Page 24 of Secrets Beneath a Riviera Sky
Zazz, realising that the conversation about Oscar had been closed down yet again said. ‘I’m going to edit a piece I’ve written for Marcus about how there’s more to Cannes than a film festival, send it and hope he likes it. Then I’m going to finish another feature about the monks on Saint Honorat for my blog. You?’
Francine’s phone buzzed at that moment with an incoming e-mail which she quickly read. ‘I’m going to be working too,’ she said, looking up at Zazz. ‘Urgent edit and proofread needed. They want to know if I can do it within two days. Glad I brought my laptop. I’ll e-mail them straight away to send it through.’
‘See you later then,’ Zazz said. ‘I’ll drop Gran and Theo a text to let them know we’ll see them at lunchtime.’
24
When Zazz told Agnes that Francine was going to be busy working up at Oscar’s for the next day or two she realised she had been given a perfect opportunity to make contact with Rachel Cortez on her own, without Francine wanting to go with her. Theo, after she’d told him her plan, insisted he would accompany her to the cafe rendez-vous and stay nearby but leave her to meet Rachel alone. ‘To use Francine’s phrase, it’s non-negotiable, I’m coming with you,’ he told her.
Agnes and Theo with Cerise on her lead, left the house just before eleven o’clock to make their way to the Marché Forville. ‘Did Rachel give you any identification clues?’ Theo asked. ‘If you did know her in the past, you’ll maybe recognise her but if not…’ his voice trailed away.
‘No, she didn’t mention she’d be carrying a red handbag, wearing a hat or clutching a certain flower,’ Agnes said laughing. ‘But I’m sure somehow we’ll manage to connect.’
The cafe when they reached it was busy with occupied tables with two or more people sitting at them. At first glance there didn’t appear to be a table with a single customer but then Agnes spotted one tucked away in the far corner with a lone woman watching the door. As she saw Agnes the woman smiled and gave a half wave.
‘She’s at the back. I’ll see you in a bit,’ Agnes said and began to make her way towards the woman. As she got closer she recognised her old friend from the past, Rachel Dupont.
‘Bonjour,’ Agnes said, pulling out a chair and joining Rachel at the table. ‘I wondered if it was you. It’s been a long time.’
‘Oui. We were young then, now we are old,’ Rachel answered.
‘It would be nice to say we haven’t changed a bit but we both know that wouldn’t be true,’ Agnes said with a smile.
The waiter appeared at their table. ‘Madame, you would like?’ he asked looking at Agnes.
‘Un cappuccino,s’il vous plaît.’ She glanced at Rachel’s almost empty cup. ‘Another?’
Rachel nodded. ‘Merci.’
As the waiter moved away to fetch their order, Rachel looked at Agnes. ‘Before we go any further, you need to know that whilst I regret certain of my past actions, I don’t regret having my son, Serge.’
Agnes returned her look steadily. ‘I hope for your sake he is nothing like his father.’
‘He isn’t,’ Rachel said quietly. ‘His adoptive father was the main male influence in his life – and he was a good man.’
‘That’s good. I do have a few questions I need to ask you,’ Agnes said. ‘The first one is, how long were you involved with Oscar?’
‘It started before you were married and carried on afterwards. Your daughter was about a year old when I fell pregnant and Oscar literally threw me out.’
Agnes went to speak but the waiter was back and she stopped as he carefully placed their drinks in front of them.
‘If he hadn’t thrown you out, would you have carried on the liaison?’ she asked when he’d left.
Rachel shook her head. ‘No. It was too toxic a situation for a child to be involved in.’
‘So, how did you even get entangled with Oscar?’
‘You know I lived in one of his rental apartments? In those days Oscar collected the rent himself. One week when he knocked on the door I had to tell him I’d started a new job and I wouldn’t have the money until I got paid at the end of the following week. I remember the assessing look he gave me for ooh, about thirty seconds, before he told me to bring it to the house the Friday evening of that week at nine o’clock. I thanked him and he left.’ Rachel sipped her cappuccino. ‘You can guess what happened that Friday evening when I took him the rent money. And that was the beginning – at least I got to live rent free for eighteen months.’
Agnes spooned the froth from the top of her coffee before picking up her cup and drinking some of the hot liquid, waiting for Rachel to continue.
‘When you and he married I thought it would finish and I would be free of him butnon, Oscar said there was no reason to stop. And he knew by then how much I depended on living rent-free.’ Rachel looked at Agnes.
‘What I did was wrong, but I know for a fact that I wasn’t his only woman in all that time,’ she said quietly.
Agnes gave her a sad smile. ‘There were always women in his life. I take it when you became pregnant he wasn’t happy? Did he help at all?’
Rachel made a choking sound. ‘First thing he asked me – was I sure it was his? When I told him there was no doubt about it, he told me to either get rid of it or to get out of his apartment. He refused to acknowledge any responsibility.’
