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MON PERE ET MA MERE 13
to American ideas of a quick "business lunch" and usually served about 300 customers. But at dinner he spread himself on the table d'hote, and many of Pittsburgh's most prominent men used to dine there. Steel millionaires, politicians, theatrical stars, the town's merchants, and well-known journalists were frequent patrons. The restaurant was a particular favorite of the editors and reporters of the Pittsburgh Leader, for the Cafe Royal and the newspaper occupied the same building.
While Father was establishing his new restaurant, Mother was learning a new language. When they were first married, she spoke only English and Gaelic; but Grandmere Menjou lived with them and she spoke only French. Father and Grandmere would carry on extensive conversations entirely in French, which left mother completely baffled. It was even worse when some of Father's French friends came to the house for a party and they all sat around sipping wine, conversing in French, and laughing over jokes that Mother didn't understand. The Irish are a talkative race, too, and Mother wanted to have her say, so she insisted that Father and Grandmere teach her the language. It was a long and painful process as Father used to tell it, but Mother with Irish determination finally learned to converse in French— with a Gaelic accent.
If Mother and Father were miles apart in racial and linguistic characteristics, they were poles apart in temperament. That was probably a good thing, for Father had the most excitable and mercurial disposition I have ever known. If a chef put too much tarragon in the Bordelaise sauce, if a waiter spilled a plate of soup, if fresh asparagus were not available on the day Father wished to serve it, he would hit the ceiling in a fit of rage that could only be called superb. He would rave and rant, grasp his head in despair, spout French oaths, and pace the floor in the privacy of the cafe's kitchen. One would have thought the whole world had contrived to ruin his reputation and his business. Sometimes he would carry on for two days over some trifle that another man would have forgotten in five minutes.