Chapter 3 – Opportunity Knocks
"None of us knows what the next change is going to be, what unexpected opportunity is just around the corner, waiting a few months or a few years to change all the tenor of our lives." - Kathleen Norris
Louis smiled as he recalled the scene. "I remember it as if it were just yesterday! I can still feel the warmth of the morning sun on my face and the light breeze carrying the glorious aroma of the flowers. I closed my eyes for but a moment, or so I thought. I must have been more fatigued than I realized for I fell asleep..."
He had intended to simply rest for a bit whilst enjoying the beautiful weather and was surprised to find that the sun was directly overhead when he was startled awake by the unmistakable sound of someone weeping. It sounded like it was nearby and he got up to investigate.
He had been sitting near the Medici Fountain enjoying the partial shade of its' flanking rows of mature plane trees. A young woman was leaning against the tree nearest to where he had been sitting; she had her face buried in her hands as she sobbed. Louis quietly approached and stopped at a respectful distance before he called out, "May I help you?"
She didn't look up and slowly turned away from the sound of his voice. "N-no…thank you. I…am…fine…."
He replied from where he stood, "Please do not think me impertinent, but I can see that you are not fine. May I come closer?"
"I…would rather…you did not Monsieur," she told him as she turned to move to the other side of the tree.
He stood silent for a moment and then said, "Please forgive me, I just cannot understand what could possibly cause you to be so upset in the midst of such a magnificent garden."
She began sobbing anew upon hearing his words and he took a few steps towards her. "I am sorry, I did not mean to cause you any more distress. I will leave if you wish it." In spite of his last comment, he did not move and stood awaiting her reply. Her sadness had touched his heart and he truly wished to know why she wept so piteously whilst surrounded by such beauty.
He waited patiently for her to gradually regain a measure of composure. She turned to face him and at first struggled to answer him. "You may think it strange but...I come to…to escape the ghosts. There are ghosts in the Lutetia…they live, they breathe, they walk about, yet they are nonetheless ghosts. It is heartbreaking. I...I come here every day to...to reaffirm to myself that beauty still exists in this world. I come here to convince myself that...we have not destroyed it all."
"The Lutetia? The Hôtel Lutetia?" He was puzzled by her words; the Lutetia he remembered from before the war was the grande dame of the Left Bank.
"Oui," she nodded sadly.
"What do you mean by ghosts? Are you staying there?"
"You have not heard?" She seemed surprised by his question.
He shook his head. "I have heard very little since my return. If you do not live there, then you must work there?"
"In a manner of speaking, yes."
"May I ask why you stay on if it is so distressing?"
"I must stay. It is something I must do to honor the memory of my friends."
"Please come and rest for a moment." He gestured for her to accompany him back to the bench he had been sitting on and she slowly walked towards it, where they then both sat down.
He wanted to explain to her why he did not know much about what had been recently occurring in Paris. "I have not been back home for very long and have not completely caught up on all that happened during the occupation or since the liberation. Could you please tell me what you mean?"
She glanced at him as if struck by a sudden understanding. "Back? May I ask from where?"
He looked down as he answered, "From Germany, where I was held in a luft stalag for most of the war." He raised his eyes to hers as he continued. "I was taken prisoner shortly after Paris was evacuated. There was such chaos then…."
Her eyes blazed at his mention of the surrender and she muttered under her breath, "J'ai la haine!"
He heard her and nodded in agreement. "Believe me, I sympathize with you; yet the joy of being back here in my Paris has given me new hope. Hope and a desire to move forward, to make something of myself, to work towards a better France."
She stared at him in wonderment. "Oh how I wish I could feel as you do! When I find myself in such deep despair, that is when I come here. The garden bolsters my spirits for a little while, but I still find it quite difficult to hope."
"If I did not learn anything during the war, I learned one thing. There is always hope!"
Louis suddenly ceased his narrative as a small, plaintive voice interrupted him.
"G-ghosts?," stuttered Robbie as he belatedly reacted to Louis' story. He dropped the book he was sharing with Danielle and looked anxiously over at his parents.
Louis halted his recollection with an uncomfortable "Uh, well Robbie, I did not mean literal ghosts..."
"It's just a figure of speech son," added Peter. "Yer Uncle Louis doesn't mean real ghosts."
Jo nodded reassuringly at Peter's words and started to get up when Danielle shook her head, motioning Jo to sit back down. She retrieved the book from the floor and gently patted Robbie on the back. "Do not worry mon petit, your Uncle Louis did not intend to frighten you. Would you please excuse me for one moment?" She got up and went to speak quietly with Peter and Jo. They both nodded their agreement and she left the room.
Louis waited patiently, wondering just what his wife had in mind. A few minutes later, she came back and gently pulled Robbie close with a comforting arm around his shoulders as they resumed reading. Louis glanced at her quizzically, wondering if he should resume his story or not, and she smiled back at him as she murmured, "Attendez un moment, mon amour."
Louis took the opportunity to refresh everyone's beverages and replenish the tray of goodies whilst he waited for whatever it was Danielle had set in motion. He heard the doorbell sound as he was on his way back from the kitchen. As he was already up, he went to answer it.
"Yolande! Maurice! Lucien! Come in, come in! What a pleasant surprise!" Louis ushered his sister-in-law and her two young sons into the foyer, helping them remove their coats and rain gear before he gave each of them an affectionate hug. "What do you have there Maurice?" he asked, pointing at the box the older boy carried.
Yolande answered, "Maurice brought some of he and Lucien's toys. Danielle thought that Robbie and Andrew would perhaps like to have some company closer to their own age, since they are not able to go outside to play right now." She nodded at Danielle, who had come to stand in the foyer beside Louis.
"Ah, Danielle!" exclaimed Louis. "You have once again come to my rescue with just the right idea!" He leaned over to give her a quick kiss which she returned before she gestured to her sister and nephews.
"Please, come into the lounge," said Danielle. "Pierre, Josephine, I would like you to meet my sister Yolande Bouchard. These are her sons, Maurice and Lucien. Yolande, this is Peter and Josephine Newkirk, our dear friends from London."
Peter lifted a half-asleep Andrew into his arms as he stood to introduce his family to Danielle's sister. "Pleased to meet you, Yolande. This is my lovely wife, Josephine." He gestured with his head towards Robbie, who had come to stand beside his parents. "This is our oldest son, Robert and...," he shifted Andrew to his other arm and smiled. "And this sleepyhead 'ere is our youngest, Andrew."
"How do you do? I am so very happy to finally meet you. Louis and Danielle have often spoken of you."
"Nothin' bad I presume?" laughed Peter.
"Oh no, not at all!" responded Yolande.
Robbie approached Maurice and Lucien and gestured shyly at the box in Maurice's hands. "What have you got in the box?"
"Toys! Would you like to see?"
Robbie nodded happily, then looked questioningly over at Peter and Jo. Peter set a now wide-awake Andrew down and said, "Robbie, why don't you take Andrew, Maurice and Lucien to go play in the bedroom, that is, if it's all right with yer Uncle Louis?"
Louis chuckled, "Of course it is all right! You may go, mon petits!"
"Ta Uncle Louis!" Robbie turned to his new friends and pulled Andrew by the arm. "Follow me!"
As the boys left Louis turned to his sister-in-law, ushered her to a seat beside Danielle, then brought her a cup of tea. "Yolande, I was just telling Pierre and Josephine how Danielle and I met."
Yolande nodded knowingly. As everyone again made themselves comfortable, Louis sat down to resume his story. "The two of us continued talking as we sat beside the fountain..."
The young woman lowered her eyes and sighed, "Hope has been lost for me for so long, Monsieur. I do not know if I shall ever feel hopeful again."
"You shall, I promise. It will take quite some time for all of us to recover from this disaster."
"Perhaps. Perhaps. It is unbelievable is it not? Are we not supposed to be civilized? So much has been destroyed! Cities, villages, farms, people, animals! And the Boche...mon Dieu, the Boche! They have done unspeakably horrible things!" She suddenly whirled to face Louis. "Why did God do this to us?"
Louis replied immediately, "God had nothing to do with it! We did it to ourselves!"
"Then why did He allow it?"
"That I do not know, but I do know He must have a very good reason. It is my desire to find that out someday."
She stared at him then shook her head slowly as her anger deflated. "I apologize for making you the object of my rage, Monsieur. I had no right to do so."
"I understand. Please do not worry yourself, uh, Mademoiselle?"
She nodded and smiled in spite of herself at his obvious relief to the confirmation of her marital status.
"Where are my manners? I beg your pardon Mademoiselle, let me introduce myself. I am Louis LeBeau." He took a chance and reached to kiss her hand.
"Bonjour Monsieur LeBeau. I am Danielle Rousseau."
Louis chuckled, "Yes I can see that." He had taken particular notice of how the dappled sunlight enhanced the deep red of her auburn hair as they sat beneath the trees.
He glanced about before he again spoke. "This section of the garden is not especially close to the Lutetia. It is quite a walk from the corner of the boulevard Raspail and the rue de Sèvres, is it not?"
She nodded. "Yes, I know." She looked up at the canopy formed by the large trees. "I come especially to see these trees. I love the trees here at the fountain. They…they…," she broke off with an embarrassed sigh.
Louis smiled reassuringly. "Please do not be worried about what I will think."
She smiled wanly and said, "They comfort me immensely. A large tree such as these saved my life during the war."
Something she had said earlier tickled Louis' mind and he asked, "You said you felt you must work at the Lutetia in memory of your friends?"
She nodded sadly.
"Why is this so? What happened to them? What has changed at the Lutetia?"
"It is a very long story Monsieur LeBeau. I must be getting back to the hotel."
"Please, call me Louis."
She arose and turned to go, then paused to shyly look back at him. "Monsieur LeBeau, excusez-moi, Louis. If you would not mind walking back to the Lutetia with me, I will show you the work being carried out there. Perhaps that will answer your questions."