's girl who works In the post office." " Where's Mickey?" " Gone to play boules." "Come on, I'll be the man." "Shall we dance?" "What's the alternative?" "Climbing trees?" "That knocked me back a bit." "What's more, I hate people with clammy hands." "But hers were different." "They were damp... but they reminded me of babies or children." "Don't you feel thirsty?" "I'm not a goldfish!" "Is your hair natural?" "No, it costs me a fortune." "There's a good restaurant near Cavaillon." "Care to go some time?" "Candles on the table, silver cutlery..." "Okay, take it easy." "You won't get me in bed that way." "That's a fact." "Look, we can't stand here all night." "I can only dance on Sundays." "I've got to go." " Who are you playing against?" " Locals." "We're leading by three points." "Massigne is hopeless." "To hell with Massigne!" "There's a fair at Thorame." "Let's make a foursome with Georgette and Moune." "Moune isn't that bad, is she?" "Let's play rummy with Cognata tonight." "And invite Henry IV when we return the car." "We'll drown our sorrows." "I'll just lose this game and come." "I told myself there were other fish in the sea... that she wasn't worth the trouble." "Anyone at home?" "I've a flat tyre." "Move back a bit." "As you repair cars, I thought you'd do bikes." "What fun!" "You'll get dirty!" "What's she doing here?" " Her bike needs repairing." " Tell her to take herself off." "Your tyre has a huge rip in it." "How did that happen?" "Come back tomorrow." "I've some spare tyres at home." "When do you stop work?" "Not for another hour." "Maybe longer." "I'll wait outside." "She sat motionless." "Like a doll thrown in a corner." "Mother detests anything in a skirt." "She'd even hate a Scotsman." "I've a bike to mend." "Your brother cornered me last night." " Mickey?" " No, Bou-Bou." "He asked me what I'd done to you." "When I said, "nothing" he got all hoity-toity and said..." ""So why was he upset?"" "So silly." "What made you go?" "Misgivings - because of Georges Massigne." "I'd have you know I belong to nobody." "And we're not together any more." "Do you really have a barrel organ in your barn?" "Who told you?" "Bou-Bou did, when we made it up." "That's all our father left us when he died." "Four walls... and the organ." "Does it still work?" "Yes, on its own sometimes, if a mouse gets in." "But it has only one tune." "You did it on purpose?" "To see me?" "With secateurs." "Pin-Pon isn't a real name." "What were you christened?" "My real name is Florimondo." "But the Italians were against us in the war... so it didn't go down well in the village." " Could we go to your restaurant?" " Anytime." "Why not now?" "At once." "Tell you what." "If you go round the back, you can choose which dress I wear." "All right?" "That's why I couldn't do without her She lived life in top gear." "It was wonderful." "For that moment, I'd start all over again." "Hurry up!" "Bou-Bou's belt." "Where is he going'?" "Nobody tells me anything." " He's meeting a client." " What's her name?" "I don't know." "If the fire station wants me, call the restaurant." "All right, but hurry up." " I'll do?" " Fantastic." "Mother, I may be back late." "Don't worry." "Will I do?" "You look like Zorro!" "Go fast or I'll have to sit and wave to the village." "He drives well." "The car won't suffer." "Maybe, but it's the last time I lend it." "Not feeling sick?" "You're joking." "I'd spend my life in a car if my stupid father could afford one." "What was he before?" "A watchman and road man." "He had a stroke?" "I don't want to talk about it." "I've a Delahaye." "Know what that is?" "No - except that it doesn't work." "I'll make it work when I find the parts." "And then I'll take you on holiday." "Oh, yes?" "Where?" "Wherever you like." "All right." "To Nice?" "To a crummy room where you'll screw me?" "It's incredible." "What did I say?" "You bite your nails?" " Don't look." " They're false?" "Say anything and I'll tell everyone you sleep with Mme Loubet." "Who told you that?" "It's common knowledge." "There's no point in telling, then." "I promise I won't tell a soul." "And I'll take you back if you prefer." "No, don't." "It's like Hollywood." "You come often?" "I came once to fix a customer's car." "You can laugh but I promised myself I'd come back... with a glamorous girl like the ones I saw that day." "When I was little, they took me to the eye doctor and we ate out." "But there were oiled tablecloths and fly papers It was squalid." "Squalid." "You've bad sight?" "I can't see my own feet." "Why not wear glasses?" "Who cares about feet?" "The band leader!" "Has Mademoiselle chosen?" "A melon without port and strawberries, if you have them." "Perch with fennel and asparagus to start with." "What wine would you like?" "Not for me." " It makes me cry and cry." " But tonight is special." " Which champagne?" " The one you always serve us." "It was the Piper Heidsieck, wasn't it?" "Is there gold on the label?" "Gold?" "Yes, I think so." "Then that will do." "At school, I never listened." "I repeated the same year three times." "In the end, they gave in and I left." "You're not eating." "But I was by far the prettiest." "Everyone said so." "At thirteen or fourteen I was fully grown." "Don't you believe me?" "My teacher, Mlle Dieu, was mad about me." "She'd have done anything for me." "And I'm not stupid." "Take arithmetic." "No one can count faster than me." "I beat the supermarket till." "Choose two numbers." "Anything from one to ten thousand." "Hurry!" "Thirty-four hundred and forty-seven, and eighty-seven hundred and sixty-eight." "Twelve thousand three hundred and fifteen." "Check it!" "You're right, dammit." "Another." "No, I believe you." "When I was small, I played that with my father." "He used to say "You can beat anyone else on earth, no matter who"." ""No matter who"." "I mustn't drink any more." " What's got into you?" " Nothing." "You were like it in the car." "Don't take any notice." "Generally, boys don't take so much trouble to make me see..." "You know what I mean?" "Who are you talking about?" "The chemist?" "Or that man on holiday, or the Portuguese?" "It's not true." " You weren't there." " Okay, so they lied." "Did Massigne tell you that?" " I said "then"." " They are stupid." "I only meant that if you like me... you don't have to do all this." "You can have me here among the plates... in front of everybody!" "Would you like anything else?" "Leave us alone!" "Cheer up." "9,322 and... 7,825." "17,147." "Well, two things she said were true About the counting and the crying." "I told you, I'm tipsy." "We'll go home." "I want to stay with you." "No need to wake the Holy Family." "We can sleep in the barn." "Seeing her look at me like that..." "I made my biggest mistake ever." "Where are you?" "What an idiot you look, Elle." "If it weren't so funny, I'd kill myself." "He wants to get his pants down and Elle just wants it over with... without her zip jamming." "Let Elle forget for a moment... he's the son of his beastly father." "I'll say, what are they doing to you, Little Eliane?" "Let her enjoy it this once." "A bit of patience and I'll find them all." "They'll pay dearly, and their families." "You could at least say where you've been." "You know where I've been." "For Christ's sake, don't just stand there." "What must I do to make you take a swipe at me just once?" "Don't you understand?" "I want you to hit me." "I'd prefer it that way." "Can't you see?" "But she can't see, any more than she ever has." "She'll go on thinking about who I am and what happened to us." "I mustn't mention the barrel organ." "I must do it all myself." "She'd stop me." "Come on." "To please me." "Mother." "Haven't you finished yet?" "You're disturbing the whole village." "Wait till I get my hands on you." "Why must they be so stupid?" "They're just having a joke." "Yes, what does it matter?" "Sit down there." "Something to say?" "What about you?" "What has she pinched?" "Nothing." "These are my knickers." "I hate wearing yesterday's clothes." "This is my house." " Leave her alone." " Is she going to stay?" "She's staying." "I'm going to live with the Montecciaris." "She's leaving?" "Good riddance." "I love you best of all." "No, you don't." "I'm only down the village street." "It's not far." "Our trip back was a real joke." "You'd have thought we were April fools." "It must be deadly indoors to bring them out like this." "Brochard and his wife were the stupidest of all." "You're moving?" "What's it got to do with you?" "You don't have to turn on the TV to hear idiots talk." " It's not very nice." " But it's clean." "I must go to work." " Can I put up my posters?" " It's your home." " Mind if I say something?" " No need, I'm not stupid." "I didn't have time to put on pants." "I'll do it now." "His smile made me want to give up." "Not much room here." "I had this bath when I was a baby." "It's a good thing our water's free." "She's going to bathe right here!" "The sauce of it!" "What?" " I've my own upstairs." " Either way, I'll be doing the washing." "Your mother didn't teach you much to go by your hands." "My mother wouldn't like you speaking to me like that." "She'd say your son... shouldn't have fetched me." "It won't last long." "Hey, Broken Hi-fi!" "Listen to this." "Before he's rid of me, your sister will have bought me a wedding dress." "I'm sorry, I'm hard of hearing." "Smothered in lace." "And I'll see she cries all over it." "I'm taking eggs to your mother any message?" "In the Ice Mother's bedroom was a bed that could kill." "And his photograph." "How did I stop myself spitting on it?" "You look like a monkey when you eat." "Fancy being so old, greedy, and ugly too." "I'd rather die at thirty, or maybe forty." "Your turn, stupid!" " You counted my winnings?" " No bloody fear!" "You're a good girl." "We're already good friends." "I've a soft spot for old people." "Two and twenty, Our Sorrowful Lady." "You left these behind." "I wondered why you stuck your nose in things." "I'm going up to change." "She said nothing about her visit but it doesn't matter." "My mother would never talk to strangers." "You can dry the salad." "I don't know how." "Has that barrel organ always belonged to you?" "My husband brought it here when he was young." "On foot, if you must know." "On foot!" "It was his living." "Why do you ask?" "I thought I'd seen it when I was small in Arrame." "It's never gone that far." "The last time it left here you weren't even born." "What's the matter?" "Nothing." "It's all right." "Turn that thing off!" "It's nothing." "I'll soon be better." "Don't say anything." "Promise?" "Who did that?" "Your aunt with the cheese grater." "What made you do that?" "What's he saying?" "Tell him it's not true, you hussy!" " Stop that." "She never insulted you." " Steady on." "You agree?" "No, I don't." " What's going on?" " Hang on." "I was joking." "It's hardly your aunt's style, is it?" "What did she say?" "Nothing." "Aren't you ashamed?" "Fancy imagining that of your aunt." "It's always the same." "I felt faint and fell." "Faint?" "How do you mean?" "I was in the barn." "Bou-Bou found me." "Has this happened often?" "'" "Never." "You spend all day reading stupid magazines." "No wonder you feel ill." "No it's not that." "I let a few weeks pass and am as sweet as pie with everyone." "Can't you rest a bit?" "Anyone would think you were the maid here." "In the afternoons while I wait for Pin-Pon I play patience." "I change dresses, fix my false nails, varnish them... or lose myself in thoughts of that other old fool." "You've won again, my pet." "After an hour or so dreaming like that..." "I'm so fed up I have to go out." "On Sunday mornings, Mickey sets off for a race saying..." "I'll win, dammit!" "And returns, saying:" "I lost, dammit!" "Hardly surprising." "It's your fault too." "You service the bike." "However well I ride, the bike's so heavy I always beat it past the post." " Where's Mother?" " Outside." "Then listen to me." "Your bike doesn't drink or smoke." "Or spend every night with Georgette" "How can you hope to win?" "Is this large?" " Read the ticket." " I cant read." "Ninety-seven francs fifty." " You counted that fast." " My looks apart, that's all God gave me." "What are you knitting?" "What do you think?" "How do you know?" "I went to the doctor." "He said I cant know yet but I'm sure." "I'm sure she is." "She's tricked you, my poor boy." "Be quiet." "No one's tricked anyone." "It's one of those things." "Anyway I hate people whispering about her." "We'll deal with this fast." "End of chapter." "A little perseverance and I'll sign my name Montecciari." "Look, I've some work for you." "Josette, Henry IV's wife, gave it to me." "You're really going to be married?" "I knew it." "I prayed in church." "It's beautiful." "Worth a lot of money." "Make it tight, with lots of lace and trimmings, like a Marilyn dress." "He looks such a kind boy." "So serious and such a good worker." "And so handsome too." "Yes, Italians aren't bad." "Describe yours." " I don't know what you mean." " Yes you do." "Tall." "Dark." "With a black moustache." "What else?" "Come on, tell me." "What more can I say than I've said hundred times before... when you've badgered me with your questions?" "It was November, 1955." "A Saturday, in the middle of the day." "There were three of them." "One was Italian." "There was a fork before Arrame and sometimes motorists missed the road." "Otherwise no-one came our way." "We've lost our way." "Is Arrame far?" "Go back to the fork." "Take the road along by the river." "That's a fine rabbit." "It's nice and quiet here." "I was alone." "Every other Saturday, Gabriel visited his sister." "But she refused to see me." "I was shy then." "More so than now, but not easily scared." "I'd had that knocked out of me in the war." "But I was on edge all day... as if something inside me knew they'd be back." "When they come, I thought "No, it's not true"." "But I knew it was true." "That was my life!" "Here are your clean clothes." "Shall I cook carrots or courgettes?" "My sister is a nitwit." "A good woman but a nitwit." "She shouts though she knows I can't hear." "The child doesn't shout." "She speaks slowly so I understand." "What was your brother-in-law like?" "Poor Lello?" "Irritable." "But kind hearted." "A real Italian." "She gets on well with Mickey and especially Bou-Bou." "I'm sure she bought him that sweater he wore last Sunday." "She said nothing to the others but I don't miss much." "I'll win, dammit!" "Only my sister dislikes her." "She thinks her insincere and giddy." "She's a bad lot." "The child is unhappy." "Life can't have been easy." "But she'd rather show her bottom than her true feelings." "You were so stuck up as a girl." "And guess what she calls you." "I know "Broken Hi-fi" She told me." "Did she ask you who brought the barrel organ back after Lello pawned it?" "I can't hear." "She asked who brought the barrel organ back." "I cant hear." "I remember who it was." "Lebalech and his brother-in-law." "You weren't there when they came." "It was the day the tractor crushed Massigne." "You'd gone to the wake." "So there!" "Leballech and his brother-in-law." "That was fifty-five or fifty-six." "No, fifty-five." "In November." "The men had a drink together, here in the kitchen." "Florimond was just a boy then, always at his father's side." "I knew Leballech by sight." "He drove for Ferrold's like Mickey does now." "I didn't know the brother-in-law." "He said he was from Digne." "I was worried that the boy wasn't in bed." "It was past midnight." "Strange how clearly I remember that time... but not those marvellous days with my husband before the war." "In the summer we rented a cottage at Susset-les-Pins." "The garden was full of oleanders." "I remember the gramophone and my favourite record "The Barge Sails On"." ""Thinking of nothing the current runs on... making wanderers of us all"" "I don't remember the singer." "Yes, I do Lys Gauy." "I don't remember the gramophone." "But there was a dog on the label." "It's on the tip of my tongue." "Oh God, I can't remember the make." "His Master's Voice." "The dog is His Master's Voice." "Everyone knows that." "You're going daft." "You're wicked!" "Yes, you're very wicked." "I love you best in this house but you're losing your memory." "Don't let them know." "Ask me." "I'm not wicked." "I'm going daft too." "You understand?" "That afternoon she went to town to get her birth certificate for the wedding." "When she came back, she'd changed." "Her eyes weren't made up any more." "She was sad." "Worse than that." "Can I see your birth certificate?" "Mind your own bloody business!" "Coming for a swim?" "Let me see it." "Be a good girl." "She was born on the tenth of July, nineteen fifty-six." "She'd be twenty in few days." "Her name was Eliane Manuela Herta Wieck." "Her mother, Paula Manuela Wieck was a naturalised French citizen." "Her father was unknown." "You've your mother's name." "Do you mind?" "Just explain." "There's nothing to explain." "Don't go away." "I'm on your side." "I had to wait two or three days to be alone with her again." "Curiosity gets worse with age." "I want to speak to you." "Come here" "She was off to see her old teacher, Mlle Dieu on the bus." "I know she'll tell me to leave her hair alone." "I won't mess up your hair." "All right, you won't mess it up." "What did you want to say?" "Want to know about that organ?" "Delivered eight months before you were born." "I'm not as stupid as you imagine." "I've plenty of time to think." "Go on, ask me." "Ask what?" "Who brought the organ back?" "I couldn't care less." "No use asking my sister." "She wasn't there." "But I was." "Nobody else but me can tell you." "I don't want to know." "I want to marry Pin-Pon." "That's all!" "Silly ass." "I know you're there." "His name is Leballech." "He was with his brother-in-law." "Do you hear me?" "He drove a lorry for Ferraldo, Mickey's boss" "When you see Pin-Pon, tell him I'm having supper with my teacher." "I'll tell him." "Leballech left to go and work for himself." "He has a sawmill on the Coustelet road." " And his brother-in-law?" " Name of Touret." "Works in Carpentras." "Your father sent you?" "He can't move." "He knew Leballech?" "It's odd." "The Holy Family" " I mean my future mother-in-law - knew him." "He brought back their barrel organ once." "You remember?" "November fifty-five." "There we are Saturday the nineteenth Leballech." "Timber for Bonnet, fencing for Poncet, Arrame." "Barrel organ, Montecciari." "And below... lorry out all night." "Leballech warned." "There were so many cars in Carpentras and I'd such a headache." "Can I help?" "M. Touret?" "He's out with a client but he shouldn't be long." "I've been transferred from Nice I'm a teacher." "I need a furnished flat." "Nothing too dear." "This is just the thing Rue de L'Hubac, fourth floor." " This young lady wants a flat." " Thank you, Suzy." "I wish he were dead and rotting already." "It's fine." "Just what I want." "But eight hundred francs a month is an awful lot." "If this were the cinema not an eye would be dry." "I'm sorry but I can't make up my mind." "Tonight I'll think it over." "But of course." "Ring when you've decided." "Then we can meet again." " Dad's in his office" " Thanks" "Laugh while you've still the chance." "Sorry to bother you, but I may rent a flat from your brother-in-law." "I'm a teacher." "How much would you charge for a bookcase?" "Just shelves for my books." "I'm not a carpenter." "I could maybe let you have some wood but that's all." "I'll give you a name." "Say I sent you and they won't rook you." "I may not take the flat after all." "It's really too dear for me." "Do you know how much a teacher earns?" "Less than nothing." "Try bargaining with him." "I know where that would get me." "I'm not stupid." "He undresses you with a glance." "Have I offended you?" "The less I hear of my brother-in-law, the better pleased I am." " How old are you?" " Twenty." "My name is Jeanne." "And you're a teacher?" "Make my shelves and you'll see." " See you." " I hope so." "If he's still standing there when I turn round, he's had it." "As sure as I'm alive I'll have his soul." "My teacher had been waiting an age." "A budgie-fancier would have put her in a cage." "Well, we are all dressed up!" "Why did you keep me hanging about?" "Did you dress up for me?" "It's quite amazing." "Let's go I'm hungry." "How much does a teacher earn?" "Enough to buy you a present." "That's not why I asked." "Do I look like a teacher?" "You look like no one else." "Do you remember I once had tests done in Nice?" "A bloody counsellor typed a report... saying I was unfeeling, antisocial and perverse." "Do you think that's true?" "No, I wrote and said so." "I am not unfeeling." "And you've done worse than that." "On my certificate last week, you wrote 'father unknown"." "You're the village clerk, you could easily... have written Gabriel Devigne, couldn't you?" "For me!" "You know what you are?" "An idiot." "Calm down." "What about your napkin?" "But I never smoke." "Except to annoy." "But it's very pretty." "There's a card in the box." "Leave it." "'Let me be your flame"." "Terribly trite but I found it touching too." "I'll give you a better kiss in the car later." "I love seeing her blush." " What are you thinking about?" " You." "What's so funny about me?" "You put a bra on under your blouse." "I'd see you didn't at home." "Give me a birthday treat." "Go and take it off in the toilet." "Don't be crazy." "People will see." "Please." "I warn you I'm going to do it." "I did it." "Next time, show your behind." "I always repay what I owe, for good or ill." "Then I'm quits." "She kissed amazingly well." "Are you angry?" "I rang Mlle Dieu at seven." "She wasn't in." "She took me out for my birthday." "She gave me a lighter." "She did you proud." " Is that yours?" " My father's." "Are you a good shot?" "He was better." "Would you use it if someone hurt me?" "Who'd want to do that?" "I don't know." "He's very quiet up there." "Maybe he seeps all day." "Or he's not shouting at me because I'm twenty." "Mother, I want to ask you something." "Don't be cross." "Am I generally cross?" "How was he when you knew him in Germany?" "He was lost." "He was hungry, like we all were." "We were fleeing." "What do you want me to say?" "I don't know just what he was like." "You saw at once he was French." "He looked as if he'd been punished for something he hadn't done." "Lower, so the best man can take it off." "That'll amuse Mickey." "And later?" "November fifty-five." "When he came back from visiting his beastly sister." "What did he do?" "I knew you'd get back to that." "I warn you I'll break everything." "Windows, crockery the lot." " I've told you a hundred times." " Make it a hundred and one." "Why didn't he go to the police?" "I stopped him." "You didn't recognise any of them?" "No, they weren't from round here." "Do nothing." "Don't tell anyone." "I'm a foreigner." "They'll laugh at you." "I'll find them myself." "Kill them with my own hands." "But I knew he wouldn't." "He was a mouse of a man." "And miserly with it." "He was always good to me." "Yes, that's true." "He was different with you." "Leave the dress alone." "The truth is you didn't love him." "So he didn't care." "If it turns out you were having it off behind his back..." "I've never looked at another man." "Ask him, if you don't believe me." "But you're right." "I didn't love him enough." "Not to sacrifice everything." "We'll have to find a midwife who'll do it." "I'll ask my sister." "I agree with the doctor." "Whoever made it, the child is mine." "If you want, I'll go away." "Listen, Gabriel even the man himself doesn't know." "For us, it's as if he's dead." "Dead!" "Would I be taking like this if he were dead?" "But all three are alive and kicking." "And all I seem to be good for is cleaning up the mess they made." "Do as you like, but I'll never accept the child as mine." "You should have left me where I was." "I didn't ask to be born." "And he'd still be walking." "Sure you're not too hot like that?" "What would you suggest?" "Armour?" "As usual, I got over it." "I had a bit of a headache, that's all." "Climb on my back." "I know where to find some trout." "As Cognata said, they were good times." "I didn't know they were 'before'." "How I wish it was now." "What do you say to some glasses?" "Won't that be nice?" "That's rubbish, just for the Social Security." "I'll explain." "It's because of the war." "Mummy was German." "But that it makes no difference to us." "You understand?" "When I've done it, I'll go and say..." ""Dad, they're dead." "We'll both get better now"." "I mustn't stay here." "These shoe's are hopeless." "Damn!" "He was always my dad." "He didn't touch me." "It was me that saw evil everywhere." "Be careful, you'll have your hand off!" "That was a big one." "Come down, that's enough now." "What a girl." "I could eat you." "What is it?" "Don't touch me..." "His silence proves he thought of me as his daughter." ""He'd fallen from a tree"." "Full stop." "The doctor might not have believed it but no one could budge him." "It took me three bends to catch up with you." "I'm racing at Manosque tomorrow." "I'll come in last." "Unless I add a motor." "How many kilometres today?" "I'll tell Pin-Pon a hundred." "But really it was fifty." "And I drank three cans of beer." "Got any cigarettes?" "Pin-Pon says I'm a daft brush." "You're all as bad as each other." "A first-class brush." "What are you thinking about?" "There's one race I can win." "It's in Carpentras in July." "The week after your wedding." "At Carpentras?" "Three tours of the town with a bonus each time." "What's the prize?" "A medal and a bike Pin-Pon will flog for fifty francs." "Oh, I'd like you to win." "There we were not saying a word... and for no reason I began glooming about Pin-Pon, Bou-Bou and Cognata." "Sunsets are such sad things." "Look who's coming!" "Three little notes of music." "Locked in the attic... in the house of souvenirs." "But they never cease to play, turn the page though you may." "Then one day without warning... you find they are calling." "You'd prefer to forget... their notes of regret... from that summer you met." "But you will never forget... the notes that you heard... and the girl that you met." "Where's the best man?" "Who'd have thought it?" "That wasn't very manly." "It's a wonderful day." "The sun, the music, everyone laughing, it was all wonderful." "I started laughing to myself." "To think it was my wedding." "I was married." "Nothing around me seemed real." "Not even the home I'd always known." "I'll get you another." "It was then I started looking for Elle." "But nobody knew where she was." "Have you seen Elle?" "She was in the house just now." "I've already lost my wife." " Mickey, are you there?" " No, go away." "There was Mickey with Georgette losing his next race" "Have you seen your daughter?" "She's not with you?" "Is something wrong?" " Are you looking for Eliane?" " Have you seen her?" "I disliked Eliane's teacher on sight don't ask me why." "There's no point explaining now." "What happened was as much my fault as hers." "This is a wedding, not a funeral." "Plenty of time later for regrets." "Where's the bride?" "Gone in to rest." "I danced and forced myself to join in the fun." "At seven, she still wasn't back." "Mickey and I went to look for her in the village." "Brochard, have you seen Elle?" "I last saw her coming out of church on your arm." "And very nice you looked." "Let's try her mother's." "It costs nothing to look." "A nurse was looking after M. Devigne." "I've a good reputation." "What happened?" "She wanted to see her father." "But he didn't want to see her." "He was shouting like a madman." "But she went up all the same." "Don't look at me!" "Please, please." "I did nothing." "I meant no harm." "Let go of me, you old whore!" "They stayed like that a long time." "Go along, Eliane, and find your mother." "I want your mother." "You'll see." "For both of us it'll be like before." "I'm sure it will." "You shouldn't believe everything women say." "They always exaggerate." "He must be crazy." "Shut up in his room all day." "She moved in with you, so he decided never to see her again." "Imagine how you'd feel." "Is that all you can say?" "Don't you want to win at Carpentras?" "She's hiding somewhere." "You know what she's like, she's only a kid." "Maybe she's back." "Don't be angry with her." "It's not her fault." "I had a lump in my throat, like I had as a boy when I wanted to howl." "We still have to eat." "I hoped to find you alone." "I thought they'd have left." "We'll call you Hope in future." "Damn you all!" "What did you say to her?" "That I was looking forward to my wedding night but the rest was a farce." "She was too free too wild." "The more I asked her questions, the more annoying I was." "A stupid husband." "Your turn" "In one way I was right." "From the 17th to the 26th." "That's how long our marriage lasted but nothing else turned out... as I thought." "On Wednesday when I came home for lunch she was missing." "No idea where she went?" "You asked her?" "What did she say?" "The girl must go out sometimes." "I expect she's sunbathing." "No, she was wearing her red dress and had a handbag." "Do you know anything?" "We aren't going to steal your plate." "You'll choke one of these days." "You're going back to the garage?" "What will they think?" "Let them think what they like." "You aren't a teacher, are you?" "What do you do?" "Nothing." "Why did you come to Carpentras?" "It was just chance really." "But I'm glad I came." "This time he made up his mind." "He put his tongue in my mouth and I'd have vomited... but for the vow I'd made to kill them both." "He wasn't interested in my state of mind, the bastard." "Not here." "Will you take my brother in law's flat?" "I'd forgotten about it." "If you like, I'll take it." "There's no need." "It's just a little something." "Right, I'll go to the agent's." "I'll meet you tonight." "I can't manage tonight." "I've things to do in Nice." "But I'll ring directly I'm back." "I promise." "Be nice." "I'm dying for it too." "Call me a taxi." "Off I went for the keys." "I scoured the shops for the right togs." "Come in quick." "You mustn't be seen." "What are you doing in a place like this?" "If you were found here, it'd be a catastrophe." "But you asked me." "Don't speak so loud." "Listen." "Some things I can only tell to you." "I can't tell my mother or even Pin-Pon." "Promise you won't tell anyone." "Swear it." "I swear, but what is it?" "Listen." "Last summer when we lived in Arrame." "I used to go up into the hills to sunbathe." "One day, I was on my own when two men... well, they grabbed hold of me." "I was too scared to tell anyone." "Later, they came to the house and I was even more scared." "So I went with them to the woods." "Of your own accord?" "You don't know what they were like." "They threatened to beat me up, and my mother too." "I hoped, once I'd married, they'd stop." "But no." "They came to the village on my wedding day." "They made me." "So you see why they rented me this flat?" "To receive men, to be a prostitute." "She cried so much... we nearly drowned." "If anything happens, see Pin-Pon gets this." "It gives their names and addresses." "The flat keys will always be in the letter box." "It's not for you." "Only Pin-Pon must know." "Remember that." "If one day you have to tell him." "Say what hurt me the most... was what they did to me on our wedding day." "Don't torture yourself." " What are you saying?" " There's no need to shout." "Where's her knitting now?" "Hit me and I'll leave." "Tell me." "Where have you been?" "Go ahead, hit me." "I've lost a heel." "I went to town to look at the shops and I missed the last bus." "Where's your shopping then?" "I didn't need anything." "I was just looking." "Between your mother and aunt, life's not much fun." "Button your dress." "Must you show yourself to everyone?" "Come on." "I'm fed up with the dress too." "I Won't wear it any more." "Is it my cooking you dislike?" "How did you guess?" "I prefer my mother's." "When you're expecting, you have to eat." "You don't knit much these days." "Have you lost your tongue?" "I've put on two kilos since I came here." "Then I'm scolded for not eating." "What annoyed me most was that she took me for a fool - and I was." "Catch." "Your mother can use it for polishing." "So this baby was pure invention?" "I'm speaking to you." "Yes, you were saying?" "Pure invention." "Admit it!" "I don't know what I said..." "that I wanted an answer... that we could have married anyway." "There, there, my dear, it's all over." "Calm down." "You were always the calm one." "I didn't recognise you." "You even hit her on the breast." " He wasn't in control." " Exactly." "That night I was called to a forest fire near Grasse." "For the first time that summer I was good to leave home." "It was two days before I got back." "I won't be much good for a bit." "Careful!" "It hurts." "How was it?" "It's still burning on a wide front." "We saw it on TV." "It's too bad." "I'll have a shower and go to bed." "I don't mind if you have a baby now or later." "But I can't bear you lying." "I've the feeling you're hiding something from me and it makes me furious." "If I am, it's not what you think." "I love you." "Go to your fires till the cows come home, I'll still be faithful." "It's true." "So what's the secret?" "If I ever tell it, it will be to you." "I swear." "Arabedian, Tarrazzi and Montecciari are in the lead at the sprint." "Mickey was winning all the sprints." "He kept just behind Tarrazzi till the last moment." "Then shot past him." "He's going to win!" "Then Mickey dropped back." "And I lost Elle in the crowd." "Explain yourself." "What do you want?" "I saw my old boss." "You're the Devigne girl from Arrame." "You've married a Montecciari." "So what?" "I'll tell you one thing about that night at your parents'." "My brother-in law and I weren't involved." "You didn't deliver the piano to the Montecciari?" "Let me out of here." "You're going to listen." "It won't take long." "That November..." "I bought my sawmill." "You can check." "I visited Touret to sign the papers but I had to keep it quiet." "So I found two mates to do my deliveries." "It was after eleven when they came back." "Do you know what time it is?" "We got stuck." "The one, Pamier, got a job in Avignon." "Fiero, the Italian, became manager of a bar in Marseilles." "I only knew the other one by sight." "A hooligan called Rostolan." "Get the hell out of here." "Piss off!" "And they didn't even deliver the organ." "It'll only take half an hour." "So that's what we did." "Don't believe me?" "My head's not just something to put a hat on." " Why would I lie?" " Yes, why?" "If you weren't there, how did you know the van stopped at my parents'?" "Because I've had trouble before." "Ten years ago, your father came... and I told him the same thing." "Who?" "Your father." "Gabriel Devigne." "Ask him yourself." "I don't believe you, you bastard." "When I finally saw Elle, she seemed to be sleepwalking." "That was my very first thought." "What's the matter?" "Just be quiet." "Don't move." "I didn't even dare speak to her." "She was passive and remote." "I didn't even hear who won." "It must be sunstroke or something she ate at midday." "What's the matter?" "Paula, come up here!" "Shut up, you up there." "Let's leave them." "Speak to me." "Please speak to me." "Your brother is right." "Leave her here tonight." "That's roughly what happened." "Who can say what really happens?" "None of us sees it all." "Still bad?" "I'll be back at midday." "Drink up your chocolate." "I don't feel like it." "What's this?" "It's not like you to bite your nails." "Off you go now." "I won't open the door." "Please let me in." "I must speak to you." "Are you ill?" "Let me come in." "To tell me what?" "Did you know Leballech?" "You can't get in." "Come on now." "Go away." "Stop that." "Leballech had nothing to do with it." "You saw him?" "I'll get the axe." "Yes, I saw Leballech." "And Touret too." "You were nine... when I found the organ." "They lied to you too." "No." "I already knew Leballech." "Before they attacked your mother." "She would have recognised him." "But what do you want?" "To find out which of the bastards.." "was your father?" "No." "You're my father." "Why did you say that?" "You knew where they were and who they were!" "Why didn't you say?" "And have my head cut off?" "Come closer." "Do you remember the day I went to see my sister in Puget?" "I didn't go to my sister's." "I'll be back on the seven o'clock bus." "Fiero was in July in Marseilles." " Sorry, we're closing." " Just a brandy." "No, it's late." "Pamier was three weeks later in Avignon." "Is someone there?" "Rostollan was in September, again in Marseilles." "Did you call for a cab?" "You've brought me to an odd spot." "Where's it to?" "You can tell the police." "I don't care any more." "I'm finished." "I did it for you." "For you, I'd have done anything." "In the cellar in the lining of my jacket." "Go and look." "If they were dead..." "I thought it would be like before." "But they've been dead a long time And nothing has come right." "I hear you were ill yesterday." "Feeling better?" "Won't you come in for a moment?" "Where are you going?" "What was I doing just now?" "And this morning?" "And yesterday?" "It just be another of those bad dreams." "I know when I'm myself and that's now." "I'm not crazy." "Pin-Pon looking for his wife again." "You've not seen her?" "Not on the bus?" "I suppose you think this is funny." "Of course not, Pin-Pon." "Don't call me that" "Do you boast about her?" "You're wrong." "Idiot!" "He's knocked his teeth out." "Call the police!" "No, he can't help it." "She's been found." "In a hospital in Carpentras." "Her teacher is on the telephone." "He's knocked out two of Massigne's teeth." "Teach him to keep his mouth shut." "I can't speak on the 'phone." "They've done terrible things to her." "Who have?" "Explain." "They won't let you see her today." "What's wrong with her?" "She doesn't know who she is." "She says she's Eliane Devigne." "She lives in Arrame and she's nine years old." "I'll be right over." "Go and change first." "What for?" "I'll take the car." "What are you going to do?" "A visitor for you, Eliane." "He knows you." "This gentleman knows your father." "He's brought you some lovely flowers." "Is there anything I can bring you?" "I'd like my gold heart and my glasses." "And I'd like..." "Yes." "What would you like?" "The gentleman is going to bring your father here." "By car." "Very soon." "I'd love that." "That'll be lovely." "It's time we left." "Come along, I warned you." "Be sensible." "She won't be like that for ever." "She can't be." "She's only twenty." "There's still hope." "I must explain." "Your wife has been mentally unbalanced for a long time." "A neurosis has built up over the years." "And, following some terrible emotional shocks..."