of the Salpêtrière lead them in singing Veni Creator . The boat has been divided into two sections by hay piled high, and covered in canvas: one side is for the girls from the Salpêtrière and the other for those from la Pitié. Their coffers have been placed at the centre of the boat.
Once Madeleine had agreed to come to Canada with Laure, they went to Madame du Clos and asked her to convince Madame Gage and the Superior that both girls should go. Madame du Clos assured the women that there were other seamstresses who could perform as well in her workshop as the two departing girls and that the productivity the hospital director demanded would not suffer because two of the best girls were leaving. Madame du Clos pretended that Madeleine was also an ill-behaved girl, that she and Laure were both more trouble than they were worth, and that she was glad to see them go. Madame Gage knew that this was not true, that Madeleine was an exemplary girl and that Madame du Clos was fond of both of them, but she remained quiet. Still, the Superior had argued against sending Madeleine, saying she didn’t want to see one of the best girls they had in a hospital of useless wretches sent off to Canada. The purpose of their agreement with the King, after all, was to send the worst possible women from the hospital to Canada. In the end it was Madeleine who had convinced the Superior, by vowing she would cause trouble in the dormitory if she were left behind. The Superior had called Madeleine a fool for throwing away her life to please a troublemaker like Laure and had agreed that Canada was the best place for both of them.
The convoy makes its way down the Seine throughout the morning and well into the afternoon. When night falls, the girls strain by the light of the archers’ torches to make out the shore of the country they are leaving behind. They pass towns and villages along the way: Poissy, Mantes-la-Jolie, Louviers, and Elbeuf. The archers complain that they should stop and spend the night in one of these towns, but the officers insist that no money has been allotted for such a purpose. They travel forthe better part of two days down the wending river and are exhausted when they reach Rouen.
A priest welcomes them to shore and they spend the night in the monastery. In the morning, another dozen or so girls from Normandie are waiting to join them. These girls have been recruited by the priests from poor farms. They are dressed in their best country clothes, although Laure would prefer to be wearing her hospital day dress rather than one of their bonnets and sagging dresses. Laure overhears the priest tell one of these hardy girls, who stares with disdain at the hospital girls, that the sea crossing will rid them of their city filth.
They arrive in Le Havre, where they are to board the ship, later that afternoon. The city itself is small and less impressive than Rouen. But Laure catches her first glimpse of the sea beyond the swampy shore. By now there are only a few archers still with them and a new woman, Madame Bourdon, who is from Canada and met them in Rouen. She will accompany them throughout the ship’s crossing. It strikes Laure that she will never see Madame du Clos, Madame Gage, or any of the other women of the Salpêtrière again. Her past is behind her; there is no turning back. Who will be waiting for her in New France, and will they be kind? Who will ring the bells at mealtime, for prayers, and when it is time to go to sleep?
An angry mob of twenty or thirty people waits for the girls when they moor. They are poor men and women, farmers and sailors carrying the instruments of their trade as weapons. As their boat pulls into port, the archers shout into the air for the crowd to back up. Women and men scream that they will not allow their daughters to be banished to a frozen land of misery or to meet their death at sea. That Canada is no place forwomen and that the King had better hang his criminals rather than send
Once Madeleine had agreed to come to Canada with Laure, they went to Madame du Clos and asked her to convince Madame Gage and the Superior that both girls should go. Madame du Clos assured the women that there were other seamstresses who could perform as well in her workshop as the two departing girls and that the productivity the hospital director demanded would not suffer because two of the best girls were leaving. Madame du Clos pretended that Madeleine was also an ill-behaved girl, that she and Laure were both more trouble than they were worth, and that she was glad to see them go. Madame Gage knew that this was not true, that Madeleine was an exemplary girl and that Madame du Clos was fond of both of them, but she remained quiet. Still, the Superior had argued against sending Madeleine, saying she didn’t want to see one of the best girls they had in a hospital of useless wretches sent off to Canada. The purpose of their agreement with the King, after all, was to send the worst possible women from the hospital to Canada. In the end it was Madeleine who had convinced the Superior, by vowing she would cause trouble in the dormitory if she were left behind. The Superior had called Madeleine a fool for throwing away her life to please a troublemaker like Laure and had agreed that Canada was the best place for both of them.
The convoy makes its way down the Seine throughout the morning and well into the afternoon. When night falls, the girls strain by the light of the archers’ torches to make out the shore of the country they are leaving behind. They pass towns and villages along the way: Poissy, Mantes-la-Jolie, Louviers, and Elbeuf. The archers complain that they should stop and spend the night in one of these towns, but the officers insist that no money has been allotted for such a purpose. They travel forthe better part of two days down the wending river and are exhausted when they reach Rouen.
A priest welcomes them to shore and they spend the night in the monastery. In the morning, another dozen or so girls from Normandie are waiting to join them. These girls have been recruited by the priests from poor farms. They are dressed in their best country clothes, although Laure would prefer to be wearing her hospital day dress rather than one of their bonnets and sagging dresses. Laure overhears the priest tell one of these hardy girls, who stares with disdain at the hospital girls, that the sea crossing will rid them of their city filth.
They arrive in Le Havre, where they are to board the ship, later that afternoon. The city itself is small and less impressive than Rouen. But Laure catches her first glimpse of the sea beyond the swampy shore. By now there are only a few archers still with them and a new woman, Madame Bourdon, who is from Canada and met them in Rouen. She will accompany them throughout the ship’s crossing. It strikes Laure that she will never see Madame du Clos, Madame Gage, or any of the other women of the Salpêtrière again. Her past is behind her; there is no turning back. Who will be waiting for her in New France, and will they be kind? Who will ring the bells at mealtime, for prayers, and when it is time to go to sleep?
An angry mob of twenty or thirty people waits for the girls when they moor. They are poor men and women, farmers and sailors carrying the instruments of their trade as weapons. As their boat pulls into port, the archers shout into the air for the crowd to back up. Women and men scream that they will not allow their daughters to be banished to a frozen land of misery or to meet their death at sea. That Canada is no place forwomen and that the King had better hang his criminals rather than send
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