CHAPTER IV
Wind had removed the vernal glory of the apple tree in front of the bookshop in Snake Street. Summer passed away too.
Anne leaned her forehead against the window pane. A sound came from outside as if a drum were being beaten underground. The heavy steps of the new national guard rang rhythmically along the ground. The house heard it too and echoed it from its porch.
In those times soldiers were frequently seen from the window, and when Mamsell Tini took Anne to the school of the English nuns, the walls were covered with posters. Crowds gathered before them. People stretched their necks to get a glimpse. Anne too would have liked to stop, but not for anything in the world would Mamsell Tini let her do so.
“A respectable person must never loiter in the streets.”
A boy stood on the kerb of the pavement.
“What is there on those posters?” Anne asked as she passed.
“War news ...” and the boy began to whistle. An old woman passed on the opposite corner. She was wiping her eyes on the corner of her apron.
“War news....” Anne stared at the old lady and these words acquired a sad significance in her mind.
At dinner she watched her grandfather and father attentively. They talked of business and in between they were perfectly calm and ate a hearty meal.