New World, New Love (34 page)

Daniel went down the stairs and out of the château without looking to the right or left. Fernand followed him to the steps and watched him ride away. It had been a totally satisfactory encounter. The American would never come back.

I
n Paris Violette was back in her element, buying hats and gowns and gloves for herself and wanting to get as much for Louise, who was content with the one beautiful hat she had chosen. It was brimless with cream plumes, a fashion rivalling the wide-brimmed bonnets that many women were wearing.

Violette had taken a large elegantly furnished apartment on the prestigious Rue d’Anjou. They ate in all the exclusive restaurants, sat in the best box at the opera and at various theatres, as well as visiting the most elite gaming houses, where Violette played extravagantly and won more often than she lost. She met several former émigrés, whom she had entertained in London and Sussex during their exile, and old friendships were renewed.

She still suffered the occasional cramp in her chest, but no more than in England, and she began to believe that living in the country had really done her no good at all. Yet common sense did tell her that it was sensible to continue to set aside two hours daily to lie on her bed. It did not stop her arguing with Marie about how much and how often she should take her medicine, and their clashes had become more explosive than before. Sometimes Josette took over this duty to relieve Marie, and perversely Violette took the dose without a murmur, since there was no fun in annoying this firm-faced lady’s maid.

Although Violette liked Louise to be with her wherever she went, there was one visit she made on her own. It was to her Parisian lawyers, who had always handled her French interests, finding ways of corresponding with her throughout the war by a personal courier, except at the height of the Revolution when everything was in turmoil and they themselves had had to lie low. She was received with courtesy and consideration by the grandson of the man whom she had always seen in the distant past, who had long since retired.

Frédéric Terain was in his early thirties, sharp-eyed and intelligent. She liked him and was particularly pleased at the way he paid meticulous attention to her wishes, explaining ways to her by which they could be carried out. Two days later she went to sign the new will he had drawn up for her, for although her niece would still be the main beneficiary, as in her previous will, certain conditions had been introduced.

After three weeks in Paris, Violette told Louise that she had decided to stay on in France. They were on their way back to the Rue d’Anjou after visiting Ginette and Antoine, whom Louise had wanted her to meet, and it had been a great success.

‘I’ve come home to my roots, Louise. I have friends here to visit and entertain, including the couple I’ve just met, and already it feels as if I’ve never been away. I shall continue renting the apartment until I find a suitable place to buy and I’m going to live in Paris until the end of my days. It also means that, although Bordeaux is a long way from here, there’ll never be a sea or an ocean between us ever again! You can visit me whenever you like.’

‘I’m so glad!’ Louise exclaimed. She was thankful to know she would always be able to reach her aunt, for nobody knew how long the Treaty of Amiens would last, rumours rumbling on all sides.

‘If it hadn’t been for you, I would never have made the effort to come here again,’ Violette continued. ‘Something went out of me when I followed that stupid London doctor’s advice and moved from the city to the countryside. Now I feel alive again!’ She wagged a be-ringed finger at Louise with a flash of rubies. ‘But don’t ever invite me to your château, even though it would be full of memories for me of your dear mother, because I never want to clap eyes on that husband of yours again!’

‘I won’t,’ Louise promised. ‘But I shall soon have to return there, even though I left a clerk to deal with the accounts. My bailiff, Pierre, will want to consult me on any number of matters to do with the estate.’

Violette sighed. ‘We’ve both known that this time together in Paris would be short. But you will return soon?’

‘At the first opportunity.’

‘Why not bring Rose with you next time? I’d like to meet her. After all, she is responsible in a way for my being here. If she hadn’t invited you to Paris, you would not have conjured up for me the wonderful and exciting atmosphere of this city, which made me yearn to see it again.’

Louise thought it would be a good idea to bring Rose. There had been no proposal yet from Jerome Colbert, even though he and Rose saw each other frequently. Rose believed his sisters were the cause, for they were jealous of their domestic reign over the château, and did not want him to take a wife. But he would miss Rose when she was away. Perhaps that would make him realize what his life would be without her exuberant personality to counteract the dullness of living with his sisters.

Later that day Louise sat down with pen and paper as Violette began to list all that she wanted sent from her Sussex home, which included the French furniture that had gone across the Channel with her when she married. Her housekeeper there and her lawyers in Chichester would organize everything and there should be no need for her to return to England.

In the evening they went to the theatre again. As they stood in their box to leave at the end of the performance, Louise, glancing down at the departing audience, happened to see a tall man, who had just left a seat immediately below. He was already making his way up the aisle and she could only see the back of him, but in the way he held his head and in the breadth of his shoulders he was so like Daniel that spontaneously she cried out. ‘Daniel!’

He did not turn. In any case, he could not have heard her in the buzz of conversation and the orchestra was still playing. But still she stood, looking after him until he was lost from sight.

Violette had turned from leaving the box and came to her side. ‘What is it, my dear?’

Louise smiled ruefully. ‘I saw someone who reminded me of Daniel. It was stupid of me to even think he could be here. It’s not the first time I’ve been reminded of him in a stranger’s physique or a turn of the head.’

‘That’s natural when you’re finding it so hard to live without him.’ Violette took her hand and patted it comfortingly.

Outside the theatre, Daniel decided to walk back to his hotel, although it was raining hard. It would be a long wait for a hackney carriage and he wanted to finish his packing for an early departure to take ship at Calais. His week in Paris had gone quickly, but he had not wanted to leave France without seeing the city and the Palace of Versailles, which Louise had spoken about many times. Although he had lost her, he had still wanted to add to his memories of her by following the paths she had trodden. He bent his head against the rain, which pattered against his hat, and the shoulder-cape of his coat billowed as he joined the dispersing crowd of theatregoers making their way along the street.

In the darkness, with the rain pouring in rivulets down the window, Louise did not see Daniel as the carriage overtook him and bowled past. She was trying to pay attention to Violette’s opinion of the play they had just seen, but she was still overwhelmed by the agonizing rush of love she had felt in being reminded of him.

Louise left Paris with Josette at the end of the week. She was thankful to know that capable Marie would always be at hand to care for Violette, who would never be lonely as so many old acquaintances had already been renewed.

Arriving home, Louise met Fernand, dressed for travelling, as he came through the hall.

‘So, you’re back from England at last,’ he greeted her. ‘Is the old hag on her deathbed yet?’

Louise flushed angrily. ‘I’ve forbidden you to speak of my aunt in such a way!’

‘Forbidden?’ he laughed mockingly. ‘I can say whatever I choose about that tight-fisted bitch. But don’t keep me in suspense. How ill is she?’

‘Violette has moved back to live permanently in Paris and is already enjoying a social round almost as if she were a young woman again.’

His face tightened and he spoke viciously through thin lips. ‘If you’d had any sense, you would have pressed a pillow over her face one night!’

Thrusting past her, he kicked a piece of her baggage out of his way, and went swiftly down the steps to his waiting coach.

From the first hour, Louise was back into the routine of the estate. The clerk, who also worked for Rose’s brother-in-law, had done well, and Pierre had been his usual reliable self in all matters. As yet, Louise could not foresee when the estate would start making a profit. It was still running on a loan from her bankers, for although debts incurred in reviving the husbandry of the land had been paid off, they had been replaced by others that she could not yet clear. There were worrying moments when she had to decide which bill needed payment most urgently. In her absence Fernand had far extended their hospitality budget. She did not know whom he had entertained in her absence, but the stock of wine in the cellar was severely depleted.

In May the Treaty of Amiens, which had been no more than a truce, ended as many had feared and hostilities were resumed. Louise read all she could about the war and, although she loved her country, she had begun to fear that Napoleon’s ambition was French domination of Europe, with the crushing of Britain as his ultimate aim.

When Louise went next to visit Paris her aunt had bought a mansion on the Rue d’Anjou, having liked the location. Violette had settled back into Paris as if she had never been away and held soirées that gathered a circle of intellectuals around her, including writers and artists and patrons of the arts.

A letter from Madeleine late in November showed that once again some previous correspondence had gone missing. Louise thought that her cousin had written coolly, almost as if displeased with her, but she could not imagine why. First of all Madeleine cast doubt on the wisdom of Violette’s move to Paris when France was too aggressive for its own good and blamed Louise for influencing her.

The rest of the letter followed the usual run of local news as well as announcing that Delphine and John would be moving to Washington, as he had just won an important election. They had already paid a visit to the capital and been received by George Washington’s successor, President John Adams and his wife, at the White House. At the end of the letter there was a brief reference to Daniel.

Louise found the letter upsetting. Her cousin had never written in such a tone before. Puzzled, she shook her head as she put the letter away in her bureau.

It worried her that Fernand had become even more unpredictable in his behaviour. Somehow he had managed to gain an entrée into the Napoleonic court and had begun inviting acquaintances from Paris to visit his country home. Some, who he wanted to help his advancement, usually came with their wives, and took part in all the local country activities. Yet one day he brought others, men who were hard drinkers and reckless gamblers, accompanied by dubious women. That night they quarrelled fiercely in their cups, overturning the card tables and breaking chairs. Against all the rules of duelling, two men took up pistols against each other in the rose garden, but both were too drunk to aim straight and missed each other.

After this incident Fernand did not invite them or their kind again. It was not Louise’s anger or her outrage over the damage caused that made him take action, but the protection of his local reputation. If the duel, without the presence of a doctor and two responsible, sober men as seconds, became public knowledge, it would result in a terrible scandal. It might taint his name as far away as Paris and, locally, it was all too easy to be dropped by the country society that he secretly despised. He needed their goodwill, for he wanted always to impress his Parisian guests of importance with his good standing in the neighbourhood. So, whenever he was in the capital and well away from the château, he joined in orgies with his wild friends, some of whom he met daily in their courtly roles at the Palace of the Tuileries. But in spite of his good looks, impeccable manners and his ability to charm women when it suited him, he still had not managed to gain an invitation to Malmaison. It had not occurred to him that Josephine might not like his sly-eyed handsomeness.

‘He reminds me of a snake,’ she had remarked to a friend.

She had spoken in Napoleon’s hearing. Usually he was intolerant of women’s opinions and disliked politically minded women who exerted their influence at the soirées that they held, but what Josephine had said about Fernand de Vailly stuck in his mind. He reminded himself that the fellow had done some good work for France when spying in England during the truce, but personally he did not like spies any more than he could endure traitors. Mentally he crossed off Fernand de Vailly’s name for any position of importance.

It was not long after Louise had received the disturbing letter from Boston that Rose and Jerome were married. Rose did not expect to have an easy time with his sisters as the new first lady of the household.

‘But I’m starting as I mean to go on,’ she told Louise determinedly. ‘I shall be kind, but firm.’

It took until spring the following year before her sisters-in-law accepted her true position at the château. Then it was only because one married an elderly widower and the other went to live with them in Bordeaux. Louise visited Violette as often as was possible. Although she had written to Madeleine that her letter had puzzled her, no explanation was given in subsequent months-old correspondence that sometimes managed to filter through the hazards of war.