Paris: The Novel

held back.
    When Margot had finished eating, she waddled off to the kitchen, leaving them to sit and talk. They finished the bottle of wine. Édith added a little water to her wine, so he was actually drinking more, and on top of what he’d already had, he felt pleasantly flushed. She put her hand on his arm.
    “You’ll have to go soon,” she said. “I’ll have work to do at the end of the afternoon, and I need a little rest.”
    “That’s all right.”
    “Thank you for coming. I’m glad you came.” She got up to take the remaining things to the kitchen. He stood to help her. “Stay here,” she said.
    A couple of minutes later she returned.
    “My mother’s asleep, of course, but even Aunt Adeline’s nodded off.” She sat down beside him and he kissed her, but it wasn’t very satisfactory in the upright chairs.
    “I’d better rest,” she said.
    “All right.” He stood. “By the way,” he said, “have they found a replacement for Madame Govrit yet?”
    “No.” Édith shook her head. “That may take time. Monsieur Ney will want a very special person for that room. You know, Mademoiselle Hortense has already redecorated it.” She smiled. “Do you want to see it before you go?”
    “Certainly.”
    She led him out into the hall and up the main stairs. One of the steps gave a noble creak as they passed.
    “Here we are,” she said, as she opened the door.
    He recognized the bed, the armoire and the pictures, which were the same as before. But the paneling had all been repaired and painted. The bed had a new cover, very handsome, in heavy damask, and in front of the fire a small Second Empire sofa with a curved back, upholstered in the same material, had appeared. On the mantel over the fire there was now an ormolu boudoir clock whose dial was held by two gold cherubs; andto the left and right of it, a pair of pretty porcelain figures from the court of Louis XVI. There was a new rug on the floor. Together with the little rococo desk by the window, it all made a charming if slightly predictable ensemble.
    It had all been accomplished so quickly, Thomas wondered if some of these items might have come from the lawyer’s house, perhaps from the room of Mademoiselle Hortense herself.
    “As you see,” Édith remarked cheerfully, “it’s all ready to be shown off. We have a vase for flowers, when somebody comes to see it.”
    He nodded. The room was clearly ready for another Mademoiselle Govrit de la Tour. Feminine. Perhaps even sensuous.
    As Édith closed the door, she gave him a funny look.
    “You could kiss me if you like,” she said. And he was just moving to do so when she went to the bed, pulled back the damask cover and lay on top of the blankets. “Only a kiss,” she reminded him.
    But half an hour later they were still there, with fewer clothes on. Thomas was wishing he had brought those
capotes anglaises
, only he’d never thought things would turn out like this. Then Édith got up, because she didn’t dare use the sheets, and fetched a towel from the armoire and spread it on the bed and said, “You must be careful.”
    And Thomas kissed her and held her and said, “I’ll be gentle. Just tell me if it hurts.”
    But Édith smiled and said that he didn’t have to worry about that, and when he looked surprised, she said it was nothing important and a long time ago. And Thomas realized it was too late for him to think much about that now.
    A little time passed. And then she cried, “Oh, you mustn’t,” but it was too late.

    During the first two months of 1889, the Eiffel Tower raced toward completion. The progress was astounding. By March, it soared to over nine hundred feet, where the third and final platform was being constructed. Enclosed by glass, this observation platform would offer the astonished visitors a panoramic view with a radius, on a clear day, of thirty-five miles—northward to the lovely park of Chantilly, southward to the great Forest of Fontainebleau, and on its western side, far over Versailles and almost to the twin spires of Chartres Cathedral. The wholetower was being painted a bronze color, gradually getting paler as the tower grew higher to increase its appearance of soaring elegance.
    The greatest difficulty in these later stages was the installation of the elevators. For though there were stairs that went all the way up to the top, few people would care to mount 1,665 steps—and descend them again.
    This work had to be subcontracted, and several