Frédéric snapped from his reverie and clasped his hands warmly on her shoulders. “Enough of the past! It depresses me! What brings you to the city after so long an absence?”
Murielle was lost in her own rêverie, the veil of the past now covering her eyes. Knowing that the woman she might have called Mother had died in childbirth made Murielle all the more anxious when she learned she herself was with child. Her fears, however, were for naught. The midwife in fact, spent more time calming her than delivering the baby. After applying cool compresses, she spoke soothing words in Murielle’s ear as she held her hand, working to keep her calm only to find that the baby had already come. Murielle was hardly aware of the fact.
“Well,” the old woman cried, “I have never seen a first-time mother d
