""28th December 1917." "See you at Bray, December 28th, La Fougeraie." "Best wishes from afar." "Lieutenant Nueil."" "RENDEZVOUS AT BRAY" "Fit that in there." "And fill out the rest a bit." "Push the text up and it'll be fine." "OK, I can do that." " Right." "Mr Julien's waiting." "Put that block there and the text below it." "I'll do that right away." " Good, before midday." "Alright." "I'll do it immediately." "I expected you at 11 ." " l had to write it out." "I hesitated because of what happened." ""Franck and Debussy by Capet"." "is that a headline?" ""Performed by the Capet quartet, works by Franck and Debussy met with mixed reactions."" "What does that mean?" "Those were the reactions." "The Wagnerians hissed at Debussy." "The patriots at the Wagnerians." "Then why not say so?" "Don't be afraid." "If you have an opinion on Wagner or on the war, say so." "Here you don't risk being shot down in flames." "Sorry to bother you again, but do you need my article on the concerto urgently?" " Urgently?" "I've had a telegram." "That can wait." "From Jacques Nueil." "He's on leave, I think." "Mr Nueil has time to see you?" "He has time to see you with what's going on?" "He has invited me to Senlis for the festivities." "With what's happening?" "There are those that fight and those that don't." "Six, five, four, three, two and one" "My little bird is going to lose its feathers" "Feathers of wood and feathers of iron" "We'll meet again in Hell" "Feathers of iron and feathers of wood" "Paradise is not for you" "My little bird has lost its feathers" "Feathers of wood and feathers of iron" "We'll meet again in ..." "Julien!" "Six, five, four, three, two and one" "My little bird has lost its feathers" "Feathers of wood and feathers of iron" "We'll meet again in Hell" "Feathers of iron and feathers of wood" "Paradise is for the King ..." "Come and eat, Jeanne!" "Do you smoke?" "Thanks." "Going to the front?" "No, to Braye-la-Foret." "To see a friend." "Going far?" "Auray-la-Ville." "Two day's leave." "Are you from Alsace?" "No, Luxembourg." "I was stranded in Paris in August '14 ... I had just won my first prize at the Conservatoire." "Are you an actor?" " No, a pianist." "I'm also a journalist." "Music journalist." "I'm replacing a friend who's been an airman in a flying squadron for 3 years." "It's him you're going to meet?" "How do you know that?" "Jacques, drive faster!" "I can't." " Julien says you daren't." "You'll see!" "You should take me up in a plane." "I'd love being in a plane with you." "Whenever you want." "Would we loop the loop?" " lf you like." "You'd really do that?" "Yes, loop the loop." "Have you seen the blanks?" "The censored bits in the paper." "Try and fill in those blanks there, there, and there." ""All quiet on the Western front." "All our planes have come back."" "It's not there, is it?" "Anyway, my friend is on leave." "He will tell me." "Tell me, children." "Do you know where La Fougeraie is?" "Mr Nueil's house?" "is it far?" "Mr Nueil is expecting you this afternoon." "He hasn't arrived yet." "Give me your coat." "Jacques isn't here yet?" "No, he'll be here soon." "Sugar?" " Two spoons, please." "And milk." "Aren't you having ..." "Have you been here a long time?" "Some time, yes." "The tea's excellent." "Finding La Fougeraie wasn't easy." "I've never been here before." "There was nobody at the station." "The village was empty, I mean." "Luckily, I met two children." "They didn't seem to trust me." "Probably my accent." "I'm used to it." "Won't you have some cake?" "Of course." "Excellent." "Braye-la-Foret, Auray-la-Ville" "Waldbredimus and Oberkirchen ..." "You see?" "We shall never understand each other." "Only half understand each other, you mean." "FOR JULlEN E. NOCTURNE" "Sorry I was so long." "This often happens now." "Branches that haven't been cut for three years." "Lieutenant Nueil isn't here yet?" "I hope I haven't made a mistake." "Was it this afternoon?" " Yes." "He must have been held up." "is that a military convoy passing in the distance?" "The front's 12 miles away to the north." "And you think ..." "Wait ..." "A soldier on the train told me this rail leads to the front through an endless series of small villages." "He was afraid." "I think he was afraid that an offensive ... might be launched any moment." "I thought leave wasn't granted in that case." "But I'm not sure." "He was with a dark-haired woman, rather pretty." "She merely gazed at the countryside while he talked about General Nivelle and the mutiny." "He was afraid to go back there." "He envied the airmen because he didn't know the risks they run." "Because I'm from Luxembourg, I couldn't volunteer." "I was refused." " Excuse me." "We'll probably meet later or perhaps never." "I'll leave as soon as possible and in a month I'll be able to fly again." "This war will never end." "My convalescence alone in this house was awful." "I don't seem to feel at home since my mother died." "I walk on tiptoe." "I abhor silence but it's all that is left of her." "One day she told me, she could hardly speak, she found it difficult to remember my father's face." "And now I can hardly remember her face." "Except in nightmares." "Pick up from the repeat in D, will you?" "And your quartet?" "Be sensible, Julien." "The war will end." "We'll practise again." "Dellos is dead and Lafarge has done with cello playing." "You know they would never have accepted that." "It's a fine work." "I can say that." "There'll always be men, good musicians to play music." "You're irresponsible ... and hateful, what is more." "You're all alike here." "Mother took Marcel's death as a personal affront too." "They'd taken her servant without even asking her." "What a real waste!" "I'd started a short nocturne-like piece for you ... in the style of Brahms that you like." "But lighter." "I'd finish it properly." "We'd start practising again." "You'd play at the Hausmans', who'd have forgiven your behaviour by now." "It would all be the same, wouldn't it?" "It would all be the same." "Dinner's nearly ready." "It smells good but ... I'm sorry you had to wait." "I'm running out of candles." "I don't know if there are any left." "I don't think there can be any question of staying to dinner." "Lieutenant Nueil has not arrived." "I should leave." "There are no more trains to Paris at this time of night." "He must have been held up." "A slight delay maybe." "But I can't ..." " You can have dinner meanwhile." "The letter l received is clear and your telegram confirms it." "I'll call you in a moment." "There's no need to worry." "Do you think I can get Paris on the phone?" "You can always try." "I think it's despicable that you hide what you do here from me." "I am free to do as I like." "Free to waste your life, free to wear out your fingers on a tinny theatre piano." "That must improve your touch!" " That's my problem." "And you're making a scene because ..." " You don't understand!" "It's because ..." " l'd like to go to bed." "Who's stopping you?" "Three hours a day!" "Enough to play yourself silly." "It's typically bourgeois to think that playing in a cinema is degrading." "But I play to work." " Mr Julien." "Mr Julien, I'm going to bed." "Goodnight, sleep well." "Go to bed then!" "Goodnight, sleep well." "Joseph ..." "And you say I'm a parasite, that, unlike you, I have vices?" "Odile, look at him, this Jesus from Luxembourg." "No alcohol, no women, no concessions to philistines." "Poor Julien ... with all that's going on there, and there." "Listen carefully ..." "One day you'll wake up and then it will hit you in the face and you will no longer dare to look in the mirror." "You'll suggest something when you calm down." "If Odile hadn't ..." "She shouldn't have brought you here." " l thought ..." "No, Odile, you never think." "Julien!" "Without Odile, I'd still be looking for you." "You'll play at the Hausmans'." "I'm not a snob or a servant." "Faure was to play but was suddenly taken ill." "You'll play his last nocturne and some Brahms." "Never." " l said yes." "It's no." "You Judas!" "Judas?" "Judas yourself!" "Fantomas is condemned to death." "But then Lady Beltham has a great idea." "She kidnaps Legrand." " Valgrand." "She gives him an injection." "He becomes cataleptic." "And with the help of the hangman, she puts him instead on the guillotine." "Then Juve arrives in the nick of time." "Fantomas has his revenge." "To save Princess Danidoff ..." " Sonia." "To save Princess Sonia," "Juve had shut her up in his country house." "But ..." "Fantomas wants to carry out another murder." "He sends a boa constrictor through the central heating pipes." "But Juve, who foresaw this, wore a belt with spikes on which the snake gets impaled by the effect of its own constriction." "But then, the Princess goes mad" "and at night she runs through the corridors" "of the house, hugging herself in total despair." "I shouldn't have gone to the Hausmans'." "I can still hear him:" "Julien Eschenbach will go far, in recitals and chamber music." "I suppose he'll mature." "Don't you?" "His playing is the epitome of youthfulness." "And my wife likes young people." "If I could, I'd say that compared with dear old Faure, it's to her advantage." "Living in Paris is awful, you know." "Where do you come from?" " From Luxembourg, Madam." "Luxembourg ... lf l'm not mistaken, it's ruled by a very old dynasty." "Grand duchess Marie-Adelaide." "Marie-Adelaide, what a charming name!" "Say it again." "Do your parents move in exalted circles in Luxembourg?" "My parents are wine growers." "How strange!" "I've never heard of that wine." "is it white or red?" "White, Madam." "is it a good white wine, Mr Eschenbach?" "No, Madam." "I'd never practised Liszt." "I don't like his cadenzas." "I wanted to play Moscheles." "They wanted me to play Liszt." "I got all mixed-up;" "I had worked on Moscheles." "They said, "Play it"." "I did and became confused." "I cracked up." "And suddenly, a blank." "They said, "Well?"" "I said, "Well, nothing." "It's just a blank."" "So you see, Liszt or Moscheles ..." "Franck or Faure, it's the same." "But your Julien is all the more talented because he is charming." "A real Cranach, isn't he?" "I wanted to give him 1 ,000 francs." "is that enough?" "Are you out of your mind?" "He's done me a favour and won't accept being paid for that." "Or it'll be very expensive." "I just can't play anything or anywhere." "Mr Julien Eschenbach ..." "You remind me of a young friend I once had whom I adored." "I'd like to kiss you." "Would you like me to kiss you?" "Do as you like, Madam." "If that will make you happy." "Mr Eschenbach ..." "My dear friend, you played all afternoon, and in so charming a way." "You must be thirsty." "And this is to thank you." "Do you really believe he may still turn up now?" "Don't worry so much." "I'll show you to the dining room." "There wasn't anyone at the post office." "If he'd been delayed or confined to barracks, he'd have called, wouldn't he?" "This wine tastes like ours!" "Heiligenhauschen!" "But tell me ... did Jacques ask you to ..." "Have you heard from him recently?" "Has he called you?" "He wrote to me." " A long time ago?" "Dinner will be ready." "king COPHETU A AND THE BEGGAR maid" "I hardly see him any more now." "He disappears for days, sometimes for weeks." "I can understand he needs peace and quiet to work but the house is huge." "There's no reason why he should isolate himself." "Don't tell me he can't write his music here, in Paris, near me." "I don't want to meddle in his affairs, but I have a right to know why Jacques stays silent when I talk to him." "Do you go to La Fougeraie because I get in your way?" "I've never been there, Madam!" "Why are you lying?" "Don't I treat you well?" "You have no cause to feel animosity towards me." "I won't take you away from Jacques." "Why don't you tell me?" "I don't even know where La Fougeraie is." "Forgive me, Mother, but our friends have arrived and we need Julien." "Julien, no trill on fermata 17." "The scales at 13 and 14 a bit more slurred." "Dellos, we'll pick up from 18, please." "Accentuate the C." "If it's really too hot, we can rehearse later on." "In a week." "Say, August 2nd?" "Sunday?" " Yes." "Are you free, Dellos?" " Sure." "Same time, Sunday, August 2nd." "GENERAL mobilization" "paris EXPECTS WAR" "Odilon, Marcel, where is everyone?" "I'm always left on my own." "But I'm not running away!" "I'll put up a good fight!" "Have you seen Odilon?" "That's right, Julien." "Dellos left this morning." "Lafarge is with the artillery." "Pierre, I don't know where." "And you're leaving now?" "It's only a matter of weeks." "Your quartet will never be ready by autumn." "Yes, it will." "Let me first wage this war." "In September, it'll be cooler for playing." "In the meantime, I'll ask you to write a couple of articles for me." "Play the Intermezzo in B once more." "Why hasn't he come?" "It doesn't make sense." "Good grief, trout in blue bouillon and white wine." "That's our "blue trout" poached in Riesling on a bed of vegetables!" "Aren't you eating?" " l've already had dinner." "Won't you have some wine?" " Later on, maybe." "Don't let your trout get cold." "Aren't you hurting them like that?" "No, I'm stroking them." "They like it." "You're strangling them!" "Catch the other ones!" "Pick out the finest!" "I don't dare!" "Come on, they love it!" "Go on!" "Jacques, you rascal!" " Julien, leave Odile alone!" "Today, cook them the way Mr Julien likes them." "Me?" "I'll leave it to you." "You first boil the vegetables then you put them in Riesling instead of water." "I pour on some claret some fennel and "farigoule"." ""Farigoule"?" "Yes, "farigoule"." "You put the beans on top." "Tomato sauce, white wine and cook for half an hour." " Half an hour?" "What do you call that in your northern country?" "is that your national dish?" "HERE THE DUCK WASHES its FEET" "Julien." "Odile would like to know your recipe for the trout." "Would she?" "I can look after the fire." "You can give it to her." "I told you she wants it from you!" "She can wait." "Afraid, Emma?" " Beg your pardon?" "You're afraid, eh, Emma?" "That's what I, as a child, said to the maid when she wouldn't go up to the attic alone." "And Emma always replied she didn't feel like going up to the attic." "You've spent all the war here?" "Of course." "In this house?" "Jacques never mentioned La Fougeraie to me." "Never really mentioned it." "When I said I couldn't volunteer in August '14, it wasn't really true." "Jacques went to war like you go to a party." "My country wanted to stay neutral." "The farmers said, "We'll be back for the sowing."" "I've had a lot of trouble because of my accent." "Sometimes they thought I was a spy." "So Jacques left." "He asked me to write his articles." "It's not easy." "The editor's an old man." "He lost a son at Verdun." "And I make music." "I last saw Jacques in Paris, after his mother died." "He'd changed a lot." "That was last year, I think." "In October." " November." "Shall we leave at dawn?" "If you don't mind the cold." "We'll walk." " lf Odile agrees." "I always do." "If the pianist is tired, offer him some "quetch"." "Julien's sulking and doesn't want your "quetch"." "lnsist, while I'm not paying attention." "He says he's taken a vow of abstinence." "Now you know where you stand." " l don't understand what you want from me." " That's one of your charms." "I'd like to understand." "He'll explain it to you." "And now?" "In an hour we'll have crossed the Marne." "If Julien wants to." "In an hour?" "There's a bridge near the village." "We can come back that way." "Julien ..." " That way is much too far for me." "The small boat!" "Yes, the boat, of course." "Wait for me!" "What's the hurry?" "Wait for me!" "That was excellent." "Would you like some fruit?" "I'll bring you the coffee in the lounge." "Come along." "Hello?" "Excuse me." "What time is the train to Paris?" "What?" " The train to Paris." "Over there." "Can't you see I'm ..." "Hello?" "Yes, Braye-la-Foret." "May I have a look at the paper?" "Thank you." "BAD WEATHER FOR THE offensive" "What about the train, sir?" "NO PLANE HAS TAKEN OFF FOR THE LAST 48 HOURS." "BAD WEATHER HOLDS UP ALL operations AT THE FRONT." "THE air FORCE HAS BEEN GROUNDED FOR THREE DAYS." "ALL OUR pilots ARE anxious TO TAKE TO THE SKY again." "Are you taking the train or not?" "Six, five, four, three, two and one" "My little bird has lost its feathers" "Feathers of wood and feathers of iron" "We'll meet again in Hell" "Feathers of iron and feathers of wood" "Paradise is for the King ..."