Paris: The Novel

was adopted by a banker and his wife.”
    “You are fortunate, then, mademoiselle.”
    “Perhaps. I was curious to know something of my French family, madame. That is all.”
    “And why did you suppose you would find them here?”
    “A lawyer made researches for me. He found three families with a daughter of that name born in Paris at the right time.”
    “Perhaps your mother was not born in Paris, mademoiselle.”
    “It is possible, madame, but I suspect she was.”
    “I should know if I had given birth to a daughter named Corinne, mademoiselle. And I did not. You have come to the wrong place.”
    She was lying. Louise knew it instinctively. She was certain of it. This old woman was her grandmother. Was the scandal really so terrible for the family, back then? Was her grandmother still implacable? Perhaps it was because the boy was there.
    “I am sorry you cannot help me, madame,” she said sadly. She suddenly felt an urge to cry.
    “I may be able to help you,” the old lady said. Was there a hint of pity, of kindness, in her voice? She paused. “My late husband had a cousin. They never spoke. There was a family quarrel—he never told me what it was about. But he had two daughters. One went to live in Rouen, I believe. The other, I don’t know. She could have been called Corinne. It’s possible. If you could find her sister in Rouen …” She turned to the young man. “Jean, I forgot that cake in the oven. Run upstairs to the kitchen, and take it out for me.”
    The young man disappeared.
    “I think you are my grandmother,” said Louise. “Was my mother so terrible that you have to lie?”
    But now, with her grandson gone, the old lady changed abruptly. Thelook she gave Louise was venomous. When she spoke, it was quietly, almost a hiss.
    “How dare you come here? What gives you the right? The person you speak of has been dead to us for more than twenty years. You want to come here with your stupid quest, and disgrace the next generation as well? We didn’t want her and we don’t want you. Now get out, and never show your face here again.” She went to the door and opened it. “Get out! Live your life elsewhere. But stay away from us. Forever.” She reached for Louise’s arm, seized it with surprising force and shoved her out into the street, slamming the door behind her.
    Louise looked back at her grandmother through the glass. There was no hint of mercy in the old lady’s face. It was pale, and cold, and hard.

    It was still early evening when Luc came by the restaurant. He’d been on a business errand.
    Sometimes he told himself that he should work harder, but the twenty or thirty clients to whom he discreetly supplied cocaine provided him with all the ready cash he needed. Years ago when he was operating the bar before the war, he had run a few girls as well, acting as a protector mainly. But he’d given that business up. It was too much trouble. People had sometimes asked him if he could supply them with a nice girl. “If I find someone, I’ll let you know,” he had always told them. But so far he hadn’t come upon a good prospect.
    He was carrying quite a quantity of cash, and was going to put it in the small safe he kept in the office behind the restaurant. Then he was going to have a meal, walk up to his house, and go to bed early.
    When he got to the restaurant, Louise was sitting quietly at a table. “She’s been sitting there two hours,” Édith told him. “Waiting for you, I suppose.”
    He sat down opposite her.
    “Have you eaten?” he asked.
    She shook her head. He ordered for them both.
    “I met my grandmother today,” she said. “She told me never to come there again.” She gave him a sad smile. “It seems nobody wants me.”
    “You must eat,” he said.
    As they ate, Luc did not try to comfort her too much. But he did try toexplain. He pointed out that it was natural for the old lady to act as she had. “I dare say that’s how your mother was treated all those years ago when they threw her out. Plenty of families would have done the same. They do it to protect themselves. So when you appeared and threatened to upset the apple cart, she must have been terrified.”
    Louise listened. She understood what he was saying, but she was still all alone in the world.
    When they had finished their meal he asked her quietly if she would like to come with him, and she nodded. After they had left the restaurant, he put his arm around her shoulder, protectively, and