Francoise stepped behind Lizzie and supported her with his hand on her waist while talking to her. She was about thirty seconds away from collapsing on him. Garnett got up and worked around to the back of the stage as Francoise led her off. Francoise nodded to one of the stage hands who grabbed her violin just before she collapsed in her father’s arms Garnett looked at Francoise who was watching her face waiting for her to regain her composure.
“I don’t believe I have ever seen her so beautiful or play with such passion.”
“She is an angel.”
Charisse and Mirisa took the girls shopping and were surprised when Lizzie asked for a very simple dress. The shop owner brought out dresses that had the same simplicity for Cassie and Sara in a soft color. This was the first wedding and all of girls were extremely excited. James walked in and sat down next to Mirisa as they tried on the dresses.
“What do you think?”
“I think you made beautiful daughters.” He stood up and straightened out the dress as it fell on Lizzie. He asked the clerk where the wedding dresses were and left the room. She came back in carrying a dress and hung it on the peg in the dressing area. Lizzie followed her into the room and when she came out the transformation was stunning. The dress gathered in the back trailing a few feet behind her with the most beautiful lace over the silk dress that followed her body. It was sleeveless and had a long lace shawl. James stood up and talked to the seamstress about what needed to be taken in. James watched as Cassie and Sara came out.
“Where’s Garnett?”
“He and Meeks are out setting up her accounts and buying a cute little villa half a block from the school. He also had him sign a prenuptial agreement.”
“He didn’t.”
“Mirisa, he’s a lawyer and he’s really not dealing well with this. I think he blamed Meeks for giving into their pleas to come with you.”
“He will know it was right when he walks her down the aisle.”
The week was filled with appointments and errands as they planned the entire wedding at the Church of Saint Merri, a 16th century church along the Right Bank. Lizzie continued her lessons and Francoise always talked to her afterwards but he held back his passion knowing it would be worth waiting.
Garnett sent a message to Francoise asking him to bring Lizzie to the villa without further explanation. The villa was a small two bedroom villa with a small kitchen that opened out into a beautiful garden. The floors were stone and the front was a beautiful patio with trellises and a small water fountain. They scoured antique stores buying all the furniture and fully equipped the kitchen and filled the pantry. Mirisa stood in the small sitting room looking out the large windows to the budding lemon trees.
“Garnett this is so romantic.” She turned and walked over to him. “I love you.”
“I know but it has been hard.” Mirisa took his hand and they went through the small house talking about how he decorated it and soon he relaxed. He had turned the second bedroom into a music room and library. It opened out onto a porch surrounded by ironwork. “I have opened an account for her but I think I’m going to give her an allowance so that she can buy books and other things to make it hers. I’m going to have to come over a lot because I don’t see her coming back to Colorado.”
“It’s a nice place to visit.”
“It is. I want to thank you for her.” Mirisa stood up against Garnett as he wrapped his arms around her.
They were coming down the stairs when there was a knock on the door. Garnett answered it and told them to come in. Lizzie knew without asking what he had done. Francoise stopped when he saw Mirisa and kissed her hand.
Garnett handed the keys to Francoise and told him that the family would be over in an hour. He put his hand on Mirisa’s back as she kissed her daughter’s cheek and told her that they were going to pick up something for dinner. Francoise and Lizzie stood in the middle of the sitting room as they closed the door leaving them alone. On the small table was an envelope with their name on it. Lizzie picked it up and opened it.
“It is a wedding present from all of my family.”
“What is?” He walked over and read over her shoulder. “The house?”
“Yes.”
“They gave you a house?”
“They gave us a house.”
“Don’t they believe I can offer you…”
Lizzie looked at him and kissed him as he pulled her into his arms. “Just be thankful that they didn’t have enough time to do more.”
Francoise took her hand and they walked up the stairs. The front bedroom had a beautiful bed with two wardrobes and a small fireplace. The bath was between the rooms and the smaller bedroom had a small bookcase and two chairs with beautiful music stands. On the wall was a drawing of Lizzie and Francoise playing on stage. She smiled because it was so beautiful. They went back downstairs and went through the kitchen out to the gardens then down to the canal. They were coming back up when Sara and Cassie stepped out of the kitchen carrying bags of bread and wine. Cassie went into the kitchen and took out the dishes to set the outside table for dinner. Francoise watched this family that seemed to work seamlessly together. They had a great dinner of traditional French cuisine and by the end of the night Francoise felt at ease though he wasn’t overly demonstrative because he was still afraid of her father.
Mirisa finally told Lizzie that she needed to get sleep or she wouldn’t make the wedding. She told Francoise that they wanted him to stay in the villa for the night and if he needed the coach to move his things they would send it back. He thanked her for everything. Meeks got the children in the coach leaving Garnett alone with his daughter and Francoise. He came back out and stood next to the carriage lighting his cigar.
“Anyone beside me in the mood to play cards?”
Lizzie finally came out and immediately wrapped around her father crying. “Damn Mirisa couldn’t you have given the crying thing to one of the other children?” He held her until she could catch her breath while Charisse handed her a handkerchief. He looked at Charisse who was crying, Mirisa was crying, the girls were crying and he knew the next day would be uncontrolled tears. Mirisa told Meeks that she needed to get the girls in bed because they were too keyed up and she didn’t need cranky children in the morning. The men sat out in the garden playing cards and drinking.
The coach pulled up in front of the villa as Francoise’ parents climbed out looking at the small villa. He answered the door as his mother fussed over him and his bad manners at not telling her that he was getting married until the last minute. She went on and on as she walked around the villa and his father just shrugged like there was nothing he could do.
“I thought you were living at the school.”
“Elizabeth’s family gave us the villa as a wedding present.”
“And who is this Elizabeth? Why has your family not heard a whisper of her from you? She cannot be French and obviously if they bought something so beautiful she must not be marrying you for your money.”
“Mother, it is good to see you.”
“You don’t take anything from your father and I yet you take such a generous gift from her parents.”
Francoise smiled because he forgot how meddling his mother could be and he had no idea how his large family was going to accept her large family. After an hour, his mother said she must go to their apartments and make sure everyone gets to the church on time since he was so inconsiderate to wait until the last minute to send them a letter. His father congratulated him and they were gone as quick as they arrived.
James picked up Francoise in the coach and headed for the church. When Mirisa and Meeks walked into the church, Francoise’ family was already seated. Meeks stopped at their pew as Mr. Giran-Max stood up and introduced himself and his entire family. Meeks introduced Mirisa and his sister.
“Are you Elizabeth’s parents?”
“Mirisa is her mother but her father will be here with Lizzie soon.”
“You are American?”
“Yes.”
Mrs. Giran-Max leaned forward. “How long has my son been seeing your daughter?”
“They met on stage in London in April.”
Meeks thought it would take this woman a while to understand this marriage but with eight other children maybe she would be too busy to meddle. They took the pew on the opposite side of the aisle. James came in with Francoise who was dressed in a very simple suit. He introduced James to his parents before he said good morning to the rest of her family. The church started filling with musicians and friends as he greeted each of them.
The preacher came out and spoke to Francoise in French. Francoise bent and kissed his mother and stood next to the preacher waiting. Lizzie’s teacher walked up to the front with his violin. He began to play as Garnett kissed his daughter putting her hand on his arm as they stepped out of the coach. Sara handed her a bouquet of purple tulips. Everyone stood as Cassie and Sara walked down the aisle carrying white calla lilies followed by Garnett and Lizzie. Meeks handed Mirisa her handkerchief as she bit her bottom lip forcing herself not to cry. Lizzie looked so happy. Garnett kissed her and told her he loved her as Francoise put out his hand.
The entire wedding was performed in French and was incredibly romantic and the reception was held in the Parc Monceau. The trees were decorated with lanterns, tables set out under the trees near the pond, everything decorated in purple tulips. When Francoise stepped out of the carriage and offered her his hand as she stepped down onto the cobblestone. The park was beautiful at night. She stopped short as Francoise inquired if something was wrong.”
“My father wrote a story when I was little and the wedding of the princess is exactly like this. My father recreated my favorite fairy tale.”
Francoise pulled her up and kissed her passionately then he whispered to her making her blush.
On the trip home, Sara sat down with her father, James and Garnett with her folder of details, drawings and figures. They pushed her at every turn but she was bound and determined to have her own ranch. When she unfolded the map of their property, they all sat back and listened as she pointed out the acreage she wanted to buy. It was located across the river from the lodge.
“Do you know that I own that land?”
“Yes I do. You paid $10 an acre but because you bought so many acres it was reduced to roughly $8 an acre.”
“How many acres do you need?”
“I will need a minimum of one hundred acres to start. I must be able to have smaller fenced areas allowing me to plant alfalfa and clover where one field would always be without sheep and growing new feed.”
“Where will you live?”
“I want to build a small house in the middle of the property facing the lodge and a large sheering and sleeping barn behind it. I also need road frontage so that if you sell the land around me I won’t have to pay to get across someone’s land.”
“Sara are you doing this without a man?”
“James, if I need someone to work on the ranch I will hire them.” James raised his eyebrows. “I have almost a full year to get the ranch going and to fatten up the first sheep before it is sheering season. I also need the money to hire an Australian Sheerer.”
“Well, I am willing to give you a loan to start your ranch but you must be willing to accept advice without your father’s stubbornness.”
“I promise…to try.”
By the time the boat docked in New York, they had worked out all the issues with her plans.
Pulling into the station at Natchez, Mirisa was filled with a peacefulness that came with the memories of the first year. Matthew met them at the train station with the coach and several horses. The town had grown and yet it still had that small town feeling. So many had passed on or retired. As they headed to the plantation, Charlotte was standing at the roadway with a handful of wildflowers. James stopped signaling to the coachman to stop. Mirisa got out and threw her arms around her friend. They talked for a few minutes before Mirisa turned to Meeks telling him she wanted to walk through the forest. He got out of the carriage and took her hand.
“It’s still so quiet.” Mirisa stopped on the little bridge and looked out into the moving forest. “I first stood here without a future, without children and without love. I found all of those things, lost some, reclaimed some but mostly I realized that the love was in me not something I needed to seek from others.” Mirisa turned to her husband. “I do not deal well with losing my children and yet I am proud of their ability to go out in the world.”
“Well, I am pretty sure that two of them will stay close to home which isn’t bad.”
“Are you going to help Sara?”
“I’ll transfer all of the land on the other side of the river to her and help to build her house and barns. It is a very ambitious dream but she’s determined. I guess we have a few years left with Cassie but I don’t see her going far from either you or James.”
Conrad stood up against the banister as Simone came running down the stairs with the spring of a young kitten. Mirisa smiled as she bent down and pulled him up. “Simone you are just as fat as you have always been. The mice must be plentiful.”
Jasmine came down the stairs and Garnett looked at her wondering how both her and Simone could look so young and healthy. James may have been right that this house was haunted. Dominic came off the back veranda and talked to them before they headed upstairs with their cases.
Charisse came back down dressed in a simple dress. She stepped out onto the veranda and looked out over the river. Mirisa walked out from the kitchen with a tray of tea and cookies setting it down on the table. Mary followed her talking about the beauty of the home.
“Where are the men?”
Mirisa smiled. “They went riding. Sometimes men just need to renew their love of the world without women tugging on their sleeves but they’ll end up at the tavern getting drunk.”
Mary sat down as Sara and Cassie came out and told Mirisa they were going over to Charlotte’s for a visit. “I didn’t know that Matt had such a large family and so many sisters.”
Mirisa turned from the river to look at Mary. “You will be happy here and your children will fill the house with the sound of laughter. I think it’s been waiting for you.”
The gardens were being manicured and a firepit prepared for the wedding. Mirisa didn’t deal well with the loss of Minnie and the kitchen seemed eerily empty. She had left all of her journals and books to Mirisa. Mirisa decided that Matthew would be the better recipient of Minnie’s knowledge and put them back up on the shelf before she cleaned the entire kitchen and lit the cooking fire. She checked in the pantry thankful that someone was still getting fresh food. Life really did move in circles.
Garnett stood at the bottom of the stairs as Mary descended. She was wearing a very beautiful white eyelet dress with her red hair tied back. He put out his hand as she reached him and picked up the bouquet of red roses handing them to her. Garnett found her to be a very strong independent woman who seemed to be uncomfortable with showing emotions. She smiled sweetly as she took his arm. The wedding was simple, the day was beautiful and the garden was filled with old friends and family.
James lit his cigar and pulled Mirisa back against him kissing the side of her face. “Like the pull of the phases of the moon, life seems to ebb and flow without thought. It has been a wonderful life with you.”
“James you are being nostalgic. Are you planning on going somewhere?”
“No. It’s the house and you could never convince me that it isn’t haunted because I know it is. It’s like a mother that once you step through that door it never lets you go. If I hadn’t personally delivered you to the plantation, I would bet my last dollar that you are just an apparition. Though darling you can haunt my beds anytime.”
“I think my memories of that first year of meeting all of you are my fondest. I don’t know if it was because I was so young that I have tucked them away or that I’m no longer that person. I liked being naïve be
tter.” Mirisa turned in his arms but she couldn’t tell him what she felt.
The wedding reception went late into the night with a dinner and ball. Mirisa stepped out onto the northern porch and walked to the far end as the music spilled out like the fog. She sat down in the rocking chair and closed her eyes. Conrad touched her hand as peacefulness filled her.
“Are you hiding?”
Mirisa looked up at her husband. “I seem to get tired easier.”
“Then it is time to go home.” Mirisa took her husband’s hand as he asked her for a dance. They stepped out onto the floor and she started to collapse. Meeks put his arm around her and took her up to their room. James followed him out of the room. Meeks laid her on the bed and opened the windows letting in the fresh air. He undid her dress before putting the blanket over her.
“What’s wrong?”
“I hope she’s just exhausted but I don’t want to alarm anyone tonight.”
Matthew stood in the doorway a moment before he walked in and put his hand on her forehead before checking her pulse. “Mother?” Mirisa opened her eyes. “What are your symptoms?”
“I’m just tired.”
“Then I will make you something to give you energy. You really need to start taking care of yourself because I don’t think anyone will be happy if you waste away into nothing.”
She closed her eyes and went to sleep. Matthew stood up.
“Matthew?”
“She will be alright once you get some meat on her but I’m going to make an elixir that will give her energy and return her appetite. In the meantime, keep her away from alcohol except the mildest of wines. I think she has earned a rest. I’ll be up later to check on her.”
“When the hell did he become old enough to take charge?”
Meeks laughed as he picked up the whisky decanter and sat down in front of the fire. They talked quietly as Mirisa slept. Dominic finally came up and walked over to the bed where she was sleeping peacefully.
The Visitor_The Final Ride 1875_1928 Page 27
