Page 43 of Secrets Beneath a Riviera Sky
A short flight of shallow steps led up to the front entrance of a low, white painted villa. A woman was standing in front of the open door, leaning on a cane, watching as Theo walked towards her, Agnes was careful to stay behind him, out of sight as best she could.
‘Monsieur, I did not realise you planned to bring another person with you. I wish you had mentioned it. I do not like surprises.’
‘Madame, I’m hoping with all my heart that this is a surprise you will like,’ Theo said, stepping to one side and leaving Agnes in full view.
‘Hello, Denice,’ Agnes said, her voice wobbling as she waited for her sister’s response.
‘Agnes?Mon Dieuis that really you? I never thought I’d see you again. Worse than that – I was afraid you were dead.’ Denice flung her arms wide, her cane waving around precariously in the air. ‘Come here. I need a hug from you.’
‘Definitely still alive, and I definitely need a hug too,’ Agnes said, quickly handing the flowers to Theo and moving towards her sister who looked in danger of falling over without the support of her stick. ‘I thought you might be dead too. So, so, glad we’re both alive.’ The hug Denice enveloped her in was so tight she was soon struggling to breathe. Both Agnes and Denice’s cheeks glistened with tears when they finally released each other.
Denice, turning to greet Theo, gave him a happy smile. ‘Thank you,’ she said, greeting him not with a hug but two cheek kisses.
‘Let’s go through to the garden. We’ll collect a bottle of champagne on the way through. We need to celebrate while we catch up.’
‘So much to tell you it’s going to take days, weeks, to truly catch up,’ Agnes said as she and Theo followed Denice through the house and out into the garden. A large swimming pool, its water glinting in the sunlight, was down at the far end. A paved terrace with palm and olive trees surrounded it, teak transats covered with comfy cushions had been placed around one side of the pool. Nearer the house was another terrace with wrought-iron garden furniture and a large parasol and it was here that Denice put the champagne and urged them to sit down.
‘Theo, could you do the honours please,’ and Denice passed him the champagne to open and pour. Once they all had a glass in their hands, Denice proposed the toast. ‘To us. So happy to be in touch again. Tell me, how did you know I was here?’ she asked.
‘I found your name and address in a file when I was going through my brother’s things,’ Theo said. ‘It was in the papers dealing with your parents’ house and the inheritance they left both of you. I trust you received yours?’
‘Yes,’ Denice nodded. ‘Why?’
‘Oscar swindled Agnes out of hers,’ Theo stated baldly. ‘Forged her signature, kept people away from her, told lies about her health.’ He shrugged.
‘Cet homme était un véritable bâtard,’ Denice swore under her breath. ‘He always promised to pass on messages for me.’ Denice turned to Agnes. ‘I’m guessing you never received them.’
Agnes shook her head. ‘Not one.’
‘I came to Cannes once after our parents died,’ Denice said. ‘I found your house but Oscar wouldn’t let me in. Told me you weren’t well enough for visitors and I was to go away. I did knock on a few neighbours’ doors but they were all incomers and nobody really knew Oscar. Kept himself to himself they said. There was one older woman two or three doors away who said she remembered a woman and a small child living there but she hadn’t seen them for years.’
‘Francine, my daughter, and I moved to the UK when she was seven,’ Agnes said quietly. ‘There’s a lot to tell you but first I want to know all about what it was like living in Paris and if you became an actor like you dreamt of being. For years I kept looking out for your name whenever I saw a celebrity magazine.’
Denice sighed. ‘Paris itself was wonderful. Not a lot to tell about the acting. Papa was right. I wasn’t good enough. Took me a couple of years to give up on my dream though and boy were those tough years. Took time living on the streets to bring me to my senses and get my act together.’ Denice paused and gave a rueful smile. ‘Made some good friends at that time who helped me get a job and create a new life for myself. I did toy with the idea of coming home but Papa made it very clear the one time I called him that I was no longer his daughter.’
‘I thought I saw you at the film festival one year,’ Agnes said. ‘I ran after you but you and the man you were with drove off in an official limousine. I decided it wasn’t you in the end.’
There was a short silence. ‘You did see me that day,’ Denice said slowly. ‘I did wonder if you’d recognised me. I was pleased to see the three of you looking so happy together. I consoled myself for years that at least you were happily married with a family.’
‘Theo was with me that day, not Oscar, and I wasn’t happily married,’ Agnes snapped. ‘So, why didn’t you speak to me then?’
Denice bit her bottom lip and looked Agnes straight in the eye. ‘Because I could not. I was working. It would not have been professional of me.’
‘Working?’
‘I did various things to survive and to make money.’ Denice paused. ‘One of my main sources of income for several years was working as an escort for an up-market escort agency before I started my own escort business. The day you saw me I was with a top Hollywood producer as his partner for his visit to the festival.’
Agnes sat back and looked at her sister in horror. ‘Are you saying you became a prost?—’
‘Non,’ Denice interrupted sharply. ‘I was never a prostitute. A reputable escort agency provides legitimate escorts, both male and female, for people who need a companion for an event, or a hostess for a business function. There are lots of reasons people hire an escort. For me it was all about surviving the best way I could. Of course there are other less reputable agencies around but I never worked for them and mine was totally respectable.’ Denice drained her glass. ‘Enough about me. Your turn – you said you were unhappily married.’
Agnes, still reeling from her sister’s matter-of-fact attitude to surviving when things were desperate said. ‘Yes, very unhappily. I think we’ll leave those details for another time. How about you. Did you ever marry? Do I have any nieces or nephews? And why are you using a cane?’
‘Hip replacement a few weeks ago. To answer your other questions – no children. Married just the once.’ Denice gave her a thoughtful glance. ‘If you don’t have to rush back to Cannes, can you stay for dinner?’
‘Oh, I don’t know,’ Agnes said. ‘What about Cerise?’ she asked, turning to Theo.
‘I asked Zazz to walk her when she got back from dress shopping,’ Theo said. ‘I can ring and ask her to feed her later.’
