Chapter 34 Section 33

In front of a stack of letters, he began to think again about the tree that Kairano (for the last time) called "the possibility of possibility": when a person is surprised to find himself at the mouth of the adult stage, life Just like this tree unfolded in front of him.The bees on the treetop canopy are singing.He thought he knew why she hadn't shown him the letters: she wanted to listen to the whispers of the trees alone, without his company.Because he, Jean-Marc, represents the disappearance of these possibilities, he reduces the possibilities in her life to one (though it is a happy reduction).She couldn't tell him about the letters, because to begin with (to herself and to him) meant that she wasn't really interested in the promises made to her in those letters, which she had given up on in advance. The forgotten tree she looked at.How could he be dissatisfied with this?After all, he was the one who wanted her to hear the music of the whispering tree.And she did exactly what Jean-Marc wanted.She has obeyed him.

Crouching in front of his letter, he thought: the echo of that whisper must accompany Chantal, even if the adventure of the letter is over.He wrote that an unanticipated reason asked him to leave.After he finished writing this sentence, he had a doubt in his heart: Is this departure really unexpected?Did I hesitate to write these letters because I knew they wouldn't come to fruition?Is it because I am bound to leave that I am going to be completely honest with you? leave.Yes, this is the only possible ending.But where?he considered.Is it possible not to indicate the destination?That would become a somewhat romantic secret.Or, is it impolite avoidance?Yes, his presence must be in the shadows, and he cannot write the reasons for his departure, because they would suggest the identity of this correspondent - such as his occupation.Therefore, it is more natural to say where he goes.In a city in France?No.That's not reason enough to interrupt communication.He should be somewhere far away.New York?Mexico?Japan?That would feel unrealistic.It is best to choose a foreign country, but it is a nearby, relatively unusual city.London!Of course, that would look more logical and natural.He smiled and said to himself: Actually, I can only go to London.But he immediately wondered: why does London seem so natural to me?He immediately thought of the man from London whom he and Chantal used to make fun of.The horny man who had given Chantal his card.This Englishman, this Briton, was nicknamed Brittany by Jean-Marc, which is not bad: London, a city of erotic dreams.That's where the faceless admirer he plays is going to go.He will disappear among the libertines, the stalkers, the thieves, the artists, the satyrs, the perverts, the lustful, and that is where he will disappear forever.

He went further and further: he wanted to leave the word "London" in his letters as a signature, an almost invisible trace of his conversation with Chantal.He laughed to himself secretly: he wanted to remain unknown.No neutral, because the rules of the game require him to.But he still had a counter-desire—an utterly undeserved, irrational, absurd, dark, and certainly bordering on childish desire—inciting him not to remain completely anonymous, to leave a Mark, where to hide a password representing the signature, only an unknown, outstanding discerning person can see through him.As he was about to go downstairs to put the letter in the mailbox, he heard shrill shouts.Going downstairs, he saw them: two women and three children standing in front of the doorbell.He passed them and walked to the mailbox on the opposite wall.When he turned around, he saw the woman ringing his and Chantal's doorbells.

"Excuse me, who are you looking for?" He stepped forward and asked. The woman told him a name. "that's me!" She took a step back and looked at him with reverence: "It's you! Ah, it's a pleasure to meet you! I'm Chantal's husband's sister!"