life the stench of fish was out of her nostrils. She had never really been aware of it before, because it had always been a part of her. But now everything was suddenly changed. And she owed it all to her father. She was proud of the way he got along with Monsieur Lanchon. Her father would come to the shop two or three times a week and he and Monsieur Lanchon would slip out for a cognac or a beer and when they returned there would be an air of camaraderie between them. In the beginning Noelle had disliked Monsieur Lanchon, but his behavior toward her was always circumspect. Noelle heard from one of the girls that Lanchon’ s wife had once caught him in the stockroom with a model and had picked up a pair of shears and had barely missed castrating him. Noelle was aware that Lanchon’ s eyes followed her everywhere she went, but he was always scrupulously polite.“ Probably,” she thought, with satisfaction,“ he is afraid of my father.”
At home the atmosphere suddenly seemed much brighter. Noelle’ s father no longer struck her mother and the constant bickering had stopped. There were steaks and roasts to eat, and after dinner Noelle’ s father would take out a new pipe and fill it with a rich smelling tobacco from a leather pouch. He bought himself a new Sunday suit. The international situation was worsening and Noelle would listen to discussions between her father and his friends. They all seemed to be alarmed by the imminent threat to their livelihood, but Jacques Page appeared singularly unconcerned.
On September 1, 1939, Hitler’ s troops invaded Poland and two days later Great Britain and France declared war against Germany.
Mobilization was begun and overnight the streets were filled with uniforms. There was an air of resignation about what was happening, a déjà vu feeling of watching an old movie that one had seen before; but there was no fear. Other countries might have reason to tremble before the might of the German armies but France was invincible. It had the Maginot Line, an impenetrable fortress that could protect France against invasion for a thousand years. A curfew was imposed and rationing was started, but none of those things bothered Jacques Page. He seemed to have changed, to have calmed. The only time Noelle saw him fly into a fury was one night when she was in the darkened kitchen kissing a boy whom she dated occasionally. The lights suddenly went on and Jacques Page stood in the doorway trembling with rage.
“ Get out,” he screamed at the terrified boy.“ And keep your hands off my daughter, you filthy pig!”
The boy fled in panic. Noelle tried to explain to her father that they had been doing nothing wrong, but he was too furious to listen.
“ I will not have you throw yourself away,” he roared.“ He is a nobody, he is not good enough for my Princess.”
Noelle lay awake that night marveling at how much her father loved her and vowing that she would never do anything to distress him again.
One evening just before closing time a customer came into the shop and Lanchon asked Noelle to model some dresses. By the time Noelle finished, everyone had left the shop except Lanchon and his wife, who was working on the books in the office. Noelle