OU_214051 UNIVERSA - Osmania University

102 MAINLY MAIGRET
She looked round quickly.
" What do you want candles for? "
" We'd need ... How old are you today, Monsieur Baron? "
" Fifty-two."
" Fifty-two candles. I don't suppose you could run to that. But
in my country we always have the full number. At a certain moment
of the evening all the lights are switched off, and . .."
Moise gave him a hard stare. Elie hesitated, smiled, stopped talking.
But five minutes later he was rattling away again.
" If there'd been any way of getting the ingredients, I'd have
made you a Turkish trifle. My sister's a real dab at it, but I'm not
too bad myself."
" What's it like? " asked Baron.
" Well, for one thing, we flavour it with flowers. They've a
much more delicate taste than jam."
" What? Do you mean to say you eat flowers? "
" No, it's an extract of flowers we use."
" What's wrong, Antoinette? Off your feed? "
To please her father she took a mouthful of chicken. Domb was
staring glumly at the wall in front of him, Moise's brows were
deeply furrowed. Only Valesco made some attempt at cheerfulness.
" I hope you'll come to Istanbul one day, Monsieur Baron. We
should be delighted to put you up, and I'd show you the sights."
" Me go to Turkey? What an idea! "
" Why not? It only takes a day, by air."
While she stirred a sauce Madame Baron too was casting angry
glances at him, trying to make him shut up. But he appeared not to
understand.
" The Turks are the most hospitable people on earth. Once
you've stepped into a Turkish house you're its lord and master,
and there's nothing they won't do for you."
" Even if you ain't asked in? " Baron naively enquired.
He hadn't meant it humorously, and was quite startled when
Antoinette went into peals of laughter, so violent that she seemed
on the point of choking. She rose abruptly and, turning her back
on the others, spat out what she had in her mouth into her napkin.
She was still laughing when she returned to her place, her lips
twisting in queer grimaces, tears welling in her eyes.
Elie went on quite calmly.
" Yes, it sounds unlikely, doesn't it, but I can give you actual
instances. Before the Great War my father had once been the guest