North by Louis-Ferdinand Céline Read Free Book Online Page B

knock! , somebody at the door. . . Madame von Dopf! . . . all the lights are out . . . hard to find your way . . . landings and corridors . . . she'd looked for us number by number . . . with a candle . . .

Madame von Dopf already knew we were leaving at dawn . . .
    I've taken the liberty of knocking at your door . . ."
    "Oh Madame! . . . Madame! . . . I thought . . . certain indications . . ."
    "Don't think! . . . don't think, my dear Doctor! there's no more rhyme nor reason! . . . we're all at the orders of a madman . . . you too, Doctor! And you, Madame! . . . that Schulze doesn't know what he's saying! . . . whom to betray? . . . he just doesn't know . . . he's so comical, Doctor! laughable! ridiculous!"
    I was thinking of Schulze myself . . . he had the power to frighten us . . . but on the other hand! a phone call from Berlin and Legationsrat Schulze, his plush-covered nibs, was through! . . . perfectly possible when they were purging the higher echelons more or less implicated in the plot . . . Schulze must have known a thing or two . . .
    I tell Madame von Dopf to come in . . .
    "No, no, Doctor, forgive me . . . I just wanted to say goodbye . . . to you both . . . I escaped from my room but you know the corridors! . . . at least one eye at every keyhole! . . . so comical! . . . they must have seen me going out! . . . did you know?. . ."
    She mentions names . . . a lady of her acquaintance . . . another . . . they'd already left . . .
    "Madame Céline, Madame, I haven't much left, you know . . . but it will give me pleasure if you accept this little memento . . ."
    I see a fan . . .
    "It's without artistic pretentions, you know . . . I painted it myself . . . all young ladies painted in those days . . . the color has almost worn off . . . and the very best of luck! . . .we shall be leaving tomorrow too . . . all of us!"
    "You're leaving?"
    "Yes, later than you, at noon . . . me to the madhouse . . . the prince to the hospital. . . their method . . . you here, me over there! . . . Doctor! Doctor! I mustn't stay any longer! . . . heavens, we've been plotting! . . ."
    She goes . . . she's not afraid of keyholes . . . we see her a long way off with her candle . . . the corridor is enormous . . . wide . . . long . . . she waves good-bye! . . . good-bye! her room is way at the other end . . . 

Yes, I admit, no order at all! . . . you'll catch on, I hope, I've shown you Sigmaringen, Pétain, de Brinon, ° Restif °  . . . all balled-up! . . . zounds! Baden-Baden first! . . . it wasn't until later, much later, that we joined with the Marshal and the Milice and the "shock troops of the New Europe," who are still running around somewhere or hiding in ditches . . . the "New Europe" will have to make itself without them! definitely, but with bombs! the atomic kind . . . as true as one and one . . . and with the Chinese . . . naturally . . . you won't find a word about it in your daily paper . . . or on the "drama page" . . . 
    Better get back to my story . . . Madame von Dopf was bidding us good-bye . . . her little memento, the fan . . . that's it! . . . Next morning as planned, Schulze knocks at the crack of dawn . . . the hotel's asleep but we're ready . . . Bébert in his bag, our two suitcases and there we go . . . the station . . . The Legàtionsrat puts us into the car . . . all aboard! . . . the train whistles . . . the real fuckup didn't start for another six months . . . traffic interrupted one day, two days, no more . . . patched up and all aboard . . . I only hope you don't get lost . . . this way of getting ahead of myself . . . more adventures . . . stuff I forget . . . crash bang! everything upside-down . . . this muddling of times of day, people, years . . . my fuddlement, I think, comes from scuttering and rough treatment. . . too many shocks in a row . . . Somebody . . . a friendly sort . . . stops me and says: "Doctor, I know it's not true, but the way you walk . . . looks like you'd been drinking . .