Page 36 of Summer on the French Riviera
Harriet shrugged. ‘I was surprised. I’d never expected to see him again, but I was more worried about protecting you and how you’d react to meeting him, than assessing my own feelings.’
‘He’s forced your hand, hasn’t he? You still wouldn’t have told me otherwise would you?’ Elodie stared at Harriet.
‘That’s not true. I was planning to answer all your questions soon, but yes, Jack turning up has rather brought things to a head.’
Seeing another dog walker approaching them along the path, Elodie called Lulu and clipped her lead on. She waited until the woman and the dog had passed them before turning to Harriet.
‘I’ve lived for twenty-four years without knowing anything about my father. Not really wanting to. I’d accepted the lack of both mother and father figures in my life. It was only when you came back that I realised I didn’t know the full details of me. How I came into existence.’ She paused. ‘Basically, I think I needed reassurance really that I was wanted. That I wasn’t the result of a one-night stand… or something horrible.’
Harriet gave her a shocked look. ‘No.’
‘I’m so pleased that you were in a happy relationship with him. I thought that once you’d told me his name, you’d talk to me about him and I’d learn enough about him from you. I honestly thought that would be enough, that I didn’t need to start looking for him.’ Elodie gave a deep sigh. ‘Now I don’t know what to do. It wasn’t his fault he didn’t get the opportunity to be a father. Telling me he’s here in town looking to meet me changes things – and meeting him will change everything even more. I don’t know how I feel any more.’
‘Jack has done nothing wrong. I was the one at fault in all this for not telling him about you. Now he knows, he is determined to right the wrong that I did – even if it is years late.’ Harriet glanced at Elodie. ‘Jack is one of the good guys. You need to meet him.’
28
Gabby and Philippe sat out on the terrace after Harriet and Elodie left to walk Lulu, the jewellery box and the sealed envelope on the table in front of them. The jewellery box would simply contain her mother’s wedding and engagement rings and the few pieces of costume jewellery that Gabby remembered her possessing. The letter, on the other hand…
Gabby stared at her name on the envelope, feeling more unsettled than she had for a long time.
‘I think this is the first letter I’ve ever had from him,’ she said. ‘I could just throw it away unopened, I suppose. He’ll never know whether I’ve read it or not.’
‘Then you would be left forever wondering what he’d wanted to say to you,’ Philippe said quietly.
‘I know, but what if not knowing was the better alternative to reading the contents?’ Gabby looked at him. ‘I had his voice in my head for so long, telling me I’d let the family down, I was worthless, I meant nothing to him. It took years for me to silence that. I might be seventy years old, but I’m scared the contents of the letter might cause his voice in my head to start up again. Open old wounds.’
‘Ma cherie, you have me at your side if it should happen. I promise I will not allow the voice to take up residence in your head again. I know the person you are. You are kindness itself, never letting anyone down, you are not worthless – and you mean everything to me.D’accord?’
Gabby nodded and gave Philippe a grateful smile – she was so lucky to have him in her life – before reaching out for the envelope. It opened easily, the sealing glue having deteriorated over the years it had lain in the cave. Carefully, Gabby took out three pieces of paper, two of which were covered in handwriting she recognised even though it was shakier than the last time she had seen it. She placed those on the table and looked at the other piece of paper, delaying for as long as possible the reading of the letter.
This first piece was a typed letter from a firm of auctioneers in Paris, dated eleven years ago. Reading it, Gabby realised it was detailing their thoughts on the provenance of the brush pot in the cave and giving a suggested reserve price if it were to be auctioned. Her eyes widened as she saw the figure. Silently, she handed the piece of paper to Philippe before reaching out and picking up the two pages of the letter and beginning to read it.
By the time she reached the end of the second page, she was biting her bottom lip and blinking hard.
Philippe regarded her with concern. ‘Gabriella,ma cherie, tu vas bien?’
‘I’m okay,’ she sniffed. ‘Thankfully, it’s not as horrible as I had been anticipating. He says my maman never forgave him for driving me away and he regretted his actions that caused her such pain and drove me out of their lives. But then blames me for getting mixed up with Christophe Lampeter and becoming pregnant in the first place. Here, you can read it,’ and she held the pages out to Philippe. ‘The things in the cellar are apparently his way of trying to make amends. I just wish he hadn’t waited until he knew he was dying to write his regrets down. I wish too he could have brought himself to say them to me face to face, but I guess that was a step too far.’
Carefully, Philippe pushed the jewellery box towards her. ‘Perhaps seeing and holding your maman’s jewellery would bring back some happier memories.’
Opening the box and seeing the pieces her mother had treasured which were now hers was a bittersweet moment for Gabby. There were a couple of pieces that Gabby didn’t recognise – two gold brooches and an eternity ring set with what looked like rubies and diamonds.
‘These stones are too big to be real, surely,’ she said, holding it out for Philippe to take a look. ‘The diamonds at least have to be zircons, don’t you think?’
‘They look real enough. The setting is good.’ Philippe shrugged. ‘I don’t know. There’s a piece of folded paper underneath,’ he said, moving the jewellery to one side and lifting the paper out.
‘What is it? Please, not another letter.’ Gabby looked at him anxiously.
‘It’s the provenance for the ring. It’s a genuine 1920s eternity ring.’
Gabby looked at him in disbelief. ‘Where on earth did my father get the money to buy something like that? I mean, the wine in the cellar is one thing and the brush pot has been in the family for generations, but that ring…’ she gestured helplessly at Philippe. ‘I need to go and talk to Colette soon.’
* * *
After Elodie and Harriet had parted, leaving Elodie reeling after learning the bombshell news about Jack being in Juan, Elodie had returned to the villa and gone straight up to her room. She had a tight deadline for one of her features and she’d spent the rest of the afternoon and most of the evening upstairs working. It was nearly ten o’clock when she pressed send on the email and leant back against her chair with a sigh of relief.
Concentrating had been hard with her thoughts constantly switching away from the words in front of her to thoughts of Jack and what she should do. She longed to talk to Gazz, tell him the news, ask his advice, but he and Mickaêl had gone to Monaco for the evening to support the local football team in a fundraising event.
