Paris: The Novel by Edward Rutherfurd

Author:Edward Rutherfurd
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub, pdf
Tags: Literary, Sagas, Historical, Fiction
ISBN: 9780385535311
Publisher: Doubleday
Published: 2013-04-23T04:00:00+00:00

She was relieved when her father invited Fox down for a weekend. At least he didn’t talk to her about marriage. As always, he was easy company. And he liked the family house.

The Blanchard house at Fontainebleau was typical of its kind. In structure, it was a smaller and provincial version of an aristocratic mansion. One entered from the quiet street through a pair of high iron gates into a cobbled courtyard with a pavilion wing on each side and the main house in the center. The main entrance was up a broad flight of steps, the house being raised over extensive cellars. Above this was a floor of bedrooms, with attics above that. The salon, on the left of the front door, was large and extended all the way through, giving onto a broad veranda which ran the length of the central house and overlooked the gardens.

Seen from the garden, when the family gathered on the veranda, it looked exactly like a picture by Manet.

If the big salon, with its classical, First Empire furniture, had a Roman simplicity and repose, the garden had a character of which both Marie’s parents were proud.

“Why,” Fox exclaimed when he saw it, “you have an English garden.”

It was very long and divided into two parts. Close to the house, it was laid out with gravel paths, a small ornamental pond and fountain, flower beds of lavender, roses and other plantings, and a lawn. After fifty yards, a high, neatly clipped hedge formed a screen, with a wicket gate in the middle, through which one passed into an orchard. At the far end of the orchard, behind other screens, was a garden shed and compost heaps.

“My wife is in charge of the plants, and I am in charge of the lawn and the orchard,” Jules explained. “Do you approve?”

“I certainly do,” said Fox. “I could almost be in England.”

“Almost?” Jules nodded. “My lawn isn’t quite right. It’s mown, but I have had difficulty in obtaining a roller. An English lawn would be rolled. How long does it take then, to get a truly English lawn?”

Fox looked at the two Blanchards, then at Marie, and gave a broad smile.

“Centuries,” he said.

They took him around the old château and walked in the forest and had a delightful weekend. And perhaps because he was not a threat to her emotional life, and because he was so clearly a nice man, Marie felt more contented during his stay than she had for some time, and was sorry to see him depart.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.