Jardin du Luxembourg

Fanny made the tea.

i can understand that she said to herself as she moved away to leave the room i am out of spirits myself iris called her back i heard you say just now fanny that you were out of spirits yourself if you were speaking of some troubles of your own i'm sorry for you and i won't say any more but if you know what my anxieties are and share them mine is the biggest share of the two fanny broke out abruptly it goes against the grain with me to distress you my lady but we're beginning badly and you ought to know it the doctor has beaten me already beaten you already iris repeated tell me plainly what you mean here it is if you please as plainly as words can say it mr vimpany has something something wicked of course to say to my master and he won't let it pass his lips here in the cottage why not because he suspects me of listening at the door and looking through the keyhole i don't know my lady that he doesn't even suspect you i've learned something in the course of my life he says to my master and it's a rule with me to be careful of what i talk about indoors when there are women in the house what are you going to do to-morrow he says my lord told him there was to be a meeting at the newspaper office the doctor says i'll go to paris with you the newspaper office isn't far from the luxembourg gardens when you have done your business you will find me waiting at the gate what i have to tell you you shall hear out of doors in the gardens and in an open part of them too where there are no lurking places among the trees my master seemed to get angry at being put off in this way what is it you have got to tell me he says is it anything like the proposal you made when you were on your last visit here the doctor laughed to-morrow won't be long in coming he says patience my lord patience there was no getting him to say a word more now what am i to do how am i to get a chance of listening to him out in an open garden without being seen there's what i mean when i say he has beaten me it's you my lady it's you who will suffer in the end you don't know that fanny no my lady but i'm certain of it and here i am as helpless as yourself my temper has been quiet since my misfortune it will be quiet still but for this the one animating motive the one exasperating inference in that sad and secret life was still the mistress's welfare still the safety of the generous woman who had befriended and forgiven her she turned aside from the table to hide her ghastly face pray try to control yourself as iris spoke she pointed kindly to a chair there's something that i want to say when you are composed again i won't hurry you i won't look at you sit down fanny she appeared to shrink from being seated in her mistress's presence please to let me go to the window she said the air will help me to the window she went and struggled with the passionate self so steadily kept under at other times so obstinately conquered now what did you wish to say to me she asked you have surprised you have perplexed me iris said i am at a loss to understand how you discovered what seems to have passed between your master and mr you don't surely mean to tell me that they talked of their private affairs while you were waiting at the table i don't tell lies my lady fanny declared impulsively they talked of nothing else all through the dinner before you iris exclaimed there was a pause fear and shame confessed themselves furtively on the maid's colourless face silently swiftly she turned to the door had a slip of the tongue hurried her into the betrayal of something which it was her interest to conceal don't be alarmed iris said compassionately i have no wish to intrude on your secrets with her hand on the door fanny mayer closed it again and came back i am not so ungrateful she said as to have any secrets from you it's hard to confess what may lower me in your good opinion but it must be done i have deceived your ladyship and i am ashamed of it i have deceived the doctor and i glory in it my master and mr vimpany thought they were safe in speaking french while i was waiting on them i know french as well as they do iris could hardly believe what she heard do you really mean what you say she asked there's that much good in me fanny replied i always mean what i say why did you deceive me why have you been acting the part of an ignorant woman the deceit has been useful in your service the obstinate maid declared perhaps it may be useful again was that what you were thinking of iris said when you allowed me to translate english into french for you and never told me the truth at any rate i will tell you the truth now no i was not thinking of you when you wrote my errands for me in french i was thinking again of some vice that was once given to me was it a vice given by a friend given by a man my lady who was the worst enemy i have ever had her considerate mistress understood the allusion and forbade her to distress herself by saying more but fanny felt that atonement as well as explanation was due to her benefactress slowly painfully she described the person to whom she had referred he was a frenchman who had been her music-master during the brief period at which she had attended a school he had promised her marriage he had persuaded her to elope with him the little money that they had to live on was earned by her needle and by his wages as accompanist at a music-hall while she was still able to attract him and to hope for the performance of his promise he amused himself by teaching her his own language when he deserted her his letter of farewell contained among other things the advice to which she had alluded in your station of life this man had written knowledge of french is still a rare accomplishment keep your knowledge to yourself english people of rank have a way of talking french to each other when they don't wish to be understood by their inferiors in the course of your career you may surprise secrets which will prove to be a little fortune if you play your cards properly anyhow it is the only fortune i have to leave to you such had been the villain's parting gift to the woman whom he had betrayed she had hated him too bitterly to be depraved by his advice on the contrary when the kindness of a friend now no longer in england had helped her to obtain her first employment as a domestic servant she had thought it might be to her interest to mention that she could read write and speak french the result proved to be not only a disappointment but a warning to her for the future such an accomplishment as a knowledge of a foreign language possessed by an englishwoman in her humble rank of life was considered by her mistress to justify suspicion questions were asked which it was impossible for her to answer truthfully small scandal drew its own conclusions her life with the other servants became unendurable she left her situation from that time until the happy day when she met with iris concealment of her knowledge of french became a proceeding forced on her by her own poor interests her present mistress would undoubtedly have been taken into her confidence if the opportunity had offered itself but iris had never encouraged her to speak of the one darkest scene in her life and for that reason she had kept her own counsel until the date of her mistress's marriage distrusting the husband and the husband's confidential friend for were they not both men she had thought of the vile frenchman's advice and had resolved to give it a trial not with the degrading motive which he had suggested but with the vague presentment of making a discovery of wickedness threatening mischief under a french disguise which might be of service to her benefactress at some future time and i may still turn it to your advantage my lady fanny ventured to add if you will consent to say nothing to anybody of your having a servant who has learned french iris looked at her coldly and gravely must i remind you she said that you are asking my help in practising a deception on my husband i shall be sent away fanny answered if you tell my master what i have told you this was indisputably true iris hesitated in her present situation the maid was the one friend on whom she could rely before her marriage she would have recoiled from availing herself under any circumstances of such services as fanny's reckless gratitude had offered to her but the moral atmosphere in which she was living had begun as mrs vimpany had foreseen to exert its baneful influence the mistress descended to bargaining with the servant deceive the doctor she said and i well remember that it may be for my good she stopped and considered for a moment her noble nature rallied its forces and prompted her next words but respect your master if you wish me to keep your secret i forbid you to listen to what my lord may say when he speaks with mr vimpany to-morrow i have already told your ladyship that i shall have no chance of listening to what they say to each other out of doors fanny rejoined but i can watch the doctor at any rate we don't know what he may not do when he is left by himself while my master is at the meeting i want to try if i can follow that rogue through the streets without his finding me out please to send me on an errand to paris to-morrow you will be running a terrible risk her mistress reminded her if mr vimpany discovers you i'll take my chance of that was the reckless reply iris consented chapter thirty eight

It's just the local, the neighborhood, right? The neighborhood.

Okay, and do you have a favorite park in Paris? I love the Luxembourg Gardens.

There's something magical about that place.

The little sailboats in the center.

I love the culture around books and reading in France.

It's very important.

And it should be on everyone's bucket list to sit in those heavy green metal chairs at Luxembourg Gardens and to bring a book at least for 15 minutes

and just