‘… and they cannot eat or bathe, or do anything for pleasure – not until the sun has set, tomorrow night. It is a most important holiday. Paul calls it Yom … Yom …’ ‘Yom Kippur?’ ‘Yes, that is it.’ Thierry nodded. ‘The Day of Atonement. Paul says it is a day for remembering the dead, and for confessing sins.’ ‘I see.’ I took a sip of my drink. ‘And this begins tonight, then, does it?’ ‘When the sun goes down, yes. Paul and Simon, they will have to eat like giants before then, if they are to fast all day tomorrow.’ Thierry placed a sympathetic hand on his own flat stomach. ‘I would not like to be a Jew, I think.’ ‘Didn’t you ever fast for Lent?’ His dark eyes danced with mischief. ‘My sins, they are so many, Mademoiselle – the fasting, it would do no good. Besides,’ he added, ‘the Jewish holiday is more than just not eating. Paul says it is forbidden to be angry, or to hold an argument, or to think bad thoughts about someone. It is not possible.’ He dismissed the notion with a ‘pouf’.
