|
rritable way, John has assured! W. O; h g. t9 N
his daughter he'll never remarry and that the chateau will be
; d s7 S/ c7 k5 }4 ahers, but he refuses to put anything in writing.
3 x0 e) B3 l. BThat background anxiety will probably be resolved.! h, |1 i8 Q& }0 x. y) s
Another more forceful reason why they've kept up their
1 x; E6 S3 v# x* q# msummer visits to the chateau is because Daisy and Theo used. _3 ~: E% E6 Q* v/ Z: d% X
to insist - those were the old days, before John and Daisy
, h" s- [4 w- _* e0 c1 }fell out. They loved their grandfather and considered his silly0 A3 ?& Y, h8 ~5 C6 |
moods proof of his difference, his greatness - a view he rather. \ Y8 v8 d5 F2 R; u
shared himself. He doted on them, never raised his voice+ D9 `6 W3 d, ~0 o; o* d+ }
against them, and hid from them his worst outbursts. From
) I7 e, P* ~ e ~! Othe beginning, he considered himself - rightly as it's turned
* ?" ?' L# ?. n1 hout - a figure in their intellectual development. Once it
: u7 g* |2 \4 K( r* b! rbecame clear that Theo was never going to take more than6 G/ m9 G+ f/ @
a polite interest in books, John encouraged him at the piano
$ C/ }7 M" P# {: I# cand taUGht him a simple boogie in C. Then he bought him/ _/ H( i9 u; M( C; V4 a2 p
an acoustic guitar and lugged up from the cellars cardboard: q2 j2 T. z, ?3 J( Q, X
boxes of blues recordings on heavy old 78s as well as LPs,
( w' h+ c( l! u Sand made tapes which arrived in London in regular packages., q1 b% ^- Q$ r) C" x! \
On Theo's fourteenth birthday, his grandfather drove1 E9 t4 x- |1 s) u/ |3 B
him to Toulouse to hear John Lee Hooker in one of his last% D3 X' E" y3 F8 }9 g( y" m" n
appearances. One summer evening after dinner, Grammaticus8 F ?/ q4 S6 p5 n6 @$ m
and Theo performed 'St James' Infirmary' under a brilliant4 ~( x5 U$ F H
sky of stars, the old man tipping back his head and warbling4 E. h) G$ A# T8 u) e7 z6 d
in a husky American accent that made Rosalind tearful. Theo,: z2 N7 D S7 l+ x" \9 P7 z, M2 z
still only fourteen, improvised a sweet |
|