‘We can have lunch now,’ said Stéphie after she and Alexandra had hugged each other and congratulated Milou. ‘And I think we should give some of it to Milou for being such a good truffle hound when he hasn’t been trained or anything.’
‘I did bring something for him,’ said Alexandra, rummaging in the knapsack. ‘Here. Some ends of baguette that are rock-hard. We can put some pâté on it for him.’
When they’d all eaten a few mouthfuls, Alexandra said, ‘Well, Stéphie, you’re the heroine of the hour.’
‘What’s that?’
‘It means you’ve been the one to save us by finding a truffle. A huge truffle.’
‘Milou found it.’
‘No! Milou didn’t know where to look. He just smelt it. You did all the difficult bits.’
‘Did I?’
‘Yes. And you must have listened very carefully when you went truffle-hunting yesterday. Well done! Your papa is going to be very pleased with you. So will everyone else.’
‘Will it mean Papa won’t have to go away any more?’
Alexandra shrugged. ‘I don’t know, but it could certainly help.’
Stéphie drank some more squash. ‘We will need to sell the truffle, not eat it,’ she said.
Alexandra considered this. ‘I don’t think one truffle, even a big one like this, will be enough to keep your papa at home, but knowing that there are truffles here, on this land, that we could get more, might make a difference. Yesterday, while you were learning how to find truffles with Félicité and Henri, David and I explored the chateau. There are lots of little buildings that could be turned into accommodation for tourists. English people love staying in France. That could make money.’
Stéphie considered this. ‘Papa might not want people staying here. But if Félicité and Henri go away to school, maybe there would be people I could play with?’
‘Perhaps you could go to school locally? Then you’d have lots of people to play with.’
‘They might not want to play with the girl from the chateau.’
Alexandra took the knapsack on to her knee, searching for something. ‘They will when they find out that you’re nice and not a snob.’
‘What’s a snob?’
‘A person who doesn’t like other people because they think they are better than they are. Here, I brought chocolate!’
‘Can I give Milou some?’
‘No,’ said Alexandra. ‘I heard that chocolate is bad for dogs. Let’s give him the last bit of bread and pâté.’
‘He deserved it,’ said Stéphie, two seconds later, when the dog had gulped down his treat.
‘He certainly did.’
No one spoke for a few moments, and then Alexandra wiped the crumbs from the corner of her mouth. ‘Stéphie, you know that Lucinda is taking Félicité and Henri to buy clothes?’ Stéphie nodded. ‘Well, she may not buy you anything. So, if this happens, and you feel a bit sad to see your sister and brother with new things, I want you to know that I will take you shopping another time. If we can make him come, we’ll bring Papa, so you can have a special day too.’
‘But I’ve had a special day, Lexi. We found a truffle.’
Alexandra took Stéphie in her arms and hugged her.
Alexandra really hoped that Antoine would be back when they got home. Stéphie ran into the chateau through the courtyard into the kitchen. She was so full of joy and optimism Alexandra feared for her a little. She couldn’t bear her to be disappointed.
David was in the kitchen, cooking, very happy in what he had turned into his own space. Jack was sitting at the kitchen table, peeling cloves of garlic, and seemed to be back to his old self.
‘Hello, Stéphie. How nice to see you!’ said David. ‘Have you had a good day with Lexi?’
‘Yes,’ said Stéphie. ‘We found a truffle!’ She produced it proudly.
‘Good God!’ said David. ‘It’s enormous! Where did you find that?’
‘Up in the woods behind the chateau,’ said Alexandra. ‘Stéphie remembered everything about hunting for them that she learnt yesterday and we did what she said, and voilà!’
‘Is Papa here?’ asked Stéphie, picking up the truffle. ‘I want to show him.’
‘Um – Antoine telephoned. He is coming back tonight but a bit later and he’s bringing a business colleague who may need to stay the night.’ David looked at Alexandra.
‘He wants me to make up a bed?’ she asked.
‘He didn’t say as much but he did say if there was a bed ready it would be very helpful.’
‘Helpful is my middle name,’ said Alexandra.
‘Is it?’ said David, sounding astonished. ‘I thought it was something mad and aristocratic like Euphemia.’
Alexandra tutted and sighed at him. ‘I see you chaps have been at the rosé. Are Félicité and Henri home?’
‘Yes,’ David said.
‘And they really want to see you, Stéphie,’ added Jack.
‘I’d leave the truffle here—’ David called, but it was too late. ‘Oh well, I don’t suppose it will come to much harm. We’ll have to think how to cook it.’
‘I think Stéphie wants to sell it. She wants to find a way so Papa doesn’t have to go away to work.’ Alexandra suppressed a sigh. ‘Did you two buy lots of valuable antiques?’
‘I won’t know if they’re valuable until I come to sell them,’ said David, ‘but we have got a lot of things. I may well have to hire a van when I go back to England.’
Alexandra wondered if he’d said ‘I’ instead of ‘we’ deliberately, and fervently hoped he wasn’t planning to leave soon.
‘We also bought lots of very good wine,’ said Jack. ‘We are drinking rosé by the pint and anything else nice that Antoine produces so we felt we should contribute.’
‘Félicité has bought Stéphie a lovely dress,’ said David. ‘She told her mother that Antoine would pay her back for it, but what a nice child she is! So thoughtful, and of course she dotes on Stéphie.’
‘Oh, good for her!’ said Alexandra.
‘But because we didn’t know that Félicité would do that, we bought Stéphie something too. It’s an old doll’s house. It needs restoration but we can do that,’ said David. ‘At least, I thought that Jack might like to do that. But when we discovered that Félicité had bought her a dress we didn’t give it to her – although of course we still can.’
‘Maybe restore it, if you have time, and it’ll be there if you need a present?’ suggested Alexandra, aware her opinion was being sought. ‘I don’t know when her birthday is, for example.’
‘That sounds like a good idea,’ said Jack, ‘as long as her birthday isn’t next week.’
‘Now I’d better make up a bed for Antoine’s business colleague. I do hope he’s nice!’
‘Antoine wouldn’t bring him here and invite him to dinner if he wasn’t,’ said David. ‘Do you want me to help you?’
‘Not at all! I’ll do it now. Do you know when dinner will be?’
‘We’re having a nice bit of pork but it’ll keep if Antoine is late. It’ll be ready in about an hour.’ He glanced up at the old grandfather clock that ticked away in the corner and always struck twice. ‘So about seven?’
‘I’ll find out if the children are starving,’ said Alexandra. ‘Would it spoil it if they ate early? If we don’t know when Antoine and his colleague will turn up.’
‘We can do whatever suits.’ He thought for a moment. ‘We could always eat the pork early and I could make a nice omelette for the boss and shave the truffle over it.’
‘No, you can’t!’ said Jack. ‘If we’re eating the truffle, I want to be there!’
‘It’s Stéphie’s truffle,’ said Alexandra firmly. ‘She will decide. Now I must choose a bedroom for the colleague. I wonder if he needs to be near the bathroom?’
‘I’m afraid I didn’t ask how old he was,’ said David. ‘I don’t know if he might need to get up during the night.’
‘You’re no help!’ said Alexandra, laughing, and left the room.
Alexandra was looking for some sheets in the huge cupboard that was full of ancient linen when Félicité came up behind her.
‘Have you got any more pads? I’d like to have some ready for next month.’
‘Oh! Yes, I have. I’ll go and get them.’
Félicité followed Alexandra to her room. ‘We were in a pharmacy and I started to ask my mother about getting some but she misunderstood and said, “Oh, you’re far too young to worry about things like that,” and then I didn’t feel I could say any more. Henri was there, of course.’
‘Embarrassing,’ said Alexandra, handing Félicité a paper-wrapped package. ‘Although men do have to know about periods, you know. When I lived in London with David, he used to give me a hot-water bottle and a hot drink while I lay on the sofa in front of the gas fire and he cooked me comforting food.’
‘I’m not going to tell my brother about this!’ Félicité held up the packet. ‘I haven’t got used to the idea myself yet.’
‘Fair enough.’
‘And David is a bit different from other men, isn’t he?’ said Félicité.
Just for a second, Alexandra worried, then took a breath. ‘Yes, he is. He explained to me that in the theatre people often share digs with each other – you know, accommodation – and so people weren’t so private about things like that. I think it’s a good thing! But you don’t have to tell anyone if you don’t want to. Although I’m glad you told me.’
‘I had to tell someone, and you are my nanny!’ Then Félicité gave a snort of laughter at how ridiculous this seemed and turned to go.
Before she did, Alexandra put a hand on her arm. ‘Thank you so much for buying that dress for Stéphie. It was very thoughtful of you.’
Félicité shrugged. ‘Well, it wouldn’t have occurred to my mother to do such a thing.’
‘Good for you for thinking about it.’
Before Alexandra could embarrass her any more, Félicité left to find her siblings.
When Alexandra had gathered an armful of linen she hoped wasn’t too old in spite of being beautifully ironed, she decided to look in on her charges before worrying about bedrooms. They were all playing cards on the floor of Félicité’s room and seemed very happy. Alexandra waved from the door and received waves of varying enthusiasm in response. Félicité may have wanted to appear to be a cynical teenager but she revealed herself as having a very kind heart.
There was a little room near Antoine’s master suite that Alexandra thought would be all right for the colleague. She’d come across an old stone hot-water bottle and decided she’d put it in the bed, to make sure the mattress wasn’t damp – looking at the ominous patch of damp on the wall, she feared it probably was.
After she’d put sheets on and found some extra blankets in case the colleague was chilly, she was about to go to the kitchen to fill the hot-water bottle when she caught sight of herself in the mirror. She was filthy!
Once she’d washed and changed her dress, she thought she might as well put a bit of make-up on. Her hair needed a trim so she twisted it up into a sort of chignon and secured it. Having gone this far she decided to add her pearl studs which were in a little velvet sack in her handbag. She was quite pleased with the end result and relieved she hadn’t inadvertently spent the evening covered in soil from truffle-hunting and generally looking like a peasant after a hard day in the fields.
She was laughing when she went into the kitchen with her huge stone bed warmer.
‘You look very glamorous, m’dear,’ said David.
‘Indeed you do!’ Jack agreed.
‘Thank you. I’m laughing because making up beds for people is really not what I would have predicted for myself a year ago. However, looking glamorous would definitely have been the plan. Now, this is going to take a lot of boiling water to fill but worth it, I think.’ She put the stone hot-water bottle on the table.
‘We can always boil more water,’ said David. ‘The children came down and Stéphie is wearing her new dress. It’s a little big for her but looks very sweet.’
‘And it will be clean!’ said Alexandra. ‘If I hadn’t caught sight of myself I’d have come down covered in mud. Truffle-hunting is a grubby business. Any news from the travellers?’
‘Antoine phoned just now. They’ll be here in twenty minutes.’
Alexandra was aware of butterflies of excitement at the thought of seeing Antoine and she squashed them firmly. ‘Is the table set?’
‘Yup,’ said Jack. ‘And I’ve opened a couple of bottles of the wine we bought. I lit the fire in the salon, more for the welcome than for warmth, but it does look very charming. I put candles in the candelabra too.’
‘Anyone would think we lived in a chateau,’ said David.
Alexandra was back in her room redoing her chignon having put the bed warmer in the bed and found towels when she heard a couple of very loud, deep barks from Milou and realised Antoine was back.
To stop herself getting so nervous about seeing him that she’d stay in her room for ever, she left and ran down the stairs. She was nearly at the bottom when she stopped. Antoine was there being greeted by Milou as if he’d been away for years, not a matter of hours, and with him was a woman.
Alexandra’s mouth went dry. Why hadn’t it occurred to her that Antoine’s colleague might be female? Even if it had, she wouldn’t have imagined she’d be so very Parisienne, so extremely glamorous.
Antoine looked up and saw her, poised on the stairs. ‘Alexandra!’ he said in English. ‘Come and meet Véronique. Véronique, this is …’ He hesitated for the tiniest second and Alexandra rushed in.
‘I’m Alexandra, the children’s nanny.’
Véronique, who, Alexandra was convinced, must have stopped to titivate on the way here so she’d arrive looking soignée, seemed surprised. ‘The nanny?’ She addressed Antoine in French.
‘Companion, rather,’ he said smoothly. ‘She has been running the house, engaging teachers, and of course you’re right, Félicité and Henri are far too old to have a nanny—’
Alexandra didn’t think this was the reason Véronique questioned the term. She straightened her back and lifted her chin.
At this moment Alexandra’s charges clattered down the stairs and arrived in the hall. Stéphie flung herself into her father’s arms. ‘Papa! We found a truffle! Well, Milou did!’
‘Milou?’ Antoine hugged his other children in turn. ‘I didn’t know he was a truffle hound. Are we going to eat it?’ He addressed the question to David, who had appeared in the hall.
‘No, Papa!’ said Stéphie. ‘We’re going to sell it, so you don’t have to go away to work any more.’
Véronique smiled charmingly, and squatted down to be on a level with Stéphie. ‘I’m sure you’d like that, sweetie, but it would take more than one truffle to make enough money for that. And your father’s work is very important. But it’s very good that your dog didn’t eat it, so well done.’
‘It’s enormous,’ said Félicité. ‘Look!’ She held out the truffle to her father.
Antoine was shocked. ‘Good God! It is enormous! I’ve never seen such a big truffle,’ he said.
‘It was under a rock,’ said Stéphie. ‘Milou knew it was there and was digging and digging, then me and Lexi helped him and got the rock out.’
‘We were covered in earth afterwards,’ said Alexandra, ‘but we were so excited we didn’t care. Véronique? Would you like to wash your hands? And I think I may have given you the wrong bedroom.’ She was glad she didn’t know Véronique’s surname so she couldn’t be tempted to use it and thus lower herself in status.
‘Why the wrong room?’ asked Véronique.
‘We were expecting Antoine’s colleague to be a man.’ Alexandra gave a little laugh. ‘If you’d like to come and see we can make changes if necessary.’
As Alexandra led the way upstairs she realised she had no idea what changes she could make if Véronique did reject the little room with the patch of damp on the wall.
‘It’s small,’ said Alexandra as she opened the door, ‘but that lump in the bed is a stone hot-water bottle. You can see how large it is. The bed will be very cosy.’
Veronique froze in horror. ‘I can’t stay in here. It feels like a dressing room, not a proper bedroom.’
It occurred to Alexandra – belatedly – that it was indeed a dressing room, for Antoine’s bedroom.
‘Very well.’ She made a quick decision. ‘I will put you in my bedroom. If you’d like to use the bathroom’ – she indicated where it was – ‘I’ll change the sheets.’
Making such a sacrifice was easier because she knew she was on the high moral ground. She also knew that Véronique was completely confused about whom she was dealing with.
Véronique went downstairs without waiting for Alexandra and eventually Stéphie came up. ‘Dinner’s ready. What are you doing?’
‘I’m making sure my bedroom is spotless and tidy before Véronique sleeps in it,’ she said. ‘Does that look all right to you?’
‘It looks utterly perfect,’ said Stéphie. ‘She couldn’t possibly say that anything’s wrong.’ She paused. ‘She’s very pretty, but she’s quite like Félicité’s and Henri’s mother.’ She suddenly giggled. ‘Supposing I forgot it wasn’t you in here and got into her bed in the morning by mistake! Wouldn’t that be awful!’ For something that was awful it seemed to make Stéphie laugh a lot. ‘You could sleep in my room with me if you like, Lexi. I don’t mind.’
‘That’s so kind of you, Stéphie, but I’ve put a huge hot-water bottle in the bed I made for Véronique and I wouldn’t like to waste it, so I’ll sleep there. If we want to do reading, we can do it in your bed though.’
‘Oh good.’ She gave a sudden twirl and held out her skirt. ‘Do you like my new dress? Félicité got it for me.’
‘I love it! And isn’t it a good thing you’d put it on? We got so dirty on our truffle hunt.’
‘We did!’ Stéphie paused. ‘I think you should put on some perfume, Lexi. Véronique has a lot of perfume on.’
‘OK …’ said Alexandra. ‘I’ve put it in the little room where I’ll be sleeping.’
When a good splash of Bien-Être eau de cologne, bought in the local chemist, had been applied – although it was certainly not the sort of scent that Véronique would ever wear – she and Stéphie went to join the party.
They were standing round in the salon with glasses of wine. David was near the door, looking anxious. Alexandra moved within earshot.
‘I want to serve up,’ he said out of the corner of his mouth. ‘Can I just announce that dinner is ready, do you think? Véronique is very grand!’
Alexandra tossed her head a little. ‘Of course you can announce dinner. She’s not as grand as all that!’ Having had to give up her room for her, Alexandra wasn’t going to give Véronique any ground on the grandness stakes.
David clapped his hands. ‘Ladies and gentlemen, dinner is served!’
Alexandra hung back and gathered discarded glasses which she left on a tray and so was last to the dining room. Véronique was sitting next to Antoine, at the head, and Stéphie sat on his other side. The truffle, she noted, was placed on a saucer, doing duty as a table decoration. And a fine one too, she decided. She sat next to Jack at the other end of the table.
‘How did your day go?’ she asked him. ‘What did you get up to?’ She was longing to find out if they’d been to visit Penelope, and if the visit had gone well, but didn’t feel she could ask.
‘We had a good day, thank you. We found a market, the spoils of which you see before you. And then we had lunch with Penelope.’
‘Was that – nice?’ said Alexandra lamely.
Jack laughed. ‘You want to know how Penelope and I got on, don’t you?’
Alexandra nodded, laughing at herself.
‘It was delicious!’ Jack was teasing her now. ‘Seriously, we were both much more relaxed now that we’ve had time to get used to the idea of seeing each other again after all these years.’
‘Oh good,’ said Alexandra, wishing she could press him for more details. But he seemed a lot happier. That must mean something.
When everyone was happily eating, Véronique said, ‘So, Alexandra? You come from London?’
Alexandra smiled and nodded, acknowledging that she did.
‘How do you find this sleepy little corner of Provence after the bright lights?’ Veronique continued.
‘Well, it’s rural but very beautiful. I like it here very much.’ Alexandra smiled again, in a way intended to end the conversation.
It didn’t. Véronique seemed to find this amusing. ‘Surely, a pretty girl like you needs to be with young people, and be out having fun.’
Alexandra shrugged. ‘Félicité and Henri and Stéphie aren’t all that old and we’re always busy.’
‘But you’re so young—’ Veronique began.
‘Alexandra is an heir—’ Stéphie began until she obviously spotted Alexandra’s horrified expression.
Alexandra gave the tiniest shake of her head, which fortunately was enough to silence Stéphie on this particular topic. The last thing Alexandra wanted was a discussion about her fortune. That was something she wanted to keep private as far as she was able.
‘What is Alexandra, Stéphie?’ Véronique prompted gently.
‘She’s – very pretty!’ said Stéphie.
‘Véronique,’ said David smoothly, rescuing Alexandra. ‘Can I encourage you to have another egg? They’re called Devilled Eggs in England. I’m not sure if you’re familiar with them in France.’
‘I’m not very interested in food,’ said Véronique dismissively.
David was surprised. ‘Oh. I thought all French people were interested in food.’
‘That’s just a stereotype,’ said Véronique. ‘In the same way everyone expects me to be male. I’m not and I’m just as powerful and effective as any man.’
David bowed. ‘Madame, I would never have thought anything different.’
‘Is that why Antoine described you as a colleague when he telephoned to say you would be with him?’ said Alexandra.
‘Of course,’ said Véronique. ‘He and I often work together. He knows better than to refer to my gender.’
‘It would have been much easier for me had I known,’ said Alexandra quietly. ‘Then I wouldn’t have had to change bedrooms.’
Véronique dismissed this protest with a shrug. ‘It is important that women are given proper respect, and not just as wives and carers of children.’
‘I think caring for children deserves respect,’ said Jack. ‘It’s not easy but it is very important.’
‘Yes,’ said Véronique. ‘But I have a brain! I don’t want to waste it on what any woman can do!’
There was a very awkward silence. Then Antoine said, ‘Have some wine, chérie.’
‘I’ll get the main course,’ said David.
‘I’ll help,’ said Alexandra.
When they reached the kitchen she said, ‘Oh, David! You know I’ve always believed in equality for women but she’s enough to make me change my mind.’
David laughed. He put his arm round her and gave her a hug. ‘Don’t worry about her. If she’s not interested in food, she’s not worth thinking about.’
Although Alexandra knew David was probably right and she shouldn’t bother to think about Véronique, her mind wouldn’t cooperate. When she went to bed that night she found herself analysing everything Véronique had said and when it dawned on her that her feelings of resentment were jealousy, she was mortified.
