A Bordeaux Dynasty: A Novel (39 page)

“Relax, Jules,” she said. “It’s not like I’m floored. Do you realize what you represent for a girl her age? Obviously, she’s in love with you. You should be on your guard with her. I’m certain she’d do anything to make you forget about Laurène. But if you think this is a way to separate her from Aurélien … Without having to confront him, I mean. …”

He went pale, and in an unpredictable move, she kissed him just above the fold of his turtleneck.

“I like you a lot, my dear brother-in-law, and you really look miserable!”

He grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her gently.

“You’re hilarious Pauline, you know that?”

“Aurélien is trying to trap you. Don’t fall for it. Now, you being passionately in love with Laurène, I don’t understand. She’s a bit of a lightweight. I’ve always thought that.”

She gave Jules a mischievous look.

“You hate it when people talk to you that way,” she said. “Don’t you?”

“I do hate it,” he admitted. “But for once you’re right.”

They looked at each other one more time, before Jules quietly left the room.

Laurène was watching her sister with admiration. Dominique had always had a gift for cooking. Behind them, Fernande was busy with her tasks.

“Those mushrooms are from Labarde?” Laurène asked.

“Of course!” Dominique said, adding garlic and parsley to the frying pan. “It’s the best vegetable market around here. …”

At that moment, Jules appeared in the kitchen. He went over to the stove, looked at what was simmering, and couldn’t help tasting it.

“You’re going to burn yourself,” Laurène warned.

He gave her a distracted smile, congratulated Dominique, and walked out of the room. Dominique turned to make sure he was really gone.

“Laurène,” she said in a low voice, “are you keeping an eye on Jules?”

Laurène frowned and asked, “Why?”

Dominique hesitated for a second and then said, softly, “Well, he seems … It’s the way he’s looking at Frédérique! You didn’t notice?”

Laurène opened her mouth, but no words came out.

“Maybe I’m just imagining things,” Dominique conceded. “But be careful. You’re behaving with Jules as though you guys had been married for ten years. Flirt with him, be more loving, I don’t know …”

“Jesus,” Laurène shouted, “you sound like Pauline!”

Dominique unhurriedly stirred the mushrooms in the pan, waiting for Laurène to calm down. “You know how much it takes to turn Jules’s attention away from Fonteyne,” she said. “And I think that Frédérique is doing everything she can to make him notice her, while you’re just enjoying the ride. You should—”

Outraged, Laurène interrupted, “But, Dominique, you and Alex are doing fine, right? You don’t have any problems. …”

“You think?” Dominique blurted out, anger in her eyes.

Laurène fumbled for something to say and, coming up with nothing, she stormed out of the kitchen. She crossed the hallway, straight to the library, where Louis-Marie and Jules were sitting at the chess table. She stood behind Jules for a long while. When she finally leaned on his shoulder, he didn’t seem to notice. Dominique’s warning hadn’t surprised her as much as she’d let on. For a while, she had noticed Jules’s glances at Frédérique, as well as the odd expression he had when in her presence.

She tried to stifle a sigh. Nobody had any idea what she was capable of to keep Jules. She also understood that she would have to do more to be a good lover.

Jules turned to her.

“Are you bored watching us play? I can hear you sigh. …”

He was laughing. He took her fingers and squeezed them lovingly. Then Aurélien came into the room carrying two bottles.

“We can enjoy this until dinner,” he said. “It’s going to be a bit later than usual tonight, since Fernande and Dominique have decided to go for something fancy for the Parisians. …”

Jules read the labels and whistled between his teeth.

“Prieuré-Lichine 1983?” he said. “My, you’re going all out. …”

As Frédérique was discreetly walking into the library, Aurélien turned to her and said, “You will drink some exceptional wine today!”

Aurélien noticed the quick look Jules gave Frédérique. He walked over to his sons.

“Are you winning, cowboy?” he asked.

“Not yet,” Jules said. “That eldest son of yours is pretty good.”

Aurélien put a hand on Jules’s arm and said, “But in the end you will win, since you always wind up winning. Right?”

Jules kept his eyes riveted on the chessboard.

Any trace of affection in his voice suddenly gone, Aurélien insisted, “Right?”

They finally looked at each other.

“I don’t always win, Aurélien,” Jules said. “Not necessarily. …”

Louis-Marie watched them both, expecting a fight to break out. At that point Alexandre walked to the chess table and ran the back of his hand across it, toppling every single piece.

“This way,” he said, “we’ll never know who would’ve won.”

Stunned, Aurélien, Jules, and Louis-Marie gaped at him. Before anyone had time to say anything, Alexandre walked out of the library in long strides.

They did indeed have a late dinner. Though Aurélien said nothing about Alexandre’s attitude, he was determined to have a serious talk with him in the morning.

Most of the conversation was about Fonteyne, as usual. Laurène explained to Pauline what modifications she planned for the upstairs, after the wedding. Frédérique said little and drank a lot. She was running out of time, she knew. She couldn’t get close to Jules, who systematically avoided her, even though he was looking at her with despair. The sight of Laurène chatting, enjoying her happiness, made Frédérique bitter. This reunion of brothers and sisters-in-law exasperated her. Too much strength was needed to take on this family.

Watching Laurène attentively, Frédérique wondered if that harmless-looking nitwit wasn’t actually hiding her cards. Maybe she was more determined than she let on. Maybe she was fighting with all her might to keep Jules.

And Jules!
she thought.
Jules who’s all nice and courteous with her! To make up for the crimes he committed with me, no doubt.

“You look sad, honey. Are you bored?”

Aurélien’s voice pulled her out of her reverie.

“No, not at all,” Frédérique said. “You have a nice family. …”

He chortled, before saying, “Nice? I don’t know about that. …”

He was thinking about Alexandre with a sort of worry he’d never felt for him before.

“Let’s toast,” he suddenly said to everyone around the table. “To the Laverzacs!”

They’d all had quite a bit to drink already but raised their glasses enthusiastically. When dinner was over and they headed for the main living room, Frédérique found a way to be the last to leave the room with Laurène.

“Nice evening, wasn’t it?” Frédérique asked with a slightly hesitant voice.

Laurène stopped in front of her and, in the blink of the eye, understood that a confrontation between the two was inevitable.

“Very. …”

They were waiting, gauging each other, neither knowing exactly what the other one was thinking. No matter that Laurène had tried to be friendly with Frédérique, that she’d been patient with her, she now felt that she had to deal with her head on.

“Honestly, Frédérique,” she said. “Do you find Jules attractive?”

“Very.”

The straightforwardness of the answer unsettled Laurène.

“More than you think, as a matter of fact,” Frédérique continued. “But I wasn’t the one who made the move on him, the first time.”

Laurène, dumbstruck, straightened.

“The first time?” she blurted out.

Frédérique, a bit tipsy, shrugged.

“Six months ago, he was looking for solace in nightclubs because you were pushing him away. But now, he’s looking for solace because of, what do you think?”

Laurène was looking at Frédérique, shocked.

“Now …”

“Are you blind or what? Or do you just refuse to see what’s there? He exists, you know. He exists outside of you!”

Frédérique was shouting and Laurène took a step back.

“What a naïve idiot, you are! Jules isn’t some nice boy! He’s so much more than your preconceived ideas about relationships. You have no clue. You’re going to marry him, all blissful, and think you’re going to be able to keep him home with nice drapes in the bedroom windows?”

“I won’t let you …”

“You won’t let me what? I’m at Aurélien’s here, not your house! And God knows that naïveté aggravates Aurélien! Jules is just like him. Your goody-goody attitude must drive him nuts at times! But he promised. … His sense of duty, that’s his weakness! So have a bunch of babies and you’ll be all set.”

Laurène couldn’t breathe. Frédérique’s words were making her dizzy.

“Jules is …” she said.

“You don’t know who Jules is!” Frédérique screamed, losing all control. “He’s much too good for you!”

Livid, Laurène leaned against a sideboard. Feeling panicky, she muttered, “What are you doing in Aurélien’s bed if you’re so crazy about Jules?”

“I was biding my time,” Frédérique said in a harsh voice. “Until now, I was comfortable in there. Aurélien is a good man. You don’t get that, either. You’re the type that gets everything wrong. Why do you think that Jules looks at me the way a dog looks at a bone? This castle is big enough, you can make love on every floor!”

Laurène pushed herself off the sideboard and rushed at Frédérique.

“Are you done spewing your venom? You think I’m stupid enough to jump at whatever you say and break up with Jules? You might sleep with both the father and the son all over the damn place—I find that despicable—but it’s not going to make me lose what I have. Jules is marrying me!”

Screaming at each other this way, they didn’t hear Aurélien come into the room. They noticed him at the same time.

“Are you girls all done?”

He was pale as a ghost and had difficulty speaking.

“We can hear you clear across the house,” he continued. “Laurène, go into my office, please.”

Laurène took a step, but Jules also walked into the dining room. Aurélien looked at his son and, suddenly, leaned on the back of a chair, clutching his throat.

“Jules,” he moaned.

Jules ran to Aurélien just as the older man was crashing to the floor.

Jules hung up the phone. He’d called Dr. Auber, rang for an ambulance, and told Robert, who decided to leave Paris right away.

He turned to look at his father. He seemed unconscious, and yet his eyes remained open. Jules and Louis-Marie had carried him to his bed. Ever so carefully, Jules had undone Aurélien’s collar, then his belt. He felt cold, disconnected from everything else. Louis-Marie, scared by his brother’s expression, had forced him to sit down. On the side of the bed, legs crossed, Jules could do nothing but wait. He hadn’t heard anything of the conversation among Laurène, Frédérique, and Aurélien. Besides, he wasn’t thinking about that. He wasn’t thinking about anything.

“Jules?” Louis-Marie whispered. “He’s going to be okay.”

Jules wasn’t looking at his brother. He wasn’t even looking at Aurélien now. He was contemplating emptiness. Louis-Marie went over to him and shook him lightly.

“Auber is going to be here any minute. … He didn’t say anything on the phone?”

Jules raised his shoulders and forced a smile.

“He’s not old,” Louis-Marie said, “and there’s never been anything wrong with him.”

A voice came from the staircase, and a great weight came off his shoulders.

Dr. Auber gave Aurélien an injection, took his pulse and his blood pressure, and asked what exactly had happened. Louis-Marie told him what he knew. He could see Jules keeping his teeth clenched. Auber finally told them to step out of the room for a moment.

In the hallway, Louis-Marie cleared his throat before asking, “What are we going to do with Frédérique?”

Jules finally reacted. “I’ll take care of it,” he said, his voice dead.

In front of Frédérique’s door, he didn’t bother knocking and went right in. She was sitting on the side of the bed, still dressed.

“So?”

Ignoring the question, Jules looked at her for a few moments.

“I think it would be best if you left, Frédérique,” he finally said. “Whenever you can. … Tomorrow. … He’s going to be taken to the hospital in Bordeaux. If you want to see him or know how he’s doing, you can call Auber. …”

He hates me,
she thought, and she was dying to go to him.

He was still looking at her, without seeing her. She realized that and simply nodded. He said nothing else and walked out of the bedroom. He found Louis-Marie still in the hallway, next to the doctor. Alex was also there, but Jules paid him no attention at all. He fiddled with his empty pack of cigarettes until the ambulance arrived.

The sun was slowly rising on Fonteyne, as though with difficulty. Fernande was silently taking slices of toast and coffee to the library, where it had been a long night. Arriving at the Bordeaux hospital at four in the morning, Robert was able to see Aurélien. Paralyzed on one side, he’d regained consciousness but was unable to utter a single word. Robert was pessimistic. The brothers had returned to Fonteyne at seven, and no one had been able to sleep, except for Pauline. Dominique had waited until sunrise to take Frédérique to a Bordeaux hotel. The young woman had only one piece of luggage and said nothing for the entire drive.

Jules, leaning on the sliding ladder, seemed to have regained a bit of calm. Knowing that he was in a state of shock, Robert had been particularly attentive toward his brother.

There was nothing particular to be done. Transporting Aurélien to Paris wouldn’t help his case. Partial and progressive improvement might come as time passed, if he made it at all. But Robert was clear about the fact that Aurélien would remain physically diminished. As for Fonteyne, Jules had full power and could easily take care of things without his father.

And so they were all together in the library, staggering with fatigue, the windows letting in the weak early morning sun.

“I’m going to my bedroom,” Robert finally said. “I think you should all try and get some rest, too.”

He went over to Jules and asked him if he’d like a sleeping pill. Jules shook his head with impatience, saying that a sleepless night wasn’t going to kill him and that he had tons to do. But he accompanied Robert to the foot of the staircase, waiting for more information or, against his better judgment, a glimmer of hope.