Book #1: Suzy's Dream (Chapter 8 - Part 2)

 Chapter 8 continued...

“Are you leaving at seven o'clock, by le train de luxe?” Germaine asked.

“I don't know,” Suzy replied indifferently.

What did it matter to her what kind of train it was? She only knew one thing, and that was that it was going to take her away alone. Unshed tears filled her eyes. One would have said that the trite friendship of Mme. Arnay had awakened in Suzy a sorrowful chord, leaving her numb.

Still, she led her aunt back to the doorstep of the apartment, a faint smile still wandering across her mouth. She received, with her usual good grace, the quick kiss of Madame Arnay and the warmer embrace of Germaine, who overwhelmed her with important information.

            “So then, Suzy, you will write to me and tell me whether Lady Graham's receptions are lovely. Send me flowers, too, especially mimosa and tuberose, I love them. Have fun! Oh! If Gladys comes to Cannes, tell her that she is my dearest friend and that I am dying of boredom not to see her. Farewell! Goodbye!”

            Madame Arnay dragged her daughter with her, who, for a dying person, seemed very full of life and eager to enjoy all of life’s pleasures. Suzy remained for a second watching her descend the stairs, slender in her famous outfit that was a masterpiece of Roucet.

            “I thought Aunt Arnay loved me a little more than that,” Suzy said, letting the door fall back, while a bitter feeling of discouragement seized her. “Good heavens! If everyone shows such indifference towards Cannes, how can I live there. Oh, Maman, what will become of me when I’m no longer near you?”

            Suzy tried to contain the sobs rising in her throat. She wanted to be brave to the end, so as not to increase her mother's grief. But Madame Arnay's visit seemed to have shaken what little bravery Suzy had.

            And what’s more, after having feared the coming of André, she felt disappointed, as though something was missing since he had yet to appear. If she were to leave in this way, without having received a final farewell from him, she would take away the impression that he was angry with her or at least irritated. This thought worried her.

            However, a few minutes before dinner, André came. He was ushered into the drawing room before she could know whether she was, in short, glad to see him again.

The two little ones were near her. In the next room, Mme. Douvry was giving orders for the luggage. Perhaps it was because of this that Suzy felt no embarrassment when she saw him standing before her. Besides, he possessed much of his usual attitude, serious and cold, that for a moment, she asked herself if it was possible that he had ever addressed his request to her, remembering his emotional tone she could not forget.

But then he spoke to her, and his voice vibrated with a profound gentleness that contrasted with the very ordinariness of his words.

“I have been delayed by some pressing work, and now I see I’m disturbing you. If I had not feared being indiscreet, I would have gone to the station tonight to bid you farewell. As close to departure as possible, because—”

“At the station?” she said, interrupting him. “Really, you would have come to the station?”

“Yes, why are you surprised?”

“Oh, then…If I dared to ask you –”

“What? I should be very proud if you’d treat me completely as a friend, and you can turn to me whenever I can be of any use to you.”

“Oh, thank you. Thank you!” she murmured effusively.

And quickly, her voice lowered, “My father is so distressed by my departure that I have asked him not to accompany me to the station. I know how painful the farewells are for him, especially among so many strangers” she explained. “But Maman will come. And I wish so much that she were not alone when I leave her. It seems to me that I could leave feeling braver, if you were to come…if you were with her at the time of my departure. Is it too unthinking of me to take advantage of you like this?”

She raised imploring eyes to him, meeting his serious and illuminated gaze. Suddenly, she understood what joy she had just caused him by showing her real confidence in him.

Later, when André was gone, and in the midst of her sadness, she thought again of that delighted expression on his face.

***

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.