Chapter 6
Sabrina left the Ritz at seven a.m. to catch an eight-thirty flight to Biarritz from Orly.
It was a short flight and only took a little over an hour.
They landed at nine-forty. She had a cup of coffee at the airport, and there was a car and driver waiting for her, arranged by the concierge at the Ritz.
She had a four p.m. flight back to Paris.
It was the only return flight she could get, but at least she could conclude her business there in one day, if there was business to conclude and she decided to rent the chateau.
She wasn’t sure how she’d feel about it seeing it for the second time.
Maybe she’d notice things she didn’t like that she hadn’t observed before.
Or the terms of the lease would be unreasonable.
The realtor had told her that the owner wanted to meet her.
She wondered if he was some old curmudgeon, but the skateboard she had noticed in the front hall was some indication that there was someone young in the house.
There were only three bedrooms that were occupied.
The others had white sheets over the furniture.
The master suite was clearly occupied by a man and the second master by a woman, at opposite ends of the house so she didn’t think they were a couple.
And the other bedroom looked like it belonged to a young girl.
The realtor had said that “the missus” was a doctor, and Sabrina wondered now if it was owned by three siblings who might all have to agree to the rental.
She felt faintly nervous, as the driver took her on the road she’d been on before.
And once in the village of Arcangues, she noticed the brilliant blue window shutters again.
She loved the vibrant blue color and it made her want to paint them, an urge she hadn’t had in a long time.
She thought maybe she’d start painting again if she rented the chateau.
The realtor was waiting for her outside the main building, and the same caretaker she’d met before.
He greeted her warmly, and they went through the house again.
It looked tidier than on her first visit, and the skateboard and golf clubs were gone.
The kitchen was immaculate. All three occupied bedrooms upstairs were in good order, and she noticed that there were vases of flowers in the living room, which gave life to the room.
The house had been aired and smelled fresh, and it was a beautiful sunny day.
She liked the chateau even better than she had before.
It felt warmer and more inviting. It was someone else’s house but she had the odd feeling that she had come home.
It made no sense, but there was an aura of peace in the house as she walked from room to room.
It was much more space than she needed, with three wonderful bedrooms for all three of her children, and several additional ones for their friends.
It was a home that would welcome house parties, and the gardens would lend themselves perfectly for entertaining in warm weather.
And at the same time, she had the sense that she wouldn’t mind being in the house alone.
It didn’t feel lonely or scary, and there were sconces throughout the main floor for candles.
She found herself thinking that the original owners of the house must have given some beautiful dances.
It had obviously belonged to nobility or very high aristocracy, and she wondered if Napoleon III and the Empress Eugénie had ever been there when they spent summers in the palace in Biarritz.
She was thinking of it when she walked into the kitchen and saw a tall, dark-haired man looking seriously at her, leaning against an antique wooden armoire used for dishes.
She hadn’t noticed him at first and gave a start.
He advanced toward her and held out his hand to shake hers.
He seemed very formal, and she noticed that he had sad eyes.
He observed in the same instant that she did too.
They were two very serious-looking people, and the caretaker and the realtor walked outside and left them alone to discuss business and the terms of a lease.
Maxime and the realtor walked to a corner of the garden and sat down in the sun on a bench, and both lit cigarettes.
“Thank you for coming down from Paris, Mrs. Thompson,” Xavier said formally. He had an accent, but she could tell he spoke fluent English, which was far better than her French. She was going to try to improve it if she rented the chateau.
“I wanted to see the house again, to be sure I wasn’t making a mistake.
You have a beautiful home,” she said warmly, as a smile slowly lit her face.
She was a little unnerved by how handsome he was.
He looked to be around fifty. She wasn’t sure what she had expected, but not someone close to her own age and who looked like him.
He was movie star, ruggedly handsome, wearing jeans, a light blue shirt, a tweed jacket that looked very English, and riding boots.
He had noticeable style, a thick head of dark hair peppered with gray, and a few lines around his eyes. He was a very good-looking man.
“Thank you. This chateau means a great deal to me. It’s been in my family for three hundred years.
” He looked very dignified as he said it.
And he clearly didn’t take the responsibility lightly.
“I’ve never rented it before. It’s not for sale, but the realtor said you might want to rent it.
Do you know this part of France well?” He was curious about her.
She was wearing jeans too, with a chic black sweater, a warm black jacket trimmed with shearling, and fur-lined black Hermès boots.
It was obvious from her clothes and her style that she had money, but she seemed very discreet.
She had long blond hair and had worn no makeup.
There was no artifice about her, or pretentiousness.
She seemed very modest and soft-spoken. There was a gentleness about her that suggested to him that she was a kind person.
She didn’t smile easily and he thought she looked sad.
“Actually, I came to Biarritz for the first time a few days ago. We…I…usually go to the south of France in the summer. I’ve never been to the Pays Basque before,” she answered.
“I drove down from Paris, and fell in love with Arcangues as soon as I saw it. The blue shutters are wonderful.” As she said it, she smiled and so did he.
“That blue belongs exclusively to Arcangues. It was granted by the governors to the founder of the village, the Marquis d’Arcangues.
The Chateau d’Arcangues was his. He was granted the exclusive use of that particular blue.
He was a distant cousin of my father’s, and my ancestors built this chateau to be near him.
He was more illustrious than my relatives, and of higher rank, mine were only lowly barons, but families stayed close to each other in those days.
So you can see I have close ties to this village.
” She could also see why he wouldn’t sell it.
“We stayed here during the pandemic to get away from Paris during the lockdowns. It was more pleasant being here than in the city. The confinement didn’t change things much for us here.
Or rather, I was here, my wife is a physician, and she was in Paris saving lives while I was working in the gardens.
” He smiled at her, and she liked him. She noticed that he wore a narrow wedding band, and she remembered that there were no women’s clothes in the dressing room of the master suite, only his.
The only women’s clothes were at the opposite end of the chateau.
There was obviously a story there of some kind.
“I’m here a great deal of the time,” he said.
“I haven’t moved back to Paris yet, but I’ll go back to work there at some point.
” It was an interesting comment, since the pandemic had ended two years before.
Clearly, he didn’t live full-time with his wife.
“Our daughter works in Africa, so I’m here alone most of the time.
My wife isn’t fond of country life. I won’t be in your way, even when I’m here, but I would like to retain use of the dower house if you rent the chateau.
The rest of the grounds would be for your use too.
I’d like to be able to supervise the maintenance of the grounds, and I enjoy doing repairs on the property myself.
I’ve become the chateau handyman. In fact, there are a number of small repairs I’d want to do before you take up residence.
I’ve started a list.” He pointed to a clipboard he had left on the kitchen table, and the list didn’t look short to her.
“You don’t notice things when you’re here all the time, or you put them off.
I’d like to get all those little repairs fixed for you before you come to stay.
” He had told the realtor he would do no repairs for a tenant, but once he saw her he felt differently.
She was a woman of quality and appeared to be alone, and there was something touching about her.
“Will you be staying here full-time or only for holidays?” She hesitated before she answered, not sure what to say.