They had all been listening so intently they hadn’t noticed that Francois had sneaked out of the room, deserting even his own mother to save himself.
The police quickly found him, and took him and his mother to headquarters, where they were booked for kidnapping and murder. Gabe was booked as an accomplice.
After they left, Fran sat in his chair, lonely and crushed. He looked drawn, and the color had drained from his face.
“Cammie—my dear, dear girl!” he groaned. “How you all have suffered!” He slowly rose from his chair, no longer erect, but with shoulders stooped, looking like an old man. “I think I’ll go up to one of the guest rooms,” he told them. “I need to be alone. I can’t bear to go to the one that Lilli and I shared.”
“Of course,” Zack said. He looked at Fran with great sympathy. “I’m sorry I had to tell you this.”
Fran stopped him with a gesture. “You only told me what was true,” he said.
With that he left, his head bowed with grief.
CHAPTER XLI
It was three o’clock in the morning when Cammie, sleeping in the room next to Fran, woke up and heard him pacing. She donned her robe and went into the hall.
Jeremy, whose room was on the other side of Fran’s, appeared in the hall at the same time.
Together they knocked on Fran’s door.
Fran opened it and motioned for them to come inside. He sat down in the easy chair, and they sat opposite him.
Cammie spoke to him with great tenderness. “Fran, I know how you must feel. You must be very disillusioned by what Lilli and Francois did. I’m glad I didn’t marry Francois, but I’m really sorry you’re not my father-in-law. I was looking forward to it.”
Jeremy dropped to his knees and took Fran’s hand in his. “We have some good news, Sir. Cammie and I are very much in love. We want to be married as soon as possible.” He looked at Cammie, and she nodded consent for him to go on. “We’ve discussed it,” he continued, “and we’d love to be married here under the trees that shade that beautiful pathway. And—” he hesitated—“would you do me the honor of being my best man?”
The sad, silver haired gentleman’s eyes filled with tears as he looked at Jeremy. “You would want me to do that? It would be my honor, not yours!”
“Good!” Jeremy grinned. “It’s settled! Now all we have to do is make arrangements for the wedding.”
Cammie looked with pleading at Jeremy. “I don’t want a lot of fuss,” she told him. “I’ve had enough pomp and ceremony to last me a lifetime, and look what happened! I want this to be simple and quiet, with just my parents and friends at the service.”
Fran perked up at the news, and started planning. The twinkle had returned to his eyes. “How soon do you want to be married? Is tomorrow too soon? I could arrange for a clergyman to come first thing in the morning. We could hold a quiet ceremony out under the trees.”
“Sounds perfect!” Jeremy agreed.
Cammie put her arm through Jeremy’s as she turned to Fran. “As soon as we’re married,” she told him, “I’m going to help Jeremy find out who he really is. He’d still be looking if he hadn’t been sidetracked saving me from Francois.”
Fran looked at them fondly. “I love you both as though you were my own,” he told them. “Jeremy, I would be very honored if you would wear one of my uniforms to be married in. I think we’re about the same size, and it would please me greatly.”
Jeremy embraced him. “I’d be honored, Sir.”
“And, my dear,” Fran said, turning to Cammie, “I wonder if you would consider wearing Vivienne’s wedding dress for the ceremony? You’re about the same size she was. I’ve saved all her clothes. I couldn’t bear to part with them. It was all I had left of her after—” His voice trailed off before he finished his sentence.
Cammie threw her arms around his neck and kissed him. “I’d love to!” she exclaimed.
“There’s one other thing,” Fran continued. “Jeremy, do you have a wedding ring to give Cammie?”
“Well—no,” Jeremy replied. “This has all happened so fast, I haven’t had a chance to think about it. Maybe Cammie and I should go into town before the ceremony, and shop for some rings.”
“That won’t be necessary,” Fran said, smiling. “Just a moment.” He walked to the other side of the room and opened a locked drawer in the armoire. He took out a small jewel box and handed it to Jeremy. “I saved Vivienne’s wedding and engagement rings,” he explained. “I couldn’t bear to part with them. I’ve been saving them for—” His voice choked. Then he smiled. “It doesn’t look as though I’ll be needing them now. My dear ones,” he said, “I’d be honored if you would accept them as your own. That is, Jeremy, if that’s all right with you.”
Jeremy opened the small box. It contained a beautiful, large diamond, with clusters of small diamonds surrounding it, and a wedding band covered with more small diamonds, both in antique settings.
Jeremy handed the box to Cammie, who gasped with delight when she saw them. “Oh, Fran!” she exclaimed, “they’re beautiful! Are you sure you want us to have them?”
“Absolutely!” he declared. “That’s why I’m giving them to you.”
Tears glistened in Cammie’s eyes as Jeremy put the engagement ring on her finger. “I’ll give you the other one tomorrow,” he told her. He put the box in the pocket of his robe and turned to Fran. “Thank you, Sir. That was a wonderful gesture.”
“One more thing,” he said. He removed his own wedding ring and handed it to Cammie. “I’ve worn this since my beloved Vivienne and I were married. I’d like you to put it on Jeremy’s finger during the ceremony.”
“But, Sir,” Jeremy protested “that ring means something special to you! Are you sure—-”
“Absolutely!” Fran declared. “This will complete the whole picture—Cammie with Vivienne’s rings, and you, Jeremy, with mine. And now—you had better get some sleep,” Fran told them. “You have a big day coming up tomorrow.”
CHAPTER XLII
At ten o’clock the next morning, Cammie and Jeremy stood in front of the Vicar.
Cammie wore Vivienne’s beautiful, but simple, white wedding dress, and Jeremy wore one of Fran’s uniforms.
Hildy stood beside Cammie as Matron Of Honor, and Jay stood, ready to give the bride away—this time happily.
Fran stood by Jeremy’s side, a very proud best man.
And so, to the tune of the birds singing and the frogs galumphing in the pond nearby, Cammie and Jeremy were married.
The Vicar had just pronounced them husband and wife, when one of the servants informed Fran that there was a man in the drawing room who insisted on seeing him.
“Tell him we’re busy. Ask him if he can’t come back another time.”
“He says it’s urgent,” the servant told him.
Fran turned to the others. “I’m sorry,” he said. “This should only take a minute.”
As he started to leave, Zack felt an urgency. Just a gut feeling, but he had learned over the years to obey it. “I’ll go with you, Fran,” he told him.
Together they went to the drawing room.
It was Andre!
“How good to see you!” Zack exclaimed. “How are you feeling? You look a lot better than the last time I saw you!”
“What happened to my son?” Fran demanded.
Zack looked startled. Fran had a son?
“Sir,” Andre interrupted, “I have a confession to make. You may never forgive me, but I can’t live with this any longer.” He turned to Zack. “I didn’t tell you the whole story. I’m ready to now. I want the others to hear this. Please call them.”
As soon as they were all gathered in the drawing room and had sat down, Fran turned to Andre.
“You took my son riding. You both disappeared! Wh
at happened to him?”
Jay and the others were as surprised as Zack. “Your son?! You had a son?” Jay asked him.
Fran bowed his head. “I haven’t been able to talk about it to anyone,” he replied. “It hurts too much.” He pulled out his handkerchief and wiped his eyes. “My first wife, Vivienne, and I had a son. He and Andre disappeared the same day. Please, Andre, tell me—did someone kidnap him?”
“Oh, Sir,” Andre said, “I’m so sorry. I did.”
“What?! Why?!”
“I had no choice. I had to save the little boy from being murdered.”
“Murdered? Who would murder him? Where is he now?”
“Sir, please listen and I will explain. Then if you want to bring charges against me, so be it.” He looked penitent, but pressed on with his explanation. “One day when we were at the Chateau de Boulanger, Countess Lilli came to me and asked me to kill your son.”
“For God’s sake, why?!”
“She told me he was standing in the way of her son, Gregory, having the title of Count Francois II. She wanted to make it up to him for his having been born out of wedlock.”
“Why didn’t you come to me with this?” Fran demanded.
Andre looked frightened, but held his ground. “Sir, would you have believed me if I had?”
Fran was silent for a moment. “Probably not.”
“I wanted to tell you then, but the Countess would have denied it, and if I were dismissed I wouldn’t be there to protect little Fran. I couldn’t take that chance. I knew if I didn’t do as she asked, she would find someone else to do her dirty work. Sir, I couldn’t kill anyone, especially a helpless, trusting child. I loved that little boy, and I knew I would miss him, but I had to make sure he was safe. I did the only thing I could think of to save him from sure death.”
“What did you do? Where is he?”
“I sent him as far away as I could so she couldn’t find him.”
Fran gripped the arms of the chair for support.
As he sat there trembling, Jeremy went over and placed his hand on Fran’s shoulder in an effort to comfort him.
“I was placed in a terrible position,” Andre explained. “But the important thing was to save that boy’s life. I got in touch with my sister who worked for an adoption agency. She knew of a couple in another country who wanted very much to adopt a child. It seemed like the perfect answer. I asked her to tell them I knew of such a child. My sister handled all the arrangements. Plans were made to take him the morning I was supposed to kill him. I know what we did was illegal, but I was willing to take any risk to save that little boy’s life. I wish I could see little Fran once more and explain to him why he was taken away. It must have hurt him very badly to be separated from you, Sir. You were such a close family, and his mother had been killed. My sister assured me later that the boy was safe and in the hands of very kind and loving parents.”
“Who are they? I will go to them at once!” Fran declared.
Andre looked at Fran with great compassion and regret. “Sir, I never knew who the adoptive parents were.”
“Can’t you ask your sister?” Zack asked him.
Andre lowered his eyes. “My sister is dead. She destroyed all the documents so no one could find him. She took the information with her to her grave. As soon as they took little Fran, I left the Chateau de Boulanger and never returned. I’ve been on the run all these years, afraid for my life. Sir, I had to send your son away. I couldn’t take the chance that the Countess would find another way to get rid of him before I could convince you—”
“I understand,” Fran interrupted. “I’m grateful to you for saving his life. If I only knew where he was I would go to him.”
“If you want to bring charges against me, I will understand.”
“No, Andre, I couldn’t do that. You saved my son’s life.”
“It must have been a terrible shock,” Zack said, “to lose your son.”
Fran nodded sadly. “I had just lost my wife, and on top of that, to have my son taken away—my whole family was gone.” His voice broke.
“How much of an investigation was made?” Zack asked him.
“The authorities looked for years,” Fran sighed, “but found nothing. No bodies—no clues—no motive—nothing. It should have been fairly easy to identify him. Vivienne was always afraid someone might kidnap little Francois, so she had a tiny replica of the family crest tattooed on the inside of his right wrist. If only I had known he was in another country, they could have looked there.”
“Oh, Sir!” Andre exclaimed, “if they had found him there, they would have brought him home, and he would still have been in danger. That is why I had my sister destroy all the documents.”
“But Lilli and Francois are behind bars. There is no danger for him now,” Fran reminded him. “How am I going to find my son?”
* * *
Jeremy stared at Andre. Something nudged at his memory, but with all that had been going on, he hadn’t been able to zero in on it until now.
Andre! That was the name he couldn’t remember! He was only five when he last saw him, but now it all came flooding back. Andre was older now, with white hair, but this was the same man who had been so kind to him—the man who used to play with him and take him horseback riding!
He walked over and spoke to him in French. “Andre, I’m Jeremy Douglass. I remember you and your kindness many years ago. I was just a little boy, but you used to play with me. I was adopted when I was five and taken to America. Please—can you tell me anything about my past? I’ve been trying to find out who I am and what happened. Why was I playing at the Chateau de Boulanger?”
Andre stared, closely scrutinizing Jeremy’s face inch by inch. Then—slowly—he reached for his right hand. He turned it over to get a good look at the inside of his wrist. He gaped open-mouthed as he looked back at Jeremy.
“Mon Dieu! Mon Dieu!” he gasped. He dropped to his knees, and looked upward in a prayerful pose. “Thank you! Thank you!” he exclaimed. “You’ve grown up, but I’ve never forgotten you! Little Fran!” he cried.
He rose and took Jeremy by the hand. There were tears in his eyes as he drew him over to Count Francois I. He held up Jeremy’s hand with the small tattooed crest, so Fran could see it.
“Sir,” he announced, his voice trembling with emotion, “this is the real Count Francois II! Your son!”
Jeremy was stunned. He couldn’t believe it! He finally knew who he was! And the fact that he turned out to be a Count was almost too much for him to grasp!
Fran was even more astonished. He stared at Jeremy, speechless.
As the truth finally sunk in he stood up. He reached out his arms and embraced Jeremy. “My son! My son!” he sobbed.
Cammie stood there trying to grasp the whole thing. “You’re a Count?”
“I guess I am!” said a stunned Jeremy.
“I’m a Countess?!”
“I guess you are!” he said.
“But—but—” Cammie stuttered—“I don’t care about that anymore! I just want to be your wife!”
Fran, fully recovered by now, drew his new daughter-in-law into the circle of his embrace.
“Well,” he told her, “like it or not, you’re Countess Cameron Dubonnet. For real, this time!”
Cammie hugged him. “You’re my father-in-law? I can’t believe it! It’s what I wanted all along!”
Fran smiled at the others. “I may have lost a treacherous wife and stepson, but I’ve got my own son back, and I’ve gained a beautiful daughter. I have a wonderful new family,” he added, looking at Hildy and Jay. “What more could I ask? I’m the luckiest man in the world! I only wish my beloved Vivienne were here to enjoy it with me.” He took Jeremy’s hand. “We have some unfinished business. The wedding breakfast is waiting!”
As they made their entrance to the patio, the maid appeared with her entourage, carrying the wedding breakfast.
Fran opened one of the bottles of champagne and poured it into the glasses on the table, raising his in a toast. “Here’s to the new Count and Countess Dubonnet!” he cheered. He motioned to Andre. “Please—” he said—“join us in a toast.”
Andre took his place beside Fran, and raised his glass with the rest of them. “Thank you, Sir!”
After the toast was finished, Hildy turned to Cammie. “Where do you and Jeremy plan to live?”
“We haven’t discussed it,” Cammie answered. “Where will we be living, Jeremy? Everything’s changed now.”
“I have the solution!” Fran declared. “Son, now that you’re home where you belong, you and Cammie, as the new Count and Countess Francois Dubonnet, have inherited the Castle in Biarritz!”
Cammie shivered. “How can I live there after being locked up in that room?”
Jeremy reached for her hand. “Honey, that part of the Chateau was blown away in the explosion. It’s as though the whole experience has been wiped out. We can do whatever we want with it. We can rebuild it without the secret room. It’s a beautiful spot overlooking the ocean! We won’t have to stay there all the time,” he added. “We’ll be visiting your parents in Scarsdale. And what about Courtney Castle in Scotland? We’ll be going there from time to time. That’s not far from here. And you’ll be making films with Peter. Once we fix up the Chateau in Biarritz you’ll feel completely different about the place.”
“You’re right,” Cammie relented. “I’ll love living there, as long as it’s with you.”
All That Glitters Page 22
