Chapter 48
“Don’t you have anything to say, Colette?� Antoine asked when she didn’t answer. “Or are you still thinking about it?�
Colette stared at him. She knew what she was going to say, but she was trying to keep herself under control.
Antoine stared back, a half smile on his face. I have her now, he thought. She can’t go on lying. She has to tell me the truth. How is she going to get out of this one?
“Antoine,� she finally said, “believe it or not, but I have always loved you. The last thing that I ever wanted was to upset you. You have always been there for me, right up until this moment. When I married Emil, all I kept thinking about was you.
All I wanted was to be with you.�
Antoine shook his head. “Then what were you doing digging up every single piece of open land you could find. Why made you go after those things, Colette? Why all of a sudden?�
Colette looked at him. She was shaking and looked as if she was on the verge of tears.
“I can’t go on like this, Antoine,� she said. “And I can’t put you through this, anymore. I was afraid and ashamed of myself.�
Antoine looked up in the air. He had heard all these stories before. And to think that he once believed them. He was losing patience, not only with her but with himself.
“Do you have anything new to tell me, Colette?â€Â? You have never told me the truth, have you? How much money do you owe? How did you come to owe all of it? What is the cause of all this lying, Colette? I hope that there isn’t a problem.”
She didn’t say anything, but it finally occurred to her that Antoine did not believe her anymore. Well, how could he? I have been lying to him since I married him. I did love him a long time ago… Well, at least I thought I did.
She didn’t know what to do or how to answer him.
“Maybe you’ll have words for me later tonight,� Antoine said angrily, “because as of now, you are under strict curfew. No more digging, no more walking, nothing by yourself. Someone, anyone must accompany you. Do you understand, Colette?�
She didn’t answer him. She couldn’t even look at him.
The clock on the mantle showed that a half an hour had gone by. “Well Colette, he said, “it is time to leave. I must join the King and Auguste in the study. Now, if you will excuse me?â€Â?
And he walked off, leaving Colette all alone.
[ Edited by susan on 2002/7/3 3:06:14 ]