Le Temps des Cerises by Zillah Bethel Read Free Book Online Page A

stained-glass windows glowed vividly above the stinking mass of warm, wet flesh. If God were a Belleville revolutionary, Eveline decided, what a following He would have! She spotted Laurie and Alphonse next to Tessier the bookkeeper who always kept the minutes in his small, neat handwriting. A table had been brought out of the chancel for him to make his job a little easier; and Laurie and Alphonse were crouched down beside him, presumably keeping his spirits up. Eveline felt her heart beat a little faster and, adjusting her blue merino dress, she cut across an empty pew and approached them via the chancel itself.
    â€˜You look like a drowned rat!’ Laurie teased kindly, his eyes sparkling at the sight of her.
    â€˜Thank you very much!’ she replied, slipping her hand into his and nodding at Alphonse who raised an eyebrow and enquired if it was raining outside. She was trying to think of a sharp retort when a woman behind told them all to shut up because Citizen Roly was about to take the floor.
    â€˜There have been two denunciations already,’ Laurie whispered in her ear, his fair hair tickling her neck. ‘A woman on the Rue Belhomme has been feeding bread to her four dogs. Four, mind! And General Thomas has been accused of playing billiards all day in his luxury apartments on the Champs Élysées.’
    Citizen Roly took to the floor, a dapper little man in a black suit with a képi perched on his head. He took out a handkerchief, mopped his brow and began.
    â€˜We are in the 94 th day of the siege!’
    â€˜ Hurrah !’
    â€˜And I would like to make it clear first of all that I do not believe the government to be composed entirely of evil-minded untrustworthy criminals. I believe it to be entirely composed of a bunch of incompetent imbeciles!’
    There were titters at that and Tessier scribbled furiously, beads of sweat breaking out on his brow. He had developed his own peculiar form of shorthand – the system Léon as he called it – which replaced words with symbols of his own choosing. For example, enemy was a cross, friend was an upturned smile, hurrahs were upturned pointing arrows, boos were downward, hello was a pair of eyes and the government a question mark. Unfortunately, because he had never produced a comprehensive guide to the system Léon (and in any case was adding to it day by day) his shorthand was completely indecipherable to anyone but himself
    â€˜We’ve been hearing about Trochu’s plan for the last three months,’ Citizen Roly went on. ‘Well, where is it? What has happened to it? Has it flown off in a balloon?’
    â€˜ Ha Ha !’
    â€˜Being a Roman Catholic, does General Trochu think he ought to run it past God before he puts it into action?’
    There was general hilarity at that and the woman behind Laurie and Eveline slapped her thighs. ‘Run it past God,’ she guffawed. ‘Did you hear that!’
    Laurie squeezed Eveline’s hand and she managed to keep a straight face by concentrating hard on Citizen Roly.
    â€˜Let us hope a pigeon brings it home before a Saxon eagle swoops,’ he concluded sombrely.
    â€˜ Hear Hear !’
    â€˜And what of the armies that were supposed to come to Paris’ rescue? Have they all flown off in a balloon? Presumably they haven’t starved to death like the 15,000 inhabitants of the city have done in the last three months!’
    Shocked exclamations. Tuts. A barrage of boos.
    â€˜We were told yesterday that operations were suspended because of the ice. Ice, ladies and gentlemen! We are not trains running on timetables! We do not need to suspend operations because of the ice. Our forefathers fought at Sébastopol. I think we can suffer a few chilblains and chapped lips for the sake of our nation, for the sake of liberty!’
    â€˜ Hurrah! Hear Hear !’
    The organist struck up a few bars of the Marseillaise and Citizen Roly climbed down to