5
Fifth symphony (Beethoven)
(Joline), letters
September 14, early morning hours
He didn’t knock. First he tried the door, thinking I had kept it unlocked for him.
He shall wait.
I put away the bottle of sweet onion syrup—Mommy had forced it in my baggage and I’m so glad she did ! In this damned boat, we switch constantly from cold to warm and I start having a sore throat. It isn’t time to be weak or lose my breath in a coughing fit when I’m negotiating with my brother ! Right in front of me, on the table where I’m writing, there is my pink marble clock. Granma Celine had consented to give this lovely Roman temple-shaped clock to me on my fifteenth birthday (you know this is the special object which is passed from mother to daughter on Mama’s side, that and the onion syrup recipe). S
