Page 60 of Summer at the Château
‘We went to see Augustus this afternoon,’ Brigitte said, looking at Gwen. ‘He was so happy to hear about you and sends his regards.’
Gwen smiled. ‘I hope you gave him mine.’
‘I did. I thought you’d want me to.’
‘Does he want to meet?’
‘Yes. He wondered if you’d like to go for lunch tomorrow. William and I are happy to take you, disappear for a couple of hours, and then bring you back. Augustus is happy to come here, or take you for lunch in a restaurant, whatever you wish, but he thought you might like to see the cottage – and also meet up in private for the first time again.’
‘I think lunch together at the cottage would be perfect.’
‘Do you remember where in Roscoff the cottage is?’ Pixie asked.
‘Oh yes.’
‘In that case, I’ll take you. No need for you and William to worry,’ Pixie said, turning to Brigitte.
‘It’s my brother she’s going to see.’ Brigitte glared at her.
‘And “she” is my mother. I want to meet this long-lost friend.’
The two of them glared at each other for several seconds before Brigitte burst out laughing. ‘D’accord. You and I take your mother to see my brother. We ’ave lunch together – like old times.’
39
The following morning, Pixie left Charlie in charge of things at the château and joined Gwen in Brigitte’s car for the journey to Roscoff.
With Radio Bonheur playing softly in the background on the car radio as they drove through the countryside, conversation between the three of them was desultory. Waiting for the traffic lights in the village of Pleyber-Christ to change to green, Gwen turned to Brigitte. ‘I should take something. I can’t go to lunch empty-handed.’
‘There’s a big supermarche up the road, we can pull in there or we can find something in Roscoff,’ Brigitte said. ‘Although Augustus will not be expecting anything.’
‘Roscoff will be fine,’ Gwen said.
The nearer they got to the town itself, traffic slowed to a crawl as tractors and trailers harvesting the artichokes and the world-famous pink Roscoff onions crawled to and from the fields with their bounty. Traffic thinned out once they’d passed the turn-off for the ferry port and they were soon parking the car and making their way down towards the town.
Pixie had expected Gwen to buy a bottle of wine or maybe chocolates to take for Augustus, but Gwen stopped outside a souvenir gift shop and after studying their window display walked in. Reappearing five minutes later, she was smiling.
‘I feel better about not arriving empty-handed. Come on, I know the way from here.’
As they turned away from the harbour to walk down a narrow street, Gwen stopped on the corner.
‘Right, girls. The cottage is in sight, so I’d appreciate you two disappearing now.’
When Pixie went to say something, Gwen held up her hand.
‘You can meet Augustus later when you come to collect me. I’d like to do this on my own without an audience,’ she added quietly.
‘Fair enough,’ Pixie said, realising how emotional Gwen was and not wanting to have an argument with her in the street, even if she personally was struggling to get her head around the fact that her eighty-three-year-old mother was meeting up with an old lover she’d never mentioned before. ‘We’ll see you this afternoon, about three, okay? I’ve got my mobile, call if you want us to come earlier.’
‘The front door will be on the latch, ring the bell and walk in. Augustus will be waiting,’ Brigitte said quietly.
The two of them watched as Gwen walked swiftly down the street, waited until they saw her reach the cottage with its brightly painted blue door, ringing the bell as Brigitte had instructed before disappearing inside.
Brigitte sighed and looked at Pixie. ‘It’s a good job Gwen is the type of woman she is, the next few minutes will be difficult for her.’
‘Why?’
‘Let’s find somewhere for a coffee,’ Brigitte said. ‘And I’ll explain.
