Finistere (Little Sister's Classics) by Fritz Peters & Michael Bronski

Author:Fritz Peters & Michael Bronski [Peters, Fritz]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: FIC011000
Publisher: Arsenal Pulp Press
Published: 2009-05-01T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nineteen

Responding to some desperate call of his emotions, Matthew’s body had come to his rescue with a moderate degree of fever, inflamed sinuses, a touch of pleurisy and an upset stomach. The illness manifested itself the next morning and reached its peak that afternoon, shortly after Michel’s train to Rouen was to leave. Matthew had lain in his bed listening for the sounds of the telephone, the doorbell – any sign from the outside world that touched the apartment – but there had been no word, no messages of any kind. He fell asleep in the early darkness, no longer anticipating and fearing some move on Michel’s part; his body was exhausted and his mind was locked in a trap of doubt and bewilderment. He had gone over and over that evening, until the only two facts that he could recognize were the certainty of Michel’s determined cruelty – his desire to wound – and the equally certain knowledge that there was no reason for it; he could get no further. The answer would have to come from Michel himself, somehow and sometime, and Matthew looked ahead dully to the time when he would see him again, when he would – he would have to! – say or do something that would explain what he had done. He did not know, and did not even care what had happened to their relationship; he knew only that he would have to understand why. Nothing else mattered.

The next morning he had begun to relax into the illness, allowing it to overpower him, accepting the worried looks on Catherine’s face, the pills, the medicine, the cups of bouillon. She was worried about him and at the same time she enjoyed having him in bed and taking care of him. She knew the illness was not serious, that it was only a question of days, that in all probability he would be able to go back to school when the time came. Meanwhile, it was like having a little boy in the house again. He responded willingly to her attentions, although he would not eat very much, and she found herself enjoying reading to him or just talking in a peaceful, affectionate, close way. They had not seemed so close in years. She obtained a real sense of satisfaction in taking his temperature, feeling his forehead, rubbing his back and waiting on him efficiently. She had not realized how much she had missed doing things for him, and it was pleasant and warming to be needed and to be able to respond effectively.

The third or fourth day after Michel had left Paris, Scott came to see him. He had been away in the country with Françoise, one of their habitual visits, and he was very glad to see Matthew again. They were embarrassed at first, watching and measuring each other as they talked about what Scott had done, about the school, the weather – not touching on anything more serious. They both sensed

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