Madame Gagnon, we were never on a first name basis, actually was rather kind, if detached. I am sure now that she would have done a lot more for us, and welcomed us into the family were it not for her husband, who really wanted us as far out of sight as possible. In fact, it is pretty certain that putting us up in their mansion all those years was indeed Madam's idea and her husband only went reluctantly along with it. He was a corporation head, made a stinking fortune in gold mines, rather like your great grandfather, Carl with the silver mines in Sumatra. He was also on a first name basis with the current prime minister's father, the elder Trudeau. They were already in their sixties when I was a kid, so I always knew them as being ancient. Their daughter moved out shortly after I was born, when she married Etienne, who actually took a strong paternal interest in me, and sometimes invited Mom and me over for dinner. I also think that he must have advocated a lot for me, and it was through his influence that I got into university, later seminary, but there was still the sticking point of my mother, who in a kind of bribery exchange, agreed to do free housework for our hosts in exchange for my tuition. I actually had trouble with her version of the story, and the student newspaper at the college where I did my first two years before entering seminary, decided there was a story there, and soon all of Montreal, and by extension, Canada, knew about the nasty racist pure laine Quebecois couple of wealth and privilege keeping Mom in slavery so I could become priest...
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