‘Thank you, Louise,’ he replied, with the ease that comes with old friendships renewed. ‘It’s good to be home again.’
Then she saw how his eyes met Rose’s clear gaze as she introduced them. There was instant attraction between them. Louise hoped that perhaps Rose had found the man she had been wanting in her life
Before the summer was out there was a letter from Madeleine that brought Louise disturbing news.
Before you left here you asked me to tell you everything about Daniel and I have done my best, but that chance will soon be taken from me, as he has sold his house and his business and is leaving Boston. He is going back to live in the South, but what his plans are there I do not know. He has said only that he will be visiting his sister for a while in Charleston before he makes settled arrangements. I asked him to keep in touch. Perhaps he guessed the reason, because he made a strange reply. He said that he would have taken another hat as a gift for his sister if you could have chosen it for him.
For the first time since sailing out of Boston harbour Louise broke down completely and shed despairing tears. By now Daniel would have moved South and the last link with him was broken. She did not know how to bear the pain of it.
It was late October when Louise, accompanied by Josette, crossed the Channel and landed at the old naval city of Portsmouth. From there it was only a few hours’ drive into the county of Sussex. Her aunt’s home nestled in the countryside not far from the ancient city of Chichester. Violette, having sighted the arrival of the carriage from an upper window, came hurrying down the wide staircase as Louise entered the hall.
‘My darling niece! You are here at last!’
‘Tante Violette!’ Louise rushed forward to the foot of the flight and they both laughed in joy at their reunion as they held each other in a long and emotional embrace. When they drew apart they gazed at each other happily.
‘I thought this day would never come,’ Violette declared blissfully. Her hair had lost its rich flame colour and turned snow-white, but her classic facial bones still made her a pretty woman, and there was the same perky brightness about her that had always been part of her charm.
‘You are looking so well, Tante!’ Louise exclaimed, having feared she would find her an invalid.
‘That must be due to the sea-fresh air of Sussex,’ Violette declared, determined that nothing should spoil their time together. ‘And you’re to call me by my Christian name in future. It will make me feel younger. How lovely you are, my dear. From the pretty girl that I remember, you’ve become a beautiful woman.’
While they had been talking, Louise’s trunks had been carried upstairs and they began to follow, Violette still talking. ‘I can hardly believe that you’ve been half across the world and back again since you were last here! There’s so much to talk about! So much for you to tell me about Delphine and Madeleine! And how are you, my dear?’ She paused on the stairs to take Louise’s hands into both her own, her expression revealing her deep concern, for never having had a child of her own, her pent-up maternal love had always been directed towards her sister’s firstborn.
Louise smiled. ‘I’m fit and strong! My life is well organized. Fernand and I keep out of each other’s way as much as possible. Running the estate keeps me busy and I have renewed old friendships with neighbours who have come home again.’
Violette thought to herself that it sounded a bleak existence for a woman so deserving of the love that she had been forced to leave behind in Boston.
Upstairs, Louise met Marie, plump and grey-haired, who was Violette’s lady’s maid. She had come from France with Violette at the time of her marriage and, as Violette joked, they had grown old together. Louise soon realized that Marie also fulfilled the role of nurse, being meticulous in seeing that Violette took her pills and physic daily as the doctor had ordered. Sometimes they could be heard quarrelling cheerfully when Violette was in a rebellious mood.
For the first week, Violette abandoned her usual social activities, wanting to keep Louise to herself until they had caught up with all that had happened in the years since they were last together. After that she allowed the local society to meet her niece and invitations flowed in. Violette, who had always loved company, entertained in her turn.
The last leaves of the October trees fell. November passed by bleak and cold, and when Christmas came Louise and Violette attended a service at Chichester Cathedral. Then came the New Year parties and when the first snowdrops of February were in full flower Louise began to think of going back to France.
Violette had dreaded this time of parting. ‘I’d ask you to stay on with me if I thought it were possible,’ she said sadly.
‘You know how much I would want to do that,’ Louise replied quietly, ‘but Fernand would only come looking for me, as he did in Boston.’
‘Would you do something for me?’
‘Anything!’
‘Let me travel back to France with you. I want to see Paris once more before I draw my last breath.’
Louise hesitated. During her stay she had not been deceived by her aunt’s excuses about needing to rest or to take a little nap, able to see that she was not as well as she tried to appear.
‘Will your doctor agree to a trip?’ Louise asked with concern.
Violette threw up her hands in exasperation. ‘That old fool would keep me in bed all the time if he had his way!’ she scoffed. ‘I’m not ending my days like that! I want to live my life right up to the last moment. So, what do you say?’
Louise nodded smilingly. ‘We’ll go! I shall escort you there and back.’
Violette laughed with delight. ‘When you described those few days in Paris with your friend, Rose, such a yearning came over me to be with my fellow countrymen again, to talk my own language and to see once more all that I remember so well.’ She clasped her hands together, her voice merry. ‘A Parisian doctor will prescribe champagne and oysters – not that ill-tasting poison that my English doctor gives me! I shall feel young again!’
They sailed for France a week later. When Violette stepped ashore her eyes swam with happy tears. ‘I’m home!’ she exclaimed huskily.
It was dawn in Bordeaux when Fernand finished a night of gaming with a heavy purse of gold in his pocket. He sat back in his carriage as it began to roll along in a homeward direction. Sleepily he glanced out of the window as they passed a hostelry where a traveller had alighted from a coach and was waiting for his baggage to be unloaded. Fernand sat forward abruptly. It was Daniel Lombard!
Drawing back quickly to avoid being seen, Fernand swore to himself. The American had come looking for Louise! There was no doubt of that! It was sheer luck she was far away in England, but if Lombard appeared at the château he must make sure that the search for her was nipped in the bud!
Arriving home, he ordered the senior staff to come to him in the library. Their number had increased since the château had first reopened. He gave them strict instructions regarding the possible visit of an American. The housekeeper, whom he had appointed in Louise’s absence and who came willingly to his bed whenever he had need of her, was given special instructions on her own.
Daniel arrived at the château late that morning. He had chosen to ride, for the March morning was full of crisp sunshine, with a sky the colour of a duck’s egg. As he came up the drive, he reined in for a few minutes to view the château that Louise had described to him when she had talked of her childhood. With its old walls and the slumbering look of its fine windows, the shutters open to the sun, he thought it as beautiful as she had described.
Excitement gripped him. He was not far from her now! He had no idea if she would be angry that he had come seeking her, but he would explain that he could not go on any longer without seeing for himself how she was and if she had investigated the possibility of divorce. Madeleine had been almost fanatical in refusing to give him any information about her, even though he could see that she was always longing to tell him. He had gained a few snippets from Delphine, en
ough to let him know that Louise was coping courageously in spite of enormous difficulties. Although his move South had opened a new life for him, he had found it impossible to continue with it until he could be sure that, since Louise’s return to France, no loophole had revealed itself that might be used to enable them to be together. Coming here was like the last throw of the dice and his future and hers depended upon it.
As he dismounted, a stable boy came running to take his horse. He tugged the bell-pull and after a few moments a manservant opened the door to him.
‘I’m here to see the mistress of the house,’ he said in French.
‘Madame la Marquise is not at home.’
‘I prefer to find that out for myself.’ Daniel strode past him. Catching sight of a maidservant near the head of the stairs, he spoke sharply. ‘Tell your mistress that she has a visitor who will not leave until he has seen her.’ He had had the sudden fear that Louise might have been locked away.
‘She is not here, monsieur.’
‘What’s your name?’
‘Isabelle.’ She was highly nervous. This stranger, with his dark, frowning brows, was frightening her as much as the master.
Daniel took a gold piece from his pocket and held it out to her. ‘Where can I find her, Isabelle?’
She drew back, her hands behind her, shaking her head. Then she turned and scuttled up the rest of the flight out of his line of vision. Fernand spoke lazily from the library doorway, his voice echoing slightly in the large hall.
‘Put your gold away, Lombard. My servants have told you the truth. You’ll not find Louise here.’ He was leaning a shoulder against the jamb of the open library door. ‘If she had been, I suppose it would have ended up with my rapier blade going through you, but in her absence there is no need.’
‘Has she left you?’
Fernand laughed without humour. ‘That would suit you, wouldn’t it? No, my dear wife is dutiful in all matters and you have become a distant memory.’
‘I dispute that! Is she visiting her aunt in England?’
‘No! She went there as soon as the Treaty of Amiens enabled her to travel and stayed three months,’ Fernand lied glibly, determined that this American should not seek her out there. ‘Did you suppose she would delay going to see the old woman of whom she is so fond?’
‘No, that’s why I’m sure she’s here now.’
Fernand lost patience. ‘You’re wasting your time and mine.’ He stepped forward aggressively. ‘Leave my house now! You have come in vain to make another attempt to take my wife from me, and I’ll tell you why you’ll never find her. A maidservant on an errand in Bordeaux this morning told Louise afterwards of a foreigner from the New World staying at her brother’s hostelry. Maybe Louise has always been afraid that you would reappear one day, because as soon as the young woman gave a description of him, she knew it must be you. She made her servants start packing immediately and she left the château within the hour, taking off in the carriage at high speed.’
‘That can’t be true!’ Daniel glared in disbelief.
‘Ask any of the servants. Take a look in her bedroom if you wish. I doubt if there’s been time for it to be cleared up yet.’ Fernand looked towards the stairs, where the maidservant had reappeared. ‘Guide this visitor to your mistress’s bedroom.’
When Daniel stood on the threshold of the bedroom, he saw all the signs of a hasty departure. Drawers stood open, discarded gowns were flung across the bed and a single shoe lay on its side near the bed. A slim woman in dark blue, whom he guessed was the housekeeper, was picking up a petticoat from the floor and raised her eyebrows in surprise at seeing him.
‘Where has your mistress gone?’ he demanded, entering the room.
‘I do not know, monsieur.’
‘Speak the truth! I have travelled far to get here and if you have any compassion you will tell me where she is to be found.’ When the woman only tightened her lips he dived into his pocket and drew out a handful of gold coins. ‘Would these help you to recall? Something must have been said to give you some inkling as to where your mistress can be found.’
She took the coins from him. ‘I speak honestly when I say I truly do not know her whereabouts, but unknown to the Marquis de Vailly, she did give me a message to pass on to you. She wished you well and implored you not to attempt to look for her.’
He stood quite still for a few moments, as if he had been dealt a physical blow that had knocked all the breath from him. Then he gave a nod and turned slowly away. She smiled behind his back as he left the room. Fernand’s tactics had worked well. If there had been any advantage for herself in revealing that Louise was in England, she would have done it, but if Fernand ever rid himself of his wife, he would never marry a servant. She opened her hand to count the gold coins she had been clutching and smiled again. Fernand would not have paid her extra to untidy the room and then put everything to rights again. This money was a welcome bonus.
Daniel went down the stairs and out of the château without looking to the right or left. Fernand followed him to the steps and watched him ride away. It had been a totally satisfactory encounter. The American would never come back.
Eighteen
In Paris Violette was back in her element, buying hats and gowns and gloves for herself and wanting to get as much for Louise, who was content with the one beautiful hat she had chosen. It was brimless with cream plumes, a fashion rivalling the wide-brimmed bonnets that many women were wearing.
Violette had taken a large elegantly furnished apartment on the prestigious Rue d’Anjou. They ate in all the exclusive restaurants, sat in the best box at the opera and at various theatres, as well as visiting the most elite gaming houses, where Violette played extravagantly and won more often than she lost. She met several former émigrés, whom she had entertained in London and Sussex during their exile, and old friendships were renewed.
She still suffered the occasional cramp in her chest, but no more than in England, and she began to believe that living in the country had really done her no good at all. Yet common sense did tell her that it was sensible to continue to set aside two hours daily to lie on her bed. It did not stop her arguing with Marie about how much and how often she should take her medicine, and their clashes had become more explosive than before. Sometimes Josette took over this duty to relieve Marie, and perversely Violette took the dose without a murmur, since there was no fun in annoying this firm-faced lady’s maid.
Although Violette liked Louise to be with her wherever she went, there was one visit she made on her own. It was to her Parisian lawyers, who had always handled her French interests, finding ways of corresponding with her throughout the war by a personal courier, except at the height of the Revolution when everything was in turmoil and they themselves had had to lie low. She was received with courtesy and consideration by the grandson of the man whom she had always seen in the distant past, who had long since retired.
Frédéric Terain was in his early thirties, sharp-eyed and intelligent. She liked him and was particularly pleased at the way he paid meticulous attention to her wishes, explaining ways to her by which they could be carried out. Two days later she went to sign the new will he had drawn up for her, for although her niece would still be the main beneficiary, as in her previous will, certain conditions had been introduced.
After three weeks in Paris, Violette told Louise that she had decided to stay on in France. They were on their way back to the Rue d’Anjou after visiting Ginette and Antoine, whom Louise had wanted her to meet, and it had been a great success.
‘I’ve come home to my roots, Louise. I have friends here to visit and entertain, including the couple I’ve just met, and already it feels as if I’ve never been away. I shall continue renting the apartment until I find a suitable place to buy and I’m going to live in Paris until the end of my days. It also means that, although Bordeaux is a long way from here, there’ll never be a sea or an ocean between us ever again! You can visit me whenever you like.’
‘I’m so glad!’ Louise exclaimed. She was thankful to know she would always be able to reach her aunt, for nobody knew how long the Treaty of Amiens would last, rumours rumbling on all sides.
‘If it hadn’t been for you, I would never have made the effort to come here again,’ Violette continued. ‘Something went out of me when I followed that stupid London doctor’s advice and moved from the city to the countryside. Now I feel alive again!’ She wagged a be-ringed finger at Louise with a flash of rubies. ‘But don’t ever invite me to your château, even though it would be full of memories for me of your dear mother, because I never want to clap eyes on that husband of yours again!’
‘I won’t,’ Louise promised. ‘But I shall soon have to return there, even though I left a clerk to deal with the accounts. My bailiff, Pierre, will want to consult me on any number of matters to do with the estate.’
Violette sighed. ‘We’ve both known that this time together in Paris would be short. But you will return soon?’
‘At the first opportunity.’
‘Why not bring Rose with you next time? I’d like to meet her. After all, she is responsible in a way for my being here. If she hadn’t invited you to Paris, you would not have conjured up for me the wonderful and exciting atmosphere of this city, which made me yearn to see it again.’
Louise thought it would be a good idea to bring Rose. There had been no proposal yet from Jerome Colbert, even though he and Rose saw each other frequently. Rose believed his sisters were the cause, for they were jealous of their domestic reign over the château, and did not want him to take a wife. But he would miss Rose when she was away. Perhaps that would make him realize what his life would be without her exuberant personality to counteract the dullness of living with his sisters.
New World, New Love Page 26
