Professor Guizot when he comes tomorrow."
"Mirrors?" echoed the professor vaguely as Erik pounced on him at the front door next day. "Well, of course, we've always used tin and mercury for the backing up till now."
"Mercury!" I saw Erik stiffen with annoyance. "I didn't know about the mercury!"
"It hardly signifies," continued the professor jovially. "No one will be using that laborious old method much longer. I believe a new process called silvering has recently been discovered in Germany."
"Germany," Erik repeated solemnly. "How far away is that… ?"
The dining-room door closed behind them and I heard no more.
From that point I made it my business to keep Erik supplied with any material he asked for, no matter how bizarre the request might seem. Glass, metal, nuts and bolts and springs… they were toys that I no longer denied him, for the simple reason that I dared not.
I was beginning to understand the danger of attempting to block the natural outlet of an active volcano.
I was also beginning to understand Father Mansart's urgent concern for Erik's soul
Ever since he was old enough to walk, I had taken the precaution of locking Erik in his room at night, partly for his protection, but chiefly for my own peace of mind. He was eight when I made the unwelcome discovery that barred windows and a locked door were no longer sufficient to contain his captive imagination.
Father Mansart came to me one morning in considerable anxiety, telling me that there was great unrest in the village and that I must take more care to keep Erik inside at night.
"I don't understand you." I frowned. "You know quite well that he is never permitted to go beyond the garden."
The priest shook his head. "Madeleine, he has been seen by more than one person in the church grounds. And last night several witnesses insist they heard the organ playing at midnight."
"But that's not possible, Father," I protested. "I myself locked him in his room at eight o'clock."
"Did you leave the key in the door?"
"Yes. But that is exactly where I found it this morning. Even if he had contrived to push the key from the lock and slide it underneath the door, he could hardly have locked himself in there again once more."
"I fear that with Erik all things are possible," said the priest gravely. "I think I had better talk to him."
To my intense dismay Erik made no attempt to deny his escape; he admitted it quite freely and only bowed his head when Father Mansart rebuked him for the sin of deceit.
"I wasn't doing any harm," he protested, looking at me anxiously, as though he expected me to beat him in front of the priest.
"Then what exactly were you doing?" I shouted.
"There are foxes in the forest," he said quietly. "I like to watch their cubs playing in the moonlight. Last spring they—"
He stopped, aghast at my expression. I could not believe that he had been roaming as far as the Foret de Roumare for a year or more without my knowledge. I saw very clearly then what had happened, how his gradually mounting confidence had persuaded him to venture deeper and deeper into the village, where the beautiful Romanesque church pulled like a lodestar.
"How do you get out of your room?" I demanded.
"Oh, that's easy," he admitted. "I just unscrew the bars on the window and jump into the tree outside."
I closed my eyes in horror. His room was at least twenty feet above the ground and the tree he referred to was far enough away from the window to make that jump positively suicidal to anything but a cat. I didn't bother to ask how he managed to get back in… no doubt it was by a method equally lunatic.
"You stupid boy! You could have been killed!"
He looked at the floor. "Everything is so beautiful at night and no one sees me," he murmured.
"Well, last night you were not only seen, you were heard!" I snapped. "By now the entire village must know you were playing the organ in the church."
"Oh!" he said miserably. "I thought if anyone heard they would think it
"Mirrors?" echoed the professor vaguely as Erik pounced on him at the front door next day. "Well, of course, we've always used tin and mercury for the backing up till now."
"Mercury!" I saw Erik stiffen with annoyance. "I didn't know about the mercury!"
"It hardly signifies," continued the professor jovially. "No one will be using that laborious old method much longer. I believe a new process called silvering has recently been discovered in Germany."
"Germany," Erik repeated solemnly. "How far away is that… ?"
The dining-room door closed behind them and I heard no more.
From that point I made it my business to keep Erik supplied with any material he asked for, no matter how bizarre the request might seem. Glass, metal, nuts and bolts and springs… they were toys that I no longer denied him, for the simple reason that I dared not.
I was beginning to understand the danger of attempting to block the natural outlet of an active volcano.
I was also beginning to understand Father Mansart's urgent concern for Erik's soul
Ever since he was old enough to walk, I had taken the precaution of locking Erik in his room at night, partly for his protection, but chiefly for my own peace of mind. He was eight when I made the unwelcome discovery that barred windows and a locked door were no longer sufficient to contain his captive imagination.
Father Mansart came to me one morning in considerable anxiety, telling me that there was great unrest in the village and that I must take more care to keep Erik inside at night.
"I don't understand you." I frowned. "You know quite well that he is never permitted to go beyond the garden."
The priest shook his head. "Madeleine, he has been seen by more than one person in the church grounds. And last night several witnesses insist they heard the organ playing at midnight."
"But that's not possible, Father," I protested. "I myself locked him in his room at eight o'clock."
"Did you leave the key in the door?"
"Yes. But that is exactly where I found it this morning. Even if he had contrived to push the key from the lock and slide it underneath the door, he could hardly have locked himself in there again once more."
"I fear that with Erik all things are possible," said the priest gravely. "I think I had better talk to him."
To my intense dismay Erik made no attempt to deny his escape; he admitted it quite freely and only bowed his head when Father Mansart rebuked him for the sin of deceit.
"I wasn't doing any harm," he protested, looking at me anxiously, as though he expected me to beat him in front of the priest.
"Then what exactly were you doing?" I shouted.
"There are foxes in the forest," he said quietly. "I like to watch their cubs playing in the moonlight. Last spring they—"
He stopped, aghast at my expression. I could not believe that he had been roaming as far as the Foret de Roumare for a year or more without my knowledge. I saw very clearly then what had happened, how his gradually mounting confidence had persuaded him to venture deeper and deeper into the village, where the beautiful Romanesque church pulled like a lodestar.
"How do you get out of your room?" I demanded.
"Oh, that's easy," he admitted. "I just unscrew the bars on the window and jump into the tree outside."
I closed my eyes in horror. His room was at least twenty feet above the ground and the tree he referred to was far enough away from the window to make that jump positively suicidal to anything but a cat. I didn't bother to ask how he managed to get back in… no doubt it was by a method equally lunatic.
"You stupid boy! You could have been killed!"
He looked at the floor. "Everything is so beautiful at night and no one sees me," he murmured.
"Well, last night you were not only seen, you were heard!" I snapped. "By now the entire village must know you were playing the organ in the church."
"Oh!" he said miserably. "I thought if anyone heard they would think it
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