Читать книгу The Story of Rosemary Buttons - Gregory J. McKenzie - Страница 9

Louisa lived up to her promise to show the boys the sights of Bordeaux. Then she sprung her Christmas surprise. She wanted to take them to her family home to meet all their distant French relatives. They would spend three days at her father's Chateau. There she would introduce them to all of their father's second and third cousins once removed. These children of the great aunts and uncles of John Buttons were older than John, but still remembered when his mother brought him to France to visit with her French cousins. Arriving at the Chateau, Louisa began the introductions with her aged father, Monsieur de Mounteford

He was the patriarch of Louisa's extended family. Looking at John Buttons he said in a gruff tone of voice,

"You have changed since I saw you at my father's eightieth birthday. Wait that was not you. You are too young for that, but you did come to visit once with my cousin Mary. How is Mary?'

John answered in a firm tone of voice,

"Feisty as ever. She remembers you well and asked me to say hello from her."

Louisa'a father laughed at this before nodding as he said in a jocular tone of voice,

"Ha! Your mother always was the feisty one. She used to tease me something terrible. We called her "bloody Mary" because she took no prisoners. All the boy cousins were scared of her temper. The girl cousins could not believe the things her father allowed her to say."

Once more nodding before he replied, John said in a highly amused tone of voice,

"Mum has not changed. She is now the matriarch of our family. Her sons are in awe of her. Her daughter-in-laws are kept dancing, attenting on her when she visits their homes. They call it the "inspection tour" behind her back. Goes into their bathrooms with a white glove on her left hand. Terrifies the in-laws at family parties."

Laughing so much he almost burst, Louisa's father said in a hearty tone of voice,

"That's 'bloody Mary' for you. Her way or the main road as your English saying puts it ,non."

Realizing that he had almost exhausted this man's English vocabulary, John changed the subject. In a proud voice he said,

"Sir, may I present Mary's grandchildren to you?"

Monsieur de Mounteford nodded his head before looking at John's children.

Starting with his oldest son, a proud father said

"This is Jean though my wife called him John from birth. Next to him is Francois but he will only answer to Frank. Standing behind her brothers is my youngest, little Rosemary. Rosemary come out here so Louisa's father can get a good look at you."

As Rosemary stepped out from her brothers' shadow, Monsieur de Mounteford gasped in amazement. Immediately his daughter interjected in a tone of revealed wonder,

"Yes Pappa, I saw it too the first time I saw Rosemary. The resemblance to great grandmother Louisa is startling, non."

Nodding his head, the old man drew closer to Rosemary to look deep into her eyes. In a proud tone of voice he said,

"Yes they are de Monteford eyes. There is no doubt that this girl is descended from my grandmother. Welcome Rosemary Buttons."

Louisa was smiling broadly as she rushed to hug away Rosemary's embarrassment at being the centre of attention to this imposing figure of a man.

Her father now gave them his blessing by saying in a friendly tone of voice,

"All the descendants of Mary Buttons will always be welcome in my home!"

With that he gave a Gallic sweep of the arms to indicate that they should make his chateau their home for Christmas.

Lacking fluency in French, the Buttons family missed most of what was said about them over the next three days. Louisa was very busy acting as their translator. But even she broke into colloquial French when talking with her relatives. But the days went quickly. There was the midnight Mass in a local church where the de Mounteford family turned up in force. Then they went back to the Chateau for what Louisa told them was Revellion de Noel. This turned out to be a full dinner with roast turkey, roast goose, chunks of venison, oysters, lobsters, foie gras and so many cheeses the boys could not count them all. Just when the Australian teenagers were sure they could not eat another thing, the desert was brought out with Gallic flair. It was called buche de Noel but tasted like chocolate sponge cake. Finally the children were allowed to go up to their bedrooms in the Chateau.

The next morning the Buttons learnt how the French celebrate Christmas Day. The Nativity crib was the centerpiece of their decorations. This had clay figures of the Holy Family but also there was included a clay butcher, baker, police officer and priest. This amused the boys very much. Rosemary's favorite thing that day was the Yule log. She sat beside the fireplace as often as she could to watch it burn. Then came the presents. They were handed out by someone their French relatives called Pere Noel but who looked a lot like Father Christmas to the Buttons children. What they could not understand was why there was also a man dressed in black. For once Louisa failed to explain this particular French Christmas tradition.

Boxing Day was not celebrated in France as it is in Australia. Louisa's family began leaving all day. The Buttons family had to say goodbye to people they had only known for two days. Soon the Chateau was very empty. Louisa kept company with her father on the eve of her departure. John Buttons lead his family on a tour of all the places he remembered from his previous visits. They listened as he told them what he did and how old he was at the time. Some places he kept secret and only visited with Louisa that evening. Back in the chateau they had to pack for an early departure the next morning. They were being driven into the Bordeaux train station by the Chateau chauffeur in the large estate four wheel drive. The children said their goodbyes to Monsieur de Mounteford and to the Chateau staff. The cook gave them extra slices of the Christmas buche de Noel to eat on the train journey. All the staff had noticed the resemblance between Rosemary and the woman in the family portrait of Louis de Mounteford painted at the start of the Twentieth Century. They treated Rosemary like one of the family for her whole visit.