Chapter 48 – If There Is Such a Thing as Fate

“Well. I do not need money. If it truly bothers you, then pay me with your paintings.”

Robert refused without so much as a moment’s thought. Just as he always did whenever Sasha said she would pay.

“Please do not do that. Even I know that my paintings are not worth that much. And I have heard how expensive it is to stay even one night at Hotel d’Ecran.”

At Sasha’s bold remark, Robert raised his brows. Whatever a woman from the countryside had heard, it would be more expensive than that. The room he had given her was on the top floor. The cost charged for a long stay would probably be far greater than the ordinary amount she had heard somewhere, but that was not a matter of much importance to him.

“It is my hotel, and in any case, I set the price. The cost of your using that room until winter will be settled in paintings.”

Rejected flatly, Sasha mumbled to herself. It seemed she was wondering how she might find out the hotel cost if he did not tell her. Robert did not care much. Even if she learned it, she would not be able to pay it anyway.

“Do you dislike that? Is it that you no longer want to give me your paintings?”

“Of course not!”

At such a ridiculous question, Sasha denied it at once.

“Then do as I say.”

Robert’s voice when he persuaded her was gentle. And yet his firm manner also seemed like a stubborn refusal to allow any other form of payment.

“Thank you. The kindness you’ve shown me in Laurent, I’ll repay it someday, I promise.”

The woman, who had been gripping her dessert spoon tightly, spoke as though she had made up her mind. Robert wore a cynical expression.

“I am not doing this just to hear your thanks, Sasha. I am a businessman, and I do not invest in things that lose money.”

“Then is the way you are treating me also a kind of investment to you?”

At Sasha’s innocent question, Robert stopped the hand that had been absently rubbing the handle of his knife.

“Yes. So there is nothing for you to worry about. This is part of my investment, and if it fails, I am the one who bears that burden.”

“Isn’t that too unfair? I appreciate that you value my paintings highly, but if your expectation turns out to be wrong and they are harshly criticized, then you could suffer a great loss.”

Sasha was asking in complete seriousness. Robert found the words so absurd that he nearly scraped the knife against the plate. It was not a mistake he had made even in his boarding-school days.

“Do you really think lending you one room would be such a burden on my finances?”

If she truly thought that, then worrying itself was a talent. If she could think that even after learning who he was.

“If you have time to worry about me running out of money, why not worry instead about ants getting ready for winter?”

“At least ants do not go bankrupt.”

“Neither do I.”

“That is not something anyone can know.”

When Sasha said that, the man sitting across from her let out a loud laugh. Sasha stared blankly at him. At the matching dimples pressed into both his cheeks.

“Very well. Then if that day comes, you can repay the kindness then.”

At last the man who had stopped laughing whispered it carelessly. His low voice was so pleasant that Sasha’s heart, which had been perfectly calm only moments before, suddenly tickled unbearably.

After finishing their meal, the two of them were the last of all the guests to leave the restaurant. The overly courteous manager came all the way to the door to see them out. The early evening air had already turned chilly. Sasha wrinkled the bridge of her nose slightly and sneezed. Thinking idly that Laurent always seemed a little colder than Manolie, whatever the season.

“This looks more necessary for you than for me, so keep it on.”

What dropped carelessly over her trembling shoulders was the jacket Robert had been wearing. Sasha clutched at the large jacket so it would not slip off. The garment still held his warmth. Warm enough to set her heart stirring again, the heart she had only just managed to calm.

* * *

The next morning, Sasha got out of bed rather early. It was an early rising considering how long she had tossed and turned the night before, full of excitement and nervousness about the unfamiliar city and her new life.

Opening her eyes, Sasha realized that this was not the familiar bedroom in Manolie but a room in Hotel d’Ecran. Far too large and luxurious for her to use by herself.

There were even two bathrooms in the room, so she had to wonder which one she ought to use. In the end she went into the one closest to the bedroom, but even that was so splendid it might well have been called a reception parlor for guests, and she was bewildered.

She fumbled about a bit, but after somehow washing up without incident, Sasha finally sat down at the table and thought through her plans for the day. The map she had grabbed amid the confusion at Laurent Station turned out to be useful.

‘First of all, I should let Baron Auguste know that I arrived safely in Laurent.’

Sasha stared so hard at the map trying to find Baron Auguste’s address that her eyes nearly fell out. Fortunately, she found the address not too far from the hotel’s location and promptly marked it with a pen. First she would go there herself, and if by chance he was not home, she would leave a letter. Telling him she had come safely to Laurent with the help of an acquaintance, and that she was now staying at Hotel d’Ecran.

‘On the map it does not seem all that far from here, so I think I could even walk there…….’

Still, she thought it might not be a bad idea to ask the manager in the lobby how to get there, just in case.

‘And while I’m at it, I should ask whether there is a cafe nearby worth visiting. Somewhere not too expensive.’

Yesterday it had been too late, so she had ended up going to a restaurant on Sainte-Marie Street, but today she planned to go out a little farther by herself and take care of breakfast alone. If the manager made a troubled face and said there was no such place nearby……. Judging by the clothing of the guests coming and going from the hotel, that seemed entirely possible.

Looking out beyond the balcony window, where the bluish light of dawn still lingered, Sasha thought to herself that even that would be all right.

‘Then I’ll buy breakfast at a bakery and go to Etienne Forest.’

On the way, it would be nice to look around and make a few simple sketches as well. She did not know what sort of paintings Her Majesty the Queen liked, but since she had liked the painting of the fountain, perhaps it would be good to look at many similar landscapes.

Sasha made up her mind. Since she had come this far, she would begin a new life with a new frame of mind. Erasing what had happened with Mr. Robert.

If she stayed busy adapting to a new city, then the deep color of this improper feeling would gradually fade as well. Like a clean blanket hung for a long time beneath the bright Manolie sun. That was always how one dealt with a stain left on a blanket by juice spilled by accident.

Thankful for this unexpected coincidence and for the kindness he had shown her, Sasha resolved that from now on she would try as much as possible not to cross paths with that man, and would try to fold away her feelings. Because these feelings were not wanted by that man either, and were a sort of accident that ought never to have happened.

Having finished her plan, Sasha rose without delay. After changing clothes, and tying in her hair the new ribbon Grandma Elodie had given her before she left Manolie, she briskly stepped out of the room.

“May I go down to the lobby?”

“Of course. Step in.”

Glancing at her, the elevator boy, who looked much more at ease than he had the day before, quietly asked,

“What is your relationship with the Duke of Guienne?”

Sasha hesitated over what to answer, then remembered what he had said to Countess Dubois on the train.

“I think we are distant relatives.”

“If you are relatives, then you are relatives. What do you mean, you think so?”

The elevator boy frowned, as if he did not understand.

“I’m sorry. To tell the truth, I do not really know either. I only say that because he said so.”

“Well…….. I suppose if the Duke says so, then that must be it.”

At Sasha’s words, the elevator boy readily accepted it as though the Duke of Guienne would have no reason to tell such a lie.

“If you are a relative of the Duke of Guienne, then does that mean you too are a noblewoman?”

“No. I am not a noble.”

“You are not a noble? Then I suppose you must be a very distant relative.”

Tilting his head, the elevator boy shrugged. Sasha had been about to ask him whether he knew of a decent place nearby to have breakfast. He seemed likely to know better than the hotel manager.

But before she could bring up the matter, the elevator had already reached the lobby floor. Before she could even speak to the elevator boy, the manager was waving at her from over there and calling to her with a bright face.

“Mademoiselle! As it happens, your guest came looking for you, and I was just on my way to fetch you. And now you have come down yourself.”

Bewildered, Sasha carefully shook her head.

“My guest? Could there be some misunderstanding? I was just about to go out. I was planning to have breakfast at a nearby cafe and then go see the lake in Etienne Forest.”

“What? A cafe? Were you not planning to have breakfast at the hotel? Two gentlemen are already waiting for you in the restaurant.”

The manager, if anything, looked even more surprised as he stared at her. Then he hurriedly led the bewildered Sasha, still unable to make sense of what she had heard, into the hotel restaurant for breakfast. Waiting there in the place where the manager brought her, Baron Auguste rose with clear pleasure and greeted Sasha warmly.

‘How did he know I was here?’

After greeting the patron who had suddenly appeared in such an unexpected place, Sasha could not hide her confusion. And then, a moment later, she noticed the gentleman seated with the Baron.

“Good morning, Sasha. Did you sleep well?”

The man who set down his coffee cup was dressed in an autumn coat today, unlike yesterday. As if he had expected this all along, the manager beamed and pulled out a chair for her. Joining the table awkwardly, Sasha stammered,

“The two of you, did you know each other?”

“Oh, my. Did the Duke not tell you on the way? The Duke of Guienne is one of my dearest friends. It gives me great pleasure that the day has come when I can bring together two people I cherish so much, my dear friend, and the artist I sponsor.”