‘Thanks, no, we don’t have time,’ Maeve informed her, leaping to her toes once more, far too wound-up and nervous to settle. ‘If we don’t go away now, we’ll be horribly late arriving at my grandmother’s place.’ Maeve ran her fingers by way of damp, frizzy hair, and despaired. ‘I don’t suppose you have got a hairbrush I may borrow, madame? Or possibly a comb?’ she whispered to Madame Rémy. ‘What a nightmare. I have to look a whole mess.’

As Leo helped Nonna to her toes and took her arm, supporting her alongside the road, Madame Rémy fished a comb out of her bag and handed it surreptitiously to Maeve. ‘You don’t look so dangerous,’ she mentioned politely. ‘Maybe only a bit… windswept.’

Following Leo and Nonna on the older girl’s leisurely tempo, they crossed a slender facet avenue and wove rigorously between vacationers previous a spread of bustling cafés, eating places and outlets.

Despairingly, Maeve dragged the comb by way of her hair, wishing she had a mirror. Her footwear have been nonetheless squelching, although not as loudly, and her sodden gown nonetheless clung to her thighs in an embarrassing method. However at the very least there didn’t look like any extra weed in her hair.

‘Thanks for ready,’ she whispered to Leo’s grandmother. ‘I half anticipated you to have gone house by now.’

‘We have been completely comfy, having fun with a drink beside the river. Anyway, Leo warned us you’d be late, so I known as Agathe and let her know we’d be delayed. So that you don’t want to fret she’ll be indignant.’

Maeve sagged with reduction, her breath going out in a single lengthy sigh. She had been frightened about that, there was no level pretending in any other case. Certainly, it felt as if she’d been holding that breath tight in her chest for ages. And why on earth had she behaved so recklessly earlier than, virtually dashing throughout the embankment street in entrance of speeding site visitors?

That wasn’t like her in any respect.

She had at all times been a wise pedestrian who waited on the crossing level for the lights to vary, refusing to maneuver earlier than it was secure to take action.

Clearly, there have to be one thing improper together with her mind in the meanwhile. The indicators have been all there. Falling within the river. Kissing Leo twice. Attempting to cross a street and forgetting to examine she wasn’t about to be squashed flat by rushing Parisian rally-drivers…

‘Are you alright, my expensive?’ Madame Rémy requested quietly, her brows tugging collectively in concern.

‘To be trustworthy, I’m not totally certain.’ However Maeve compelled a smile to her lips. It wasn’t anybody’s enterprise however her personal what was happening inside her wacky, messed-up mind. ‘I suppose I’m simply frightened about this assembly,’ she admitted, and that wasn’t a whole lie, regardless that her fears have been extra amorphous than that. ‘I didn’t even know I had a grandmother earlier than this journey. That’s, I didn’t realise she was nonetheless alive and dwelling in Paris.’ Shyly, she glanced at Madame Rémy. ‘You mentioned you was once associates… What’s Agathe like?’

The older girl thought of that for a second. ‘Agathe… Sure, we have been associates. Although that’s going a good distance again.’ Her smile was guarded. ‘She’s a troublesome girl.’

Maeve’s coronary heart sank. ‘How so?’

‘She’s a really non-public individual.’ Madame Rémy paused. ‘She by no means married, you see.’

‘Sorry?’

‘My apologies,’ she mentioned hurriedly, wanting embarrassed. ‘It’s none of my enterprise. I actually shouldn’t have mentioned something.’

‘No, please, I used to be the one who requested.’ Maeve swallowed, startled by this sudden new details about her household tree. ‘So that you imply, my mom was… illegitimate?’

Madame nodded slowly. ‘Lately, it’s barely price mentioning. So few younger individuals care concerning the sanctity of marriage. However again in my day… Nicely, it was a significant issue for Agathe when she discovered herself pregnant. Not least as a result of she couldn’t keep on working and incomes a dwelling.’

Maeve frowned as a reminiscence got here again to her. ‘My father as soon as mentioned that my grandmother had been an artist’s mannequin when she was youthful. However I at all times assumed that was a household fantasy.’ Maeve handed again the comb. ‘Thanks.’

‘You’re welcome.’ Madame Rémy returned it to her purse, her expression distracted. ‘Sure, Agathe was a mannequin. Like me, the truth is.’

‘You?’

‘Oh sure. That’s how we knew one another, in fact. We have been each a part of the identical close-knit circle… Artists, fashions, critics, writers… We each sat for varied artists. And never at all times sporting garments.’ She chuckled at Maeve’s widening gaze. ‘Oh, we lived quite wildly in these days. However when poor Agathe fell pregnant, she tried to return house and her mother and father disowned her. They have been strict Catholics, you see.’ She shrugged. ‘Issues fell aside for her after that. She lastly managed to share an residence with a good friend. However she by no means labored as a mannequin once more. It was such a pity as a result of she actually was very lovely… The artists liked her.’

‘However what concerning the child’s father? My grandfather? Why didn’t he – ?’

‘I’m afraid he couldn’t assist. You see, he was a married man. An artist she’d usually sat for. And never French.’ Madame Rémy sighed when she noticed Maeve’s horrified expression. ‘I’m sorry. This have to be onerous to listen to. And actually, I ought to have let Agathe converse to you herself. It’s not my story to inform.’

‘No, I’m glad I do know at the very least the fundamental information. Thanks. It helps me really feel extra ready. You say my grandfather wasn’t French, although? Was he English, then?’

‘No,’ Madame Rémy mentioned with a grimace. ‘He was Russian.’

‘Goodness.’

So her grandfather had been a Russian artist. And already a married man when her mom had been conceived. What a large number that should have been.

However that made her… What, 1 / 4 Russian?

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