Page 64 of Rendez-Vous in Cannes
She stiffened, as Bernard, once again taking his place on the podium in front of the congregation to begin to wind up the tributes nodded at some unseen person behind her.
Bernard smiled as his initial words were drowned out by a loud bang somewhere in the building, followed by a telephone ringing in an adjacent office.
‘I apologise for the “off-stage sound effects”,’ Bernard said. ‘But as a film director, I’m sure Philippe would have appreciated them and is probably even now yelling “cut”.’ He paused and Anna caught her breath as she watched Teddy join him on the podium, holding an envelope she recognised. ‘We are nearing the end of this official celebration of Philippe Cambone’s life. For many of us, he will always live on in our memories. However, the final tribute today comes from a man who sadly never met Philippe and to him I extend my heartfelt sympathy. I am so sorry he never knew the man who was my best friend, the man who will leave a huge, empty hole in my life.’ An emotional Bernard moved away, leaving Teddy alone on the podium.
‘As most of you know, I am Teddy Wickham,’ Teddy paused for several seconds, visibly pulling himself together. ‘I am also Philippe Cambone’s son. Unfortunately, as Bernard said, I never met my father and until a few days ago I didn’t know my birth mother either.’
Teddy placed the envelope with its papers on the table in front of him and looked around at the audience.
Anna, sitting transfixed at his words, felt a flutter of hope and smiled at Teddy as he looked directly at her before turning his gaze back to the crowd.
‘When my mother did make herself known to me, I cruelly rejected her like I believed she’d rejected me all those years ago by giving me up for adoption. There was no way that I was prepared to acknowledge her. Neither did I see any point in telling the world that I was Philippe Cambone’s son now that he was dead. My mother gently informed me that he would have been shouting with joy from the rooftops about me. She also told me how much she was looking forward to getting to know her son and her granddaughter. Again, cruelly, I told her that wasn’t about to happen.’
Teddy paused and poured himself a glass of water from the carafe someone had thoughtfully provided, before continuing.
‘But then two things happened. First, my six year old daughter, Cindy, went missing. Her disappearance for, what, no more than thirty minutes frightened me and made me realise how I would feel if I lost my daughter for real. If all contact was severed. When my daughter was finally found and I knew she was safe, I went to see my mother. She gave me these highly personal papers and a letter that had only just come into her possession to read.’ Teddy held up the envelope briefly before replacing it on the table. ‘I have to tell you I cried when I read them.’
He was silent for several seconds, before visibly taking a few deep breaths.
Anna, fighting back her own tears, clutched Leo’s hand. ‘D’you think he’s going to forgive me after all?’ she whispered. ‘Even announce my name in public?’
Leo squeezed her hand. ‘Just listen to what he has to say.’
‘The second thing that happened,’ Teddy continued, ‘was that yesterday I chanced upon a poem called “The Gathering” by an unknown author. This poem contains two lines in different verses that stood out and made me question the decisions I was taking.
‘The first line “You can open your eyes and see all that I have left” literally urged me to open my eyes and discover my unknown heritage. Another line, further on in the poem, is one I intend to try to live by in the coming weeks as I get to know and understand the circumstances that fate has thrown at me.’ Teddy took a deep breath. ‘And the line from the poem reads, “You can be happy for tomorrow because of yesterday”.’
Teddy stopped speaking and looked around at the spellbound audience, before looking directly at Anna as he spoke.
‘From what has been said here today, I know my father was a popular man, a good man, and I look forward to hearing stories about him from the people who knew him. I will have a lot to live up to as his son, but by acknowledging the woman who is my mother and who was the love of my father’s life, Anna Carson, I hope I can begin to live up to the expectations I believe Philippe Cambone would have had of me, his son. Thank you.’
Picking up the envelope, Teddy stepped down from the podium and walked towards a stunned Anna.
She stood up as he reached her and wordlessly accepted the envelope containing the precious papers.
‘Thank you for letting me read these.’
When he offered her his arm, she took it and, with Leo and Verity walking behind them, they left the hall together as mother and son.
* * *
With no early morning screening or press conference to attend, Daisy had the luxury of a lie-in on Monday morning and it was nearly half past ten before she’d showered and went downstairs.
‘Morning, Poppy. I could get used to this not working lark,’ she said. ‘Become a lady of leisure or even a lady that lunches.’ She switched the coffee machine on. ‘Coffee for you?’
Poppy shook her head. ‘No thanks. Nat just phoned. He’s on his way over. Cindy wants to play with Tom one last time, apparently, before they leave.’
‘Thought he wasn’t allowed to let Cindy darken our door because of Anna?’ Daisy said, puzzled. ‘Or has that all changed?’
Poppy shrugged. ‘She’s not in anyway. He’ll be here soon. You can ask him what’s changed. Your mobile has been bleeping for the past hour by the way. Your message box must be full.’
Many of the messages were from friends who’d heard about the redundancies at the paper and were offering sympathy. There was one from an editor she’d worked with a couple of years ago asking if she’d be interested in writing some short features and there was another one from Ben. A voice message this time, not a text.
Apprehensively Daisy pressed the listen button and held the phone out so Poppy could hear.
‘Sorry I messed things up, Daisy. You sound so positive and happy in your emails. I really hope things work out for you. I’ve cancelled my flight back to the UK. I’ll stay over here for a bit and see if I can make a proper go of things. Have a good life. Maybe we’ll meet as friends one day. Love, Ben.’
‘Well, that little problem seems to have gone away,’ Poppy said. ‘Relieved?’
