Nights Too Short to Dance by Marie-Claire Blais

Author:Marie-Claire Blais [Blais, Marie-Claire]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction
Publisher: Second Story Press
Published: 2023-10-15T00:00:00+00:00

Part Three

Grief, Rebirth

René heard Louise popping the champagne in the kitchen, the most festive sound. Here come the girls, Louise exclaimed, I can hear them coming up the stairs, and then they were in the entrance of René’s lavish living room, Olga flanking them with a look of distrust on her face, as if she were saying, what are they doing here, it’s my house, Madame René’s and my house, this is disturbing our peace, here are Doudouline and Polydor, Louise said proudly, they got married, that’s thanks in part to your activism, René, you were already fighting for our right to marriage way back, at the mayor’s office, and later on in New York, in San Francisco, René, you were the consummate activist, this is all thanks to you too, my dear, these strange women, Olga thought, why are they here, Olga was irked that Madame René was walking, she never got out of bed, and now Louise was holding her up by the arm, leading her to the Louis XV chair, or was it Louis XVI, a majestic armchair where Louise had sat René as if she were royalty, she was dressed to the nines in her old clothes, the Italian shoes, Olga didn’t recognize her anymore, it was unbearable to see Madame René like this, Olga thought, her patient, Olga’s patient had been at death’s door and now she was so alive, that mocking glint in her eyes. And here’s Gérard the second, our florist and landscaper, Louise said, directing the girls to the spacious couch. René looked at each one, she felt a bit better all of a sudden, at least they’re easy to be around, René thought, they all still look so young, it’s nice to see. I can’t forget that I’m old enough to be their father, or their grandfather even, though Louise did my hair and dressed me up, I must still seem like an old man to them. But René could tell that the girls were looking at him affectionately, with sympathy, almost tenderness. My beautiful Gérard is a landscaper, she was always the one who went to tend to Gérard’s grave, summer and winter alike, red roses, you look like her, René said, but healthier, with your rosy cheeks, you must spend lots of time outside. I like it, Gérard the second said confidently, you have to spread beauty everywhere, you can’t let ugliness win. You know that too, Gérard said, you love art, you love everything that’s beautiful. What about you, René asked Doudouline and Polydor, what have you been doing all this time, I hear about you sometimes, on TV or in the papers, Doudouline and her musical, Gérard oh Gérard, and you, Polydor, you’re running a bookstore, right, where people can come warm up in the winter with an Irish coffee if they want, I called it Pen and Drink, we get lots of people coming in. They’re probably there for the cognac, René said, people never read enough.

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