Free The Virgin Blue by Tracy Chevalier Page B

own magic. She and Hannah stared at each other. Hannah looked away first.
Isabelle missed Susanne's nod but not its result. Bertrand turned resolutely towards Jean.
— Susanne, Deborah and I, we will go to Alès with the Duchesse de l'Aigle, he stated.
Jean gazed at Bertrand.
— You understand that you will lose everything if you go, he said quietly.
— We will lose everything if we stay. Susanne is near her time, she cannot walk far. She cannot run. There will be no chance for her when the Catholics come.
— You do not believe in this house? Where no babies have died? Where Tourniers have thrived for 100 years?
— I believe in the Truth, he replied. That is what I believe in. With his words he seemed to grow, his defiance giving him height and girth. Isabelle realized for the first time that he was actually taller than his father-in-law.
— With our marriage you gave no dowry because we live here with you. All I ask for now is one horse. That will be dowry enough.
Jean looked incredulous.
— You want me to give you a horse so you can take away my daughter and grandchildren?
— I want to save your daughter and grandchildren.
— I am the master of this family, yes?
— God is my master. I must follow the Truth, not this magic you are so convinced by.
Isabelle would never have guessed Bertrand could be so rebellious. After Jean and Hannah chose him for Susanne, he had worked hard and never crossed Jean. He had brought an ease to the house, arm-wrestling with Etienne every day, teaching Petit Jean to whittle, making them laugh by the fire at night with his stories of the wolf and the fox. He treated Susanne with a gentleness that Isabelle envied. Once or twice she had seen him swallow his defiance; it appeared to have grown in his stomach, waiting for a moment such as this.
Then Jean surprised everyone.
— Go, he said gruffly. But take the ass, not the horse. He turned and strode to the barn door, yanked it open and disappeared inside.
Etienne glanced up at Isabelle before looking down at his hands; she was certain then that they would not follow Bertrand. Etienne's marriage to her had been his one act of defiance. He had no will left for another.
Isabelle turned to her sister-in-law.
— When you ride the ass, she whispered, you must ride sideways to support the baby with your legs. That will keep it from coming too soon. Ride sideways, she repeated, for Susanne was staring into space as if in shock. She turned to look at Isabelle.
— You mean like the Virgin riding into Egypt?
— Yes. Yes, just like the Virgin.
They had not mentioned Her for a long time.
Deborah and Marie were sleeping with a sheet twined round them when Susanne and Isabelle went to wake Deborah just before dawn. They tried not to disturb the others but Marie woke up and began to say loudly: — Why is Deborah leaving? Why is she leaving? Jacob opened his eyes, his features pinched. Then Petit Jean, still dressed, sat up.
— Maman, where are they going? he whispered hoarsely. Will they see soldiers? And horses and flags? Will they see Uncle Jacques?
— Uncle Jacques is not a Catholic soldier; he fights with Coligny's army in the north.
— But the steward said Coligny was killed.
— Yes.
— So Uncle Jacques may come back.
Isabelle did not answer. Jacques Tournier had gone to the army ten years before, at the same time as other young men from Mont Lozère. He had returned once, scarred, raucous, full of tales, one of them about Isabelle's brothers, run through with the same pike.
— As twins should be, Jacques had added brutally, laughing when Isabelle turned away. Petit Jean worshipped Jacques. Isabelle hated him, whose eyes had followed her everywhere, never resting on her face. He encouraged a hard boisterousness in Etienne that disturbed her. But Jacques had not stayed long: the call of blood and excitement had been too strong, stronger even than the claims of family.
The children followed the women down the ladder and out into the yard,