Marie Claire | Page 5

would be the rap of a ruler on
the desk. It would make an enormous noise down in my hollow.
Sometimes the feet would be drawn away from my little stool, the
knees would be drawn together, the chair would move, and down to my
nest came a white veil, a narrow chin, and smiling lips with little white
pointed teeth behind them. And last of all I saw two soft eyes which
seemed to cuddle me and make me feel comfortable.

When my eyes got better I used to get an alphabet as well as sweets and
cakes. It was a little book with pictures next to the words. I often used
to look at a great big strawberry which I fancied as big as a bun. When
it was not cold in the classroom, Sister Marie-Aimée put me on a bench
between Ismérie and Marie Renaud, who slept in the two beds next to
mine in the dormitory. Now and then she used to let me go back to my
hollow again, and I loved that. I used to find books there with pictures,
which made me forget all about the time.
One morning Ismérie took me into a corner, and told me with great
secrecy that Sister Marie-Aimée was not going to take the class any
more. She was going to take Sister Gabrielle's place in the dormitory
and the refectory. She did not tell me who had told her this, but she said
it was an awful shame. She was very fond of Sister Gabrielle, who used
to treat her like a little child. She did not like "that Sister

Marie-Aimée," as she used to call her when she knew that nobody
heard her but ourselves. She said that Sister Marie-Aimée would not let
her climb on to our backs, and that we should not be able to make fun
of her as we used to of Sister Gabrielle, who always went upstairs
sideways. In the evening after prayers Sister Gabrielle told us that she
was going. She kissed us all, beginning with the smallest of us. We
went up to the dormitory making a dreadful noise. The big girls
whispered together and said they would not put up with Sister
Marie-Aimée. The little ones snivelled as though they were going into
danger. Ismérie, whom I was carrying upstairs on my back, was crying
noisily. Her little fingers hurt my throat, and her tears fell down my
neck. Nobody thought of laughing at Sister Gabrielle, who went
upstairs slowly, saying "Hush, hush," all the time, without making the
noise any less. The servant in the little dormitory was crying too. She
shook me a little while she was undressing me and said, "I'm sure you
are pleased at having that Sister Marie-Aimée of yours." We used to
call the servant Bonne Esther. I liked her best of the three servants. She
was rather rough sometimes, but she was fond of us. When I coughed
she used to get up and put a piece of sugar in my mouth. And often she
took me out of my bed when I was cold and warmed me in her own.

Next morning we went down to the refectory in dead silence. The
servants told us to remain standing. Several of the big girls stood very
straight and looked proud. Bonne Justine stood at one end of the table.
She looked sad and bent her head. Bonne Néron, who looked like a
gendarme, walked up and down in the middle of the refectory. Now
and then she looked at the clock, and shrugged her shoulders. Sister
Marie-Aimée came in, leaving the door open behind her. She seemed to
me to be taller than usual, in her white apron and white cuffs. She
walked slowly, looking at us all. The rosary, which hung at her side,
made a little clickety sound, and her skirt swung a little as she walked.
She went up the three steps to her desk, and made a sign to us to sit
down. In the afternoon she took us out for a walk in the country. It was
very hot. I went and sat down near her on a little hillock. She was
reading a book, and every now and then looked at the little girls who
were playing in a field below us. She looked at the sun which was

setting, and kept on saying "How lovely it is, how lovely it is."
That evening the birch which Sister Gabrielle kept in the dormitory was
put away in a cupboard, and in the refectory the salad was turned with
two long wooden spoons. These were the only changes. We went into
class from nine o'clock till twelve, and in the afternoon we cracked nuts,
which