Patrick Modiano - The Occupation Trilogy - La Place de l'Étoile – The Night Watch – Ring Roads

‘Me?’

‘Are you here. . on holiday?’ I asked politely.

He looked at me like a hunted animal.

‘Monsieur Deyckecaire,’ Murraille said, wagging a finger at my father, ‘lives in a charming property close by. It’s called “The Priory”.’

‘Yes. . “The Priory”,’ said my father.

‘Much more imposing than the “Villa Mektoub”. Can you believe, there’s even a chapel in the grounds?’

‘Chalva is a god-fearing man!’ Marcheret said.

My father spluttered with laughter.

‘Isn’t that so, Chalva?’ Marcheret insisted. ‘When are we going to see you in a cassock?’

‘Unfortunately,’ Murraille told me, ‘our friend Deyckecaire is like us. His business keeps him in Paris.’

‘What line of business?’ I ventured.

‘Nothing of interest,’ said my father.

‘Come, come!’ said Marcheret, ‘I’m sure M. Alexandre would love to hear all about your shady financial dealings! Did you know that Chalva. .’ his tone was mocking now ‘. . is a really sharp operator. He could teach Sir Basil Zaharoff a thing or two!’

‘Don’t believe a word he says,’ muttered my father.

‘I find you too, too mysterious, Chalva,’ said Sylviane Quimphe, clapping her hands together.

He took out a large handkerchief and mopped his forehead, and I suddenly remember that this is one of his favourite tics. He falls silent. As do I. The light is failing. Over there the other three are talking in hushed voices. I think Marcheret is saying to Murraille:

‘I had a phone call from your daughter. What the fuck is she doing in Paris?’

Murraille is shocked by such coarse language. A Marcheret, a d’Eu, talking like that!

‘If this carries on,’ the other says, ‘I shall break off the engagement!’

‘Tut-tut. .’ Murraille says, ‘that would be a grave error.’

Sylviane breaks the ensuing silence to tell me about a man name Eddy Pagnon, about how, when they were in a night-club together, he had waved a revolver at the terrified guests. Eddy Pagnon. . Another name that seems naggingly familiar. A celebrity? I don’t know, but I like the idea of this man who draws his revolver to threaten shadows.

My father had wandered over and was leaning on the balustrade of the veranda railing and I went up to him. He had lit a cigar, which he smoked distractedly. After a few minutes, he began blowing smoke rings. Behind us, the others went on whispering, they seemed to have forgotten us. He, too, ignored my presence despite the fact that several times I cleared my throat, and so we stood there for a long time, my father crafting smoke rings and I admiring their perfection.

We retired to the drawing-room, taking the French windows that led off the veranda. It was a large room furnished in colonial style. On the far wall, a wallpaper in delicate shades showed (Murraille explained to me later) a scene from Paul et Virginie . A rocking-chair, small tables, and cane armchairs. Pouffes here and there. (Marcheret, I learned, had brought them back from Bouss-Bir when he left the Legion.) Three Chinese lanterns hanging from the ceiling spread a wavering light. On a whatnot, I saw some opium pipes. . The whole weird and faded collection was reminiscent of Tonkin, of the plantations of South Carolina, the French concession of Shanghai or Lyautey’s Morocco, and I clearly failed to conceal my surprise because Murraille, in an embarrassed voice, said: ‘Guy chose the furnishings.’ I sat down, keeping in the background. Sitting around a tray of liqueurs, they were talking in low voices. The uneasiness I had felt since the beginning of the evening increased and I wondered whether it might be better if I left at once. But I was completely unable to move, as in a nightmare when you try to run from a looming danger and your legs refuse to function. All through dinner, the half-light had given their words, gestures, faces a hazy, unreal character; and now, in the mean glow cast by the drawing-room lamps, everything became even more indistinct. I thought my uneasiness was that of a man groping in the dark, fumbling vainly for a light-switch. Suddenly I shook with nervous laughter, which the others — luckily — didn’t notice. They continued their whispered conversation, of which I couldn’t hear a word. They were dressed in the normal outfits of well-heeled Parisians down for a few days in the country. Murraille wore a tweed jacket; Marcheret a sweater — cashmere, no doubt — in a choice shade of brown; my father a grey-flannel suit. Their collars were open to reveal immaculately knotted silk cravats. Sylviane Quimphe’s riding-breeches added a note of sporting elegance to the whole.

But it was all glaringly at odds with this room where one expected to see people in linen suits and pith helmets.

‘You’re all alone?’ Murraille asked me. ‘It’s my fault. I’m a terrible host.’

‘My dear Monsieur Alexandre, you haven’t tried this excellent brandy yet.’ And Marcheret handed me a glass with a peremptory gesture. ‘Drink up!’

I forced it down, my stomach heaving.

‘Do you like the room?’ he asked. ‘Exotic, isn’t it? I’ll show you my bedroom. I had a mosquito net installed.’

‘Guy suffers from a nostalgia for the colonies,’ Murraille said.

‘Vile places,’ said Marcheret. Dreamily: ‘But if I was asked to, I’d re-enlist.’

He was silent, as though no one could possibly understand all that he’d like to say on the subject. My father nodded. There was a long, pregnant pause. Sylviane Quimphe stroked her boots absent-mindedly. Murraille followed with his eyes the flight of a butterfly which had alighted on one of the Chinese lanterns. My father had fallen into a state of prostration that worried me. His chin was almost on his chest, drops of sweat beaded on his forehead. I wished that a ‘boy’ could come with shuffling steps to clear the table and extinguish the lights.

Marcheret put a record on the gramophone. A sweet melody. I think it was called ‘Soir de septembre’.

‘Do you dance?’ Sylviane Quimphe asked me.

She didn’t wait for an answer, and in an instant we’re dancing. My head is spinning. Every time I wheel and turn, I see my father.

‘You ought to ride,’ she says. ‘If you like, I’ll take you to the stables tomorrow.’

Had he dozed off? I hadn’t forgotten that he often closed his eyes, but that it was only pretence.

‘You’ll see, it’s so wonderful, taking long rides in the forest!’

He had put on a lot of weight in ten years. I’d never seen his complexion so livid.

‘Are you a friend of Jean’s?’ she asked me.

‘Not yet, but I hope to be.’

She seemed surprised by this reply.

‘And I hope that we’ll be friends, you and I,’ I added.

‘Of course. You’re so charming.’

‘Do you know this. . Baron Deyckecaire?’

‘Not very well.’

‘What does he do, exactly?’

‘I don’t know; you really should ask Jean.’

‘I find him rather odd, myself.’

‘Oh, he’s probably a black marketeer. .’

At midnight, Murraille wanted to hear the last news bulletin. The newsreader’s voice was even more strident than usual. After announcing the news briefly, he gave forth a kind of commentary on a hysterical note. I imagined him behind his mike: sickly, in black tie and shirtsleeves. He finished with: ‘Goodnight to you all.’

‘Thanks,’ said Marcheret.

Murraille led me aside. He rubbed the side of his nose, put his hand on my shoulder.

‘Look, what do you think. . I’ve just had an idea. . How would you like to contribute to the magazine?’

‘Really?’

I had stuttered a little and the result was ridiculous: Re-re-really?. .

‘Yes, I’d very much like to have a boy like you working on C’est la vie . Assuming you don’t think journalism beneath you?’