Madeleine walked over to open the door.
“Ah, it is you, young man. How was Simone, hmm?” Madeleine asked Jon when she opened the door.
“You can ask her for yourself; she is right here,” Jon told her.
“Madame, savez-vous ce qui se passe ?” (“Madam, do you know what is going on?”) Simone asked.
“Plus ou moins. Mais utilisez l’anglais ou nos amis ici ne nous comprendront pas.” (“Somewhat, somewhat. But use English or our friends here will not understand us.”) Madeleine told her.
“Now we must talk, but not here,” Madeleine said to both of them.
“Give me a moment, and I will be right with you,” Karyn said from a few feet away.
“Non, you stay here for ze moment,” Madeleine said, turning back to Karyn.
“Why not let him in here, and we can all talk about it?” Karyn asked.
“Non, he cannot come in here while ze girls are changing,” Madeleine told her firmly.
“Then I will come with you,” Karyn replied.
“You stay here and rest after your fall. We return shortly,” the older woman said in a tone that clearly meant do as you were told.
It was a tone that Simone, standing on the other side of the door, knew all too well, and try as she might, she could not help but smile. At least this time she was not the one on the receiving end of it.
“Ok,” Karyn said, disappointed at what she saw as missing out on the conversation.
“Where is it we go now?” Simone asked.
“Claudette, Yvette. Je dois m’occuper de quelque chose. Pouvez-vous préparer les filles pour le prochain numéro ? Elles seront bientôt appelées sur scène.” (“Claudette, Yvette. I need to deal with something. Can you get the girls ready for the next number? They will be needed on the stage soon.”) Madeleine half asked, half told the two women who appeared from the rear of the dressing room.
“Oui, madame.” (“Yes, madam.”) came the reply in stereo.
“Shall we go to my office? We have much to discuss, yes?” Karyn heard Madeleine say as the door closed behind her.
Karyn sat looking around the room. She had been doing so when everything had been frozen, but it was very different doing it while everything was in full swing. All around her, she could half hear conversations in French. She wasn’t sure what was being said; whatever it was, it was being said fast.
Just at that moment, one of the two women whom the older woman had called over approached her.
“Allez, il est temps de vous changer. Vous n’allez pas rester dans cette robe toute la nuit, n’est-ce pas ?” (“Come on its time for you to change. You can’t sit in that robe for the rest of the night now, can you?”) Claudette Mercier said.
Karyn had no idea what the woman was saying to her, but whatever it was, she seemed very insistent that Karyn do whatever it was she was asking.
“I’m sorry, I don’t speak French,” Karyn tried to tell her.
But Claudette was having none of it.
“Allez, nous n’avons pas beaucoup de temps avant que vous les filles retourniez sur scène, alors dépêchez-vous.” (“Come on, we do not have much time before you girls are due back on, so come on now.”) Claudette said as she pulled Karyn from the seat she had been using.
“Looks like I am going with you then,” Karyn muttered, giving up on trying to explain that she was only waiting for Madeleine to come back, before following Claudette further into the dressing room.
