Free The Death Instinct by Jed Rubenfeld Page B

brow, then applied the cloth to his cheeks, his jaw, his neck. Younger gazed down at her delicate but serious features. She didn't once look into his eyes.
        'What was in the bag?' asked Younger.
        'I beg your pardon?'
        'You threw the soldiers a bag.'
        'Oh. Just groceries. Cheese, mostly. They don't get enough food; they're all hungry. Like a band of mice.'
        'What did you tell them?'
        'That they should be killing Germans instead of bothering a French girl.'
        Younger, nodding, returned to his patient. 'We say mischief.'
        The girl frowned as she rinsed the soiled cloth.
        'In English,' he said, 'it's a "mischief" of mice. Was it Madame Curie herself who trained you?'
        'Yes,' said the girl.
        'What did you think of her?'
        Her reply was immediate: 'She's the noblest woman alive.'
        'Ah, an admirer. Personally, I'm surprised they allow it.'
        'What do you mean?'
        'An adultress, after all, training young girls-'
        'She did not commit adultery,' said the girl sharply. ' He did. Monsieur Langevin is the one who was married, yet he is not blamed. They do not call for him to leave the country. They do not stone his house. Now he has another mistress. Einstein has an illegitimate child - everyone knows it. Why should Madame Curie lose her chair, why should she be threatened with death, when they do the same or worse?'
        'Because she is a woman,' said Younger complacently. 'Women should be pure.'
        'Men should be pure.'
        'And because she's a Jew. Scalpel.'
        'What?'
        'Scalpel. And a Pole.'
        'What does that have to do with it?'
        'And her worst crime of all - she won the Nobel Prize not once, hut twice.'
        She frowned again. 'I can't tell when you mean what you say.'
        'If you want the truth,' said Younger, 'I'm only honest with men. With women I can't be trusted.'
        She looked at him.
        'Women teach men to lie,' he went on. 'But we're never as good at it as they want us to be. How did you meet Madame Curie?'
        After a while, the girl answered: 'I walked into the Sorbonne and told them I wanted to apply in chemistry. I was seventeen. They all laughed at me, because I had no baccalaureate. By chance - or providence, who knows? - Madame came in at that moment. She had overheard. How she terrified them. She looks so old, but very kind. I don't know why, but she took an interest in me when she heard that my father had tutored me in math and science. She asked me questions, so I was able to show her what I knew. She arranged for me to take an entrance exam.'
        'Which you passed?' asked Younger.
        'I received the highest marks of the year.'
        'You should be in class then, not taking X-rays of wounded soldiers.'
        'I did to classes, for two years. But then I found out what Madame Was doing for the soldiers. These trucks, they were her idea. She was the first to see how many lives could be saved if we had radioscopes in the field. Everyone said it was impossible, so she designed a unit that could work inside a truck. The government, because they are so stupid, refused to pay, so Madame raised all the money herself. Then the army said it could not spare any men to operate the trucks, no Madame trained girls to do it. Then the government announced that women could not be permitted to drive, so Madame operated the first one herself, daring the government to stop her. She learned to drive; she changed tires; she took the X-rays. When they saw she was saving lives, they finally relented. Now there are over a hundred fifty of us - and our only problem is with the men.'
        'The men?'
        'Some of them become very - aggressive - in the presence of a woman.'
        'They're at war.'
        'That's no excuse. We're not the same as the filthy Germans.'
        Younger looked at the girl from the corner of his