Unfulfilled expectations E-Book

Christian BEAUDRY

• Herausgeber: Tullinois
• Kategorie: Gesellschafts- und Liebesromane
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 314

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2026

Beschreibung

Catherine is bold, determined, and stubborn. 
In her youth, she defies the constraints of 1930s patriarchal society and rejects the conventional path that her mother had planned for her. She decides to break the mould. 
After becoming a nurse, the young woman enlists to contribute to the war effort. Assigned to northeastern Ontario, she becomes infatuated with two wounded soldiers entrusted to her care. From then on, Catherine's destiny becomes intertwined with that of the two men. But the situation of one of them is not as clear-cut as he claims. To maintain his hard-fought freedom, he must resort to trickery, deceit, and sometimes evasion.
The post-war period brings Catherine back to Montreal. She and her friends, feminists in the shadows, demand greater social justice. However, they face the entrenched machismo of Maurice Duplessis’s era. Navigating waters that are sometimes murky and often turbulent, Catherine must reconcile her aspirations as a mother, a professional, and an activist. And above all, as a woman. 
A historical novel with contemporary resonance.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Christian Beaudry is a Quebec writer. During a trip, he experienced sudden visions, feelings, and altered consciousness… Emotions rose. The story of a woman, Catherine, developed, possessed him, and imposed itself. This novel is a journey through time to the land of history, emotion, and the unexpected… the land of "life" with a capital L. Christian and Catherine will surprise you. Promise.

Leseprobe

Table of contents

Quote

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Author's notes

Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec and Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

Title: Unfulfilled expectations / Christian Beaudry.

Other titles: Espérances inachevées. English | Untamable.

Names: Beaudry, Christian, author. | Beaudry, Christian, 1958- Indomptable. English.

Description: Translation of: Les espérances inachevées. | Contents: [1]. The untamable.

Identifiers: Canadiana 20250047772 | ISBN 9782898094590

Classification: LCC PS8603.E336792 E8713 2025 | DDC C843/.6—dc23

Author : Christian BEAUDRY

Title : Unfulfilled expectations - The untamable

All rights reserved. It is prohibited to copy, in whole or in part, in any form or by any means, without the written permission of the author or rights holder, in accordance with copyright law. 

©2026 Éditions du Tullinois

www.editionsdutullinois.ca

ISBN papier version : 978-2-89809-459-0

ISBN E-Pub version: 978-2-89809-460-6

Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec

Librairies and Archives Canada

Legal Deposit paper version : 2e trimestre 2026

Legal Deposit E-Pub version : 2e trimestre 2026

Infography : Mario ARSENAULT - Designgo

Printed Canada

Fist impression : Janvier 2026

We thank the Société de Développement des Entreprises Culturelles du Québec (SODEC) and the Government of Quebec for its tax credit program and for all the support given to our publications.

SODEC-QUÉBEC

Quote

What mortifies and exasperates them is not the fact that I am the way I am, but that I feel quite comfortable and have no guilty conscience.

Juan Gil-Albert, Les archanges

The Sohmer Park Promenade (1920)

Chapter 1

When she learned that her husband had been murdered, Elvina Loranger, née Harvey, felt relief, as if she had been set free. Despite his reputation as a respected figure, he had become increasingly unbearable to her, particularly due to his frequent infidelity. The strained relationship and the animosity Elvina often felt towards the late Joseph-Antonio were not constant; they had developed over time.

Joseph-Antonio Loranger started from nothing and built a small fortune through hard work and taking advantage of others’ vices. During Prohibition in Vermont, which lasted until 1902, he and his younger brother Uldège were among the French Canadian bootleggers who supplied Americans with alcohol. Joseph-Antonio, greedy but not stupid, strategically gave up his export activities before the authorities took an interest in him.

When he retired from the spirits business, Joseph-Antonio was only 24 years old. He had courted and married Elvina, six years his junior. She was the prettiest girl in the region, generously endowed to boot. The couple left the Richelieu Valley, their native region, to settle in Montréal. The end of the 19th century saw the emergence of a rich and prosperous industrial city that controlled trade with Europe and was home to all the major Canadian companies.

Shortly after their arrival, John Mathews, a former supplier, invited the couple to a concert by composer and conductor Ernest Lavigne at Sohmer Park. The location, on the banks of the Saint Lawrence River, made a strong impression on the two provincials. As soon as they passed through the park's majestic entrance, they entered the huge amphitheater, which could seat several thousand spectators, while more than a thousand additional spectators could stand in a gallery that surrounded the rear of the building. After the show, they strolled with Mathews along the promenade that ran alongside the river and sat down at one of the many tables placed under the large elm trees. They were surrounded by pretty ladies holding parasols, accompanied by their suitors in boater hats.

“I'm glad you were able to join me,” Mathews said after offering the couple a drink: spruce beer for Elvina and a small glass of fortified wine for Joseph-Antonio.

“Thank you for inviting us,” Elvina replied before her husband could open his mouth. “I loved the concert. And this place is so charming...”

“I must say, you add to its charm, Mrs. Loranger,” the man replied in a playful tone.

At these words, seeing the aggressive pout appear on the husband’s face, Mathews hastened to change the subject:

“Come, Joseph-Antonio, let me introduce you to Sir Rodolphe Forget…”

“Who is he?” Loranger replied abruptly.

“He's a broker on the Montreal Stock Exchange...”

“Another one! I get the impression that you all want to introduce me to some cousin of yours who's going to fleece me,” said the young man, offended.

“Rodolphe is very influential in business circles. He was a millionaire at forty...”

“Now you've got my attention!” Loranger smiled, changing his tone.

That's how Joseph-Antonio became friends with Rodolphe Forget and, on his advice, became a shareholder in several medium and large companies. Thanks to Forget, he gradually recycled and laundered his funds into legitimate businesses.

Elvina and Joseph-Antonio were a flamboyant young couple. They were regularly invited to parties and balls organized by high society. They quickly became the darlings of a certain wealthy circle. Determined and self-assured, Joseph-Antonio had skillfully maneuvered his way to respectability, with his wife's grace doing the rest. She was especially proud of their social rise in the metropolis. Her father was one of the notables of her native region, so she was used to being held in high esteem. When she agreed to follow her lover to the big city, she feared, without telling anyone, that she would find herself marginalized. Now she was happy to have left her hometown and to have believed in her man's somewhat crazy dream.

It was a risky gamble. However, Joseph-Antonio had always believed in his lucky star. He had never doubted his ability to come out on top in any situation. The fact that he had access to significant cash reserves certainly facilitated his entry into Montréal's business community. However, their successful integration into bourgeois society, which was quick to weed out the nouveau riche deemed unworthy of joining its ranks, was due solely to the couple's talents. It didn't take them long to find their feet and, above all, to establish between them that unique dynamic that so fascinated those around them. Joseph-Antonio's rebellious confidence and verve never went unnoticed. Aware that his young age could be a turn-off in certain circles, especially if he gave free rein to the ideas that constantly filled his mind, he always exercised restraint. This moderation in his exuberance, which suggested great self-control, was clearly appealing.

Elvina's innate charm, devoid of conceit, seduced both the ladies of high society and, of course, their husbands. It was not just the momentary attraction of a new face, a pretty face. The young woman's natural ease made people spontaneously interested in her. Her quick wit and skillful repartee cemented that initial interest. Above all, Elvina knew how to hold her own, to efface herself in her husband's presence, never stealing the limelight. The most astute observers were quick to notice this sign of intelligence in the couple:

“And what do you think of these new faces?” asked Mrs. Blanche Forget, Sir Rodolphe's wife, to one of her good friends.

"My dear, young Mr. Loranger and his wife are both perfectly distinguished and remarkably natural in society.”

“Being so well matched, they will go far.”

At Rodolphe Forget's instigation, Joseph-Antonio became a member of the Montreal District Chamber of Commerce and then the Club Saint-Denis, the private club that brought together the French-Canadian business elite. At the Club Saint-Denis, he met brothers Oscar and Marius Dufresne, who, like him, were in their thirties:

“The City of Maisonneuve, in the east of the island of Montréal, is currently the most progressive city in the Dominion,” Oscar began with a touch of boastfulness.

“I read something about that in La Patrie. If I remember correctly, the municipality was described as the ‘Pittsburgh of Canada’?” replied Joseph-Antonio.

“Exactly!” exclaimed Oscar. “The city's industrial growth is unparalleled. Maisonneuve has a bright future ahead of it. For someone like you, young, daring, and financially savvy, it's the best place on the island to invest!”

“What my brother isn't telling you,” Marius interjected, “is that we're building a model city there...”

“Wonderful,” interrupted Loranger, “I'm thinking of finding a place to settle down, start a family...”

“Then this is the ideal place!” said Marius. The city is sup-plied with drinking water, gas, and electricity by the most advanced companies in Canada. We have an ambitious urban development plan that includes large, green spaces and majestic municipal buildings..."

“That,” Oscar interjected, nudging his brother playfully, “is the municipal civil engineer talking! Come on, enough talk! My dear Loranger, it's time to offer you a drink!”

In 1911, the Loranger couple and their newborn sons Rolland and Roméo moved into an imposing bourgeois house built of grey stone. The residence was located on Adam Street, a major thoroughfare in what was then the Viauville sector of the municipality of Maisonneuve. Joseph-Antonio was 33 years old, and his business was booming. Eager to diversify his activities and, above all, his sources of income, which later proved to be a wise move, he purchased the newspaper Le Juste Prix. Since 1887, this weekly publication had prided itself on being the benchmark for commerce, finance, industry, and real estate. And so Joseph-Antonio became the publisher of a successful periodical!

During the economic crisis that began in Montréal in 1913 and shook the island's real estate market, Joseph-Antonio purchased numerous rental properties: duplexes, triplexes, and even a quintuplex, all located in Maisonneuve. He thus added a significant real estate portfolio to his assets. Loranger had a knack for identifying the most promising deals, taking advantage of the situation to continue diversifying his holdings in a smart way. The birth of his two daughters, Noëlla and Micheline, in quick succession doubled the size of his family in a short time.

When the Great War broke out, Joseph-Antonio and Elvina were full-fledged members of Montréal's French-Canadian bourgeoisie. The global conflict somewhat altered the standing of this privileged group. Like his friends, most of Loranger's investments declined. The circulation of his periodical declined. However, he managed to maintain the number of pages in his editions and his pool of advertisers. Combined with his reduced but steady rental income, these regular cash inflows allowed him to hold his head high and maintain a certain life-style.

On a warm July evening, returning late from Le Hollywood, a cabaret, where they had attended an intimate jazz concert, a new and very popular musical genre, the couple parted ways on the second-floor landing of their residence. Joseph-Antonio, quite tipsy, headed for their bathroom. Elvina, as usual, checked on her children. She found Rolland, her eldest, convulsing, his body burning hot. With no doctor available, she watched over her son all night, powerless to help the young patient as he choked. Dawn found her asleep, slumped in a chair near the little bed. When she opened her eyes in the morning darkness, the child remained completely unresponsive to her caresses. Once the heavy curtains in the room were opened, Elvina screamed when she saw the greyish colour of her son's face. He had passed away in the early hours of the night, his mother unaware of his death.

Rolland's sudden death affected Elvina deeply. She had naively believed that their lifestyle and her family's financial comfort would protect them from anything. She, who had never known adversity, was brutally disillusioned. At the funeral, she was a wreck. This caused a lot of gossip. She mourned her firstborn for many weeks, during which she stubbornly refused to leave the house. She only began to recover at the end of November. One gloomy evening, she approached her husband:

“I met the priest...”

“You went out to church!” exclaimed Joseph-Antonio with a certain joy.

“No. He came by on his own initiative.”

“He started his parish visits early...”

“That's not it. He was worried that he hadn't seen me at Mass.”

“But I made sure to explain to him that you needed rest,” the man protested.

“He was just doing his charitable duty.”

“Which is?”

“He came to pray with me for Rolland's soul,” Elvina sniffed. “He also made me understand that our debauched life-style, our absence that evening, could explain a lot of things...”

“What!” vociferated her husband.

“Don't get on your high horse, Joseph-Antonio...”

“You know what I think of that kind of talk...”

“For once, let me finish, if you don't mind...”

“It's all nonsense,” said her husband, leaving the room.

Elvina gave up her social life, convinced that her excesses were responsible for the boy's death. She became devout, changed her wardrobe, and joined the ranks of the Ladies of Saint Anne. This did not prevent her husband from continuing his nightly escapades to fashionable but scandalous places. Joseph-Antonio always had a table reserved in his name at the Chinese Paradise(all italicized terms followed by an asterisk are in English in the original text.)on La Gauchetière Street in Chinatown. This was where the best African-American musicians of those early years of madness performed. Elvina refused to accompany him to this den of iniquity, so he began seeing a young woman named Rachel, an accompanist at the Gayety Theater, who was always available for an evening among the elite.

A year before the end of the Great War, Elvina gave birth to a third daughter, Catherine. The birth was difficult, as the baby was breech. For a few moments, Joseph-Antonio even feared for the lives of his wife and unborn child. The survival of the mother and newborn was due to the providential assistance of their new neighbour, Dr. Giasson. This event significantly changed Joseph-Antonio's attitude toward his family. Until then, the children had been accustomed to their father sleeping late in the morning and then being away until after they went to bed, if not until the next day, always busy with business. Both emotional and financial. Catherine's birth lightened the atmosphere at home somewhat and gave Elvina a new zest for life. Nevertheless, she retained her puritanical religiosity.

“Joseph-Antonio, there's no way I'm going with you to one of those cabarets or café-concerts. If you want to go, you'll have to go without me!” Elvina said curtly.

“Honey, I bought these tickets for you! I was sure you'd enjoy seeing Louis Armstrong in concert...”

“If you wanted to please me, you should have bought tickets for a show at the Monument-National theater...”

“Come on, Elvina, you know I hate musical theater and their damn operettas!”

“In that case, find something else if you want to entertain me,” Elvina grumbled.

“Well... Oscar Dufresne recently told me about the dance parties at the Laval-sur-le-Lac Golf Club...”

“Laval-sur-le-Lac!” exclaimed his wife enthusiastically. “The vacation spot everyone raves about?”

“Um... Yes, I think so!”

“It would be wonderful to move there. I heard that you can now get there by taking the electric boxcar on the Canadian National's new Deux-Montagnes line...”

In response to his wife's wishes, Joseph-Antonio had an imposing second home built on the banks of the Rivière des Prairies in Laval-sur-le-Lac, then became a member of the prestigious local golf club. He also established the tradition of the sacrosanct Saturday evening meal, which he presided over, surrounded by his family and friends. Unconcerned about expense, he was at his best in these places and moments. Noëlla, Micheline, and Catherine, his beloved daughters, dressed up for the occasion in their finest clothes, parading gracefully among the guests, certain to attract their compliments. Joseph-Antonio was as proud as a peacock of his offspring, especially Catherine, his youngest daughter.

In 1919, the sale of alcoholic beverages was once again banned throughout the United States. The Quebec government followed suit with a partial prohibition at the same time. Uldège, Joseph-Antonio's younger brother suggested that he take over the business:

“We won't even have to cross the border anymore,” Uldège enthused.

“Not for me,” Joseph-Antonio replied.

“Have you gone soft with age?”

“I have too much to lose this time,” replied the elder brother. “I'm not single like you...”

“Can you at least help me a little?”

“I can certainly refer customers to you.”

-o0o-

To those who did not witness the Loranger couple's glory days, they now seem ill matched. He, a former industrial magnate, still imposing in stature, with a determined jaw and penetrating steel-grey eyes. She a small, thin woman whose prematurely white hair accentuates the malevolent impression given by her dark brown eyes, which appear black. Her face, once exquisitely refined, has suffered the consequences of her bilious temperament. A degenerative gum disease forced her to wear a pair of ill-fitting dentures, which gave her a lisp.

Tired of managing his estate, Joseph-Antonio decides that he needs a reliable lieutenant to assist him and gradually replace him in his daily activities. His son Roméo, known as Méo to the family, is still in high school and too young to take over. He therefore brought one of his nephews to Montréal, who had apparently taken an accounting course in the United States. This is how Berthold Loranger arrived in the Maisonneuve neighbourhood with his naive wife Fernande, a thin, very reserved, but nevertheless very desirable woman.

Freed from the tasks that weighed him down, Joseph-Antonio became more involved in publishing. When the Great Depression began, Anne-Marie Huguenin, known by her pen name Madeleine, founding director of La Revue Moderne, consulted him about managing the advertising content of this very popular monthly magazine:

“Mr. Loranger, with your Juste Prix, you have developed solid expertise in the field of promotional advertising,” she said, taking a drag on her mother-of-pearl cigarette holder.

“Ms. Huguenin, you're putting me on the spot...”

“It's the absolute truth! Everyone agrees that you are at the head of a solid publishing house and that you have great expertise in advertising...”

“Coming from a woman like you, I don't really know what to say... How can I help you?”

“In four years, La Revue Moderne has become the Canadian monthly with the highest circulation, with content that is second to none. However, we have a small concern regarding advertising revenue... We need to restore the balance between the two vital forces of La Revue...”

“What do you have in mind?” Joseph-Antonio asked, realizing as he spoke that he was falling under the spell of this refined woman.

“The involvement of a savvy businessman like you seemed indispensable to us.”

“Would you like me to intercede on your behalf with some of my contacts?”

“We would like... I would like much more than that,” replied the woman of letters.

“I'm listening,” replied Loranger, unable to take his eyes off her full lips as she placed them on the cigarette holder.

“I would like to entrust you with responsibility for the advertising portfolio, which will allow me to devote myself to editorial content. I am certain that this will ensure not only the success of La Revue, but also its longevity.”

From then on, they shared offices on Notre-Dame Street East, in a building owned by Loranger. Joseph-Antonio came to rub shoulders regularly with the director of La Revue Moderne, and this proximity fuelled his fantasies. Day after day, he exhausted all his usual stratagems, but the society woman did not yield to his advances. He then decided to take a more direct approach, convinced that his business partner's determined nature required such a tactic for him to achieve his goals. He invited her to dinner at the Ritz-Carlton restaurant, one of the best in the city. Once the aperitifs had been served and the pleasantries exchanged, he got to the heart of the matter:

“Madeleine, ever since we first met, I've been longing for you...”

“Um... I'm flattered... of course,” the woman hesitated.

“I'm delighted...”

“However, my dear, I don’t think it’s appropriate to substitute pleasure for the enjoyment that comes with working together. It would be so vulgar…”

Coming from any other woman, Joseph-Antonio would have taken offence at such a rebuff. However, he is sufficiently in control of himself to take the blow with dignity. In the days that followed, he made it his duty not only to respect the wishes of the woman who was the first to stand up to him, but above all to rise to the occasion. He sublimated his disappointment, in a way, by investing himself more fully in their collaboration.

To better forget his feelings for Madeleine, Joseph-Antonio knows he must look elsewhere. When he does so, he notices that his nephew Berthold, increasingly busy with the demands of his job, is neglecting his sweetheart. She is left to her own devices, so to speak, in the big city. Joseph-Antonio, being a mindful uncle, takes a cautious but bold approach to the young woman.

Until then, Elvina had largely ignored her husband’s infidelities, content that they kept him away from the family home where she was raising her three daughters and son according to the Church’s rigid teachings.

This time, however, when it becomes clear that Joseph-Antonio is more interested in Fernande than his family duties warrant, Elvina takes offence. There is no question of her tolerating what she considers to be incestuous relations. She therefore decides to say something to her husband:

“Don't you think, Joseph-Antonio, that you're going a bit too far with our young niece?”

“What are you talking about?” retorts the man of the house, grumbling.

“You were spotted at the Chinese Paradise* with Fernande...”

“Who said that?”

“It doesn't matter! What were you doing with her?”

“Elvina, don't you have anything else to do right now? Don't you have a Ladies of La Pérade meeting tonight?" Joseph-Antonio asks mockingly.

“You mean the Ladies of Saint-Anne... Don’t shift the topic, scoundrel!”

“Whatever I'm doing is none of your business!”

“Ah! You admit it! Old pig!” Elvina hissed, her voice full of rage.

As soon as she had uttered these words, Elvina bit her lip. She had promised herself to remain calm and calmly tell her husband what she had to say. But true to her hotblooded temper, she had lost control of the situation. And anyway, what did she hope to achieve by causing a scene?

Joseph-Antonio, being a man of his time, reacted very badly, of course. Forgetting his refined language and glaring at Elvina, he said in a threatening tone:

"Damn it! You won't get away with that comment!

He left without another word, slamming the door behind him. From then on, Joseph-Antonio ostensibly ignored his better half, and Elvina developed a genuine hatred for the father of her children. A determined and wealthy woman, she was not afraid of anything. After stewing in her frustration for a long time, she decides to inform Berthold of the situation. He reacts very badly, of course, just as Elvina had hoped. All that remains for her to do is to carefully channel his legitimate anger.

Early one Monday morning in mid-August, Mrs. Huguenin, worried about not hearing from her friend and publisher, had Joseph-Antonio's office door opened. She was horrified to discover his body slumped in his executive chair, his head thrown back. A bullet had entered obliquely through the top of his skull and lodged in his neck, where it was extracted by the medical examiner. A second bullet of the same caliber had been fired into his chest and was found in his spine. The autopsy report concluded that the victim had been shot from the front and had clearly been surprised at work by his killer.

At the time of his murder, Loranger was alone in the building he owned, which housed not only his personal offices but also those of La Revue Moderne. The first police officers called to the scene noticed that the body was wearing an expensive watch on its wrist and that the deceased's money clip contained about a hundred dollars in small bills. No weapon was found at the scene.

During the coroner's inquest, Elvina testified that on the weekend of the tragedy, she was at their second home in Laval-sur-le-Lac with her daughters and a few guests. After playing golf at his local club, Loranger was supposed to join them for dinner on Saturday evening. However, he did not show up, which did not concern his wife in the least. The coroner concluded, unsurprisingly, that the death was suspicious.

When their father died, Méo was 20 and Noëlla was 18. Micheline and Catherine were only 16 and 14, respectively. The two youngest daughters were studying at Marguerite-Bourgeoys private highschool on Westmount Avenue in the western part of the city, where they were driven every day by their late father's chauffeur.

The funeral was held at Mary Queen of the World Cathedral. Despite her great grief, Elvina found the strength to express this wish, as her dear departed husband had left no instructions on the matter. The bereaved widow spared no expense, wanting to maintain her status. Numerous limousines were chartered for the imposing funeral procession led by the French consul, which stretches for several blocks on its way to the East Cemetery, where Elvina plans to have a family vault dug. After the burial, a reception brings together nearly two hundred guests not far from the burial site.

When the notarized will is read, Elvina suffers one last indignity. With the exception of his underwear, bequeathed to his beloved wife “for her full enjoyment,” all of her late husband's possessions are divided into five equal shares. One for each of their four children. The fifth share was intended to cover the costs of care for his illegitimate daughter, Armande, who was interned at the Prévost Sanatorium. Elvina also retained the right to use the main residence in Montréal and the second home in Laval-sur-le-Lac. She also retained the usufruct of the other assets until each of the children reached the age of majority at 21. Until then, the assets remain under the management of the executor, Uldège Loranger, the deceased's younger brother.

Sitting opposite the notary, Elvina remained stoic, wrapped in her dignity. Impassive, except for a flush on her face and constant twitching of her left eyelid, like a nervous tic. It was only once she left the notary's office that she let her anger explode in front of her loved ones:

"Ah, the son of a bitch. The bastard. After everything I did for him. Everything I endured. Almost 30 years of marriage, only to end up disgraced by this story of an illegitimate daughter... And to inherit his underwear! Insult added to injury!"

“Mom, I understand your anger,” began Méo, the eldest.

“Don't interrupt me,” his mother scolded him. “I'll tell you what. With the life he led, he got what he deserved...”

“Mom, please don't say things like that,” Noëlla interjected.

“Shut up!” cried the dowager furiously. I've held back too long! I made your father what he was! When I met him, he was just a rough little bum... Who thought he was the center of the universe! Hanging out with the Dufresnes went to his head. And he had no respect for anything. We never saw him at church. He never celebrated Easter. He ate meat on Fridays...

“Perhaps it’s preferable to consume meat on Fridays, rather than badmouth your neighbour throughout the rest of the week.” Catherine exclaimed defiantly.

Elvina reacted in a flash. She slapped her youngest daughter hard, and then, addressing her offspring, she railed:

“I will not tolerate such insolence. From now on, I lead this family. Mark my words! I will put things in order. No more lavish receptions, no more festive evenings. With the little that bastard left me, we have to cut back on expenses. From now on, we will lead an exemplary life.”

Chapter 2

Hearing the echoes of another stormy argument between her mother and younger sister, Micheline slips quietly into the large double living room through a hidden door. She sinks into the worn cushions of a massive, deep, gilded wooden armchair, vaguely Louis XV in style, which has seen better days. She had taken care to bring her knitting with her. She pretends to devote all her attention to it while she spies on the scene:

“Catherine, you think you're smarter than everyone else! You're as full of yourself as your father. Don’t expect financial support from me if you believe that you have the freedom to lead your life as you see fit,” Elvina counters.

“Mom, you don't understand me! I want to be a nurse. Not a housewife, living off a man, like Noëlla!”

“Your sister made a good marriage, you know...”

“Yeah! A marriage arranged by you. I want to be a nurse, and that's that!”

“In that case, you might as well join the nuns!”

“Oh, you and your damn religion!”

“That's enough! You’re arrogant enough already. I won’t have you insulting our holy mother, the Church. I've had enough! I'm sending you to the convent. The nuns will know how to curb your desires...

“Never, never!” Catherine cries out loudly.

“My dear girl, it's either that or I have you committed to Saint-Jean-de-Dieu (Saint-Jean-de-Dieu was a well-known psychiatric asylum in Montreal, founded in 1873, and often associated with forced institutionalization.)...”

“Come on, Mom! You can't say things like that!” Micheline intervened, having witnessed the entire scene while knitting discreetly in the back of the large living room.

“You mind your own business!” barked the old hag.

With that, Catherine rushed upstairs to her room, crying her eyes out, her sister close behind. She quickly locks the door and ignores her sister's pleas to let her in. She throws herself on the bed and gives free rein to her tears. Since her father's death almost four years ago, her mother has been relentless in her attacks on her. She continually pours out her venom on her husband's favourite daughter.

More than anyone else, Catherine has had a hard time mourning the man she admired and cherished. And who returned her feelings with equal strength. Crying in her bed, she thinks nostalgically of all the moments she shared with her dad. Like when she accompanied him on a trip to visit his family, whom her mother couldn't stand. Her father at the wheel, driving towards the quiet country town of Richelieu and talking to her about the importance of self-reliance, of not depending on anyone. The days spent at Uncle Rosaire's, the eldest of the Loranger’s who lived in the large family estate house by the river, playing and running around with her cousins. She misses these special moments with her father.

Just like the family trips to Lake Champlain in the United States, before they got into the habit of spending the summer in Laval-sur-le-Lac. She longs for their last stay there in particular. She must have been five or six years old. She vividly remembers the happy hours spent sailing on the lake with her brother and sisters. The heat of the sun on her skin and the cold touch of the water when she dove in. The evenings around the campfire. The board games on rainy days. Her father had come to join them and taken them to Mount Washington for the weekend. Once there, their father announced that they were going to climb the mountain, whose peak was lost in the clouds when they arrived.

“We can't climb that high,” Méo said flatly.

“Are you sure about that, Son?” Joseph-Antonio asked, a mocking expression on his face.

“Our legs aren't strong enough,” Noëlla added with conviction.

“So, you'd rather not come?” insisted their father, looking even more mysterious.

“Definitely not,” exclaimed Méo, Noëlla, and Micheline in unison.

“Well, it looks like I'll have to leave you down here with your mother while Catherine and I go up in the car!” laughed their father.

“Daaaaaaad!” Méo had reacted. “You didn't tell us we could go by car.”

“You didn't give me time, Son!” the man said, ironically.

Once at the top, Catherine and Micheline, the two youngest, refused to leave the car, frightened. Joseph-Antonio gently convinced them that they could get out of the vehicle with their eyes closed. Standing between his two little darlings, he took their hands and quietly led them to a sturdy guardrail. With the wind blowing through their curly hair, the girls agreed to open only one eye. Encouraged by the exclamations of Méo and Noëlla, little Catherine finally turned her head in all directions, fascinated by the magnificent spectacle before her eyes.

Ever since she was a little girl, Catherine had enjoyed her stays at Bear’s Nest. At least, that's what she called the inn where they would lodge, because of the stuffed bear standing with its mouth half open in the lobby. The inn was run by a couple from England or Germany; she couldn't quite remember. Rather than deterring customers, this detail gave the place an exotic feel that meant the small hotel was usually fully booked. Except, of course, for Elvina. She was treated like royalty there. Which she was, in some sense, since it was their maternal grandfather who had bought the place to hide his forest romances. She would only find out about this much later, after her mother’s estate had been settled. When you're a child, you think you understand a lot of things, but you know nothing.

In addition to these rural pleasures, Catherine enjoyed accompanying her father to his office, which he graciously accepted. She would sit in a corner with a book on her lap, pretending to read while listening intently to her father's conversations. She particularly remembers a conversation between her father and Mrs. Huguenin:

“Joseph-Antonio, you know very well that I will not give in. It is out of the question for an advertiser to dictate our editorial line!”

“Come now, Madeleine. The Chevrolet dealer is only asking for preferential placement on page 2...”

“So they want to have control over the editorial content!”

“We're in the middle of a Depression. Shouldn't we consider ourselves lucky to have a prestigious sponsor who can afford a full page?” exclaimed Loranger.

“Hmm... Why do they insist on advertising on the second page?”

“Because that way they can be sure that all readers will see it!” explained the publicist.

“Did you say ‘preferential placement’?” asked the woman.

“Yes, that's the term I used to describe the privileged position they want for their ad.”

“That's what I wanted to hear!” declared Mrs. Huguenin triumphantly. If they want to be given such a privilege, they'll have to pay the price!

“What are you getting at?” Loranger asked.

“There's no way we're giving them the usual rate! Weren't you the one who boasted at the time that you had ‘absolute expertise’ in advertising?” Well, show me what you're capable of!

“You're a devil of a woman!” exclaimed the businessman cheerfully.

Joseph-Antonio then turned to his daughter, knowing that she had absorbed every word of the exchange:

“You see, my dear, this is how women manipulate men!”

To which Mrs. Huguenin replied, staring at the girl:

“Not at all, my dear! That's how a woman must maneuver to succeed in a man's world!”

Catherine, who had fallen asleep lost in her thoughts, was awakened by a knock on her bedroom door. It was Micheline again. Before Catherine has time to send her back to her knitting, her sister informs her that someone is calling insistently on the phone.

“I imagine it's Lucien, that pesky stalker,” grumbles Catherine.

“No, it's not,” replies Micheline, giggling at the mention of the former boyfriend. “It's Yolande!”

“Tell her I'm coming!”

Catherine pulls on her skirt and rushes to the phone. It sits on a small pedestal table in the center of the long hallway that runs through the second floor of the house. She picks up the black Bakelite receiver and begins in a muffled voice:

“Hello, Yolande! I can't talk to you. Meet me at the fountain in Maisonneuve Market in twenty minutes."

No sooner had she spoken than Catherine hung up and ran to the adjoining bathroom. She glanced furtively at the mirror there. She adjusts a strand of her long, naturally wavy, dark brown hair, then hurries down the stairs and escapes from the house through the back door. Not without first grabbing a pretty indigo hat that accentuates the grey-blue sparkle of her eyes. Her mother didn't see a thing. Catherine walks cheerfully toward Morgan Avenue. Once she reaches it, she turns north toward the elegant fountain at Maisonneuve Market. A slender young woman with abundant blonde hair, graceful in her white shirtdress with wide, midlength sleeves, is standing near the edge of the basin. It is Yolande Dumas, Catherine's best friend, who lives nearby. Seeing Catherine approaching, her skirt fluttering around her long legs, she exclaims:

“You and your secrets... My goodness, Catherine, I love those two-tone shoes you're wearing. They're gorgeous. Where did you find such wonders?”

“It's you! Priorities in the right place!”

“Oh, stop it if you please. Tell me, what's going on with you?”

“My mother, again, acting up! She won't listen to anything about my studies. She's threatening to send me to the nuns or the loony bin!”

“Pretty much the same thing,” Yolande laughs.

“We can laugh about it now, but I'll be laughing bitterly soon.”

“What are you going to do? Hey, don't tell me you're thinking of giving up...”

“That's out of the question!” Catherine replied with less conviction than she would have liked. “Except that I have to admit that this whole thing has turned my world upside down. You know how much I want to be a nurse...”

She starts to cry, softly at first, then bitterly. Yolande approaches her sympathetically. After a few moments, she asks her friend in a determined tone:

“Why don't you leave home?”

“Sniff, sniff... What are you talking about?”

“Leave your mother's house, get out of her clutches...”

“You want me to run away? Like the time you convinced me to take the streetcar on Notre-Dame Street and we ended up at Dominion Park, at the East Terminal, without a penny? No doubt about it, you always have good ideas...”

“No, come on. I'm serious. You can't go on like this. After everything you went through when your mother found out about Germain and you...”

“You mean Lucien,” Catherine replied mischievously.

“Stop being silly. You're the one feeding your reputation as a man chaser.”

“It's like listening to Elvina...”

“I'm serious. Ever since your father died, you've been telling me you don't want to depend on a man. That you need to have a career!”

“That's true,” Catherine replied. “Except that I can't be a lawyer because women aren't allowed to join the Bar. I can't see myself in business. I want to do something that's both useful and rewarding...”

“So you need to leave your mother's house!”

“Where to, Miss Know-It-All?”

“Let me think about it... Well, you can always hide out at our place for a while...”

“Oh, really! And your father, Alderman Dumas, how will he react when the police show up to take a minor back to her mother's house?”

“I admit... Let's see... Among all the people we know, there must be someone willing to let you stay with them while you wait to be accepted into nursing school…”

“That's exactly the problem... My mother knows those people too!”

“Then you have to take refuge with someone she won't suspect... Or someone she won't dare come looking for you,” Yolande said with a determined look.

Back home, Catherine began to think about her friend's idea. She could very well take refuge at her godfather's house, Uldège Loranger, the executor of her late father's will. Single, he lived more or less alone in a large Victorian-style house in the Carré Saint-Louis, a hotspot for the French-Canadian elite. When she contacted him to test the waters, Uldège didn't hesitate. Without discussing at length the reasons that led his goddaughter to ask for his hospitality, he declares himself ready to welcome the young girl. However, he imposes one condition: she must inform her mother.

And so, on the eve of her 18th birthday, Catherine confronts her mother and informs her of her decision to go and live with her uncle. Elvina was categorically opposed:

“You're not going anywhere without my permission. If you're packing your suitcase, it's for the convent!”

When she recounted the scene to Yolande in the school-yard, Yolande suggested that she come to her house as soon as she could to contact her godfather again. Catherine did so and called Uncle Uldège to explain her situation. He quickly replied:

“Your mother's reaction doesn't surprise me. It doesn't change my decision. I'll let the staff know of your arrival...”

“