Marie Claire | Page 8

a girl like me, and
both of them leaned over me and shouted at me together. They made
me think of two noisy fairies, a black one and a white one. Madeleine
was fresh and fair, with full, open lips, and teeth which were wide apart.
Her tongue was broad and thick, and moved about into the corners of
her mouth when she talked. Bonne Néron raised her hand to me, and
said, "Drop your eyes this minute!" As they went away, I heard her say
to Madeleine: "She makes you ashamed of yourself when she looks at
you like that." I had known for a long time that Bonne Néron looked
like a bull, but I could not find out what animal Madeleine was like. I
thought it over for several days, thinking of all the animals I knew, and
at last I gave it up. She was fat, and her hips swayed when she walked.
She had a piercing voice, which surprised everybody. She asked leave
to sing in church, but as she did not know the hymns. Sister
Marie-Aimée told me to teach her. After that Marie Renaud was
allowed to brush and smooth out my things without anybody taking any

notice of it. She was so pleased that she gave me a safety-pin as a
present, so as to fasten up my handkerchief, which I was always losing.
Two days later I lost both the safety-pin and the handkerchief. Oh, that
handkerchief! It was a perfect nightmare! I used to lose one regularly
every week. Sister Marie-Aimée gave us a clean pocket-handkerchief
in return for the dirty one which we had to throw down on to the
ground in front of her. I never thought of mine till the last moment.
And then I turned out all my pockets, I ran about like a mad thing into
the dormitory, up and down the passages, and up to the garret hunting
for it everywhere. Oh dear, oh dear! if I could only find a handkerchief
somewhere! As I passed in front of the picture of the Virgin, I would
put my hands together and pray fervently, "Admirable Mother, make
me find a handkerchief." But I never did find one, and I went
downstairs again red in the face, out of breath, feeling dreadfully
unhappy, and not daring to take the clean handkerchief which Sister
Marie-Aimée handed to me. Before she spoke, I could hear the scolding
which I knew I deserved. And even when Sister Marie-Aimée said
nothing at all, I could see her frown, and her eyes looked crossly at me
and followed me about. I felt crushed with shame, so crushed that I
could scarcely lift my feet. I tried to hide in the corners as I walked;
and, in spite of it all, next time I had lost my handkerchief again.
Madeleine used to look at me with sham compassion. But she could not
always prevent herself from telling me that I deserved to be punished
severely. She seemed very fond of Sister Marie-Aimée. She waited on
her always, and she would burst into tears at her slightest word. Then
Sister Marie-Aimée had to soothe her by patting her cheeks, and she
would laugh and cry at the same time, and move her shoulders about,
showing her white neck. Bonne Néron used to say that she looked like
a cat.

Bonne Néron left one day after a scene in the middle of luncheon. It
happened during a dead silence. All of a sudden she shouted out, "Yes;
I want to go, and I am going!" Sister Marie-Aimée looked at her in
astonishment, and Bonne Néron faced her, putting her head down,
shaking it, butting at her almost, and shouting all the time that she
would not be ordered about by a bit of a baby. She walked backwards

as she shouted, got to the door, and pulled it open. Before she went out
of the room she threw one of her long arms out at Sister Marie-Aimée,
and shrieked, "She isn't even twenty-five!" Some of the little girls were
frightened, others burst out laughing. Madeleine got quite hysterical.
She threw herself on to the floor at Sister Marie-Aimée's knees, kissing
her dress, and winding her arms round her legs. She got hold of her two
hands and mumbled over them with her big, moist mouth, screaming
all the time as though some terrible catastrophe had happened. Sister
Marie-Aimée could not shake her off. At last she got angry. Then
Madeleine fainted, and fell on her back. As she was undoing her Sister
Marie-Aimée made a sign towards the part of the room where I was. I
thought she wanted me, and ran to her; but she sent me back again, "No;
not you. Marie Renaud,"