Latest / Chateau and Country Life in France / 12 - Chateau and Country Life in France by Mary King Waddington
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- 0:01Speaker 1: Section twelve of Chateau and country Life in France. This
- 0:04Speaker 1: is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the
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- 0:12Speaker 1: dot org. Chateau and country Life in France by Mary
- 0:17Speaker 1: King Wattington, Chapter six, Christmas and the Vallois One. It
- 0:24Speaker 1: had been a cold December, quite recalling Christmas holidays at
- 0:27Speaker 1: home when we used to think Christmas without snow wasn't
- 0:30Speaker 1: a real Christmas. And half the pleasure of getting the
- 0:33Speaker 1: greens to dress the church was gone if the children
- 0:36Speaker 1: hadn't to walk up to their ankles and untrodden snow
- 0:40Speaker 1: across the fields to get the long trailing branches of
- 0:43Speaker 1: ivy and bunches of pine. We were just warm enough
- 0:47Speaker 1: in the big chateau. There were two caloriffairs and roaring
- 0:51Speaker 1: wood fires, trees in the chimneys. But even I must
- 0:55Speaker 1: allow that the great stone staircase and long corridors were cold.
- 1:00Speaker 1: I couldn't protest when nearly all the members of the
- 1:02Speaker 1: household of all ages wrapped themselves in wooden shawls and
- 1:06Speaker 1: even fur capes. At night when the procession mounted the
- 1:09Speaker 1: big staircase. I'd want it for a long time to
- 1:12Speaker 1: make a Christmas tree in our lonely little village of
- 1:14Speaker 1: Saint Quentin, near louvere Or Farm. But I didn't get
- 1:18Speaker 1: much support from my French friends and relations. W was
- 1:22Speaker 1: decidedly against it. The people wouldn't understand, had never seen
- 1:26Speaker 1: such a thing. It was entirely foreign importation, just beginning
- 1:30Speaker 1: to be understood in the upper classes of society. One
- 1:34Speaker 1: of my friends, Madame Cosimir Pierre, who has a beautiful
- 1:38Speaker 1: chateau at pont sort seyne of historic renown. La Grande Mademoiselle,
- 1:45Speaker 1: danced there a pont jeif fe venierres vielance, she says
- 1:50Speaker 1: in her memoirs, also disapproved. She gives away a great
- 1:54Speaker 1: deal herself and looks after all her village, but not
- 1:58Speaker 1: in that way. She said that I had much better
- 2:01Speaker 1: spend the money it would cost on good, sensible, warm clothes, blankets, bones,
- 2:05Speaker 1: du poms, et cetera. There was no use in giving
- 2:09Speaker 1: them ideas of pleasure and refinement that they never had
- 2:12Speaker 1: and couldn't appreciate. Of course, it wasn't all perfectly logical
- 2:16Speaker 1: and sensible, but I did so want to be unreasonable,
- 2:20Speaker 1: and for once give these poor wretched little children something
- 2:23Speaker 1: that would be a delight to them for the whole year,
- 2:26Speaker 1: one poor little ray of sunshine in their great, dull lives.
- 2:30Speaker 1: We had many discussions in the big drawing room after dinner,
- 2:33Speaker 1: when w was smoking in the arm chair and disposed
- 2:36Speaker 1: to look at things less sternly than in bright daylight. However,
- 2:40Speaker 1: he fondly agreed to leave me a free hand, and
- 2:42Speaker 1: I told him we should give a warm garment to
- 2:45Speaker 1: every child and to the very old men and women.
- 2:48Speaker 1: I knew I should get plenty of help, as the
- 2:51Speaker 1: sisters and Pauline promised me dolls and deroges. I'm sorry
- 2:56Speaker 1: he couldn't be here. The presence of the ambassador would
- 2:59Speaker 1: give more a clut to the fete, and I think
- 3:02Speaker 1: in his heart he was rather curious as to what
- 3:04Speaker 1: we would do. But he was obliged to go back
- 3:06Speaker 1: to London for Christmas. His leave was up, and besides
- 3:10Speaker 1: he had various country and shooting engagements where he would
- 3:13Speaker 1: certainly enjoy himself and see interesting people. I shall stay
- 3:17Speaker 1: over Christmas and start for London about the twenty night,
- 3:21Speaker 1: so as to be ready to go to Nawsley by
- 3:23Speaker 1: the thirtieth, where we always spend the New Year's Day.
- 3:27Speaker 1: We started off one morning after breakfast interview the school
- 3:31Speaker 1: mistress and the mayor, a most important personage. If you
- 3:35Speaker 1: had ever seen Saint Quentin, you would hardly believe it
- 3:37Speaker 1: could possess such an exalted functionary. The village consists of
- 3:41Speaker 1: about twelve little, low gray houses, stretching up a steep
- 3:45Speaker 1: hill with a very rough road towards the woods of Bourney. Behind.
- 3:50Speaker 1: There are forty inhabitants, a church and a schoolhouse. But
- 3:54Speaker 1: it is a commune and not the smallest in France.
- 3:58Speaker 1: There is another, still smaller, somewhere in the south, toward
- 4:01Speaker 1: the Alps Maratimes. I always go and make a visit
- 4:04Speaker 1: to the mayor, who is a very small farmer and
- 4:07Speaker 1: keeps the drinking shop of the village. We shake hands
- 4:10Speaker 1: and I sit a few minutes in a wooden chair
- 4:12Speaker 1: in the one room. I don't take a drink, which
- 4:15Speaker 1: is so much gained, and we talked about the wants
- 4:18Speaker 1: in general behavior of the population. The first time I went,
- 4:21Speaker 1: I was on horseback, so we dismounted and had our
- 4:24Speaker 1: little talk. When we got up to go, he hurriedly
- 4:27Speaker 1: brought out a bench for me to mount from, and
- 4:30Speaker 1: was quite bewildered when he saw w lift me to
- 4:33Speaker 1: the saddle from the ground. The church is a pretty
- 4:36Speaker 1: old gray building, standing very high, with a little graveyard
- 4:39Speaker 1: on one side and a grass terrace in front, from
- 4:42Speaker 1: which one has the most lovely view down the valley
- 4:45Speaker 1: and over the green slopes to the woods Borney and
- 4:48Speaker 1: Villier Corterret on one side, Chaise the other. It is
- 4:53Speaker 1: very worn and dilapidated inside, and is never open except
- 4:57Speaker 1: on the day of Saint Quentin, when the Cure of
- 5:00Speaker 1: La Ferte Milonne comes over and has a service. The
- 5:03Speaker 1: schoolhouse is a nice modern little house built by w
- 5:07Speaker 1: some years ago. It looks as if it had dropped
- 5:09Speaker 1: down by mistake into this very old world little hamlet.
- 5:14Speaker 1: It is a short walk little more than two kilometers
- 5:17Speaker 1: from the gates of the big park. And the day
- 5:20Speaker 1: was enchanting, cold and bright, too bright indeed, for the
- 5:24Speaker 1: low gray clouds of the last days had been promising snow,
- 5:27Speaker 1: and I wanted it so much for my tree. We
- 5:30Speaker 1: were quite a party. Henrietta, Anne, Pauline, Alice and Francis
- 5:35Speaker 1: Bonnie the fox terrier and a very large and heavy
- 5:38Speaker 1: four wheeled cart, which the children insisted upon taking, and
- 5:41Speaker 1: which naturally had to be drawn up all the hills
- 5:44Speaker 1: by the grown ups, as it was much too heavy
- 5:47Speaker 1: for the little ones. Bonnie enjoyed himself madly making frantic
- 5:51Speaker 1: excursions to the woods in search of rabbits, absolutely unheeding
- 5:55Speaker 1: call or whistle, and finally emerging dirty and scratched, stopping
- 6:00Speaker 1: all the rabbit holes he met on the way back
- 6:02Speaker 1: and burrowing deep into them until nothing was left but
- 6:05Speaker 1: a stumpy, little white tail wagging furiously. We went first
- 6:09Speaker 1: to the Mayor, as we were obliged to ask his
- 6:12Speaker 1: permission to give our party at the school. Nothing in
- 6:15Speaker 1: France could be done without official sanction. I wanted to
- 6:18Speaker 1: to speak to him about a church service, which I
- 6:21Speaker 1: was very anxious to have before the tree was lighted.
- 6:24Speaker 1: I didn't want the children's only idea of Christmas to
- 6:26Speaker 1: be cakes and toys, and that was rather difficult to arrange.
- 6:30Speaker 1: As the situation is so strained between the clergy and
- 6:34Speaker 1: the laches, particularly the curee and the schoolmaster. I knew
- 6:39Speaker 1: I should have no trouble with the school mistress. The
- 6:42Speaker 1: school is so small that is mixed girls and boys
- 6:44Speaker 1: from four to twelve, and there is a woman teacher.
- 6:47Speaker 1: She is the wife of one of our keepers, and
- 6:50Speaker 1: a nice woman. But I didn't know how the mayor
- 6:52Speaker 1: would feel on the subject. However, he was most amiable,
- 6:56Speaker 1: would do anything I wanted. I said, I held very
- 6:59Speaker 1: much to have the church open, and that I would
- 7:01Speaker 1: like as many people to come as it would hold.
- 7:04Speaker 1: Would he tell all the people in the neighborhood. I
- 7:06Speaker 1: would write to the principal farmers, and I was sure
- 7:09Speaker 1: we could make a most interesting fit. It was rather
- 7:13Speaker 1: flattered at being consulted, said he would come up with
- 7:16Speaker 1: us and open the church. It was absolutely neglected, and
- 7:19Speaker 1: there was nothing in the way of benches, carpets, et cetera.
- 7:22Speaker 1: I told him I must go first to the school,
- 7:24Speaker 1: but I would meet him at the church in half
- 7:26Speaker 1: an hour. The children were already up the hill, tugging
- 7:29Speaker 1: the big cart filled with pine cones. The school mistress
- 7:32Speaker 1: was much pleased at the idea of the Christmas tree.
- 7:35Speaker 1: She had never seen one except in pictures, and never
- 7:38Speaker 1: thought she would really have one in her school. We
- 7:40Speaker 1: settled the day, and she promised to come and help
- 7:43Speaker 1: arrange the church. Then we went into the school room,
- 7:46Speaker 1: and it was funny to hear the answer a roar
- 7:48Speaker 1: of we, Madame Wattington, when I asked if the children
- 7:52Speaker 1: were good, so we told them if they continued very good,
- 7:56Speaker 1: there would be a surprise for them. There were only
- 7:59Speaker 1: thirty scholars, rather poor and miserable looking. Some of them
- 8:02Speaker 1: come from so far trudge along the high road, and
- 8:05Speaker 1: a little band in all weathers, insufficiently clad. One big
- 8:09Speaker 1: boy today had on a linen summer jacket. I asked
- 8:13Speaker 1: the teacher if he had a tricot underneath. Must know,
- 8:16Speaker 1: Madame oh laure Il provai he had a miserable little
- 8:21Speaker 1: shirt underneath, which may once have been flannel, but which
- 8:25Speaker 1: was worn threadbare. We choose our day, and then adjourned
- 8:28Speaker 1: to the church, where the mayor and a nice red cheeked,
- 8:31Speaker 1: wrinkled old woman who keeps the ornament such as they
- 8:34Speaker 1: are of the church, were waiting for us. It was
- 8:37Speaker 1: certainly bare and neglected the old church, bits of plaster
- 8:40Speaker 1: dropping off walls and ceilings, and the altar in one
- 8:43Speaker 1: or two little statues still in good condition. But we
- 8:46Speaker 1: saw we could arrange it pretty well with greens. The
- 8:49Speaker 1: few flowers, chrysanthemums, Christmas roses, et c. That were still
- 8:54Speaker 1: in the greenhouse, a new red carpet for the altar steps,
- 8:57Speaker 1: and of course vases, tall candlesticks, et cetera. There was
- 9:01Speaker 1: one handsome bit of old lace on a white not
- 9:03Speaker 1: pay for the altar, and a good dress for the virgin.
- 9:07Speaker 1: We could have the school benches, and the mayor would
- 9:09Speaker 1: lend chairs for the quality on the whole. We were
- 9:12Speaker 1: satisfied and told W triumphantly at dinner that the mayor,
- 9:16Speaker 1: so far from making any objection, was pleased as punch.
- 9:20Speaker 1: He had never seen a Christmas tree either. The next
- 9:23Speaker 1: day the list of the children was sent according to
- 9:25Speaker 1: age and sex, also the old people, and we were
- 9:28Speaker 1: very busy settling what we must do in the way
- 9:31Speaker 1: of toys. The principal thing was to go to Paris
- 9:34Speaker 1: and get all we wanted toys, betisis and shiny things
- 9:37Speaker 1: for the tree, et cetera. Henrietta and I undertook that,
- 9:42Speaker 1: and we went off the same day that W left
- 9:44Speaker 1: for London. It was bitterly cold, the ground frozen hard.
- 9:48Speaker 1: We had a long drive eighteen kilometers through Villaires Couterette's forest,
- 9:53Speaker 1: but no snow, only a beautiful white frost. All the
- 9:57Speaker 1: trees and bushes covered with rime. Driving through a fairy forest,
- 10:02Speaker 1: when we had occasional gleams of sunlight, every leaf sparkled,
- 10:05Speaker 1: and the red berries of the holly stood out beautifully
- 10:08Speaker 1: from all the white. The fine old ruins of Laferte
- 10:12Speaker 1: look splendid, rising out of a mass of glistening underwood
- 10:15Speaker 1: and long grass. We are very proud of our old
- 10:18Speaker 1: chateau fort, which, as was stood well the work of time.
- 10:22Speaker 1: It was begun and never finished by Louis d'Orleans in
- 10:26Speaker 1: thirteen o three, and was never inhabited. Now there is
- 10:30Speaker 1: nothing left but the facade and great round towers, but
- 10:34Speaker 1: quite enough to show what it might have been. There
- 10:37Speaker 1: is also a base relief, perfectly well preserved, over the
- 10:40Speaker 1: big door of the Coronation of the Virgin, the kneeling
- 10:44Speaker 1: figure quite distinct. On the other side is a great
- 10:47Speaker 1: grass place, village green, where the fetes of La Ferte
- 10:51Speaker 1: take place, and where all the town dances the days
- 10:54Speaker 1: of the assembly. From the bottom of the terrace at
- 10:57Speaker 1: the foot of the low wall, one has a magnificent
- 11:00Speaker 1: view over the town in the great forest of villers
- 11:03Speaker 1: Cotterets stretching away in front a long blue line on
- 11:07Speaker 1: the horizon. In the main street of Laferte, there is
- 11:11Speaker 1: a statue of Rocinne, who was born there. It is
- 11:14Speaker 1: in white marble and the classic draperies of the time,
- 11:18Speaker 1: and is also in very good preservation. The baptismal register
- 11:22Speaker 1: of Jean Roscine is in the archives of La Ferte.
- 11:26Speaker 1: The road all the way to Villaire's Courterretes was most animated.
- 11:30Speaker 1: It was market day and we met every description of vehicles,
- 11:33Speaker 1: from the high, old fashioned tilbury of the well to
- 11:36Speaker 1: do farmer to the peasant's cart. Sometimes an old woman
- 11:40Speaker 1: driving well wrapped up her turban on her head, but
- 11:43Speaker 1: a knit shawl wound around it, carrying a lot of
- 11:46Speaker 1: cheeses to market. Sometimes a man with a cow tied
- 11:49Speaker 1: behind his cart and a calf inside. We also crossed
- 11:53Speaker 1: Manire's equipage de Chassel, horses and dogs being exercised. We
- 11:58Speaker 1: talked a few minutes to Hubert the Picquoort, who was
- 12:02Speaker 1: in a very bad humor. They had not hunted for
- 12:04Speaker 1: some days, and dogs and horses were unruly. The horses
- 12:09Speaker 1: were a fine lot, almost all white or light gray.
- 12:12Speaker 1: We go sometimes to the meats and the effect is
- 12:15Speaker 1: very good, as the men all wear scarlet coats and
- 12:18Speaker 1: the contrast is striking. We had an exhausting day in Paris,
- 12:22Speaker 1: but managed to get pretty nearly everything. The little children
- 12:26Speaker 1: were easily disposed of dolls, drums, wooden horses, et cetera,
- 12:31Speaker 1: but the bigger boys and girls, who have outgrown toys,
- 12:33Speaker 1: are more difficult to suit. However, with knives, paint boxes,
- 12:37Speaker 1: lotos geographical and historical for the boys, and handkerchief in
- 12:42Speaker 1: work boxes, morocco bags, et cetera, we did finally get
- 12:46Speaker 1: our fifty objects. They are always extra children. Cropping up
- 12:50Speaker 1: shopping was not very easy, as the streets and boulevards
- 12:53Speaker 1: were crowded and slippery. We had a fairly good cab,
- 12:56Speaker 1: but the time seemed endless. The big bazaars tell de
- 13:00Speaker 1: Ville Route, the Amsterdam, et cetera, were the most amusing. Really,
- 13:04Speaker 1: one could get anything from a five sous doll to
- 13:07Speaker 1: a managerie, the little cooking stove all the peasant women
- 13:11Speaker 1: used in their cottages. There were armies of extras, white
- 13:15Speaker 1: apron youths who did their best for us. We explained
- 13:18Speaker 1: to one of the superintendents what we wanted, and he
- 13:21Speaker 1: gave us a very intelligent boy who followed us about
- 13:24Speaker 1: with an enormous basket in which everything was put. When
- 13:27Speaker 1: we finally became almost distracted with the confusion and the
- 13:31Speaker 1: crowd in our list, we asked the boy what he
- 13:33Speaker 1: liked when he was eleven years old at school, and
- 13:36Speaker 1: he assured us all boys liked knives and guns. When
- 13:40Speaker 1: we had finished with the boys, we had the decorations
- 13:42Speaker 1: for the tree to get and then to the bon
- 13:45Speaker 1: Marche for yards of flannel, calico, vas de lan, tricos,
- 13:50Speaker 1: et cetera. We had given w rendezvous at five at Henrietta's.
- 13:55Speaker 1: He was going to cross at night. We found him
- 13:58Speaker 1: there having his tea. It's lots of people been to
- 14:01Speaker 1: the Elise and had a long interview with the President Greve.
- 14:05Speaker 1: Then to the Quys de 'orsay to get his last
- 14:08Speaker 1: instructions from the minister, and he had still people coming
- 14:12Speaker 1: to see him. When we left, a train was before
- 14:15Speaker 1: his He was closeted with one of his friends, a
- 14:18Speaker 1: candidate for the institute, very keen about his vote, which
- 14:22Speaker 1: w had promised him, and going over for about the
- 14:25Speaker 1: twentieth time the list of members to see what his
- 14:27Speaker 1: chances were. However, I suppose all candidates are exactly alike,
- 14:32Speaker 1: and w says he is sure he was a nuisance
- 14:35Speaker 1: to all his friends. When he presented himself at the institute.
- 14:39Speaker 1: One or two people were waiting at the dining room
- 14:41Speaker 1: to speak to him, and his servant was distracted over
- 14:44Speaker 1: his valise, which wasn't begun. Then I promised him I
- 14:48Speaker 1: would write him a faithful account of our fit. Once
- 14:51Speaker 1: we had decided our day, we took the five o'clock
- 14:54Speaker 1: train down in anice cold drive we had going home.
- 14:57Speaker 1: The roads were rather slippery, and the forest black and weird.
- 15:01Speaker 1: The trees, which had been so beautiful in the morning,
- 15:03Speaker 1: covered with rhyme, seemed a massive black wall hemming us
- 15:07Speaker 1: in is certainly a lonely bit of country. Once we
- 15:10Speaker 1: had left the lights of Villaire's cotrees behind us, crossed
- 15:14Speaker 1: the last railway and were fairly started in the forest.
- 15:18Speaker 1: We didn't meet anything, neither cart, carriage, boucheron, nor pedestrian
- 15:23Speaker 1: of any kind. Henrietta was rather nervous, and she breathed
- 15:27Speaker 1: a sigh of relief when we got out on the
- 15:29Speaker 1: plains and trotted down the long hill that leads to
- 15:32Speaker 1: La Fertee. The chateau lights looked very warm and home like.
- 15:35Speaker 1: As we drove in. We gave a detailed account of
- 15:38Speaker 1: all we had bought, and as we had brought our
- 15:41Speaker 1: list with us, we went to work at once settling
- 15:44Speaker 1: what each child should have. I found a note from
- 15:47Speaker 1: the Abbe Marechal, the Curee of La Ferte Milone, whom
- 15:51Speaker 1: I wanted to consult about our service, is a very clever,
- 15:55Speaker 1: moderate man, a great friend of ours, and I was
- 15:58Speaker 1: sure he would help us and arrange a service of
- 16:00Speaker 1: some kind for the children. Of course, I was rather
- 16:03Speaker 1: vague about a Catholic service a Protestant one. I could
- 16:07Speaker 1: have arranged myself with some Christmas carols and a short liturgy,
- 16:11Speaker 1: but I had no idea what Christmas meant to Catholic minds.
- 16:15Speaker 1: We had asked him to come to breakfast and we
- 16:17Speaker 1: would go over to the village afterward see the church
- 16:20Speaker 1: and what could be done. He was quite pleased at
- 16:23Speaker 1: the idea of doing anything for his poor little parish,
- 16:26Speaker 1: and he is so fond of children and young people
- 16:28Speaker 1: that he was quite as much interested as we were.
- 16:31Speaker 1: He knew the church, having held a service there three
- 16:34Speaker 1: or four times. We walked over, talking over a ceremony
- 16:37Speaker 1: and what we could do. He said he would give
- 16:39Speaker 1: a benediction, bring over the Enfant Jesus, and make a
- 16:43Speaker 1: small address to the children. The music was rather difficult
- 16:47Speaker 1: to arrange, but we finally agreed that we would send
- 16:50Speaker 1: a big omnibus to bring over the harmonium from La Ferte,
- 16:54Speaker 1: one or two sisters, two choir children, and three or
- 16:57Speaker 1: four of the older girls of the school who could sing,
- 17:00Speaker 1: and he would see that they learned two or three catacles.
- 17:04Speaker 1: We agreed to do everything in the way of decoration.
- 17:06Speaker 1: He made only one condition that the people should come
- 17:09Speaker 1: to the service. I could answer for all our household
- 17:13Speaker 1: and for some of the neighbors, almost all in fact,
- 17:15Speaker 1: as I was sure the novelty of the Christmas tree
- 17:18Speaker 1: would attract them and they wouldn't mind the church service
- 17:20Speaker 1: thrown in. We went, of course to see the mayor,
- 17:23Speaker 1: as the cure was obliged, to notify him that he
- 17:26Speaker 1: wished to open the church, and also to choose the day.
- 17:30Speaker 1: We took Thursday, which is the French holiday, and that
- 17:33Speaker 1: left us just two days to make our preparations. We
- 17:37Speaker 1: told Madame Isidore, the schoolmistress, we would come on Wednesday
- 17:41Speaker 1: for the church, bringing flowers, candles, et cetera, and Thursday
- 17:45Speaker 1: morning to dress the tree. The service was fixed for
- 17:48Speaker 1: three o'clock the tree afterward in the school room we
- 17:52Speaker 1: found our big ballots from the bazaars and other shops
- 17:55Speaker 1: when we got home, and all the evening we wrote
- 17:58Speaker 1: tickets and names, some of them so high sounding is
- 18:01Speaker 1: Mehdi alaine Leukadi, et cetera. And filled little red and
- 18:07Speaker 1: yellow bags which were very troublesome to make with dragees.
- 18:11Speaker 1: Wednesday we made a fine expedition to the woods, the
- 18:14Speaker 1: whole party, the donkey cart and one of the keepers
- 18:16Speaker 1: to choose the tree, a most important performance, as we
- 18:20Speaker 1: wanted the real pyramid sapine tapering off to a fine
- 18:24Speaker 1: point at the top. Labee keeper told us his young
- 18:28Speaker 1: son and the coachman's son had been all the morning
- 18:31Speaker 1: in the woods getting enormous branches of pine, holly and ivy,
- 18:34Speaker 1: which we would find at the church. We came across
- 18:37Speaker 1: various old women making up their bundles of faggots and
- 18:41Speaker 1: dead wood. They're always allowed to come once a week
- 18:43Speaker 1: to pick up the dead wood under the keeper's surveillance.
- 18:47Speaker 1: They were principally from Lovre and Saint Quentin, and were
- 18:51Speaker 1: staggering along carrying quite heavy bundles on their poor old
- 18:54Speaker 1: bent backs. However, they were very smiling today, and I
- 18:58Speaker 1: think the burden was lightened by the thought of the morrow.
- 19:01Speaker 1: We found a fine tree which was installed with some
- 19:04Speaker 1: difficulty in the donkey cart, Francis and Alice taking turns driving,
- 19:08Speaker 1: perched on the trunk of the tree, and Labez walking
- 19:12Speaker 1: behind supporting the top branches. We found the boys at
- 19:15Speaker 1: the church, having already begun their decorations, enormous high pine
- 19:19Speaker 1: branches ranged all along the wall, and trails of ivy
- 19:23Speaker 1: on the windows. The maids had arrived in the carriage,
- 19:26Speaker 1: bringing the new red carpet vases, candelabras and tall candlesticks.
- 19:30Speaker 1: Also too splendid wax candles, painted and decorated, which Gertrude
- 19:35Speaker 1: Schyler had brought us from Italy. All the flowers the
- 19:39Speaker 1: gardener would give them, principally chrysanthemums and Christmas roses. It
- 19:44Speaker 1: seems he wasn't at all well disposed. Couldn't imagine why
- 19:47Speaker 1: says Dames wanted to despoil the greenhouses for set pititro
- 19:52Speaker 1: de Saint Quentine. We all worked hard for about an hour,
- 19:56Speaker 1: and the little church looked quite transformed. The red carpet
- 19:59Speaker 1: covered all worn dirty places on the altar steps, and
- 20:03Speaker 1: the pine branches were so high and so thick that
- 20:05Speaker 1: the walls almost disappeared. When the old woman god In appeared,
- 20:10Speaker 1: she was speechless with delight. As soon as we had
- 20:13Speaker 1: finished there, we adjourned to the schoolhouse, and to our
- 20:16Speaker 1: joy snow was falling quite heavy flakes. Madame Isidore turned
- 20:22Speaker 1: all the children into a small room and we proceeded
- 20:25Speaker 1: to set up our tree. It was a great deal
- 20:28Speaker 1: too tall, and if we hadn't been there, they would
- 20:30Speaker 1: certainly have chopped it off at the top, quite spoiling
- 20:33Speaker 1: our beautiful point. But as we insisted, they cut away
- 20:37Speaker 1: from the bottom and it really was the regular pyramid
- 20:40Speaker 1: one always wants for a Christmas tree. We put it
- 20:43Speaker 1: in a big green case, which we had obtained with
- 20:45Speaker 1: great difficulty from the gardener. It was quite empty standing
- 20:49Speaker 1: in the orange urret, but he was convinced we would
- 20:52Speaker 1: never bring it back. Moss all around it and it
- 20:55Speaker 1: made a great effect. The Garde de Bornay arrived while
- 20:59Speaker 1: we were working. King had said he would certainly come
- 21:01Speaker 1: to the church in his tenue de Garde. Our two
- 21:04Speaker 1: keepers would also be there. End of Section twelve.