by Cathie Dunn
“I’d rather have Mother back.” Alda’s voice quivered, and she wrapped her arms around his waist.
“So would I, Sweeting.” He kissed her temple.
“Look!” Oliba pointed at the dark eastern horizon. “A star!”
“Is it Mother?” Alda asked as they watched it glide across the sky.
Bellon smiled. “I would like to think so, yes…”
And he drew his daughter a little closer to him just as the star vanished.
“My beloved…”
Glossary
À toute à l’heure: See you later
Au revoir: goodbye
Bah ouais: well, yes
Bonjour: hello; good day (lit.)
Ça va: how are you?; also a response: I’m fine
Cave Cooperative: cooperative of wine growers, found in many villages, to share costs.
Certainement: certainly
C’est tellement bizarre: it’s so weird
Courage: good luck
D’accord: OK
Domaine: vineyard
Enchanté(e): nice to meet you
Épicerie: grocery shop
J’écoute: I’m listening; often used when answering a phone call
Je suis désolé(e): I’m sorry
La pauvre fille: the poor girl
Madame: Mrs
Madeleines: sponge cake, often shell-shaped
Maire: mayor
Mairie: town hall
Maître: master (lit.); a title used for notaries and similar professionals
Mesdames: ladies
Messieurs:gentlemen
Mon dieu: my god
Monsieur: Mr
Notaire: notary
Oui: yes
Ouais: yeah
Puis-je vous aider? Can I help you?
Putain: whore (lit.); an often used swearword
Quoi? what?
S’il vous plaît: please
Suivez-moi: follow me
Place Names
Aquitania: Aquitaine, a vast region in south-west France
Carisiacum: Quercy; seat of one of Charlemagne’s palaces and important Frankish town
Iberia: south-western European peninsular; modern Spain and Portugal
Neustria: Frankish territory in north-west France, excluding Brittany
Pyrenaei:Pyrenees
Tolosa: Toulouse
Vasconia: Gascony; the region extended from south-west France across the Pyrenees
Author’s Note
Part of the plot of Love Lost in Time is based on a true story. In 2016, my husband and I moved to a village in the Languedoc-Roussillon area of France. Not far from our house, there used to be an ancient graveyard dating back to Visigoth times. Many such graveyards dot the whole region, and they are often to be found in remote areas.
But then our neighbours told us of their discovery during renovations of their kitchen: when they dug up their floor, they discovered several bones and a parts of a skull dating back hundreds of years. But the curious thing was that their house was not near the old graveyard! And so the plot was born…
As there are so many traces of Visigoths and early Franks in the area, and Charlemagne has always fascinated me, I began to research the time of the expansion of the Franks south. That’s when I came across Bellon, reported to have been the first count of Carcassonne. Little is known of his life, and reports even vary on his year of birth and accession to the county. His wife’s name is not noted (except on some dubious genealogy sites), so I took the liberty to make my fictional Frankish lady, Nanthild, his spouse. Bellon had at least two sons, and various records agree on their names: Guisclafred and Oliba, who both succeeded him as count of Carcassonne. Others have been mentioned, but not confirmed. A tenuous link later veers off to Barcelona, but we can’t be sure whether those counts were his successors or other men with the same names, which is quite possible.
As for Charlemagne, his army fought the Saracens on several occasions, both along the western Mediterranean coast as well as across the Pyrenees. I have included two pivotal moments from his campaigns: the ambush of Charlemagne’s returning army at Roncevaux (Span.: Roncesvalles) in August 778 and the battle near the Orbiel river in September 793, which led to Guillaume/William of Autun (later ‘of Gellone’) to withdraw. A third occasion – Charlemagne’s execution of over 4,000 Saxon ‘heretics’ – I mentioned in dialogue. To this day, historians regard that particular event as unusual for a king who purported to uphold his own laws. By mentioning these events, I intended to bring a sense of authenticity to the story, to show how uncertain life was in Septimania and across Europe in the late 8th century.
Nanthild’s (fictional) story is a sad one, and I found it hard to kill her off. But I needed someone for the bones, so it was her who ended up under Maddie’s kitchen floor! Although Christianity had begun to spread, thanks to a large extent to the Frankish expansion across Gaul, Aquitania and Septimania, there were still many tribes, particularly in Germania and in the north, who remained pagan. Unlike the Saracens of the early and mid-8th century who settled in Narbonne and Béziers, and who allowed the conquered Visigoth and Roman inhabitants to maintain their religion, the Franks were not as generous. So making Nanthild pagan at heart added to the dangers to her life.
Cathie Dunn
Carcassonne, November 2019
List of Real Characters featured in Love Lost in Time:
Bellon:
Bellon (or Bello) was born around 755 (or 770 or 780) to unknown parentage. Records show him as first count of Carcassonne and the Razès (some state in 790, others quote the 770s). He is the founder of the Bellonid dynasty and had at least two sons who in turn succeeded him, Guisclafred and Oliba. Other sons are also attributed to him, but there is no evidence of a link.
During Bellon’s time, Carcassonne was already an important fortress, with many of its towers dating back to Roman times, and its strategic position north of the Pyrenees helped with the defence against the Saracen expansion from Iberia to the north. It changed hands several times over the centuries.
King Charles:
Born to Pepin the Short, king of the Franks, and Bertrada of Laon around 748, Charles, these days better known as Charlemagne (Charles the Great), went on to reign over a vast area in central and western Europe. He became king of the Franks in 768, jointly with his brother Carloman. On his brother’s untimely death in 771, Charles gained the whole kingdom and continued to expand its reach in the footsteps of his father, Pepin, and grandfather, Charles Martel.
The Franks focused on three sides: to the west, and from there on south-west into Aquitania and Vasconia, south into Lombardia (where he became king of the Lombards in 774) and east into Saxony, which was still ruled by Pagan tribes. He married four times and had at least four sons.
On Christmas Day in 800, Pope Leo III crowned Charles Imperator Romanorum (Emperor of the Romans), a purely political move to bolster his own fragile position, and which triggered centuries of conflict between Byzantium and Rome.
Charles died in 814 and is buried in Aachen (Aix-la-Chapelle), Germany.
Guillaume (William) of Autun / Gellone:
Born around 755, Guillaume was the son of Thierry IV, count of Autun, of Frankish heritage. He was a cousin of Charlemagne on his mother’s side, and spent much time at court. The king put him in charge of battling the Saracens in what is now the south of France and northern Spain.
In 804, Guillaume founded the monastery at Gellone (a river in the Hérault département),
to which he retired in 804. Following his death, it was renamed Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert. His will consists of a few curiosities, not least that he left something to his two ‘wives’ (both named as ‘wife’ in his testament, although one may have been a concubine), and several children, but not to two named daughters!
Guillaume’s life would become legend after his death in either 812 or 814. He was canonised by Pope Alexander II in 1066 and various chansons
de geste, the epic tales of heroic deeds of the 12th and 13th centuries, sang his praises, most notably of his defeat of the Saracens at Orange, which gave him the nickname ‘Guillaume of Orange’ (the first of that title).
I also included several minor historical characters who did not play an active part.
Acknowledgments
I want to thank my husband, Laurence, for his patience. I’m very grateful for his continuing support of my research and writing, often leaving him on his own for much of the time when I retire to my ‘writing cave’ aka our office with its partial view of the cité of Carcassonne.
A special ‘thank you’ goes again to my fellow authors at Ocelot Press. The ‘Ocelots’ are a very supportive clowder of writing friends, with a wonderful range of stories. Don’t forget to check them out!
Un grand merci also goes to my former neighbours, Marie and Omer, in the small village in the beautiful Minervois where we first moved to here in France. When they showed us their treasure of ancient bones, the idea of Love Lost in Time was born.
Thank you for reading this novel from Ocelot Press. If you enjoyed it, we would greatly appreciate it if you could take a moment to write a short review.
You might also like to try books by other Ocelot Press authors. We cover a small range of genres, with a focus on historical fiction (including mystery and paranormal), romance and fantasy.
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Highland Arms
A Highland Chronicles Tale
“Cathie Dunn’s HIGHLAND ARMS is a deliciously atmospheric Scottish love story, well–spun and charged with deeply-felt emotion. Cathie Dunn has a true gift for historical romance.”
~ Jane Holland, author
“A compelling story teller... Maybe just maybe love will find you along the way and take you into a journey of romance with a smuggler… I canna wait for more from Ms. Dunn.”
~ Rose that Rules All, Romancing the Book

Escape to the Highlands!
Betrayed by her brother’s lies, Catriona MacKenzie is banished from her home to her godmother’s manor in the remote Scottish Highlands. While her father ponders her fate, Catriona’s insatiable curiosity leads her straight into trouble – and into the arms of a notorious Highlander.
Five years after an ill-fated Jacobite rebellion, Rory Cameron works as a smuggler to raise money for the cause – until Catriona uncovers a plot against him and, inadvertently, exposes his activities. Now, Rory is faced with a decision that could either save their lives or destroy them both.
But he’s running out of time…
Highland Arms is available on Amazon in ebook and paperback formats.
Dark Deceit
Dark Deceit is fast-paced medieval romance mystery, in the tradition of Pillars of the Earth or When Christ and His Saints Slept.
“…captivating characters and vivid descriptions…”
~ Booked Up Reviews
“…captivating…engrossing…highly recommended”
Murder. Betrayal. Hope.
On his return from battle at Lincoln, Geoffrey de Mortagne, under-sheriff of Gloucester and spy for the Empress Matilda, assists a dying knight caught in an ambush. Promising to look after the welfare of the knight’s only daughter, Geoffrey stays at her manor, investigating the murder. Keen to join the Empress on her progress through England, he is torn between his oath and his duty.
Left to defend her manor following her father’s death, Alleyne de Bellac reluctantly accepts Geoffrey’s support. As she doesn’t trust the taciturn stranger, she asks Will d’Arques, an old friend, for help. But loyalties change. Her life in danger and her inheritance at stake, Alleyne must decide which man to trust.
Discover England and Normandy divided by a brutal civil war, where vows are broken as allegiances waver.
Discover Dark Deceit in ebook and paperback formats on Amazon. A sequel is in progress.
