Chapter 13

A little bit of revelation

As she made her way down from the long flight of stairs at the back of the library that Sunday morning Renee wondered whether Ferdinand would wait for her where he said he would. The sky looked rather gray and cloudy and showed signs of rain which might fall sometime in the afternoon, probably when they were on their way back to the library she thought. Renee had looked forward to going to the village fair the whole week and even her impression of Ferdinand had softened a little. He might be somewhat concerned to invite her to come with him she thought rather uncertainly. Or more likely he could have tricked her too she thought as she stood on the steps near the back door; he could have played a trick on him for the sham trick she unknowingly played on him the first time they met in the park.

He came along presently; on a small wagon with two beautiful black horses with the thickest of manes Renee had ever seen and a jaunty smile on his face.

“What? Up with sun and waiting for me already Cherie? You are punctual lass.”

“A pity you have failed to follow my good example monsieur.” Replied Renee as she climbed in to the wagon beside him ignoring the hand he held out to her.

“Ah! Renee, you are displeased with me again aren’t you lass? I am to be pitied, I displease you with the mere sight of my poor self” replied Ferdinand bowing his head so as to hide his grin.

“Ah! But what can I say monsieur? You have never been more correct. You are very astute.”

“Who taught you retort with such…ah…gentleness mademoiselle?”

“And I might as well ask who taught you to encourage such provoking conversation on your part?”

“Ah! Cherie, I give up I cannot control these horses and carry on this exceedingly pleasant conversation at the same time” replied Ferdinand as the cantered off.

“A wise choice.” She speculated quietly, a wry smile on her full lips.

They drove quietly for sometime after they had left the bustling city and Renee was glad for it, she was almost overjoyed to be riding down a narrow country lane in a simple wagon smelling the sweet smell of wet sand and listening to the chirping of the birds on nearby trees. They weren’t far from Paris and there were indeed many influences from the town lingering in the village they were passing right now. Renee did not mind this though, she was grateful that she could see the trees and the meadows with tiny cottages scattered across them, it felt like the country even if it was only a few miles from the city.

“How far is it to the fair?” she asked Ferdinand who was trying his utmost to bring the horses to trot at a mild pace.

“A few minutes more Cherie and we will be there, they usually have it in the fields behind that church over yonder.”

“Ah! Monsieur Ferdinand, you are poor at controlling these ponies” commented Renee with mock severity gesturing to the rather impatient animals.

“My dear child” replied Ferdinand in tones one would have used for a half witted person; “These are not called ponies, they are fully grown horses; aye and strong ones at that, did you ever suppose I would own timid, shy ponies to drive this wagon?” he asked his face contorted in to mock horror.

“Oh no! Surely not!” She replied smiling archly at him.

Ferdinand was delighted to find out that the proud beautiful girl liked the jocular banter they had been pursuing.

The fair was in full swing when they reached the field; Renee clasped her hands together with delight, her eyes shining with wonder and reminiscent memories. Ferdinand looking sideways at her at that moment grinned and puffed out his chest pompously as he helped her down the wagon noting that she accepted his help this time. The whole field was almost occupied and men, women, children, cattle and poultry. Sounds of talking, laughing, singing, mooing, braying and cackling filled the air, one side of the field was lined with tables with white linen table cloths spread on them and dishes, bottles and pots of farm made food for sale. The wafting smell of slabs of thick cheese and freshly baked bread filled the air and Renee sniffed at it hungrily realizing almost immediately that she had left without any breakfast.

Ferdinand threw the reins to a stable boy who stood nearby and hurried to join Renee who was already threading her way in to the crowd. Lilting strains of country music could be heard in the distance and Renee who had her mind set on breakfast hurried to the tables and got herself a little of almost everything and headed to a patch of clear grass beneath some trees when she was joined by Ferdinand with two mugs of steaming coffee and quip on his jaunty smiling lips.

“I can see that you are extremely hungry mademoiselle,” he observed, glancing at the food she had spread on the shawl which had been around her shoulders just moments ago now spread on the soft green grass.

“You are very welcome to have breakfast but only if you behave monsieur” she replied wagging a finger his way and shaking her head.

“Now that is easy” he replied grinning as he sat down next to her cross legged like a Turk “All I have to do is behave as I did before, I pride my self with the knowledge that I’m an exceedingly well behaved person!”

Renee snorted in reply as she took a bite off a slice of crispy, warm bread.

Renee was glad she had come to the fair. Ferdinand proved to be quite an interesting and pleasant companion today she thought with mild surprise, he helped her to move around the crowded field and introduced her to people he knew making her feel more at home and for this she was grateful to him and her opinion of him underwent a rapid change and softened considerably. All too soon it was time to head back to Paris and Renee was loath to go back after such an enjoyable morning. She waved at the few people she had been introduced as Ferdinand slapped the reins and they started off on their drive back to the city.

“Did you grow up in this village?” asked Renee suddenly curious about her companion.

“No, I was born in Calais.” He replied briefly and remained silent. Renee had the feeling that he did not fancy the topic she had begun and that made her even more curious.

“Oh! It must have been wonderful living close to where you see the vast oceans!” she remarked.

“Some might say so Cherie, I did not have any such notion on my mind however at that time; I did not like living in Calais.”

“And why is that? You do not like coastal towns in general?” asked Renee.

“My mother and I-” he paused glancing at the setting sun in the distance and continued; “My mother and I lived with my father in Calais, my mother who would have been very young at that time spent many days waiting by the quayside for the ships that brought my father back to us and the days that he was with us she spent in slaving for him, trying to please him and the nights crying in misery and pain from the wounds on her back that were the results of my father’s drunkenness. For this reason I detest the town Cherie, I tend to connect the town with my rather unpleasant childhood.”

Renee looked at the man who would have once been a scared boy, looking at his young mother with concern as she wept her heart out, a young boy with scared eyes scanning his mother’s face…

She sighed wondering why women had to almost always face the hardships in life and why they never stood up and demanded for their right to live as freely and as independently as men, why they never even raised so much as their voices to the hardships they face just for the mere reason that they were women and physically weak. She touched his arm gently looking up at his eyes with understanding as she replied;

“I’m sorry monsieur Ferdinand, for what happened to your mother and I’m sorry I had been the means of your recalling those bad memories after such a pleasant day, please forgive me for my tactlessness monsieur.”

He shook his head smiling slowly down at her another quip at the ready;

“Alas! Am I finally taking leave of my senses Cherie? Or did you just apologize to me for something?”

“For shame monsieur! What kind of person do you think I am?” she replied laughing at his unexpected reply.

“A happy girl with blooming cheeks and a basket of freshly baked bread on her lap.” He replied promptly without any hesitation hoping to aggravate her even more.

Renee shook her head still laughing at his meaningless banter and sighed as they entered the streets of Paris once more.

“So now I can for sure predict that you would never even consider becoming a sailor surmising that your father was one.” Renee remarked hoping to make light of the conversation they had had before.

“Ah! But you are wrong Cherie, I sailed once on a ship to the Indies and I must say I love sailing on the high seas, the ship also happened to be one of the ships my father had worked in last before he died and the crew called me ‘Joseph’ by way of acknowledging that I, in choosing to sail with them am truly my father’s son. Joseph was my father’s name by the way.”

Renee looked up swiftly alarm in her eyes; Joseph…and did not that name seem familiar? A face she could connect with the name, a face of a man on a cold windy night…but where? She could not fathom.

They had reached the library by then and Ferdinand stopped a little away from the building, Renee who had been lost in thought did not even notice that the wagon had stopped moving and was brought back from her trance when Ferdinand called out to her;

“Is anything wrong Cherie?”

“No…nothing at all” she replied absently as she got off and started walking towards the library dazedly, forgetting entirely that she hadn’t even thanked Ferdinand who sat rather baffled on the wagon watching her walk away.