A Bordeaux Dynasty: A Novel

by Françoise Bourdin

  There was a short moment of silence, and Jules continued, “I’m going give you all the facts. It’s pretty simple. Alex decided to challenge Aurélien’s will. Long-term, what he’s after is a benefit sharing agreement. He wants to divide up the company. The battle is going to be long and hard, and I’m afraid Alex and his lawyer are going to resort to emergency measures, like some sort of appeals procedure, that might hamper the estate’s management. Our financial footing is shaky. We’ve invested a lot these past three years. In order for you to have an exact view of what’s going on, I invited Varin to have dinner with us tonight. You don’t have to take my word for it after all. …”

  “Are you kidding?” Robert said, softly.

  “No, I’m not,” Jules said. “Alex has just as many rights as any of us. You’re going to have to make up your own minds. If you’re against him, I want you to know exactly why.”

  “Jules!” Louis-Marie said.

  Leaving his ladder rung, Jules grabbed one of the glasses that Robert had just filled.

  “I insist,” Jules said to his brothers. “I refuse to be seen as the one who wronged Alex, the guy who screwed over the entire family and kept the estate all to himself.”

  “Come on …” Louis-Marie said.

  “Let me finish!”

  Jules’s voice had exploded in the library, and that’s when Robert and Louis-Marie truly realized the seriousness of the situation. The anger that had been eating away at Jules these past few days had just erupted, but he immediately got ahold of himself, and he continued in a calmer tone of voice.

  “I don’t want you to make a decision until you know exactly where we stand, the four of us. … But there’s nothing illegal in Aurélien’s will.”

  “If I thought that,” Robert said, “I would’ve said so the very first day. Dad wanted to preserve Fonteyne, we all understood that. And Alex can’t perform the way you do.”

  “Besides,” Louis-Marie said, “he’s the one who wanted to leave, isn’t he?”

  “Maybe he’s changed his mind,” said Jules. “I’m not opposed to him coming back, but I’m the manager, so I’m the one who’s going to be making decisions about the company.”

  “That’s what he can’t accept?” Robert asked. “Then he really shouldn’t come back.”

  Jules glared at his brother.

  “Don’t take my side blindly,” he said. “Wait till you hear what Varin has to say first.”

  Robert laughed and refilled his brothers’ glasses. He turned to Louis-Marie and, ignoring Jules, said, “Still as thin-skinned as ever, our little brother.”

  Jules planted himself in front of both Robert and Louis-Marie, forcing them to look at him.

  “I may be thin-skinned,” Jules said, “but I also work damn hard. …” He lifted his glass and continued. “This wine, someone has to make it, you know. You Parisians forget about that. The vineyards, the harvest, the cellar, quality control, negotiating prices … I’m up to my neck in work. …”

  Jules smiled. He’d said those words in a composed manner, but his brothers got the picture. He sat in an armchair and continued, “Last year, we barely got everything done, Aurélien, Alex, and me. I haven’t filled Alex’s position in the hope that he might think things over and come to his senses, but also because I want to limit expenses. I had to give Lucas a raise because he left me no choice. In spite of Varin’s craftiness, there are inheritance taxes to pay. I talked to you about the company’s debts. But you’re going to see that the expenses were not just logical, they were necessary.”

  Louis-Marie and Robert nodded silently.

  “The statutes of the company, as Aurélien wanted them, are very complicated. Almost as complicated as running this place. I want Varin to explain all the details to you guys. Then you can tell me what you want to do.”

  Another moment of silence followed that lingered.

  “I don’t want things to be unclear anymore. I don’t want to be the only one involved. I want you guys to take on your own responsibilities.”

  Robert and Louis-Marie looked at each other. Their faith in Jules was absolute, but they understood his request. Things could no longer be done blindly. In the highly unpleasant event of a trial, each would have to offer fully informed opinions.

  “This trial is going to be quite a show,” Louis-Marie sighed. “The Laverzac heirs fighting over the estate. Exactly what Dad didn’t want to happen. … None of us did.”

  He uttered the last four words looking straight at Jules. They shared a smile that would’ve made Alex crazy with anger and jealousy. Robert was about to add something when Pauline burst into the room.

  “Fernande is worried,” she said. “You’re not going to let the lunch she made go cold, right?”

  She went over to Robert and took him by the arm.

  “Let’s go, boys,” she said. “Time to eat.”

  As much as she would have liked to, Laurène wasn’t able to get Jules to herself at all that day. In order to spend some time with his brothers in the evening, he’d decided to work even harder until late afternoon. Laurène resigned herself to waiting until they went to bed to give him the big news. Until then, she had to take care of dinner. Pauline offered to help, and both women selected the tableware and silverware for the meal. Pauline sent Clothilde to pick up some flowers, which she arranged in superb bouquets in crystal vases. Laurène brought down a lace tablecloth, but Pauline wanted to see what else they had, and they went to the linen room together. Pauline rummaged through the large closet overflowing with embroidered linen.

  “Oh, this one!” she exclaimed, picking one off the top of a pile.

  She unfolded the silky-smooth fabric.

  “A and L?” she said. “For Aurélien and Lucie?”

  Laurène nodded, also admiring the intricate motifs. Pauline climbed on the stepladder that Fernande always left in the linen room.

  “Look at this,” she said, examining the closet. “It’s like Ali Baba’s cave. …”

  Laurène sighed. As long as Dominique had taken care of the house, nobody had realized the importance of her tasks.

  “I’m a little bit over my head, Pauline,” she admitted. “I always use the same things. Towels, bed sheets, whatever—I always grab what’s within easy reach.”

  The innocence that Laurène displayed so naturally made Pauline smile.

  “Jules could easily sleep on the floor or in a sleeping bag, but he notices any little hole or stain on a bed sheet!”

  “Aurélien drilled an obsession with perfection into their heads, I suppose,” Pauline said, still looking amused.

  “It’s true that Aurélien was demanding,” Laurène said. “But times are changing. …”

  “Maybe times are changing, but the brothers aren’t! Louis-Marie is the same, he’s got a rich man’s habits.”

  “I’d pay no attention to any of it if Fernande wasn’t bombarding me with questions all day long. I always have to give her my opinion about this and that, when I really couldn’t care less. As for Clothilde, it’s simple—she never has an opinion on anything.”

  Pauline examined Laurène for a second.

  “Are you getting a little fed up?” she asked. “Think long and hard, then, before marrying Jules. When is the wedding date, by the way?”

  Laurène hesitated, feeling weakened. Her secret was beginning to weigh on her. And Pauline always had a knack for getting confessions out of her.

  “Sooner than he even imagines,” Laurène said.

  “Why do you say that?” Pauline asked, leaning toward her.

  “I think that … Well, I’ve only known for a few hours, but …”

  “Really?” Pauline said, her eyes sparkling. “That’s great!”

  “But I haven’t had time to tell him yet. You’re the first to know.”

  Pauline stepped down the stepladder and took Laurène’s hands.

  “And so I’m first to congratulate you and to wish that your baby will be the most beautiful in the world
.”

  For a few moments, Pauline was sincere. When her daughter, Esther, was born, Louis-Marie looked like the happiest of men. They had some wonderful moments, the three of them together, after the birth, but then Pauline quickly got tired of the baby’s crying at night, the amount of attention Esther required, the constant care.

  “I’ll give you a little tip for the coming months,” Pauline said. “You can continue to dress well even when you’re pregnant!”

  Both of them burst out laughing. Laurène looked so tiny and so young that Pauline felt sorry for her.

  “We should go back downstairs now,” she said.

  They left the linen room arm in arm. Laurène felt a bit guilty for telling her secret, but she was also reassured by Pauline’s warmth and kindness. She wished she could be more like her, that she had her self-confidence, instead of the lingering anguish she’d felt since taking over as head of the castle.

  The dining room table, even without its extensions, was much too long for six people, and so Laurène decided to use only the center part. She set the places face-to-face, and decorated the table’s ends with heavy twelve-branch candelabras. Fernande walked into the room, looked at the table, and gave Laurène a smile of congratulations. Whenever the castle became festive, she felt young again. She went back to the kitchen, set on outdoing herself.

  Jules tiptoed into the room and turned on the light. He remained still a few moments, observing the environment he knew by heart and that he’d left unchanged. Aurélien’s bedroom was just the way it had always been. He let his gaze fall on Lucie’s picture, above the bed, on the heavy, blue velour drapes, and on the last book Aurélien ever read, a present from his lover Frédérique.

  He went over to the roll top desk, which was open. He sat at it and looked at the six drawers. He’d put his father’s personal effects in those—his watch, his datebook, his glasses. He touched the black pen Aurélien had used to sign so many documents. Including the modified statutes of the Château-Fonteyne Wine Company.

  That decision was yours, Jules thought. But did you foresee a war?

  Jules sighed and absentmindedly ran his hand over the desk blotter. No, surely Aurélien had not guessed that Alex would attack the will, stand up to Jules, and threaten Fonteyne’s welfare. He’d treated him with a benevolent indifference, without imagining that he could ever rebel.

  He’s really your son. … Whereas I …

  Whereas he would never know for sure. Though there was a possibility, he’d always be in the dark. He opened one of the drawers. Aurélien’s pocket watch and its chain were resting on a photograph, the only one that Aurélien had carried in his wallet for more than fifteen years. It was a picture of Jules as a kid, standing in front of a Christmas tree. He was laughing, head back, his brown curls in a mess. Why had Aurélien kept that photo instead of another? Because of the joy expressed by Jules as a teenager? Because of his resemblance with his mother?

  “Is this your museum, brother-in-law?”

  Jules swung around and saw Pauline. She was standing at the room’s threshold, gorgeous in a turquoise dress, indiscreet and curious as always. She took two steps inside the bedroom, a bit intimidated.

  “Varin just arrived,” she said.

  Jules got up and shut the drawer.

  “You came here looking for Aurélien’s support?” she asked with an unexpected softness. “What’s certain is that you have Louis-Marie’s and Bob’s. As for the rest, you’re going to have to deal with it by yourself.”

  She was smiling, and Jules took her by the arm.

  “I like you a lot, Pauline,” he said, guiding her out of the bedroom.

  They entered the main living room together, and Jules went over to Varin to greet him. Laurène was serving drinks. Jules waited until he had a glass in hand before tackling the discussion. He could feel his brothers’ impatience and the notary’s uneasiness, but he experienced nothing of the sort himself. He was determined to take this battle to the very end, without hate, without any remorse whatsoever, convinced that he was right. Varin began to present the facts. Valérie Samson, in the name of her client, had undertaken a procedure to challenge the will. For the moment, it was a simple battle between legal experts, both sides presenting their arguments before a judge. The latter wanted to take his time, as this was an important case. He’d actually told Varin that no hasty decision was going to be made. Jules would soon be called in front of the judge, and so would Alexandre.

  They all listened to the notary carefully. Robert and Louis-Marie were trying to understand but asked no questions yet.

  Addressing Jules directly, Varin said, “I did tell your father that I didn’t approve of some of his decisions. I warned him, as it was my duty to do so. But he had absolute confidence in you.”

  Jules broke into his typical laughter.

  “You warned him against me?”

  Embarrassed, Varin nodded.

  “If the two of you had disagreed about something,” he said, “he couldn’t make any decision at all without your approval. It was a way of … relinquishing his own powers, which represented some risks for him. As it happens, he was right, of course. … And today, it makes your position pretty much unchallengeable.”

  Varin hesitated a few moments, then added, “That’s if your brothers, who are also shareholders and members of the board of directors, give you a vote of confidence.”

  Robert shrugged, but Jules didn’t give him time to speak.

  “And what if they decide to take Alexandre’s side?”

  “Come on!” Louis-Marie said.

  “Just hypothetically speaking,” Jules said, slowly.

  “Well …” Varin began, “it would complicate things but, as manager, and unless you made some major administrative blunders, you’d still remain in charge of the company. No doubt about that. Things would get a bit more precarious concerning the indemnities, though. …”

  Thank you, Aurélien, Jules thought.

  “You always have the option of selling part of the land,” Varin said.

  “Are you kidding me?”

  This time, Jules’s voice had been sharp, authoritarian.

  “The integrity of our estate is always going to be my main goal,” he said. “That and the quality of the wine we produce, that goes without saying.”

  Robert and Louis-Marie glanced at each other. Jules was true to himself, as he always was, no matter the circumstances.

  Pauline took advantage of the silence that followed to say, “I think it’s time for dinner, everyone.”

  Laurène, who’d listened to the entire conversation entranced, had completely forgotten about dinner. She got up, annoyed that once again she’d failed in her role of hostess, and she walked ahead of the guests to the dining room, where the candles lit by Fernande gave the woodwork a golden hue. Jules took a look at the table and gave Pauline a smile of gratitude. Since Dominique’s departure, he hadn’t seen such a beautiful place setting. But he noticed, at the same time, Laurène’s expression, and he came over to hold her chair as she sat down. The kind words he uttered as he put a hand on her shoulder made her quiver.

  Robert, who was sitting to the left of Pauline, began to joke around to monopolize her attention. Sitting across the table from them, Jules wondered if they were going to start up that awful seduction game of theirs again. Louis-Marie was chatting with Varin, without looking at his wife.

  “Yes,” the notary said, “I’ll be so happy to have her back with me. She’s an excellent secretary. She told me she’d return in June.”

  He spoke prudently, as though it was a delicate topic. Jules suddenly realized that they were talking about Frédérique. He experienced a jolt he hadn’t expected, and he had to make an effort to concentrate when Varin turned to him.

  “I know things didn’t turn out as well as they should’ve with her,” the notary said. “People always have to gossip. Because she’s young, pretty, and she lived under this roof. But she’s a courageous young woman, and ve
ry capable. I’ve always said that.”

  Laurène kept her eyes lowered on her plate. To hear Frédérique being praised this way was painful to her. Suddenly aware of the silence that followed his words, Varin coughed, not knowing what to do. He’d been amused by the gossiping a few months earlier, when the Bordeaux smart set whispered that Frédérique was Aurélien’s lover. The very idea was outrageous to him, because of the age difference—almost forty years!

  “To the very end your father kept the reputation of being a very … gallant man. That’s quite a flattering compliment, wouldn’t you say?”

  The three Laverzac brothers looked at him with disbelief.

  More and more embarrassed, Varin tried to dig himself out of his hole by adding, “I just hope people won’t say the same thing about us when Frédérique starts working for me again.”

  He was the only one laughing.

  Louis-Marie finally came to his rescue by talking about something else.

  Jules had a hard time swallowing his canapé. He’d slept with Aurélien’s lover and cheated on his fiancée in the same fell swoop, and every time he thought about it he felt deep remorse. He tried to follow his brothers’ conversation. Frédérique was but a memory, he had to put her in the back of his mind.

  “Alex always was a loser,” Robert said.

  “Not a loser,” Louis-Marie said. “You’re exaggerating.”

  “Not a whole lot. What’s certain is that compared to his wife, he’s a dope.”

  The burst of laughter that followed made Laurène uneasy. Dominique was a determined woman, a good wife, a good mother—fine. But Laurène was getting seriously annoyed hearing about her sister’s supposed perfection. Even though it was easier to shine next to Alex than Jules, she knew that people would never say anything of the sort about her. She finally met Jules’s eyes and knew exactly what he was thinking. Yet, she held his dark gaze and even managed to smile. She’d already been victorious over Frédérique, a few months ago, and she had no reason to be afraid. Especially now that she was carrying his child.

  I’m going to tell him later on this evening, she thought, and he’s going to be thrilled. He won’t be able to back away after that, and our lives will be linked forever. … Even if he sees that woman again when he goes over to Varin’s office. … Between now and the month of June, I’m going to be his wife. Mrs. Laverzac.