Chapter 6. Too Many Questions
[Chapter 7 will be available on January 1, 2015]
Vanessa
clutched the phone in her cold hand, waiting to hear if she had to
give up the little scamp. Jackie, the vet's assistant, said the
heir, Jacob Lay, had called their office looking for Charlie. When
she told him that Vanessa had been given custody and had taken the
dog on a trip to France, he got upset and hung up. Now they'd
received a letter from his attorney demanding to know exactly where
Vanessa was staying as Mr. Lay needed to contact her. Jackie asked,
“Is it OK to give him your address and phone number?”
Vanessa
felt sick. If this Jacob Lay was Mr. Carr's heir he was entitled to
the dog but she hated to think of losing Charlie. However, no matter
how attached she was to the dog, she had to do the right thing.
“It's
all right. You can give them my contact information. Maybe he just
wants to know if I'm taking good care of Charlie.”
After
hanging up, she sat in the little alcove to calm herself. Lucy
walked up to her. “Is everything all right?”
“Oh
yes, someone just needed my address here. Let's get Charlie and go
for that walk on the grounds.” Vanessa forced herself to smile.
No point in worrying anyone else about her fears, which might be
false—as most of her fears were.
The
stone chateau lay in the midst of a beautiful park, surrounded by
acres, maybe miles, of sleeping lavender bushes. Vanessa kept the
exuberant dog on a leash in case he decided to run off. It was the
same sturdy leash attached to the glitzy collar he'd been wearing the
night she rescued him. It was silly, but she felt superstitious
about changing them. She thought the dog had brought her good luck
since she got the invitation to France the same night she found him.
Now he pulled her along the gravel paths that wound through the
grounds.
Lucy
bent to shake a small stone out of the clog she'd put on for their
walk. “If you were wearing roller skates, Charlie would move you
like a train locomotive. You wouldn't have to spend any of your own
energy. Just hang on.”
“Do
you have any pets here? I haven't noticed any.” Vanessa wondered
if all French chateaus came equipped with French poodles.
“No,
we don't. When we first took over the running of the lavender farm
and factory, we worked such long hours we thought we didn't have time
for animals. And now that we have more leisure, I guess no one has
felt the need for a pet.”
“Did
Michelle, you, and Jack all grow up here?”
“Yes,
but when our parents died, there wasn't much money. And we had to
stick together to survive. The French inheritance laws are very
strict. We did not want to have to sell the place at a loss and then
just divide up the proceeds. Together we could build something,
apart we had nothing. I think one of your states has that as a
motto, United we stand, divided we fall.”
Vanessa
laughed. “That reminds me of American history in school. I think
it comes from the time of our revolution, which if I remember
correctly was helped by the French.”
“France
and America have always been friends, although sometimes we have our
little disagreements, just as family members do.” Lucy pointed
out.
“Speaking
of family members getting along, or not, do you all live here all the
time?” Vanessa was curious how this extended family shared their
lives. She knew back home everyone seemed to want their own space.
“Yes,
but the house is big and as we became adults we each took over a
wing. But I don't want to bore you with all our housing
arrangements.”
“No,
I find it fascinating. The ground floor with its large, comfortable
drawing room and enormous dining room must be shared by
everyone....Oh, and the kitchen, too, I suppose.”
“Yes,
that is correct. Also on the ground floor are several rooms for
Edmund and the other live in help. On the first floor, which you
call the second, are the family's rooms. Michelle as the oldest
child took over our parents' suite in the central wing with two
bedrooms and a study joined by a bath and dressing room. That suite
overlooks the lavender fields, Michelle's very deep love. Her
husband's mother, has her own two room suite with bath across the
hall from them. She overlooks the entrance courtyard and loves being
able to keep track of our comings and goings. The central wing is
also where your guest room is.
“And,
if I'm not too nosy, where do you and Jack live?
“I'm
a morning person so I'm in the east wing to see the rising sun. And
Jacques being a night owl is in the west wing with a view of the
setting sun.”
Vanessa
felt she had been curious enough for one morning. She turned her
attention to the gardens they were walking through. “It seems all
the wings have beautiful views of these surrounding grounds. Even
now, in autumn, when not much is in bloom, they are lovely.”
“Well,
since this is basically a farm, we felt we needed to spend our time,
labor, and money on the income producing lavender fields. For
our private enjoyment
we focused on boxwood hedges and similar, low
upkeep
greenery and on stone garden features. We
don't need a full time gardener to keep up with them.”
“Do
you have a kitchen garden?”
“Oh,
yes, and its Jacques' other passion. As a good cook, he wants fresh
produce so took over developing and caring for it.”
Jack
was developing into quite the Renaissance man. Vanessa looked
forward to getting to know him better during her after lunch cooking
lesson.
***
Lunch
was a casual affair. If you call three courses casual. Vanessa was
relieved they didn't eat in the large, grand dining room. Instead
the family, including
Jacques,
gathered in a small room, cheerful with white
washed ceiling beams,
salmon colored walls and yellow wooden chairs with rush seats. The
window curtains were a floral pattern of yellow, salmon, and white.
A small bouquet of green leaved branches was a simple centerpiece.
Again,
Michelle
was at the end of the table opposite her
husband Wilhelm.
A
carafe of cool, white wine and one of water were on the table.
At
each place, on a small white plate, was a hard cooked egg, thin
sliced, and fanned out with a drizzle of what proved to be home made
mayonnaise sauce. Family members discussed what their morning
activities had been while
concentrating on eating.
Edmund
and an unnamed kitchen helper removed empty plates and brought out a
second course of fresh fish, lightly fried, on a bed of watercress
and parsley, with
a side of green beans and chestnuts. The plates were small and the
amounts were tiny compared to American serving sizes. Vanessa had
been worried about what three course lunches would do to her waist
line. But she felt she could relax and enjoy the dessert, whatever
that turned out to be.
Before
that was served, a disagreement grew
between Jack and his brother-in-law, Wilhelm.
Not knowing French, Vanessa didn't understand the problem, she could
only hear the voices getting louder. Michelle murmured,
“Assez,”
and nodded towards their
guest.
The argument stopped.
The
fish plates were replaced with small crystal bowls filled with
chopped apples and raisins, a dollop of crème
fraiche
on top. Vanessa never knew healthy food, except for the fried
element of the fish, could taste so good. She later learned olive
oil had been used for the fish, so even that was good for you.
Lucy
suggested she might retire to her room for a brief rest before she
met with Jacques in the kitchen. Charlie wasn't up there. Edmund
had probably put him in the enclosed area outside the kitchen door
with a large bone for gnawing and a comfortable rug. Vanessa felt
she was too keyed up to rest, instead she opened her computer to
start her blog. When faced with an empty document page, her mind
went blank. She finally decided she cold start by describing all the
meals she'd had so far, and perhaps comparing them to what she
normally ate. It'd be fun to e-mail her observations to Sylvia.
***
After
Vanessa's 'rest', Lucy
led her into the huge kitchen. Its size a leftover from when food
had to be provided for a huge family and a huge staff. When Jack
saw Lucy, he slammed his towel down on the wooden table in the
center. “Keep that cochon,
Wilhelm,
away from me. If I hear one more time, his ridiculous suggestions, I
shall bury a clever in his fat head.”
Vanessa
was startled. And
then realized he had spoken
in English to Lucy. Did he want Vanessa to know
his
feelings about Wilhelm? But why?
To be continued on January 1, 2015
