I can see myself again on that afternoon walking up and down the platform of Vallorbe Station. It was his craze. I did my best to give him the information he wanted, while waiting impatiently for his people to reappear.
I had offered to look after the ladies' luggage, but the grandmother had declined my help with thanks. Jeannine was so capable! These little jobs amused her. The girl came out on to the platform towards us, and wanted to take back her dressing bag.
I refused to allow it. Madame Landry joined us. I took her to a seat but she refused to sit down, she was not tired. I always admired her, slim and alert at over sixty. I had made their acquaintance at the hotel at which we had arrived together three weeks before.
The old [Pg 4] lady, who was the widow of an Inspector of Finances, always began by keeping her distance. The chance discovery that I was the son of an officer in the army had prejudiced her in my favour.
The Landrys had many connections with the army, and Colonel Dreher's name was not unknown to them. The grandmother had been able to prove, by the concurrence of various dates, that my father must have received his commission at the same time as her own brother, who had been seriously wounded in the year ' This was reason enough for us to become very intimate in a few days.
