And Juliette missed her. Oh, how she missed her. She had always tried to smooth the ground beneath her daughter’s feet, guiding her toward the safest paths, where she would meet neither obstacles nor difficulties. Nor adventures. Nor any other kind of unforeseen event. Nothing that could hurt her deeply, nor anything that could stir her passions, elevate her above herself, above her cautious certainties, her almost cloistered, gentle, humdrum existence.
