by Dee, Bonnie
Vivienne moved to Alain’s side to face her. “I do care for you, Maman. I just don’t want to go with you. Perhaps Papa and I will visit one day. We shall see.” Her tone was that of Madame Bernard when she didn’t wish to tell Vivienne no—patient but uncompromising.
Alain bid Vivienne stay in the nursery while he saw his one-time wife to the door.
She put on her hat and gloves before turning to him. “My solicitor will press the suit quickly for I am anxious to have this divorce finalized so I may return to New York. We might have settled this long distance and saved me a trip,” she added as if Alain had been the one holding up proceedings all these years. She gazed at him keenly, coolly, dispassionately. “You have always proven a disappointment, Alain. I don’t know why I imagined things would be better now.”
Her comment scarcely annoyed him. It meant nothing to him, nor did she, this stranger whom he had once vowed to love for eternity. “Goodbye, Geneviève.”
He gave her a light push through the doorway and closed the door behind her. After she was gone, he exhaled, releasing the tension that had given him a sour stomach. He would not feel fully relieved until papers were signed and Geneviève was on a ship to New York. But for the first time in years he could glimpse a future with no boundaries.
Perhaps even a future with Miss Sweet in it. He allowed himself to think of the woman he might possibly be in love with and his heart beat faster as a world of possibilities opened up before him.
Chapter Fifteen
Candace waited on a park bench, watching bundled up children play in the leaves, kicking up yellow and orange clouds and throwing handfuls at each other. She wished she might be as carefree, but her stomach churned and a feverish chill made her skin prickle. She had to remind herself she was safe here in a public place with many people around, and her friends Rose and Hattie sitting on the bench beside her.
Rose took her hand and squeezed. “Are you all right?”
Candace nodded. “I must do this. It is the only way I will be completely free.”
“I wish you’d told us about your fears earlier. If I’d known, I would have stayed with you at night, or whatever else you needed to feel safe enough to sleep well. You should have said something.”
“Don’t scold her, Rose.” Hattie said. “She wasn’t ready to speak then, but now she has done so we must offer encouragement, not blame.”
Two evenings prior, Candace had finally confided in Rose and Hattie about reliving memories of her abduction and had described the notes Merker sent. Getting the words out had been difficult. For some reason, she feared her friends would find her weak and timid, lacking in the boldness of character they both shared. But instead of shame, she’d immediately felt relief after her confession.
“Am I doing the right thing?” she asked now.
Hattie nodded. “Many ill feelings from my past continued to haunt me for years because I had not put them fully to rest. Once I spoke with my aunt, even though the result was disappointing, the air cleared and I felt much better. I am quite certain you will feel the same after confronting Edward Merker.”
Candace nodded, because she feared she would start to cry if she spoke. Her friends’ support on this day meant everything to her, and she had Susan Carpenter to thank for it.
The last time they met, Susan stopped by the store to tell Candace she had booked passage to Boston.
“My inheritance be damned. I have waited for my future to start for too long. I’ve enough savings to buy my ticket and get started in America. I can’t imagine Mother and Father will pursue me across an entire ocean to bring me home and subject me to more treatments. My drastic action should prove such attempts will come to nothing, for my supposed mental imbalance is incurable.”
“Boston is a very large city,” Candace pointed out. “How will you find Judith, and are you quite certain she wants you to contact her?”
Susan laughed that irrepressible chuckle that made anyone near her smile too. “I am not at all sure, but I don’t care. I must at least try. It is not too difficult to learn the whereabouts of one of our ilk in Boston society, and I will find a discreet way to speak with her. If Judith tells me she wishes to put our love in the past, I will accept it with as much grace as I can muster while crying my eyes out. But it is time for a fresh start, with or without her. I will find some sort of work I am fit for, and begin life in a new world.”
Such rash courage startled Candace. Such nerve to pursue a person to a foreign country, risking rejection. Alain immediately came to mind. But she knew there was another woman in his life and could not interfere—even if she dared to.
“I am beyond grateful for your support during this difficult time,” Susan had continued. “Friends one can trust are of immeasurable worth.”
Those words were what had prompted Candace to talk to Rose and Hattie rather than continue soldiering on alone.
Susan’s plan for a fresh start had also made Candace realize she must confront Merker in order to break the last of his power over her.
So, here she sat in the park, watching the man who had once kidnapped her striding toward her along the gravel path. When she rose to meet him, he immediately diminished in her eyes. Merker was not the imposing figure of her memory but a graying, stoop-shouldered man of medium height and build. The wrinkles in his forehead and a rather pouting mouth gave the impression of a petulant child. No hired thugs attended him and he held no threat beyond what Candace might grant him in her mind. He did not control one facet of her life any longer.
“Mr. Merker,” Candace addressed him. “Thank you for meeting me today.”
He looked toward Rose and Hattie then back to Candace. “I did not realize you would have anyone with you. I thought we might speak alone.”
“No. That will not be possible. What I have to say needs no privacy, and I feel more comfortable with my friends nearby.”
“My dearest, I am distraught that you have lost your faith in me. We were once so close. You called me Papa, and now you behave as if I am a dangerous stranger.”
“When you illegally cast yourself as my guardian you insisted I refer to you as ‘Papa Merker,’ but later you suggested I call you ‘Husband,’” she pointed out dryly.
“I never said such a thing. You shock me, young lady!”
“Your meaning was very strongly implied. You said I needed not hunt for a marriageable man for you would take care of me always.”
“I meant as a father of course! I did not wish you to feel forced to marry. That is what I meant,” he protested.
For one second, she began to doubt herself. True, he had never proposed before she fled his house. But he had gazed at her in a lascivious manner and rested his hands on her shoulders so that she could still feel the pressure now.
Candace glanced at Rose, sitting on the edge of the bench, nearly vibrating with the desire to shout Cockney obscenities at Merker. Hattie grasped Rose’s elbow to restrain her and gave Candace a nod of encouragement.
It was all Candace needed to face her persecutor with fresh resolve. “I know very well what you wanted because you hired scoundrels to chloroform and physically drag me to your house, then tied me hand and foot to my bed! I was conscious enough when you loomed over me breathing heavily.”
She took a shaky breath and continued before Merker could reply. “If Miss Gardner and Mr. Carmody had not arrived when they did, I have no idea what might have happened.”
“I would never have—”
Candace cut him off. “Actually, I do have some idea what would have happened, which sickens me to the core. By all rights you should be in jail for what you did, but, of course, a legal proceeding would have destroyed my reputation even more than yours. The best I could do was gain my freedom. Now that I have it, you will never control me again.”
She stepped so close the scent of his shaving lotion and hair pomade made her retch. “Do not send me flowers or cards or letters expressing endearments. I want you out of my life, as f
ar away from me as if we lived in different cities. I cannot express myself more clearly. I have cut you out of my father’s business. I also banish you from my life. Do you understand me?”
Merker’s eyes darted left and right. His mustache twitched as he opened and closed his mouth like a fish. “But my dearest child—”
Candace did not think, or heed years of drilling about how a lady must behave. Her hand drew back almost of its own accord, and she slapped him with such a hard blow it stung her palm. The sharp smack of flesh hitting flesh and Merker’s gasp of astonishment were music. Laughter bubbled up inside her and she feared she might have gone a little bit mad.
Before she could make more of a scene in the middle of a park where children played and nannies avidly watched the altercation, Candace stepped away from Merker and told him imperiously, “You may go now. I am finished with you.”
As she turned her back on him,
Rose cheered and applauded. “Well done!”
When Candace shot a last glance over her shoulder, Merker was trudging away as dejected as a whipped dog.
She understood she was safe at last. He was no mustache-twirling villain from a penny dreadful who would continue to send minions after her. She had friends now, including highly placed gentlemen like Will and Guy. But apart from that, Candace had witnessed the moment when Merker’s will broke as his head snapped to the side under the power of her hand.
Rose jumped up and threw her arms around Candace. “You were a bleedin’ miracle to watch. But if you’d knocked him on his arse it would’ve been even better.”
Hattie joined them. “Brava, indeed. Do you feel satisfied he will not bother you again?”
“Yes, I do. I wish I had done this long ago.” But she had not the strength of will or the support of friends back then. Now she knew she could overcome anything.
Too exhilarated and flying on insane energy, she abruptly blurted, “May I ask you two to help me with something?”
“You know we will,” Rose replied immediately.
“What is it?” asked Hattie.
“I would like to take a trip that might last at least two days, or perhaps longer. This is an awful demand on your time, but could you take turns overseeing the shop? Mary is too new and untrained to leave all the responsibility on her shoulders.”
“Would this trip be to France by any chance?” Hattie quizzed her.
Candace nodded. “My friend, Monsieur Moreau may even now be reconciling with his estranged wife. Of course, it is not my place to interfere in a delicate family matter, but…” She thought of Susan sailing off into the complete unknown for the sake of love. “I feel if I don’t make this trip and at least confess my feelings, I may regret it forever.”
In the silence following her announcement, doubt trumped passion. Candace shook her head. “This plan is madness. Alain will return to London one day to check on the shop. If the connection I feel between us truly exists, it might be resolved naturally then. If not, then it wasn’t meant to be. In the meantime, perhaps I could send a letter. Arriving in person would be far too—”
“No!” Ever the one to restrain her emotions and consider things dispassionately, Hattie’s ferocity was startling. “There are times when one must take a risk to let a person know how she feels. Perhaps this is one of them.”
Rose gave Hattie a doubtful look before turning to Candace. “It may be a tad bonkers to go all the way to France without warning the bloke first. But whatever you decide to do, we’ll look after the shop for you. Candace Glover’s Confectionery will be in good hands while you chase down your love.” She added, “I must say I had no idea you had such deep feelings for the fellow. You play your cards too close to the vest, Candace. Maybe next time you make a big announcement, you’ll have given us a bit of fair warning first.”
*
“Do you mind very much that I am leaving you with Nounou Bernard for several days?” Alain asked. “Your mother’s departure yesterday must have been quite upsetting.”
Vivienne looked up from her drawing book to meet his gaze. “I am happy I’ve met Maman at last. Now I can picture what she really looks like. But I am not upset she has gone and will not miss her. She is not all that much fun to spend time with. Not like Miss Sweet. I really like her. So when you see her at her shop, tell her so and give her this.”
Vivienne made a few more strokes then tore the page from the book and offered it to Alain. The crayon drawing was of a lumpy woman wearing a hat much like the one Candace had worn to the fair. She held the hand of a smaller lumpy figure; Vivienne with far too many teeth grinning and a caramel apple in one hand. In the background were fair tents, including the giant slide tower. Alain had been hastily scribbled at the edge of the paper as if an afterthought.
Vivienne jumped up to study at her artwork with him. “Do you think I ought to put Nounou in too, even though she wasn’t with us that day? I wouldn’t want to hurt her feelings if she ever saw the drawing.” She gave her father an earnest look. “Maybe I could go along with you. I want to see Miss Sweet too.”
“Not this time, chérie. There are things she and I must discuss.”
“In private. That’s what Nounou told me when she said you would be going. Do you love her? Miss Sweet, I mean, not Nounou who is far too old for you to marry.”
“What a sharp-eared little rabbit you are.” Alain ruffled her hair. “Too smart for me to keep any secrets from, apparently. But if you believe I am calling on Miss Sweet to propose, you are wrong. We do not know each other that well yet.”
“How well must you know a person to get married? She is nice and makes good truffles. She makes you laugh and gazes at you when you are looking the other way. Like this.” Vivienne mimicked a starry-eyed gaze followed by a sigh. “I’m sure Miss Sweet will say yes if you ask her to marry you.”
“No one is marrying anyone,” Alain replied firmly. Vivienne need not hear about how long it might take for his and Geneviéve’s divorce to be finalized. “Miss Sweet and I have business matters to discuss and then… perhaps I’ll take her to dinner.”
“That’s a beginning.” Vivienne threw her arms around his waist and hugged him. “I love you, Papa. Good luck.”
Chapter Sixteen
So anxious that she sweated through her corset and bodice, Candace stared out the train window at the French countryside flashing past. The fields and forests looked little different from England but for the design of the farmhouses. But she was definitely not in England and during this last leg of her journey—Paris to Marcoussis—her tension had drawn tight as a cocked bow string. It had been several weeks since Alain had left London. The situation with Madame Moreau may have progressed. The couple might even now have mended their rift. How humiliating it would be to propel herself, uninvited, into the midst of a happy family.
Candace’s traveling companion must have sensed her nervousness for he patted her hand. “It will be all right. I believe your friend will be happy to see you.”
She looked into Will Carmody’s patient hazel eyes and was very glad Rose had sent her beau along as an escort. His calm presence steadied Candace whenever the enormity of her rash action left her feeling faint.
“You don’t think I’ve lost my head? Any sensible person would have mailed a heartfelt letter, or at least have sent a telegram announcing her arrival. Alain will think me mad.”
Tall, gangly Mr. Carmody flashed a smile that shifted his large, bony features from average to attractive. “He might a little bit. But as someone who has learned firsthand what grand demonstrations of affection can do, I applaud your effort. If I had remained frozen in indecision, doubting that a lively woman like Rose could possibly care about a dull fellow like me, I would have lost the love of my life.”
Will’s pronouncement did not sound overblown or dramatic. His calm, measured tone rang with truth. “One ought not allow pride or fear to keep one from taking a chance. You are rolling the dice, as it were, and I will be here to support you if your g
amble should fail.”
Candace smiled and squeezed his hand. “You have no idea how comforting your presence is to me. God bless Rose for asking you to attend me.”
“When she told me about your plan, she could not have held me back. I would not have you travel all this way alone. I feel for you as I do for my own sister, Penelope. You may depend on me.”
Sinking back into her seat as the train slowed before reaching Marcoussis station, Candace said, “At any rate, I’ve invented a pretext about wanting to tour the chocolaterie. My visit appears unwelcome, I will fall back on that.”
She could hardly lead with what she truly wanted to say: I am a terrible person to intrude on your reunion with your wife, but I simply had to know if what I felt during our time together had any ground in reality. Did you care for me even a little bit? Or am I a lovelorn fool?
Upon reaching the station, Will had the porter send their bags to a recommended hotel, then hired a cart to transport them to the Moreau estate. While Candace could have managed these details alone, it was certainly nice to have Will take charge. Yet, without the distraction of such details, she had yet more time to fret. It was not too late to return home, chalk up the trip to insanity foolish misadventure, and carry on with her life.
But she had come this far now.
In the cart, jostling over bumpy roads out of the village and deeper into the countryside, Candace rehearsed her opening line and imagined all the possible replies she might receive from Alain. She practiced her response to each one.
A low hedge began at the side of the road; the perimeter of a property. The chateau glimpsed between flashes of trees was not overly large. Built in the French renaissance style to emulate grand, turreted sixteenth century mansions, the façade was impressive but not ancient. Candace examined every detail of the dwelling and surrounding gardens, her heart racing as fast as the train had flown along its tracks.
