Étienne and Joséphine were married on the 14th of December 1814 in Boulogne-sur-Mer, the town that had seen them born. In the wedding basket was a Comtoise clock, a gift from Louis-Marie Bernard, Joséphine’s brother. It was during one of his journeys that Louis-Marie had brought back this large clock. He had found it in the workshop of a craftsman from Morbier in Franche-Comté. To him, it was the perfect gift for a young couple. What he did not know was that its mechanism seemed to be the work of the devil himself. The tick-tock of the seconds and the chiming of the hours were an absolute calamity. The three households living in the building could bear it no longer. The twelve strokes of midnight or midday echoed from floor to floor, even waking the inhabitants of the neighbouring houses. Étienne stopped the pendulum and silence finally returned.
Annoyed, Louis-Marie wrote to the craftsman. A few weeks later he received a reply. The Comtoise clock had not endured the journey in the luggage compartment of the stagecoach and had fallen out of adjustment. He would be travelling to England at the end of January and would stop by on his return. On the 10th of March, a small man in his fifties, with a weathered face, bright intelligent eyes and rough hands, knocked on their door. He introduced himself; his accent was unfamiliar to the young couple. As promised, he had come to repair — not merely adjust — the precious mechanism.
He took a few tools from his satchel, moved the clock and opened the belly of the beast. A few minutes later, a proper tick-tock emerged from the machine. Étienne and Joséphine still feared the striking of the hours. Joséphine invited the little man to share their meal. The twelve strokes of noon rang out clearly and delicately, without shaking the walls.
Louis-Marie arrived shortly before one o’clock. He smiled with satisfaction. His gift had now found its true purpose.
A rebrousse temps généalogie 