‘And are there special glasses?’ Alexandra asked.
‘In the cupboard.’
‘Will your father mind if we use them? Would you like to find out?’ Alexandra had a feeling that if Stéphie asked, her papa would agree and she thought she should keep out of her boss’s way until he’d forgotten she’d ordered him to bring in the logs. ‘It would be fun and nice to eat somewhere other than the kitchen.’
‘I’ll go and find Papa.’ Stéphie was out of the door before Alexandra could ask about the grape scissors.
Alexandra decided to look for Félicité. She hadn’t seen her for a while and Stéphie would even enjoy sorting out cutlery if her big sister was with her.
She found Félicité sitting on her bed staring out of the window. There were tears on her cheeks.
‘Oh, honey, what’s the matter?’ said Alexandra before she remembered that Félicité was touchy and might respond better to a less emotional approach. ‘Are you OK?’
Félicité gulped and nodded. ‘I expect so.’
Alexandra sat on the bed next to Félicité. ‘But you’re not sure?’
There was a big sniff. ‘I know all about it. It’s just now it’s happened I feel weird. And it hurts and I want to cry.’
Light dawned on Alexandra and she felt a wave of sympathy. ‘You’ve started your period?’
Félicité nodded.
‘I remember starting mine. It was horrible at first. I just couldn’t believe it would happen every month. Have you got everything you need?’ Alexandra couldn’t remember who had told her about this stage in a woman’s development and if they’d provided her with pads and a belt.
‘No. Grand-mère told me about them but she said she didn’t have them until she was sixteen. She seemed to think that if you had them before that it meant you flirted with boys and were bad.’
‘Oh well, that’s certainly not true. And I can help you out with what you need for now. Have you got a pain? In your lower back?’
‘Yes! How did you know?’
Alexandra laughed. ‘It’s usual. You need a hot-water bottle and possibly an aspirin.’
‘In France they put them—'
Alexandra stopped her. ‘I have some you can swallow.’ She did not want to know the finer details of how the French administered pain relief. ‘A hot drink would help. Hot chocolate? My nanny used to put a bit of brandy in mine.’ Alexandra paused. ‘Would you like me to try and get hold of your mother?’
‘Absolutely not!’ Félicité seemed to be in no doubt about this.
‘I’ll get what you need.’
Just as she reached the door Félicité said, ‘Why did you still have a nanny when you had periods?’
Alexandra shrugged. ‘Well, she was called a governess but she didn’t teach me anything – I was at school then – but she wasn’t a companion either. I don’t think my relations, the people looking after me, quite knew what I needed.’ She waited in case Félicité had any other questions and then left the room.
She got downstairs to find Antoine and Maxime in the hall, talking and laughing and banging each other on the shoulders. They were obviously pleased to see each other.
‘Can we invite Maxime to dinner?’ Antoine asked. ‘Will there be enough?’
‘If David is cooking there will be more than enough.’
Maxime took hold of Alexandra’s hand and kissed it. ‘You are even more beautiful than when I last saw you.’
Alexandra laughed, to hide her embarrassment. ‘Hello, Maxime.’
‘You two seem to know each other better than I realised,’ said Antoine, smiling but without amusement.
‘Maxime has been a great help to us,’ said Alexandra. ‘Especially when he got you to come home.’ She thought for a minute. ‘Why don’t you have a glass of wine on the terrace? It’s a lovely evening.’
