Darkest Longings (27 page)

Armand turned on the tap and started washing his hands.

He had passed Claudine’s car on his way in, but it wasn’t

until he looked at it again now, through the kitchen window abandoned haphazardly as it was at the bottom of the bank that he remembered how he had seen her in it the morning after her wedding.

He picked up a towel, and wiping his hands, turned back

into the room. Claudine had her back to him, but as he

looked at her glorious mane of curls beneath that outrageously

frivolous hat, and her delicate white hands lying

on the table beside her glass, he experienced a sudden surge

of feeling. She was trying hard not to show it, but he had

seen it in her eyes: she was lonely and confused and

frightened. It made him want to put his arms around her,

and tell her he would be there for her if she needed him. But

of course that would be an outrageous thing to do. And if he

did it, how could he begin to justify it? He could not possibly

tell her that the torment in her lovely blue eyes reminded

him of the way another woman - another woman who loved

Francois - had looked in the weeks before she died.

Armand knew Claudine had heard of Hortense because

Lucien had told him so, but he was certain she didn’t know

the real truth about what had happened that night in the

wine cave. Apart from Francois, Louis and Doctor Lebrun,

Armand guessed that he was probably the only person in the

world who did know. He had witnessed it with his own eyes.

Even Francois did not know that; he had never told anyone

except his wife, Jacqueline; how, hearing voices, he had

come out of the tasting cellar at the back of the cave and

stood frozen with horror as he saw Francois and Hortense

struggling with the knife. How he had seen the silver blade,

with Francois’ great hand clutched around the handle,

plunge into Hortense’s chest.

Francois had been so quick in catching her and running

with her to his car that by the time Armand reached the

mouth of the cave, he was already speeding down the drive

with Hortense’s limp body beside him. Then Louis had

appeared from nowhere, and from the look on his face it was

clear that he too had seen a great deal of what happened.

‘He’ll be taking her to Doctor Lebrun,’ Louis had said in

a flat voice.

Armand had simply stared at him, then followed him into

the cave. ‘How do you know he’s taking her to Lebrun?’ he

asked, his strained voice echoing eerily in the silence.

‘I know my son,’ Louis answered. ‘But if you have any

doubts, go after him.’ He started to unravel the hose which

was hooked on the wall.

‘What are you doing?’ Armand asked.

‘Clearing up the mess.’

For the first time Armand had noticed the blood on the

floor, and the sight of it seemed to jolt him back to reality.

‘You can’t do that!’ he cried. ‘If Francois has killed her…’

‘Francois didn’t kill her!’

‘But I saw him! I saw what happened…’

‘She wasn’t dead. When he carried her out, she wasn’t

dead. Why do you think he’s taken her to Lebrun?’

‘But Louis, if they don’t save her Francois will be…’

‘They will save her!’ Louis had thundered.

But they hadn’t. Lebrun had fought for her life all

through that night and into the next day, but in the end

Hortense died and Francois was never brought to trial.

Armand had no idea what Louis told the de Bourchain

family, but they left France soon after, and as far as he knew

they had never returned.

It was just over two years now since it happened, and still

Armand despised himself for having remained silent. But as

Louis pointed out at the time, if the de Bourchain family

wanted the matter hushed up, then their wishes had to be

respected. And certainly it had been easier that way. It

would have been his word against Francois’ and Louis’, and

though he cared nothing for Francois, he knew his father

would have wanted him to stand by the Comte. If he had

spoken out, whether the courts believed him or not he

would have had to leave Lorvoire, and that would have

broken his mother’s heart.

For a long time after that night Armand had been unable

to look at Francois without remembering what he had seen,

without remembering other things, too, that were still, even

now, too painful to dwell on. But after a time it had become

easier, mainly because Francois had continued to treat him

just as he always had - like a brother. It had been a long

struggle, but knowing that his bitterness was hurting no one

but himself, Armand had finally learned how to live with it.

Claudine’s voice brought him back to the present. ‘That’s

a marvellous idea, Liliane,’ she was saying. ‘I really think we

could hold the entire festival here in your cottage! And it’s

so kind of Armand to offer to sing for us …’

‘What?’ he barked.

‘Ah, so you are still with us,’ Claudine grinned, leaning

back in her chair. ‘We were beginning to wonder.’

The sing?’ Armand repeated.

‘Yes, sing,’ she confirmed. ‘Any song of your choice.

Your mother tells me you have a wonderful voice, and I can

play the piano, so I shall expect you for rehearsals up at the

chateau every evening, starting tomorrow, until the grapes

are in.’

Armand’s eyes moved from her to his mother and back

again. ‘You’re serious!’

‘Of course we are,’ Claudine said, winking at Liliane. In

fact, now that she thought about it the idea was beginning to

seem rather a good one. ‘That’s settled, then,’ she said,

getting up and picking up her gloves. ‘If you know of any

more talent in the village, let me know -I think the idea of a

cabaret is a splendid one. I shall have to think of something

for Solange to do, she’s bound to want to join in. I know,

perhaps you and she can sing a duet, Armand.’

‘Now, hang on a …’

‘And I shall think of a little play for the children to

perform. What do you think, Liliane? We could do Sleeping

Beauty. Charles Perrault’s supposed to have got his inspiration

from the chateau over at RignyUsse, so that keeps it

local. Yes, it’s getting better all the time. I can hardly wait to

tell Solange.’ She paused. Armand was staring at her as if

she had taken leave of her senses. ‘Now,’ she said, ‘what do

you suppose I can give Francois to do?’

Armand exploded into laughter. ‘I’ll tell you something,’

he said. ‘If you can persuade Francois to do anything at all,

then you shall have my unconditional surrender and I will

sing with Solange.’

‘I accept the challenge,’ Claudine said with a grin,

holding out her hand. ‘And now I really must go.’ She was

enjoying herself so much that she wished she could stay a

little longer, but she must get back to the chateau for dinner.

‘I’ll be up at the caves tomorrow,’ Armand said, as he

opened the door for her. ‘If you still want to know something

about how we make the wine, then I’ll be glad to show you.

You asked me about it at the wedding, do you remember?’

‘Of course I remember,’ she smiled, though he suspected

that she didn’t. ‘I’ll look forward to it. What time should I

come?’

‘Around eleven might be best. The deliveries will be

finished by then. Will Francois be at home tomorrow?’

Armand saw the hunted look come into her eyes. ‘Yes,’

she said, ‘as far as I know.’

‘Good. There are a few things I need to go over with him.’

‘I’ll tell him.’ And kissing Liliane on both cheeks, she

shook hands with Armand and went out into the damp night

air.

Armand stood at the door watching her tail-lights weave

back through the village. She’s a remarkable woman, he was

thinking to himself, quite remarkable. He grinned. And

bossy too! When the car lights disappeared from view, he

turned back into the cottage and his eyes were alive with

laughter as he said to his mother, ‘But I can’t sing!’

Francois had already arrived by the time Claudine returned

to the chateau, though she didn’t see him until he came into the drawing-room before dinner. She was sitting in a

window-seat discussing the harvest celebration with

Solange when the door opened, and without even having to

turn round she knew at once that he was there.

As he walked into the room she looked up, but he was

engaged in conversation with a man who had introduced

himself to her on the stairs earlier as Captain Paul Paillole.

He had driven down from Paris with Francois that afternoon,

he had told her, and was looking forward to spending

a few days at Lorvoire.

Claudine watched as Francois spoke quietly to Jean

Paul, the butler, then turned to greet Celine and Freddy. He

did not once glance in her direction. She glared at him,

longing somehow to humiliate him in return, but she

managed to control the urge and continued her conversation

with Solange.

Later, over dinner, served in front of a roaring fire in the

dining-room, Francois again conversed mainly with the

Captain and his father; Claudine wished she could be as

oblivious to his presence as he clearly was to hers. At last she

turned her attention to Monique who, she realized with

dismay, was talking excitedly about weddings. It hadn’t been

difficult to persuade her to postpone the announcement of

her engagement until the whole family was together, but as

she listened to her now, and watched the way her feverish

amber eyes continually sought Freddy’s, Claudine was

overcome with sadness. The way that Freddy planned to

free himself from her would cause her real pain; she didn’t

deserve that kind of rejection, no matter how scheming she

had been. Perhaps she should try and have another word

with Freddy, Claudine thought, before he talked to

Monique …

Feeling her aunt’s eyes on her, she looked up and smiled, then turned to listen to Captain Paillole.

‘Of course,’ he was saying, ‘the British navy may have a

hundred and eighty destroyers, but we in France have

fifteen more than the Germans’ twenty-two, you know.’

‘Nevertheless,’ Francois said, setting down his wine

glass, ‘if it comes to it - and despite what they say at the

Foreign Office, I think we can be fairly certain it will - we

shall be relying heavily on the might of the Royal Navy.

Statesmen and …’

Claudine had spoken almost before she realized. ‘But I

heard on the news that the Royal Navy have signed an

agreement with Germany today, so surely …’ Her heartbeat

suddenly slowed as Francois moved his thunderous

eyes to hers. There was silence round the table, and beneath

that inimical gaze she began to feel herself tremble.

Then suddenly Louis laughed, and covering her hand with

his, he said, ‘Britain and Germany signed that agreement back

in July, ma chere. What you heard on the news today was the

fact that it is running into difficulties already.’

Claudine gazed down at her plate. Her fork was poised

over the turbot in its creamy mushroom sauce, but as she

dug into it she felt a dryness in her mouth that she knew

would prevent her from eating. It had been a simple

mistake, that was all, just a simple mistake … She stole

another look at Francois and felt herself go tense with fury.

But anger wasn’t the answer, she had learned that, and

reasoning with him was no good either. All she could do was

try to ignore him; involve herself in the life of Lorvoire as

much as she could, and never, never interrupt him when he

was speaking …

Celine and Freddy didn’t stay long after dinner, and to

Claudine’s relief Monique retired early so she and Solange

went upstairs to Claudine’s sitting-room for a nightcap.

Louis, Francois and the Captain remained in the library

until well past midnight, by which time Claudine was lying

in bed, listening to the rain.

Her heart quickened as she heard the door to their

apartment open. She could hear Francois’ footsteps as he

moved about the sitting-room, and thought how she had

lain awake listening for that sound while he was away. Why

was it, she wondered angrily, that she felt so empty when he

was gone, yet hated him so when he was here?

She reached out to turn off the lamp beside the bed. She

didn’t want to see his face when he came in, she wanted to

pretend that he wasn’t really there, that the horrible

pounding of his body was happening in a dream. But in her

heart she knew that wasn’t the real reason why she had

turned off the light; she’d done it so that he wouldn’t see the

pain in her eyes when he got up to go.

When at last the door opened, the light from the sitting

room fell across the bed and she could see his monstrous

silhouette as he stood there in the doorway. Though she

couldn’t see them, she could feel his eyes upon her, and

defiantly she stared back. And then, though she could hardly

believe her ears, she thought she heard him heave a sigh of