Book #1: Suzy's Dream (Chapter 4 - Part 4)

 Chapter 4 continued...

Madame Arnay looked at her poor sister, not daring to question her, a little embarrassed at the silence and the anguish-filled expression on her face.

“Well, Jeanne?” she asked at last, unable to wait any longer.

Madame Douvry looked up, torn from her sorrowful reverie.

“Maybe you're right, Charlotte. Maybe I should resign myself to being separated from my Suzy. However, only if she agrees to it.”

“Question her right away, for time is pressing! Any day now, Lady Graham could meet the travel companion she wants, and then...”

Without answering, Madame Douvry rose and, ringing the bell, sent for Suzy.

Before long, a light step resounded in the next room, and Suzy opened the door and came to offer her fresh face to her aunt to receive a welcoming kiss.

“Mother, did you ring for me?”

“Yes, Suzy. Your aunt has a proposal for you.”

Madame Douvry's voice shook and that struck the young girl.

“A proposal? For me?” she asked with a sort of anxious curiosity.

“Yes, my child, this is what it is all about,” Mme. Arnay said, intervening.

Quickly and convincingly, piling up reason upon reason, Madame Arnay set about letting Suzy know what a fortunate event it would be for her and her family if Suzy accompanied Lady Graham to Cannes.

Attentive and with her heart pounding, Suzy listened, shaken by a dull shudder of revolt at the idea of accepting a dependent position, of owing something to the sister of this Gladys Tuffton, the friend of Germaine, the young lady so admired by Georges de Flers. But when she heard that she would spend five months away from home, a gasp escaped her.

“Oh, mother, you don't want to do this, do you? I can never live so long away from you. Never, never... Don't make me accept.” She stopped, her heart swelling with emotion to the point that sobs tightened her throat.

“My darling, don't be so distressed,” Madame Douvry murmured tenderly, taking the trembling hands in hers. “I will never ask you to go away, if the sacrifice seems too painful to you. I told you about your aunt's proposal because it’s very advantageous, but—”

“Oh, Maman, don't let me see the advantages, I beg you! I’ll give lessons in Paris. You know very well that Mme. de Guernes has offered me my first students. The others will come later, but don't tell me to go and live in a stranger’s house for five months!”

Suzy’s cry answered her mother’s. The same impulse threw their two hearts towards each other, and the reasonable advice of Madame Arnay, for the moment, went unheeded.

Feeling the moment change, Madame Arnay stood up, almost offended. She found it absolutely necessary that the advice with which she deigned to gratify the individuals who were in her way should always be followed. In this she was very much like her husband. Moreover, from his point of view, it was quite simple that those who were in want of fortune should be ready to accept—as nature dictated—the sacrifices required by those in a position to offer aid.

“Faced with Suzy's refusal, I won’t insist, Jeanne,” Madame Douvry said, with sharp words. “But let me tell you that there are circumstances in life when one’s feelings must take a back seat. It seems to me that this time I was most certainly mistaken!”

It was with this conclusion, one very disagreeable to her faultlessness, that Madame Arnay left her sister and leaving Suzy overwhelmed by the anxiety of acknowledging what her duty was.

“Maman,” she asked anxiously, when she was alone with her mother. “Do you really think that I should have accepted my aunt's proposal?”

“My poor, sweet girl. Perhaps it would have been wise to do so? But let's wait. I hope that Madame de Guernes's recommendation will have some results. I would like to think so.”

It was also Suzy's ardent desire that something positive would happen as well.

End of Chapter 4

Le rêve de Suzy is in the public domain. All original additions, including translations, illustrations and chapter summaries, are copyright © 2025 by Marriah K. Nissen and may not be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher or author, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law. All rights reserved.