David was in the kitchen surrounded by food supplied by the market and every cooking utensil he could find. He was jointing a couple of chickens for dinner, which involved a chopper and a lot of noise.
‘Don’t tell me off,’ he said, when Stéphie and Alexandra arrived. ‘I know I was always telling you off for being untidy when you cooked, Lexi, but I’m getting my bearings. Until I know what’s here, I can’t be tidy. But I’ll put it all away in a minute.’
‘We’ve brought grapes for pudding,’ said Stéphie. ‘Only I like crumble.’
David paused in his dismembering. ‘Right. I’ll do you a deal. If you can find grape scissors, so people don’t pick at the grapes and leave little stubs on the bunch, I’ll make a crumble. Or maybe ask your nanny to do it.’
‘Her name is Alexandra,’ said Stéphie sternly. ‘And she’s very good at crumbles.’
‘It’s about the only pudding I make at the moment,’ said Alexandra. ‘Shall I be your kitchen assistant, David? And Stéphie, do you have any idea where you might find grape scissors? In the dining room perhaps?’
‘Grape scissors are an affectation,’ said Jack, passing Stéphie as she skipped out of the door. ‘Ordinary ones will do.’
‘At a pinch, dear boy, but we are in a chateau,’ said David. ‘We should have higher standards.’
Alexandra and Jack both laughed, and then she turned to put wood into the range.
‘Alexandra,’ said Jack. ‘Can I do that for you? Or maybe bring in some logs? If you show me where they are.’
Alexandra hesitated, wondering if Jack would manage with his stick.
‘I’ll be fine,’ Jack said, obviously reading her thoughts. ‘Just lead me to it.’
Alexandra picked up the log basket and led him out through the corridor of storage rooms and sculleries to the courtyard and directed him to the wood store, which, fortunately, was still full of firewood. ‘Here we are. It’s all wonderfully dry, which is lucky. I don’t think we’d have a chance with that range if it wasn’t.’
She and Jack started throwing logs into the basket. When the basket was full Alexandra said, ‘if you could learn how to keep the range in overnight I’d be grateful. The Count can do it, but I feel I should know too.’
‘Then why don’t you ask the Count to show you?’ said a voice behind her.
Alexandra jumped. ‘Oh! I just thought you might be busy.’
‘And won’t Jack be busy, teaching my children algebra and card tricks?’
Jack laughed. ‘I will be busy, and so will they, but we all need time to enjoy our surroundings. David’s considering putting on a play.’
‘Really?’ said Antoine. ‘Why?’
‘He says the best way to understand Shakespeare is to act it,’ said Jack. ‘But we might not have time.’
‘I think that sounds a splendid idea, if there is time,’ said Antoine. ‘I like the idea of my children being taught in a less conventional way than they’d experience at school.’
‘School has its advantages,’ said Alexandra quietly.
‘Schools haven’t worked well with my children so far,’ said Antoine, ‘but I’ll be happy to discuss it with professionals.’
‘Right,’ she said. ‘I’m going back to the kitchen to make a crumble. It’s Stéphie’s favourite.’
‘May I talk to you about Stéphie sometime?’ said Antoine.
‘I’ll be happy to talk about her any time,’ said Alexandra, smiling. ‘Just now she’s looking for grape scissors. We can have grapes as well as crumble. I thought she might find some in the dining room.’
Antoine shrugged. ‘I have no idea where they might be. Maybe you should help her look? She’s very fond of you.’
‘It’s mutual. I’ll go and find her.’ She paused for a moment. ‘You won’t forget the logs, will you?’
As she went back into the house, she realised she’d started giving orders to a member of the French nobility; probably not the best way to further her career as a nanny.
She found Stéphie in the dining room, in front of a large, very ornate sideboard. She was sorting through the knives and forks, presumably looking for grape scissors.
‘I wish Félicité was here. I need her help!’ She picked up a fork. ‘Oh, these are pretty. We haven’t used these for ages,’ said Stéphie.
Alexandra picked up another one, admiring the ornate tracery and pattern. ‘They are nice, aren’t they? David will admire them. He’s an antiques dealer as well as a teacher.’ She put down the fork. ‘Shall we eat in here tonight? What do you think?’
Stéphie jumped up and down. ‘I think it’s a lovely idea. We can celebrate Papa coming home. Usually we only eat in here when we have Grand-mère and it’s all rather stiff and we’re not allowed to talk much, but I like the plates and the forks.’
‘And are there special glasses?’ Alexandra asked.
‘In the cupboard.’
‘Will your father mind if we use them? Would you like to find out?’ Alexandra had a feeling that if Stéphie asked, her papa would agree and she thought she should keep out of her boss’s way until he’d forgotten she’d ordered him to bring in the logs. ‘It would be fun and nice to eat somewhere other than the kitchen.’
‘I’ll go and find Papa.’ Stéphie was out of the door before Alexandra could ask about the grape scissors.
Alexandra decided to look for Félicité. She hadn’t seen her for a while and Stéphie would even enjoy sorting out cutlery if her big sister was with her.
She found Félicité sitting on her bed staring out of the window. There were tears on her cheeks.
‘Oh, honey, what’s the matter?’ said Alexandra before she remembered that Félicité was touchy and might respond better to a less emotional approach. ‘Are you OK?’
Félicité gulped and nodded. ‘I expect so.’
Alexandra sat on the bed next to Félicité. ‘But you’re not sure?’
There was a big sniff. ‘I know all about it. It’s just now it’s happened I feel weird. And it hurts and I want to cry.’
Light dawned on Alexandra and she felt a wave of sympathy. ‘You’ve started your period?’
Félicité nodded.
‘I remember starting mine. It was horrible at first. I just couldn’t believe it would happen every month. Have you got everything you need?’ Alexandra couldn’t remember who had told her about this stage in a woman’s development and if they’d provided her with pads and a belt.
‘No. Grand-mère told me about them but she said she didn’t have them until she was sixteen. She seemed to think that if you had them before that it meant you flirted with boys and were bad.’
‘Oh well, that’s certainly not true. And I can help you out with what you need for now. Have you got a pain? In your lower back?’
‘Yes! How did you know?’
Alexandra laughed. ‘It’s usual. You need a hot-water bottle and possibly an aspirin.’
‘In France they put them—’
Alexandra stopped her. ‘I have some you can swallow.’ She did not want to know the finer details of how the French administered pain relief. ‘A hot drink would help. Hot chocolate? My nanny used to put a bit of brandy in mine.’ Alexandra paused. ‘Would you like me to try and get hold of your mother?’
‘Absolutely not!’ Félicité seemed to be in no doubt about this.
‘I’ll get what you need.’
Just as she reached the door Félicité said, ‘Why did you still have a nanny when you had periods?’
Alexandra shrugged. ‘Well, she was called a governess but she didn’t teach me anything – I was at school then – but she wasn’t a companion either. I don’t think my relations, the people looking after me, quite knew what I needed.’ She waited in case Félicité had any other questions and then left the room.
She got downstairs to find Antoine and Maxime in the hall, talking and laughing and banging each other on the shoulders. They were obviously pleased to see each other.
‘Can we invite Maxime to dinner?’ Antoine asked. ‘Will there be enough?’
‘If David is cooking there will be more than enough.’
Maxime took hold of Alexandra’s hand and kissed it. ‘You are even more beautiful than when I last saw you.’
Alexandra laughed, to hide her embarrassment. ‘Hello, Maxime.’
‘You two seem to know each other better than I realised,’ said Antoine, smiling but without amusement.
‘Maxime has been a great help to us,’ said Alexandra. ‘Especially when he got you to come home.’ She thought for a minute. ‘Why don’t you have a glass of wine on the terrace? It’s a lovely evening.’
‘Will you join us?’ asked Maxime.
She shook her head. ‘You two need to catch up with each other and I have things to do.’
Stéphie shot out of the dining room. ‘Where have you been? And where is Félicité? We’re not ready!’
‘I don’t suppose David is either, so don’t worry. Félicité isn’t feeling well so she may stay upstairs for a while. I’ll go and see how David is getting on. Maxime is here. He and your papa are going to have a glass of wine on the terrace. You could take it out for them – save me a job. And maybe some olives?’
‘I’d rather finish doing the table. I’ve found lots of lovely things! No one’s ever let me look in that cupboard before.’ Stéphie went back into the dining room to finish her task.
Alexandra went into the kitchen to discover that David, who’d always been a very calm presence in London, wasn’t calm now.
‘David!’ said Alexandra looking at the array of dishes and saucepans on every surface, all with something in them. ‘This is very unlike you. You’re always so well organised in London!’
‘I know!’ He threw his hands in the air in a theatrical way. ‘I think France has gone to my head rather.’ He paused to smile at Antoine who had come in, possibly for the wine. ‘Just seeing the wonderful produce at the market made me buy everything and now of course I want to cook everything.’
Alexandra turned to Antoine. ‘When we lived in London together he was always sorting out the scrapes—’
‘You lived together in London?’ Antoine suddenly seemed cold and rather haughty.
Alexandra and David both tried to explain at the same time. Then Alexandra held up a hand to David. ‘I’ll do this. My family has a large house in London. When I was studying cooking in London I shared the house with David, who had a separate flat at the top of the house, and two friends. And Meg’s dog,’ she added, as if this would make Antoine stop looking so disapproving. ‘David kept an eye on us girls. And I had known him for a couple of years before.’
Antoine smiled, still disdainful. ‘And your parents? They were happy with this arrangement?’
Alexandra found it difficult to meet his gaze but she forced herself. ‘My parents have been dead since I was very small.’
Antoine frowned. ‘But who looked after you?’
‘A series of nannies and companions. It’s why I feel so well qualified to be a nanny, I have had so many. My relations supervised me from Switzerland.’
‘Did they know you were sharing the house with a single man?’
‘Not really,’ began Alexandra, blushing because they didn’t know anything about it.
‘I think maybe we need to tell Antoine everything,’ said David.
Alexandra swallowed. It was very possible that Antoine would ask David to leave immediately. She really hoped not. Apart from anything else, she’d have to finish cooking dinner.
‘I am homosexual,’ said David. ‘Which means while I loved Alexandra practically like a daughter, I’m not remotely tempted to see her as anything else. It is ironic that the person who could in England be classed as a criminal is actually the very safest person she could have shared a house with.’
Antoine’s brows drew together in thought as he considered this.
‘My relations wouldn’t have understood or been happy with me living with someone like David,’ said Alexandra. ‘Although they should have been.’
‘Well, I will endeavour to be more broad-minded. I think it is illegal in England? Not here in France,’ said Antoine. He smiled and his expression relaxed. ‘You are welcome in my house. And now I must find some wine.’
Alexandra felt a wave of relief. ‘Maxime is joining us for dinner, David,’ she said. ‘And Stéphie is preparing for a banquet in the dining room.’
‘As am I, in the kitchen,’ said David with a bow.
Alexandra caught Antoine smiling as he left the room to go to the cellar. It would be all right, she decided.
Alexandra was pleased to see Félicité arrive in the dining room while the table was still being set. She went over to her. ‘You could have stayed upstairs. I would have told people you had a headache.’
Félicité gave a quick half smile. ‘It’s OK. People would have asked questions. I can’t bear the thought of people talking about me.’ She paused. ‘Although that is mostly Grand-mère. She finds me very disappointing.’
‘I’m sure that’s not true, but well done for coming down, anyway. Stéphie has arranged a placement, so you must find where you’re sitting.’
At Alexandra’s suggestion Stéphie had written place names on some lovely old-looking name cards she had found in the sideboard which, David informed them, when he came in to see how they were getting on in the dining room, was really called a credenza.
Also at Alexandra’s suggestion, Stéphie had put her father at the top of the table with Félicité on one side and Stéphie on the other. Henri was next to Stéphie. After that, Stéphie had lost interest rather and just focused on writing names on cards and finding every obscure piece of cutlery the credenza drawers contained. This included snail tongs with matching forks and a very decorative set of cutlery for hors d’oeuvres.
‘My goodness,’ said Antoine when he came into the dining room holding several bottles of wine. ‘We really are having a banquet!’
Alexandra and Stéphie looked up. ‘Indeed we are,’ said Alexandra, ‘although it’s just possible we won’t need every single knife, fork and spoon that are out.’
‘Alexandra said that it’s nice to get everything out sometimes,’ said Stéphie, just a bit defensive. ‘And they are so pretty! We can’t see them when they’re just in the cre – the cupboard.’
‘That’s very true. And seeing everything reminds me that we should invite my mother-in-law for a meal.’ Antoine didn’t look terribly pleased at the prospect. ‘Fortunately we have Alexandra to help us.’
Alexandra wasn’t absolutely sure if he was being sarcastic but decided probably not.
Félicité came over. ‘And what about my mother? Do you have to invite her for a meal too?’ She did not sound happy at the thought.
‘I think so, chérie,’ said Antoine. ‘But we don’t have to think about that now.’
Alexandra could see that Félicité was upset at the prospect. She knew some of this would be because of her period but she also had very valid reasons for not liking her mother much.
‘The trick,’ said Alexandra, ‘when there’s someone you don’t want to invite, is to invite lots of other people too, then they’re diluted and it’s better. Look, here’s Maxime. We could invite him when we invite Grand-mère?’
‘You are experienced in the art of entertaining?’ Antoine asked.
‘A bit, yes,’ said Alexandra firmly. She realised he found her confusing and hoped he realised she would do whatever was necessary for the children in her care.
Antoine nodded.
‘I’m going to see how David is getting on in the kitchen, and make a start on the crumble,’ she said briskly and left the room. ‘Then we must find Jack.’
‘I am ready, more or less,’ said David, wiping his brow with the back of his hand a little later. ‘You take the anchovy tart and I’ll take the stuffed tomatoes.’ He paused. ‘I did them because the tomatoes were amazing, like pumpkins! And not everyone likes anchovies.’
Alexandra laughed to herself as she took the tart. She’d known David would be excited about the produce. She was excited about it herself, but she didn’t love cooking in quite the same way David did, or her friend Meg, who was one of the girls she’d lived with in London. Food was Meg’s passion, and her other friend, Lizzie, was passionate about dressmaking – any kind of sewing really. What was her passion? Alexandra liked lots of things, antiques, living in France, and she had come to love her charges in a very short time. But her passion seemed to be her boss – a state of affairs that couldn’t go on.
She put the tart down on a mat, leaving space for the stuffed tomatoes.
‘My goodness! A veritable feast!’ said Jack, who had appeared from his room.
‘Oh my God,’ said David. ‘I didn’t know we were having snails! How terrifying!’
‘We’re not having snails!’ said Stéphie. ‘We just wanted to put out the tongs.’
‘Oh, that’s all right then.’ David looked exaggeratedly relieved to make Stéphie laugh, which she did.
‘Maxime, could you help me pour the wine?’ said Antoine. ‘Do sit down, everyone. I think we should eat this delicious repast without delay,’ he said. ‘Stéphie, have a tomato.’
Everyone followed his lead and soon everyone had food on their plates.
‘Bon appétit,’ said Antoine.
He had looked at Alexandra before he said it but she didn’t think she should take the role of hostess. It was one thing when they were eating in the kitchen, but this was more formal.
‘Well, isn’t all this delicious!’ said Jack after everyone had started eating.
‘And I thought Englishmen couldn’t cook!’ said Maxime teasingly.
‘I didn’t know men could cook,’ said Stéphie.
‘Well, they can,’ said Alexandra. ‘And David does it very well.’
‘Chérie!’ said Antoine to his youngest child. ‘Your papa can cook. I just don’t get the opportunity.’
‘Because you’re not here very often,’ said Félicité.
‘Yes, when will you come home and live with us all the time?’ asked Henri.
Antoine didn’t reply immediately. ‘When I can,’ he said, a little bleakly.
‘Can I propose a toast?’ said Maxime. ‘To the return of the conquering hero!’
‘What’s a conquering hero?’ Stéphie whispered to Alexandra.
‘It’s someone who is very successful and probably rather warlike,’ her papa replied. ‘And I’m afraid I’m not one.’
‘Just as well!’ said Jack. ‘The young people want peace these days. There’s been enough war.’
There was a murmur of agreement.
‘Is there a piano in this establishment?’ Jack went on.
‘Oh yes,’ said David, considerably relaxed by the success of his dinner and the very good wine that Antoine had provided. ‘We love a sing song round the old Joanna.’
‘He means piano,’ said Alexandra to Félicité, who also seemed happier now, having been made to laugh several times.
‘There is a piano in the music room,’ said Antoine. ‘But I don’t know if it’s fit to play. It was my wife’s. It was too expensive to ship it to Buenos Aires when she left.’
‘She tried to make me learn but I don’t have her gift,’ said Félicité.
‘Chérie, you were only five! Not everyone is a musical genius,’ said Antoine, patting his daughter’s hand.
‘Your mother was musical, was she?’ asked Jack. ‘That’s interesting.’
‘But I can’t play the piano,’ said Félicité, a touch defiantly. Alexandra couldn’t tell if she really minded about this or not.
‘You mean, you couldn’t when you were five,’ said Jack. ‘I’m here to teach maths and music and some kind of instrument would be helpful but we don’t all have to learn to play the “Moonlight Sonata”.’
‘That is a shame,’ said Maxime. ‘It is the only thing I can play.’
‘I like playing the piano,’ said Henri. ‘But I prefer the cello. A friend of Papa’s gave me his, when he no longer wanted it.’ Then Henri blushed scarlet and tried to bury his head in his food.
Jack glanced at Henri. ‘The cello is a wonderful instrument. Do you read music, Henri?’
‘A little,’ said Henri, addressing the plate in front of him, still bright red. ‘There was a book that came with the cello.’
Félicité broke in, rescuing her embarrassed brother from being the focus of attention which he so obviously hated. ‘I can pick out a few tunes on the piano.’
‘That’s called playing by ear,’ said Jack. ‘And it’s very useful. But I can teach you how to read music, which means you can play things you’ve never heard before.’
‘Although the piano will need tuning. I’m not sure—’ began Antoine.
‘I may be able to sort it out a bit myself,’ said Jack. ‘If not, we’ll find a tuner, won’t we, Alexandra?’
Alexandra smiled and shrugged. ‘I’m just the nanny, I’m not sure I’m qualified to find a piano-tuner.’
‘Sweetheart, you’re not qualified to be a nanny,’ said David cheerfully and then stopped. ‘Forgive me,’ he said to Antoine. ‘I’ve known Lexi for a long time. I’ve always teased her. I’m quite sure she’s a perfectly splendid nanny.’
‘She is a perfectly splendid nanny,’ Stéphie repeated.
‘Thank you, darling,’ Alexandra whispered to her. Louder, she said, ‘Would you like me to help you with the next course?’
‘I’d like help as to which it should be,’ said David, looking at Antoine. ‘Cheese or pudding? Are we being English or French?’
‘Cheese, please,’ said Antoine. ‘I’ll open another bottle of wine. However, the children may prefer something sweet now.’
‘David makes wonderful desserts,’ said Alexandra.
‘I’ll help,’ said Félicité unexpectedly.
‘I found the grape scissors,’ said Stéphie, pleased with herself. ‘We have grapes with cheese. And usually, they’re pudding.’ She frowned. ‘Grand-mère doesn’t approve of pudding. She says it makes people fat.’
‘My grandmother doesn’t think people should be fat,’ said Félicité as they carried dirty dishes through to the kitchen.
‘Are you feeling OK?’ asked Alexandra. ‘Do you need another painkiller?’
‘No, thank you. I feel better now.’ She gave a little smile. ‘Stéphie’s right. You’re quite a good nanny.’
They put the cheese on the table at the same time as the two puddings. There was an apple crumble and chocolate mousse. Stéphie thought she was in heaven. The adults drank cognac and became talkative. Stéphie, unnoticed, ate quite a lot of the mousse until she began to yawn.
‘I think it’s bedtime,’ said Alexandra, looking at Antoine. When the children’s father was present, was it still her job to declare an end to the evening?
‘Oh yes. Stéphie?’ said Antoine, who’d got into a discussion with David and Maxime about truffles.
‘Alexandra will put me to bed and stay with me until I’m asleep,’ said Stéphie.
‘I’ll come up too,’ said Félicité.
Henri, aware that if he stayed he’d be the only young person, got up as well.
‘I’ll come and kiss you all goodnight,’ said Antoine, smiling proudly at his family.
Alexandra heard him do that shortly after she had retired to her bedroom. It made her smile. Stéphie would sense his presence even though she was probably fast asleep by now.
