Zipporah's Daughter

‘What’s that, Soissonson?’ asked my father.

‘I said Léon Blanchard … best man in that line, my cousin’s boy Jean-Pierre tells me. Ought to get him for your boys, but I suppose you couldn’t do that. Jean-Pierre wouldn’t let him go.’

‘I dare say we shall find a good man.’

‘It’s not easy,’ said the Duc. ‘A bad tutor can be a disaster, a good one worth his weight in gold.’

‘I agree with that,’ said my father.

Armand put in: ‘There are quite a number of us. We are not going to stand by and let the mob take over in these small towns.’.

‘Mind you,’ the Duc was saying, ‘Jean-Pierre employs the man only two or three days a week now. I wonder … ’

‘You mean the tutor?’ I asked.

‘Yes, the tutor. He’s the man. You ought to try and get hold of him. He might manage three days a week. Three days with the right man is better than the whole week with the wrong one.’

‘I think you are probably right,’ said my father.

‘Leave it to me,’ said the Duc. ‘My cousin was telling me about this man and how pleased Jean-Pierre was with him. Said his boys were getting too old for a tutor now. They’ll be going to their university soon. But they still get coaching for two or three days a week. I’ll ask.’ He shook his finger at my father. ‘You will be most unwise to engage anyone else until you have seen Léon Blanchard.’

‘We must certainly see the man,’ said my father. ‘It is good of you, Duc, to take such an interest.’

‘Nice boys,’ said the Duc. ‘Look as if. hey should have the best.’

The Duc de Soissonson spent three days with us. He talked a great deal to my father and continued to chide him for shutting himself away from his friends. My father presented Charlot to him, and because I felt that Lisette was more hurt to see her son left out than she had been for herself, I arranged that Louis-Charles should be presented to the Duc at the same time.

He was a little vague and seemed unsure which boy was his friend’s grandson but he was very complimentary about them both. After he had gone, my father said: I hope he doesn’t forget about the tutor. He can be a little vague.’

But the Duc did not forget and in less than a week after his departure, Léon Blanchard came to see us.

We were all impressed by Léon Blanchard. There was about him an air of dignity and a certain indifference whether or not he was employed, which was unusual in someone applying for a post. Not that there was anything insolent in his demeanour—far from it. His ma

His dress proclaimed him to be something of a dandy; his white wig accentuated his blue eyes which were startling in his dark face; his high cheekbones and lean looks were quite attractive. His clothes were of good though far from gaudy material, his shoes sturdy but of fine good leather. He had a pleasant voice and because his ma

He was in my father’s private sitting-room when I was called in to meet him.

My father said: ‘You had better tell Monsieur Blanchard what will be required.’

Monsieur Blanchard took my hand and bowed over it. He could have come straight from Versailles.

‘I am very glad that you have come to see us, Monsieur Blanchard,’ I said.

‘I could not ignore a command from the Duc de Soissonson, Madame,’ replied Monsieur Blanchard, smiling.

‘Oh, was it a command?’

‘A very urgent request. The Duc is anxious that I shall be of help to you.’

‘Then I hope we can come to some arrangement.’

We talked about the boys and what they had learned so far. He shook his head gravely implying that they must certainly be in need of his tuition.

‘It would be my pleasure to take on that task,’ he said. ‘But it may well be that your boys need a full-time tutor.’

‘That was what we were hoping for,’ I said.

‘Then, Madame, I ca

My father said: ‘These boys you are teaching … I understand they will in due course go to the university.’

‘Indeed they will, Monsieur le Comte, but until they do I am in duty bound to stay with them.’

‘It does not sound very difficult to me. You could spend four days of each week here and the other time with your present pupils. How would that work out?’

‘Excellently, if it were not necessary to tie me down. I could come here and teach your boys for four days of the week. But there might be a time when I would feel it necessary to give an extra day to my original pupils …who … forgive my saying so … have first claim on me.’

‘It does not seem an insurmountable problem,’ I said.

Then we laughed and chatted and it was agreed that Léon Blanchard should come to us for part of the week and if he should need a day off to spend with the boys of Castian, no obstacle would be put in the way of his taking it.

When he left we had agreed that he should start at the begi

After he had left my father said he thought it was an excellent arrangement. It would give us a chance to see how we liked each other.

I was pleased to see my father in an almost merry mood. I had Léon Blanchard and the boys to thank for that.

So Léon Blanchard came into our household and he appeared to be a great asset.

First, the boys liked him. He had a knack of making lessons interesting. He came to table with us. He, being such a gentleman, had made that natural and the servants accepted him, which was in itself something of a miracle because they usually took umbrage if anyone, as they would say “stepped out of their class”. I was not sure into which class a tutor fitted, but it seemed that in Léon Blanchard’s case there was no question. He fitted naturally.

I thought Lisette might be a little put out because he took meals with us, something which I had wanted her to do, but she had refused. However, at least she showed no resentment.

He used to sit over the di

‘I am grateful to the Duc for sending us such a man,’ said my father.

There was one thing he did which was the most outstanding of all.

One day he was looking for the boys and strayed up to Sophie’s turret. Thinking that part of the castle was uninhabited, he opened a door and walked in. Sophie and Jea

I can imagine her horror. Fortunately she was wearing her hood and that must have saved her considerable embarrassment.

She must have been horrified, for the rest of the household respected her wish for privacy and whenever we did attempt to see her we did so by asking Jea

Lisette got out of Jea

‘There was Mademoiselle Sophie seated at the table,’ said Jea