Book #1: Suzy's Dream (Chapter 11 - Part 1)

Chapter 11

Sweets! Candy! The cry rose incessantly in the transparent and warm air through the clash of confetti. And the little balls of coated sweets — singular candies — passed by whistling, rough, scathing, hurried, and attacking everyone without pity. They dripped from balconies decorated with banners and flowers, and onto those dressed as multicolored dominoes as they elbowed each other on the quays, the bridges the Corso, and the Rue Saint-François-de-Paule.

Chariots passed by, strange or funny or charming; sea caves in the shade of which appeared mysterious naiads, whose hands opened full of confetti; Venetian gondolas; bizarre monsters worthy of the Apocalypse; gigantic flowers that advanced gravely, raining down the little candy-coated sweets from their unfathomable chalices; harvesters' carts on which were piled sheaves of wheat, studded with poppies, and transported under the feet of sturdy boys, while beautiful brown girls artistically grouped together as in a Leopold Robert. Everywhere costumes shimmered and banners swayed in the breeze, standing out against the violent blue of the sky. A joyous murmur of festivity, and the strains of mad music in which the deep song of the waves was lost intoxicated the crowd with gaiety. Under a splendid ray of sunshine, the bay of Saint-Ange shimmered at the foot of the Estelle whose contours fled into the vaporous distance.

Sweets! Candy! The exclamation always returned to André’s ears, who randomly moved with the crowed, tossed about by the eddies it created; all at once weary of this agitation which did not suit his serious mind, and charmed, in his artist's taste, by the picturesqueness of the scene unfolding before his eyes.

As on the previous day, he passed in front of the villa of the Princess of Samiens. Numerous and elegantly dressed dominoes crowded on the terrace. Under the lattices of the masks, feminine faces took on a charm of mystery.

Very quickly, he recognized Suzy, slender under her domino and seemingly just as amused by throwing confetti as she had been by throwing flowers the day before. She saw him, and for a moment there was a fierce clash of confetti between them, which André ended courteously by throwing her a bouquet, the white flag of confetti fights.

With that, he had to move on. He no longer had any pretext for remaining near her, any more than he was allowed to go and join her in the brilliant circle in which she was at that moment, where Georges de Flers certainly had the right to find her. André continued his solitary walk through the festive city, thinking how different his day would have been if Suzy were walking by his side. 

Lady Graham, when inviting André, had told him that some friends would be at her house that evening. Fortunately for him, André had acquired a certain amount of social experience during that winter. He was beginning to know what, in a certain society, is meant by an intimate, unceremonious gathering. And it served him well, for his first glance into Lady Graham's large drawing-room showed him a dazzling assembly of about fifty people at least. The women wore low-cut dresses, while the men were in white ties.

All listened to a strange harmonious melody, played with accomplished skill. A hanging drape hid the artist from André, but he didn't need to see who was at the piano. From the first notes that reached him, he had recognized this song, sometimes played in a strangely mad and rapid rhythm, while at other times played languid like a sorrowful lament.

Since this was one of Suzy's favorite pieces, how often had he heard this Russian melody, vibrant like a gypsy song under Suzy's fingers, in the evenings of complete intimacy at Madame Douvry's? Precisely for this reason, he knew she did not like to play it in front of strangers. Yet this evening she delivered it to the curiosity of this elegant audience, who listened to her with nerves tensed by the intense attention that her artistic performance aroused.

André, too, listened, suddenly forgetting the environment around him, brought back to the past, to the time when Suzy played for those who were dear to her. He listened to her, at the same time, proud to see what admirable talent she possessed, and almost jealous of the fact that someone as indifferent as Georges de Flers enjoyed it as he did.

Certainly, Lady Graham's guests enjoyed it. Applause, in which politeness had nothing to do with it, broke out even before the last chords had fallen away under Suzy’s fingers. She ended breathless, hurried, as if carried away by a whirlwind.

There was a movement in the cloud of black costumes obstructing the entrance to the drawing-room, and André saw Suzy standing by the piano. A rosy gleam heightened her cheeks, as she twisted her long gloves with an absent-minded gesture, while she responded to the enthusiastic compliments that were addressed to her from all sides. André also saw Georges leaning towards her and talking to her with a smile on his face. She turned a little towards him, her lips parting in an expression of pleasure, revealing a pearly flash of teeth. Then Georges offered Suzy his arm and led her to a chair which he had brought over for her. He didn’t move away and instead remained standing in front of her.

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.