فصل بیست و ششم

26

CHIYOH PREPARED for her departure to Japan by drilling Hannibal in elementary Japanese, in the hope that he could provide some conversation for Lady Murasaki and relieve her of the tedium of speaking English.

She found him an apt pupil in the Heian tradition of communication by poem and engaged him in practice poem exchanges, confiding that this was a major deficiency in her prospective groom. She made Hannibal swear to look out for Lady Murasaki, using a variety of oaths sworn on objects she thought Westerners might hold sacred. She required pledges as well at the altar in the attic, and a blood oath that involved pricking their fingers with a pin.

They could not hold off the time with wishing. When Lady Murasaki and Hannibal packed for Paris, Chiyoh packed for Japan. Serge and Hannibal heaved Chiyoh’s trunk onto the boat train at the Gare de Lyon while Lady Murasaki sat beside her in the train, holding her hand until the last minute. An outsider watching them part might have thought them emotionless as they exchanged a final bow.

Hannibal and Lady Murasaki felt Chiyoh’s absence sharply on the way home. Now there were only the two of them.

The Paris apartment vacated before the war by Lady Murasaki’s father was very Japanese in its subtle interplay of shadows and lacquer. If the furniture, un-draped piece by piece, brought Lady Murasaki memories of her father, she did not reveal them.

She and Hannibal tied back the heavy draperies, letting in the sun. Hannibal looked down upon the Place des Vosges, all light and space and warm red brick, one of the most beautiful squares in Paris despite a garden still scruffy from the war.

There, on the field below, King Henri II jousted under the colors of Diane de Poitiers and fell with fatal splinters in his eye, and even Vesalius at his bedside could not save him.

Hannibal closed one eye and speculated precisely where Henri fell—probably right over there where Inspector Popil now stood, holding a potted plant and looking up at the windows. Hannibal did not wave.

“I think you have a caller, my lady,” he said over his shoulder.

Lady Murasaki did not ask who. When the knocking came, she let it go on for a moment before she answered the door.

Popil came in with his plant and a bag of sweets from Fauchon. There was a mild confusion as he attempted to remove his hat while holding parcels in both hands. Lady Murasaki took the hat from him.

“Welcome to Paris, Lady Murasaki. The florist swears to me this plant will do well on your terrace.” “Terrace? I suspect you are investigating me, Inspector—already you have found out I have a terrace.” “Not only that—I have confirmed the presence of a foyer, and I strongly suspect you have a kitchen.” “So you work from room to room?”

“Yes, that is my method, I proceed from room to room.” “Until you arrive where?” She saw some color in his face and let him off. “Shall we put this in the light?” Hannibal was unpacking the armor when they came upon him. He stood beside the crate, holding the samurai mask. He did not turn his body toward Inspector Popil, but turned his head like an owl to look at the policeman. Seeing Popil’s hat in Lady Murasaki’s hands, Hannibal estimated the size and weight of his head at 19.5 centimeters and six kilos.

“Do you ever put it on, the mask?” Inspector Popil said.

“I haven’t earned it.”

“I wonder.”

“Do you ever wear your many decorations, Inspector?” “When ceremonies require them.”

“Chocolates from Fauchon. Very thoughtful, Inspector Popil. They will take away the smell of the camp.” “But not the scent of oil of cloves. Lady Murasaki, I need to discuss the matter of your residency.” Popil and Lady Murasaki talked on the terrace. Hannibal watched them through the window, revising his estimate of Popil’s hat size to twenty centimeters. In the course of conversation Popil and Lady Murasaki moved the plant a number of times to vary its exposure to the light. They seemed to need something to do.

Hannibal did not continue unpacking the armor, but knelt beside the crate and rested his hand on the rayskin grip of the short sword. He looked out at the policeman through the eyes of the mask.

He could see Lady Murasaki laughing. Inspector Popil must be making some lame attempt at levity and she was laughing out of kindness, Hannibal surmised. When they came back inside, Lady Murasaki left them alone together.

“Hannibal, at the time of his death your uncle was trying to find out what happened to your sister in Lithuania. I can try too. It’s hard in the Baltic now—sometimes the Soviets cooperate, more times they don’t. But I keep after them.” “Thank you.”

“What do you remember?”

“We were living at the lodge. There was an explosion. I can remember being picked up by soldiers and riding on a tank to the village. In between I don’t know. I try to remember. I cannot.” “I talked with Dr. Rufin.”

No visible reaction to that.

“He would not discuss any specifics of his talks with you.” Nothing to that either.

“But he said you are very concerned about your sister, naturally. He said with time your memory might return. If you remember anything, ever, please tell me.” Hannibal looked at the inspector steadily. “Why would I not?” He wished he could hear a clock. It would be good to hear a clock.

“When we talked after … the incident of Paul Momund, I told you I lost relatives in the war. It is very much of an effort for me to think about that. Do you know why?” “Tell me why, Inspector.”

“Because I think I should have saved them, I have a horror of finding something I didn’t do, that I could have done. If you have the fear the same way I do, don’t let it push away some memory that might be helpful to Mischa. You can tell me anything in the world.” Lady Murasaki came into the room. Popil stood up and changed the subject. “The Lycée is a good school and you earned your way in. If I can help you, I will. I’ll drop by the school to see about you from time to time.” “But you would prefer to call here,” Hannibal said.

“Where you will be welcome,” Lady Murasaki said.

“Good afternoon, Inspector,” Hannibal said.

Lady Murasaki let Popil out and she returned angry.

“Inspector Popil likes you, I can see it in his face,” Hannibal said.

“What can he see in yours? It is dangerous to bait him.” “You will find him tedious.”

“I find you rude. It is quite unlike you. If you wish to be rude to a guest, do it in your own house,” Lady Murasaki said.

“Lady Murasaki, I want to stay here with you.”

The anger went out of her. “No. We will spend our holidays together, and weekends, but you must board at the school as the rules require. You know my hand is always on your heart.” And she put it there.

On his heart. The hand that held Popil’s hat was on his heart. The hand that held the knife to Momund’s brother’s throat. The hand that gripped the butcher’s hair and dropped his head into a bag and set it on the mailbox. His heart beat against her palm. Fathomless her face.