The Birds and Other Stories - The Little Photographer

 RATING: VERY GOOD

SPOILERS!!!

The Marquise is in a hotel in Italy on holiday with her two young daughters. Her husband was supposed to enjoy the time with them, but he wrote to tell her that he can't spare the time, and he will go to collect her and the girls. The Marquise feels bored and lonely, and then she starts wondering what having a lover would feel like. She is aware that other acquaintances and friends have their lovers, but she has never thought about it.

When she goes to the town, it is the afternoon and it is stiflingly hot. When she stops to rest in the shade of a house, she sees a man appear. He opens the door and offers her some refreshment. The man recognises her because she had been in his photography shop the day before with the girls. His sister assisted her but he was in the backroom. Monsieur Paul offers to open the shop to give the Marquise her developed photographs, and she asks him if he would take some quality photographs of her and the girls. The Marquise notices that he has a club foot but other than that, he is very attractive.

Monsieur Paul goes to the hotel to take the photographs, and he comments how he enjoys walking near the cliffs in the afternoon and take photographs. Then the Marquise decides to take his advice and goes there where she runs into Monsieur Paul. Little by little their relationship becomes closer, but it is clear that the Marquise is using him. He takes photographs of her, and then they become intimate behind some bushes. The Marquise starts getting bored and one day she fails to meet him. The next day he is frantic with worry, and she tells him that he needs to get used to her absence. Then he tells her that he has a plan. He can't live without her and he can become part of her servants and that way they can be together. The Marquise is aghast and tells him that what he plans is unthinkable. When Monsieur Paul gets furious, he threatens to tell the Marquis what has happened in his absence, and then the Marquise pushes him, and Monsieur Paul falls from the cliff. 

In the hotel the Marquise expects a call that never comes about Monsieus Paul. Some days later her nanny tells her about Monsieur Paul's body being found in the sea. The Marquis comes to the hotel and she persuades him to leave at once. However, Monsieur Paul's sister comes to talk to her, and the Marquise reluctantly agrees to see her. The woman shows her the photographs that her brother took of her, showing that there had been something going on between them. The sister hints that she may show the photographs to the Marquis, and if the Marquise wants her silence, she is to pay her some regular money. The woman has no option but to agree.

When the sister leaves, the Marquis comments that her club foot, a disability which his brother also had, is something that passes from generation to generation, and it is very likely that this feature can be inherited by their offspring. Then we realise from the Marquise's reaction that she fears that she may be pregnant and when the baby is born, she won't be able to conceal her deceit. 

A great story. I really enjoyed it.