Shining A Little Light....
I Hope you don't mind, Dear Readers, if we take a Small detour to revisit Daphne's Story. I know it probably feels to you that it has been a Long time since we followed them to the Park on a Dark and Rainy day, but I must remind you that almost no time at all has passed in their world! In fact it has been only a few hours and Daphne has just finished putting Renee to bed. She finally has a few minutes to herself, something she is beginning to realize is a rare thing! You might recall that she has been the Nanny for less than a week and every day brings more questions than answers. She had not expected the de Montaigne family to be so uninvolved with Renee's upbringing. She had assumed they would raise her like a daughter of their own, spend time with her, take her to see the world, enjoy her company, and most of all give her the love every child needs. She hadn't expected to find Monsieur Guillaume so frail, and Madame Yvonne so involved with running the Family business and their Estates that she was hardly ever home. And most of all she had never thought that the Family's Lawyer would be the one who seemed to care for Renee the most! It was hard for her to admit that she was jealous of the bond he had with Renee. She hoped that with time she could build such a bond herself. She had no clear idea how that would happen, but she resolved to try to enrich Renee's world every day in any way she could. There was so much she wanted to share with her! But for now she would content herself with discovering more about the household while Renee slept. She might as well start with exploring the other rooms in the attic.... There was a storage room across the hall from her room, next to the tiny bathroom. It was completely dark so she shined a flashlight in....
And way at the back she caught a glimpse
of a familiar piece of furniture.....
Was that a sewing machine.....?
Would anyone mind, or even notice if she pulled it out....?
Oh, it looked just like the one her mother had always sewed on.....!
The one she had learned on...
she could show Renee how to sew.....
she could make her new clothes.....
perhaps it was just the thing she needed!
But it was late and she would need some help moving everything...
first thing in the morning they could pull it out!
And so the next morning found Daphne back in the storage attic,
this time with an excited Renee in tow!
"What are we finding....?" asked Renee as she peered into the dark.
"I'll show you..." said Daphne,
"but first we have to move a lot of things out of the way."
"I need you to hold the flashlight for me.." she added.
"Shine it over there... while I move this cradle..."
"And now I just need to move this chair...."
"We might want to use this too...." she added.
"See, that's the sewing machine..." she said.
"What's a sewing machine...?" asked Renee.
"I'll show you when we get it out..." said Daphne.
"I just have to get this out of the way first..." she added.
"What's that...?" asked Renee.
"It looks like an old wheel chair..."
replied Daphne as she pulled it out of the way.
"Why does it have wheels...?" asked Renee.
"It's for people who can't walk very well...." replied Daphne,
her mind on getting to the sewing machine.
"Like Grandpere...?" asked Renee...
"Could Grandpere use it and go to the Park....?" she added excitedly.
"Well......" said Daphne, unsure of what to say.
"We could see how sturdy it is...."
"Can I go tell Grandpere....?" asked Renee...
but she ran off before Daphne could reply.
"Grandpere.... Grandpere....." she cried as she rushed into the room.
"We found a Chair! And it has wheels!"
"And now you can come to the Park...!" she cried excitedly.
"Renee, you need to ask him, not tell him...."
said Daphne, catching up with her.
"He might not feel like going...."
"Grandpere, it's got wheels.... we will push you..."
said Renee, undaunted.
"Yes" said Grandpere as he slowly stood up....
He would try to do this...
He could not bear to disappoint Renee!
Believe me, Dear Readers, when I tell you
that in a very short amount of time
the Cook had helped Daphne bring the chair down from the attic,
and the Nurse had helped Monsieur Guillaume climb down the front stairs,
and Renee was excitedly leading the way to the Park!
It was not raining today, but it was still a very gloomy day.
But Guillaume did not notice...
he could not remember the last time he had been to a Park...
Renee could not wait to show Grandpere her friends the birds...!
She dashed ahead....
"See! Grandpere.... they're waiting for me...!" she cried.
She slowed as she got close so they did not all fly away.....
They were pecking at chunks of bread left there by someone....
Daphne pushed the chair closer so he could watch....
Just to see her excitement filled him with Joy!
Renee was completely absorbed by the birds!
She took the bread and tossed it to them again and again.....
they all chased the bread....
Except for one little bird perched on the rim of the fountain....
Suddenly Renee noticed the bird....
It seemed as though everything went very still....
nothing moved...
The sun almost made an appearance...
but thought better of it...
and soon it looked like more rain was on its way....
The moment passed...
Daphne didn't want Monsieur Guillaume to get
caught in a rain shower,
so she called to Renee that they should head home...
But even though it was such a gloomy day,
Monsieur Guillaume felt like he was filled with sunshine!
And Renee was chattering as fast as she could
about the next time they were coming to the Park...
And Daphne was thinking that the morning
had not gone at all as she had expected....
they never even got to the sewing machine!
And in case you thought I had forgotten the lilac blossom.....
Here is number twenty-four!
And here it is in the box!
Well, Dear Readers, I hope you didn't mind
the little detour to the Park....
Even though it was so gloomy.
It seems Daphne has opened some doors
and shined a Tiny light into the dark!
