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rritable way, John has assured
1 d" F: F) e0 Dhis daughter he'll never remarry and that the chateau will be) ~0 X/ U3 _0 h7 s" f, a
hers, but he refuses to put anything in writing.
; i( e% O5 A9 t9 d: OThat background anxiety will probably be resolved.
" M! {4 {3 C4 ~9 f3 |1 k- A* uAnother more forceful reason why they've kept up their8 U' n) x( \ s, _3 h8 O
summer visits to the chateau is because Daisy and Theo used; P: ~' @: p0 G% h3 K
to insist - those were the old days, before John and Daisy/ K" H; k) j; S% T. _
fell out. They loved their grandfather and considered his silly
! M% _; O% L" R; {* |8 Lmoods proof of his difference, his greatness - a view he rather Y/ ~1 W; d& @% r" u' w
shared himself. He doted on them, never raised his voice. B9 e! d: A5 d5 H2 W
against them, and hid from them his worst outbursts. From
- N" b d) }# w. N9 vthe beginning, he considered himself - rightly as it's turned
, n- y) \/ i" W4 H: g1 H! lout - a figure in their intellectual development. Once it
9 w4 Y) o0 d7 L* a* k [5 Ybecame clear that Theo was never going to take more than
6 ]5 @# i/ V; @% ]: C0 S) d1 t) ?a polite interest in books, John encouraged him at the piano
$ L8 [0 `. ~( I9 N! Iand taUGht him a simple boogie in C. Then he bought him3 }& b5 u4 |* H: ?! |+ n
an acoustic guitar and lugged up from the cellars cardboard
- a( R9 ^; Z' M; W1 tboxes of blues recordings on heavy old 78s as well as LPs,
1 P, ^9 t9 z: m# sand made tapes which arrived in London in regular packages.+ s# z0 G9 \+ B8 f& i+ n
On Theo's fourteenth birthday, his grandfather drove
1 l3 c3 D5 {. l! Mhim to Toulouse to hear John Lee Hooker in one of his last; r2 Z8 }, o* F
appearances. One summer evening after dinner, Grammaticus4 Q% c: N5 J& ~
and Theo performed 'St James' Infirmary' under a brilliant! W' d k, }3 X. P3 X
sky of stars, the old man tipping back his head and warbling9 F. G1 g, o! g! z. V* ?: ~
in a husky American accent that made Rosalind tearful. Theo,7 U' C" \$ t2 ^2 U, `
still only fourteen, improvised a sweet |
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