City of Darkness and Light(75)
“I’m not sure how I would manage to bring everything down the stairs by myself,” I said. “Madame’s husband might help if I paid him enough, but then would it all fit in a cab?”
“There is a carter I’ve hired on occasion when we’ve moved to the country for the summer,” Mary said. “A solid, reliable sort. I could send him to help you with the packing and to carry down the trunks.”
She stood up and clapped her hands. “Well, that’s settled then. I’ll send a message to him right away. And now if word gets out that I’ve got company, it is a delightful woman from New York and her baby that I’m entertaining. Nobody that might arouse any suspicion.” And she gave us a triumphant smile then strode from the room, leaving Sid and Gus looking at each other hopefully.
Twenty-five
The carter agreed to send over a wagon to Montmartre that evening. I refused Mary Cassatt’s offer to join them for luncheon, not wanting to leave Liam a moment longer and realizing the amount of work that lay ahead of me. The morning’s storm had passed, leaving a blue sky and steaming sidewalks. I went straight back to the Rue des Martyrs. When I told Madeleine that I would not be needing her services anymore she looked genuinely so crestfallen that I paid her double the amount we had agreed upon and promised to bring Liam to visit as often as possible. On my way out the baker shook my hand and thanked me for bringing his wife out of the depression that had engulfed her after the baby was born. Then I felt even worse about leaving her and realized I really would have to make an effort to visit, if and when I could solve Reynold Bryce’s murder.
Madame Hetreau was nowhere to be seen as I let myself into the front hall. I was tempted to tiptoe upstairs and get on with the job, but knowing the sort of person madame was, I realized she might accuse me of trying to smuggle out objects belonging to her when she caught me leaving. So I tapped on her door and she opened it, her hands white with flour.
“Oh, it’s you,” she said.
“I’ve come to say good-bye, madame,” I said.
“You’ve given up looking for your friends, have you? And you are returning to America?” She looked pleased.
“On the contrary,” I said. “After much searching I have managed to locate my friends. It is as I suspected. They went to visit acquaintances in a small village in Normandy not knowing that typhoid had broken out there and were immediately placed under quarantine…”
“Mon dieu—I hope they will not think of returning here, bringing a dreadful disease with them,” she said.
“They will not. They have decided to stay in the village, and now that the quarantine has been lifted, they want me to join them. A man will be coming for their belongings. They have asked me to pack their trunks for them.”
“So they will not be returning to this house?”
“No, madame. Feel free to let the rooms again,” I said.
“They will just be taking their personal effects, no?” she asked. “I know that they purchased some items of furniture, but they will not need this out in the country…” She spread her arms expressively.
“They only want their personal effects,” I said. “Anything else they donate to you.”
“Ah,” she said, really looking pleased now. “Please give the ladies my best compliments when you see them and tell them I hope they will have fond memories of their stay in Paris.”
“I will do that,” I said.
“If you need help with the heavy trunks, my husband will be home later,” she said.
“Thank you, but I understand the carter will be bringing a boy to help him.”
As I started up the stairs she called after me, “So how did they finally contact you? They sent no letter here.”
“They were not allowed to send a letter, owing to the quarantine and the possibility of contamination on the envelope,” I said. “Those postcards led me to an acquaintance who knew where they had gone.”
“Ah,” she repeated and I couldn’t tell whether she believed this story or not. It didn’t really matter. I hadn’t identified the village or given her any name she could pursue. I carried Liam up the stairs, set him down with his toys, and started work. The weather had improved and the sun shining though those French windows had made the apartment warm and muggy. I opened the windows and stood on the balcony for a moment, taking in the scene one last time. As I dragged trunks from a closet, I could see that my task was going to be a daunting one. Packing up my own clothes only took minutes. Dismantling Liam’s crib was not hard. But Sid and Gus had a multitude of clothes, books, Gus’s paintings and art supplies, as well as paintings they had bought from other artists and other souvenirs they had acquired. There were some good pieces of Limoges china plus a delightful small sculpture of a ballerina, several mirrors, a camera, and a coffee set, all of which required careful wrapping and packing. I found tissue paper in one of the drawers and set to work.