DINNER at La Colombe

He was so much younger than her – but Séverine longed to tell him how she felt

- Alison Carter

When Séverine Poiret saw him, she ducked back into her restaurant and dragged the new waitress out onto the pavement.

‘What?’ the girl said as she emerged into the sunshine.

‘Keep your voice down!’ Séverine hissed. ‘That man is Pierre Florant.’

The girl, whose name was Laure, shrugged and turned to go indoors, but Séverine grabbed her arm.

‘He is the greatest hero this town has ever produced,’ she said.

The young man was getting closer now – in his late 20s, ordinary-looking in his shirtsleeves and braces, his fair hair floating in the breeze.

‘He fought with the Resistance and was fearless,’ Séverine went on. ‘He saved lives, and don’t you forget it.’

‘Can I go in now?’ Laure asked, then returned to her duties.

Séverine sighed and stood for a little longer, trying not to stare at Monsieur Florant. She knew one side of his face was badly scarred from a shell blast. And she had to forgive Laure, who was only 16 and had still been a child at the end of the war. Laure couldn’t be expected to fully understand how Pierre’s bravery had contributed to the salvation of France.

It was 1952, and Séverine, a single woman of 58, had run the La Colombe restaurant all her adult life in the town of Saint-Bonnet.