New World, New Love (33 page)

Those who did not delay an immediate journey across the Channel were the English aristocracy. Paris had always been their favourite foreign city and they flocked back to enjoy its variety of pleasures, with its theatres and gaming houses, its exotic diversions, its splendid wines and its fashion. There was also an exciting new dance known as the waltz. Never before had couples danced face to face in what was virtually an embrace and it was as intoxicating as the champagne. Among the visitors were the nouveau riche who had made fortunes during the long war. Paris was almost afloat with the outpouring of golden guineas.

There was a joke going around that, since the treaty had been signed, the same amount of spies had come to France as had gone to England. Louise became convinced that Fernand was one of them as he had begun to be away from the château for lengthier periods, with no talk of Paris upon his return.

French officers, who had been prisoners-of-war in England, were being released if they gave their word as gentlemen never to take up arms against Britain again, but many felt unable to give it, remaining in liberal custody with the hope of eventually joining invading French forces on British soil. One of the wounded, Jerome Colbert, whose loss of his right arm prevented any further service, came home to his nearby château, which had been opened up by his two sisters. On an evening when Fernand was away, Louise held a dinner party to which Jerome and his sisters, whom she knew from childhood, were invited. She welcomed him warmly. He had never been handsome, but he had a kind face and quiet grey eyes.

‘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.

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, enough 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.