Suite Française

His shrill voice could be heard down by the lake.

His mother scolded him: "Be quiet. You're not allowed to call them Fritz or Boches. Not ever. They don't like it. Just be quiet and watch."

But they couldn't see anything now except the shadows of men scurrying about. From the terrace someone shouted something they couldn't make out; it provoked a long, low commotion, like rumbling thunder.

"What are they shouting about? Could you hear? It must be 'Heil Hitler, Heil Goering! Heil the Third Reich!' or something like that. We can't hear a thing now. They're not talking any more. Look, the musicians are leaving. Do you think they've had some news? Do you think they've invaded England? Well, I think they just got cold outside and they're moving the party inside the château," said the pharmacist pointedly; he was worried about the night dampness because of his rheumatism.

He took his young wife's arm. "Why don't we go home too, Linette?"

But she wouldn't hear of it. "Oh! Let's stay, just a little longer. They're going to sing again, it was so nice."

The French waited but there was no more singing. Soldiers carrying torches were ru

They made their way in little groups back to the village: the young girls, arm in arm, walking in front of their parents; the sleepy children dragging their feet.

When they got to the first house, they saw an old man sitting on a straw chair, smoking his pipe. "Well," he said. "Is the party over, then?"

"Yes. Oh, they had such a good time!"

"Well, they won't be having a good time for long," the old man said calmly. "I've just heard on the radio that they're at war with Russia." He knocked his pipe against his chair several times to get rid of the ashes, then looked at the sky. "It'll be dry again tomorrow… Not good for the gardens, this weather."

22

They're going!

For several days they had been waiting for the Germans to leave. The soldiers themselves had a

They were leaving today, 1 July 1941. The French were concerned primarily with the question of whether the village would be occupied by other soldiers; because if so, they thought bitterly, well, it wasn't worth going to the trouble of changing them. They were used to this lot. Maybe the new ones would be worse…

Lucile slipped into Madame Angellier's room to tell her that it was definite, they'd received their orders, the Germans were leaving that very night. They could reasonably hope for at least a few hours' grace before any new soldiers arrived and they should take advantage of this to help Benoît escape. It was impossible to hide him until the end of the war, equally impossible to send him home as long as the area remained occupied. There was only one hope: to get him across the demarcation line. However, the line was closely guarded and would be even more so during the evacuation of the troops.

"It's dangerous," said Lucile, "very dangerous." She looked pale and tired: for several nights she had hardly slept. She looked at Benoît, standing opposite her. Her feelings towards him were an odd combination of fear, incomprehension and envy: his calm, severe, almost brutal expression intimidated her. He was a big, muscular man, with a ruddy complexion; beneath thick eyebrows, his pale eyes were sometimes unbearable to look at. His ta

"I've thought about it a lot, Madame Lucile," he said quietly.

Despite the fortress-like walls and closed doors, whenever all three of them were together, they felt they were being watched and said what they needed to very quickly and almost in a whisper.

"No one will be able to get me across the line. It's too risky. I know I have to leave, but I want to go to Paris."

"To Paris?"

"While I was with the regiment I had some friends…"

He hesitated.

"We were taken prisoner together. We escaped together. They work in Paris. If I can find them they'll help me. One of them wouldn't be alive now if…"

He looked at his hands and fell silent.

"What I need is to get to Paris without getting arrested on the way and to find someone I can trust to put me up for a day or two until I find my friends."

"I don't know anyone in Paris," murmured Lucile. "But in any case, you'll need identity papers."

"As soon as I find my friends, Madame Lucile, I'll be able to get hold of some papers."

"But how? What do your friends do?"

"They're in politics," Benoît said curtly.

"Communists…" murmured Lucile, recalling certain rumours she'd heard about Benoît's ideas and activities. "The Communists will be hunted down now. You're risking your life."

"It won't be the first time, Madame Lucile, or the last," said Benoît. "You get used to it."

"And how will you get to Paris? You can't take the train; your description is posted everywhere."

"On foot. By bicycle. When I escaped I was on foot. It don't scare me."

"But the police…"

"The people who put me up two years ago will remember me and won't shop me to the police. It's safer than here where plenty of people hate me. It'll be easier."

"Such a long journey, on foot, alone…"

Madame Angellier, who hadn't said a word until now, was standing next to the window, her pale eyes watching the Germans come and go across the village square; she raised her hand to warn them. "Someone's coming."

All three of them fell silent. Lucile's heart was pounding so violently, so quickly that she was ashamed; the others could surely hear it, she thought. The old woman and the farmer remained impassive. They could hear Bruno's voice downstairs; he was looking for Lucile; he opened several doors.

"Do you know where Madame Lucile is?" he asked the cook.

"She's gone out," Marthe replied.

Lucile sighed with relief. "I'd better go down," she said. "He's looking for me to say goodbye."

"Take advantage of it," Madame Angellier suddenly said, "to ask him for a petrol coupon and a travel pass. You can take the old car: the one that wasn't requisitioned. You can tell the German you have to drive one of our tenant farmers to town because he's ill. With a pass from German Headquarters you won't be stopped and you could make it safely to Paris."