Sphinx by Alexander McCall Smith

Author:Alexander McCall Smith [McCall Smith, Alexander]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
Published: 2022-10-11T00:00:00+00:00

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His mother was called Annette. She wore her hair in a bun.

“I don’t speak a lot of French,” she said. “I learned it at school, of course, as we all did, but school French is so different, isn’t it? All this business about la plume de ma tante. Whoever imagined that an aunt’s pen might be found in the garden?”

Margaret shook her head. “I have no idea.”

“No, nor do I. I found, though, that if I talked to people—actually talked to them—I learned a lot. And the French don’t mind talking French, you know—in fact, they like to talk French, I find.”

The conversation continued. The photograph albums were produced and discussed. Alfred said very little, and when he went out of the room to put the kettle back on, Annette leaned towards Margaret and whispered, “He’s a lovely boy, you know. He lacks confidence—that’s all.”

She did not know what to say.

Then Annette continued, “Don’t rush him. Let him take things at his own speed.”

She opened her mouth to speak. But Annette kept going, “He’ll treat you well, my dear. His father was a real gentleman. He was an engineer too—a different sort, though. He was mainly bridges. Alfred picked things up from him. That’s where the engineering came from. There’s always an explanation for everything. We don’t become what we become by accident.”

Margaret asked how her interest in France had arisen.

Annette thought for a moment. “I heard somebody speaking French,” she said. “And I thought: I’d like to be able to do that. That’s how it happened, I think. Amazing.”

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