Kathleen Tessaro - The Perfume Collector

Why?

It supposed an intimacy; expectations. But Grace didn’t even know her, let alone approve of Eva d’Orsey.

Opening her handbag she took out a crumpled pack of Chesterfields and lit one.

Pretty girls didn’t lead independent lives; didn’t Eva d’Orsey know that? Their triumphs were measured in the swiftness with which they moved from one pair of waiting arms to another. It was the less fortunate girls – the ‘sensible’ and ‘clever’ ones – who had to face the world on their own. (When she was young, if the word ‘intelligent’ was used when describing a girl, it was always a criticism; nothing signalled more completely the hopelessness of their future situation than the label of ‘clever.’)

Exhaling slowly, Grace watched the smoke gather just above her head.

And yet their handicap bought them freedom – just the sort of liberty and responsibility this unknown woman was demanding of her now.

Leaning her chin in her palm, Grace opened the newspaper.

If she were truly the beneficiary, why did it feel as if Madame d’Orsey were taking something away from her rather than giving it?

Turning the pages, she tried to string together the few words she recognized. There was a sale at the Galeries Lafayette, with the promise of a new season of architecturally engineered girdles and brassieres outlined in bold drawings… a photograph of some sort of sporting disaster involving a young man and a racing car… obituaries… classified ads… here was something circled in black pen…

Avis de saisie vente de boutique, 23 Rue Christine, Saint-Germain, Paris.

Boutique … that meant shop, didn’t it? Avais de saisie vente … Her French wasn’t good enough to make out the rest.

Grace stared out of the window above the sink, at the shadow of the sun creeping across the wall opposite.

The little kitchen was soothing, familiar in its domesticity. The clock ticked; here the city felt removed.

I don’t know what I’m doing, she thought, pulling the cracked ashtray closer, taking another drag. I’m completely out of my depth.

Le droit de choisir .

But the right to choose what?

Grace wasn’t used to making choices on her own; wasn’t certain she liked it. How would she know if she’d made the right ones?

Sighing, she flicked a bit of ash off the end of her cigarette.

There was a knock at the door.

Grace started, hurrying to stub out her cigarette in the ashtray.

‘Monsieur Tissot? Monsieur Tissot, is that you?’ She stood up.

There was no reply. ‘Hello?’

Again, another knock.

Grace went into the front hallway. Listened. If she did nothing, maybe they’d go away.

But they didn’t; the knocking continued.

Grace opened the door. ‘Oh, hello!’ she smiled in relief.

A young girl was standing on the landing, holding a cardboard box. She was maybe thirteen or fourteen, with even brown plaits and a serious face.

‘May I help you?’

‘ Bonjour , madame. Parlez-vous français ?’ she asked, pronouncing each word with exaggerated clarity.

‘ Ah, well , oui … un peu … mais je ne parle pas très bien …’

‘I speak some English.’ (Obviously the answer to the girl’s question was ‘no’.) ‘The man downstairs said you were, ah, the heir? Is this true?’

‘Ah, yes. I suppose I am.’

‘Yes, um, my mother, she wanted you to have this.’ The girl handed her the box.

‘I’m sorry, who is your mother?’

‘ Pardon .’ The girl was looking down at her shoes. ‘She is the concierge, Madame Assange. She says this is for you.’

‘Really?’

‘You’re English, yes?’

‘Yes.’

‘And this is you, yes?’ She pointed to the top of the box.

Scrawled across one corner was her name: Grace Munroe.

Grace felt her skin go cold. It was written in the same, strong slanted hand she’d seen on the paper in Monsieur Tissot’s office. ‘Yes’ she nodded, ‘that’s me.’

Grace opened the lid.

Inside was a collection of half a dozen small china figurines, wrapped in newspaper; delicate frolicking shepherdesses with white faces and flowered gowns, the kind of inexpensive, sentimental bric-a-brac she abhorred.

‘Madame d’Orsey gave them to Maman for you, to keep safe. She didn’t want Monsieur Migret to have them.’

‘Who is Monsieur Migret?’

‘Monsieur Migret owns… ah… l’antiquaire … Il vend … he sells les bibelots … um… les deuxième main… ’ the girl pointed to her hand.

‘A second-hand shop?’ Grace guessed. (She’d always been good at charades.)

‘Yes,’ the girl nodded. ‘Second-hand. He clears the house when someone dies.’

‘And he cleared this apartment?’

‘Yes.’ The girl turned to go.

‘Wait,’ Grace stopped her. ‘This Monsieur Migret, do you know where his business is?’

‘He has a shop… um… on Rue Saint-Claude.’

‘Rue Saint-Claude,’ Grace repeated, committing it to memory. ‘Is that close?’

‘A few streets away.’

‘Thank you.’ Grace another took a step forward. ‘Do you think, perhaps, I could meet your mother? I would like to thank her and to speak to her, about Madame d’Orsey.’

The girl hesitated, her face suddenly guarded. ‘My mother does not speak English, madame.’

‘Yes, but maybe you could help me,’ Grace suggested, with a smile. ‘You could sit between us. Or Monsieur Tissot, the man you met downstairs, he would help.’

The girl’s brow furrowed. ‘She does not like gossip.’

‘But this wouldn’t be gossip. I just have a few questions about what Madame d’Orsey was like.’

‘Yes, well…’ The girl inched away from the door. ‘I will let her know. She is very busy though.’

She started back down the steps.

‘Did you know her?’ Grace called after her.

The girl turned. ‘Madame d’Orsey?’

‘Yes.’

She thought a moment. ‘She gave me once a doll for my birthday. I was five. It was very pretty – with blonde curls made from real hair and a china face. The nicest one I have ever owned.’

‘So she was a friend of the family?’

The girl looked at her blankly. ‘Oh no, madame. My mother would not let me keep it.’

‘Why not?’

The girl shifted. ‘You will have to ask her, madame.’

Grace watched as she slipped into the shadows of the hallway and down the stairs. Far below, she heard urgent, muted voices, speaking in French. Then a door closed and there was silence.

The proper way to enter a guest’s room is to knock, three times. First, you knock. Next, you knock again, loudly, calling out, ‘Maid service.’ Last, you unlock the door and pause. ‘Maid service,’ you say, knocking one more time. And still, you are likely to walk in on quite a few situations, the least disturbing of which is a guest emerging from the bath.

It was amazing how many people did hear you call out but didn’t seem to mind. Eva had noticed that as soon as she put on her uniform, she became invisible. And in situations which would have been considered improper if she were wearing normal clothes, she suddenly disappeared.

This was the procedure Eva followed when delivering extra towels to room 313.

There was no reply.

The bathroom door was slightly ajar and she could hear the taps running.

‘Maid service,’ she called out again. ‘I’ll leave your extra towels on the bed, sir.’

‘Thank you.’

She put them down.

There were some cards spread out on the table; in several rows, stacked in groups. Eva had seen plenty of people playing solitaire but she’d never seen a game like this one. But already, she thought she recognized some sort of pattern.