Isidore by Jeremy Reed

Author:Jeremy Reed [Reed, Jeremy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 0720608317
Published: 2014-02-18T08:00:00+00:00

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PART TWO

Woodcut of Lautréamont by Mendez Magaririos, after the

photograph given to Alvaro Guillot-Murioz by Eudoxie

Ducasse © La Quinzaine litteraire 1972

The Eye 6

...I insist. I cannot provide you with duplicates of letters lost at sea. The irregularity of my reports from Tarbes and the greater consistency of letters reaching you from Paris suggest either interception or mismanagement in delivery. I incline towards the former.

You have surely received news of your son's unsavoury relationship with Paul Lespès and Georges Minvielle. I cannot repeat facts until I am sure that my letters reach you. In connection with the incident that occurred at school and Ducasse's imperious flaunting of authority, I am surprised you have not heard from Gustave Hinstin. The latter must have written to you in confidence about your son's moody and unpredictable behaviour?

What I know of Ducasse's life in Paris comes from Marthe David, a prostitute resident at 45 rue Barbesse. She knows him under the adopted name I have communicated in an earlier letter. Her presentation of him agrees neither with yours nor mine. She speaks of him as a young man who belongs to a secret order whose aim is to establish universal power. It is difficult to ascertain whether she has in mind a political body — the revolutionary spirit is rife in Paris — or one of the esoteric lodges. Her inarticulacy and general evasiveness on all matters relating to her life do little to assist my research into your son's equally enigmatic life.

What I can establish is a certain predictability in your son's habits. His behaviour here differs little from his preoccupations in Montevideo. He spends most of his time alone, seems to avoid friendships, takes pains on leaving his room to conceal his papers, and on going out shows an indifference to street life. What happens in his life seems to come about by chance. His few excursions, which have taken in the Roman amphitheatre in the rue Monge, the ruins of the Cluny baths and two visits to see the Venus de Milo in the Louvre, are done with a nonchalance that suggests a disdain for his physical surroundings.

His activities seem to be confined to his room at night. He writes, plays the piano and on occasions entertains the sort of man to whom he was attracted in Montevideo. Only these are different; they resemble vagrants, nocturnal revenants. I can establish no trace of a political movement and as yet nothing in his behaviour likely to create the sort of scandal that would threaten your position.

The books he buys are largely related to natural history. He seems fascinated by their plates and is selective in his choice of editions.

I shall await your further instructions, which will in turn be a confirmation that my letter has reached you.

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