Chapter 12
12
PROVENCE 1961
Etienne’s sister, Camille, had come to collect them as arranged and after exchanging hugs all round, they climbed into the pale blue, slightly battered Citro?n DS and set off. They soon left the town behind, heading inland before turning west and into the countryside. Allegra watched through the window as they passed fields of green and gold, the leaves on the vines shimmering in the gentle breeze under a cloudless cerulean sky. Etienne pointed out hilltop villages as they made their way along the increasingly winding country roads towards the house. The drive to the house took longer than expected; the poor state of the roads combined with the number of trucks slowly rumbling along with the last of the grapes meant progress was slow. Not that they cared a jot; it was an adventure and the four friends were in high spirits.
Etienne’s family vineyard sat on the slopes of the hills to the west of the bay and as they swept through open iron gates into the drive lined with tall cypress and old olive trees, the car took them right through the middle of the vineyard towards the front of the house.
‘Is everything in now?’ Etienne asked Camille, looking out at the vines as they passed.
‘Almost,’ said Camille. ‘There’s still another parcel of vines to go over on the other side for the late harvest wine. It’s not been an easy vintage this year. The yield is pretty small compared with last year, but the quality is looking good.’
Allegra glanced across at Etienne’s sister as she drove, all blonde hair and brown skin, dirt under her fingernails. She obviously spent much of her time outside in the vineyard, thought Allegra, thinking how far removed that was from her own life. At least, the one she used to have back with her parents in New York. Everything there had to appear to be perfect. It was a world away from this – and Allegra knew where she’d rather be. This was perfect.
Allegra peered out of the window as the house came into view, apricot-coloured stone with light blue shutters, the shade of chestnut trees throwing a pattern of dappled sunlight across the front of it. The house was sizeable but not grand; welcoming rather than overwhelming.
An army of dogs came running out to greet them, barking wildly. A woman, small and blonde, followed behind them. She had the same defined cheekbones and striking eyes as her son’s. Etienne greeted her with a hug, and she looked utterly delighted to see him.
‘ Ma mère ,’ said Etienne, ‘you know Luc and Elizabeth and…’ Etienne turned to Allegra.
Etienne’s mother extended her hands and took Allegra’s in hers. ‘You must be Allegra. We’ve heard so much about you. I’m Agnès, so pleased to meet you.’ She smiled warmly, kissing her three times on the cheeks before greeting the others in the same way.
A man appeared at the door. Like his son, he too was tall, with thick dark hair, a weathered face and a wide smile, wearing an old tatty blue jacket and round horn-rimmed glasses. ‘Too late to help us pick grapes but here in time for the party!’ he said, grinning at the assembled party.
‘Papa!’ called Etienne. They hugged each other and spoke quickly in French; Allegra couldn’t understand a word. He turned to her to explain. ‘I’m just apologising for not being here to help this year. It’s the first time I’ve missed a harvest because of starting school in Paris.’
Etienne’s father extended his hand to Allegra. ‘Hello, I am Nicolas. We are very happy to meet you.’ He kissed her three times just as Agnès had done, then turned his attention to Luc and Elizabeth.
Allegra took in the view below the house, over the vineyards and beyond the heavily wooded hillsides to the deep blue sea just visible in the distance. The smell in the air was earthy, almost herbal and everything was bathed in soft sunlight. She pinched herself to make sure she wasn’t dreaming.
‘Come inside and Etienne can show you all to your rooms,’ said Agnès. She led the way, the dogs following her close behind. They walked through a stone portico, the front door open, into a reception room with a huge flagstone floor. A round wooden table sat in the middle and on it was a large cream vase holding a spray of pink roses, their scent filling the room. The pale walls were covered in paintings of landscapes and still lives. To the left was an enormous fireplace, the remains of an old fire sitting in the grate, cream-coloured candles of varying sizes dotted about the hearth.
A stone staircase sat to the right up to a landing that ran the length of the room and the party followed Etienne up the stairs, dispersing into different rooms as instructed by their host. Allegra and Elizabeth were shown into theirs, a large room with twin beds covered in matching quilted paisley bedcovers and two tall windows overlooking the garden at the back of the house. A free-standing bath sat in front of a small stone fireplace, a pale grey and blue woven rug on the dark wooden floor. A ceramic jug stood on the dresser to one side holding yet more roses, this time cream and peach in colour.
Allegra went straight to the window and looked out over the garden, a neat hedge-lined square with beds full of flowers still in bloom despite the time of year. On either side were orchards of fruit trees and beyond the garden, an olive grove stretched beyond until it dropped away out of sight.
‘Isn’t it beautiful?’ said Elizabeth, sitting down on one of the beds. ‘Shall I take this one?’
‘Sure.’ Allegra nodded without looking, unable to take her eyes from the view in front of her.
‘Are you coming down?’ Etienne’s voice called from the other side of the door.
‘Coming!’ called Elizabeth. ‘Allegra, you ready?’
They made their way downstairs, then followed Etienne through the wooden-beamed kitchen where Agnès and another older woman were busy tending to an enormous stock pot on the stove, the smell of something deliciously slow-cooked in the air, to the back of the house and into the garden. A long table sat under the shade of two chestnut trees, on it a tray with a jug of fresh lemonade and four glasses.
Etienne poured them all a drink. ‘Okay, if you’re happy, we’ll go and help my father down in the vineyard where we’re having the party tonight. Drink this first, it’s a bit of a walk.’
They set off back down the drive, then took a path off the road into a gently sloping vineyard. The vines were still thick with leaves of green and gold but the bunches of grapes were few and far between. They followed Etienne along the top of the vineyard to a stone hut with a small clearing in front of it where a group of men, including Nicolas, were setting up a long line of trestle tables and putting out chairs.
‘Hey, Papa!’ called out Etienne.
‘Good, you are here.’ His father waved. ‘I need you to help us set the tables; all the crockery and cloths are in there,’ he said, pointing to the hut.
The four friends set to work, laying it as instructed, three long tables each set for forty people.
‘So do you host the party for everyone each year?’ asked Allegra, still not quite sure how it all worked despite Etienne explaining it on more than one occasion.
‘We usually do because we have the largest vineyard and this spot, with the hut, is where it’s always been held ever since I can remember. But there are eight other families in the co-operative, so we basically share the winery in the town. We’d love to have our own winery one day but this is how my father wants to do it for now.’
‘And building your own winery is expensive, I guess,’ said Luc.
‘Exactly,’ said Etienne. ‘Anyway, I’m not here to help that much now.’
‘Did they mind you leaving?’ asked Allegra, watching as Etienne set out the wine glasses.
Etienne shook his head. ‘Not really. They knew how much I wanted to go to Paris and anyway, Camille is the one who’ll likely take over running the vineyard eventually. She practically does so now, not that my father will admit it,’ he whispered. ‘I am very lucky. Not all my friends have parents who are so…’ He searched for the right word.
‘Supportive?’ suggested Elizabeth.
‘Understanding.’ Etienne smiled. ‘It’s why I’ve got to make a success of art school, so they can see it was the right thing for me to do.’
Allegra clocked the trace of guilt in his voice. ‘And what about your other sister?’
Etienne stopped what he was doing for a moment. ‘Isabelle is married to another winemaker. They have their own winery not far from here just on the other side of the hill.’
‘Will she be here this evening?’ asked Allegra.
‘No,’ said Etienne quickly.
Allegra waited for him to expand, but he said nothing more.
‘Oh, that’s such a shame. I’d love to meet her.’
‘Another time, maybe. Once we finish this we can go back to the house and see if we can start bringing some of the food down.’ Etienne didn’t elaborate on his oldest sister’s absence but Allegra sensed there was more to it than he was letting on.
More people arrived carrying platters laden with crudités and charcuterie, bottles of wine and baskets of baguettes, most greeting Etienne with hugs or kisses.
‘It’s like the biggest extended family I’ve ever seen,’ said Allegra to Elizabeth as they laid folded napkins on top of the plates on the table.
‘It really is, isn’t it?’ Elizabeth laughed. ‘I don’t think I would have left all this for Paris.’
‘I know, same. But I guess maybe it’s different when you live here. The grass is always greener, as they say.’
‘Shall we walk back up to the house?’ said Luc, coming up behind Elizabeth, kissing the side of her head.
‘I wouldn’t mind grabbing a jumper for later; apparently it’s going to get chilly,’ said Elizabeth.
‘I’ll keep you warm, don’t you worry,’ said Luc, wrapping his arms around her.
As Allegra watched the two of them she wondered, yet again, why Etienne hadn’t so much as tried to kiss her. She’d imagined it so many times, both in her waking moments and even in her dreams. The wait was becoming almost impossible to bear. She looked over at Etienne, standing in the shade of an old oak tree, deep in conversation with a much older couple. The old man had one hand on Etienne’s shoulder, laughing. She thought back to the time, just weeks before, when she’d first laid eyes on him as he’d walked into the bookshop. She remembered how he’d had to stoop and duck his head to get into the room. Now, she almost couldn’t imagine her life before she met him. Her world had seemed so much smaller before he came along and now nothing made her happier than being with him.
‘Penny for them?’ said Elizabeth, making Allegra jump a little.
‘Sorry?’ Allegra looked confused.
‘For your thoughts. Although seeing where you’re looking, I’m not sure I want to know.’ Elizabeth gently nudged her friend and grinned.
Allegra dropped her gaze to the floor. Was it that obvious? ‘I was just…’
‘I’m kidding,’ said Elizabeth, laughing. ‘Listen, we’re going to walk back up.’
‘I’ll just finish this table. See you back there.’ As Elizabeth and Luc headed off into the vines hand in hand, Allegra couldn’t help but feel a little jealous.
Etienne, still with the older couple, waved her over.
Allegra put down the last of the napkins and went to join them.
‘I’d like you to meet Pascal and his wife, Eve,’ said Etienne. ‘They own the vineyard just below here. They’ve been making wine longer than anyone else in this area.’
The couple smiled at Allegra, their eyes bright in their gloriously wrinkled faces.
‘They don’t speak any English unfortunately.’ Etienne turned and spoke to them in French and the woman said something back that made them all laugh.
‘I’m not sure I want to translate what she just said to me,’ said Etienne.
‘Go on,’ said Allegra, bracing herself.
Etienne looked at Allegra, his eyes holding her gaze. ‘She says I am a very lucky man. You are far too beautiful for me.’
Allegra put her hand on the woman’s arm. ‘ Je suis d’accord, merci .’
The couple laughed again, louder this time.
Etienne gasped in mock horror. ‘I think your French is getting a little too good. Shall we go up to the house and see what else we can bring down?’
They bid their farewells, Etienne promising his father he’d return within the hour, and made their way through the vines back up to the road. The sun was low, thin wisps of orange and pink streaking the sky.
‘It’s just beautiful here. It must be hard to leave,’ said Allegra.
Etienne nodded his head slowly. ‘When I’m back here I do wonder why I left. It would be easy to stay. Well, not easy. Making wine might seem romantic but most of the time it’s hard work. You are at nature’s mercy.’ He paused for a moment. ‘But I needed to give Paris a try and my aunt, the one who teaches at the Sorbonne, really encouraged my parents to let me go. That’s why I must do my best to make a success of it.’ He stopped and picked at a leaf on the vine. ‘You know what this is?’
‘A leaf?’ said Allegra, shrugging.
‘Very good,’ said Etienne, laughing. ‘It’s Tibouren, a black grape. Quite rare but one of the best for making rosé.’ He pointed at the leaf on the vine. ‘Look at the indentation here; the shape is quite unusual.’
Allegra looked at the row of vines on the other side. ‘Is that the same?’
‘Yes, but just down at the bottom here—’ he led her along to the end of the row towards another block of vines on the other side of the path ‘—is something really special. It’s Syrah and these vines are almost one hundred years old. They don’t produce many bunches when they’re as old as this one but what they do usually makes good wine. Really concentrated.’
‘How about these ones here, what are they?’ Allegra pointed at another row of small vines close to the ground.
‘That’s Grenache, it’s what most of our wine is made from. You can tell by the waxy leaf.’ He pulled one from the vine and gave it to Allegra.
She held it in her hand, feeling the texture with the tips of her fingers. ‘What will we be drinking tonight?’
‘To be honest, no one ever really knows. People bring all sorts of bottles to share. Some are very good, others not so much,’ said Etienne, grimacing. ‘But when the food is good and you’ve got the right people around the table, it doesn’t really matter. You’ll see. Come on, we’d better get going or we’re going to be late.’ He reached for her hand and pulled her along behind him as they ran through the vines, laughing as they went.
Back at the house, the kitchen was a hive of activity. The long table was covered in huge pots filled with lamb stew, steam coming through the thick cloths placed over the top of them. At one end, Agnès sat behind a mound of sliced tomatoes and the smell of sautéed garlic filled the room. Another woman was putting cheeses onto plates whilst another cut baguettes into slices, tossing the pieces into woven baskets.
‘Thank goodness!’ cried Agnès. ‘I thought your father would be back by now.’
‘We’ve just finished setting up; he’ll be back soon.’ Etienne picked up an apple from a bowl on the side and was about to take a bite when he stopped and offered it to Allegra. She took it from him and rubbed it on the sleeve of her blouse. ‘Thank you.’
‘We need to start getting all this down to the vineyard,’ said his mother.
‘No problem, we can do it. Where are Luc and Elizabeth?’ Etienne asked Allegra.
‘They should be back here by now; they left before we did.’ She suddenly worried she’d blown their cover. Judging by the look on their faces when they’d left, it didn’t look like they were in too much of a hurry to get anywhere but away from everyone else.
‘Well, we can make a start now,’ said Etienne. ‘Which car should we take?’
‘Is Camille back?’ Agnès looked at Etienne, hopefully.
‘No, she said she was going to the winery.’
Agnès sighed. ‘She’s as bad as your father. She’d live in that place if she could.’
‘I think they’d both prefer to live in a vineyard,’ said Etienne.
His mother laughed. ‘I think you are right. Take René instead, we can put this on the trailer.’
Allegra looked around, wondering who René might be. She’d met so many people already; it was going to be impossible to remember all their names.
‘I’ll go and get him,’ said Etienne.
‘What can I do to help?’ asked Allegra.
Agnès pointed at the chopping board on the table, her slicing knife still in her hand. ‘Thank you, chérie . Could you just chop some more garlic? We’ll need it for the dressing.’
‘Of course,’ said Allegra, marvelling at the sheer volume of garlic used in seemingly every dish on the table.
‘And after, if you can just get two bottles of the olive oil from the larder, we’ll take that down too,’ said Agnès.
Allegra glanced at the old woman next to her, bony fingers dicing the fat cloves with such speed and accuracy despite having a conversation with the woman on her other side. She picked up a knife and started chopping, aware that she must look like she’d never actually held a knife before. The pile of chopped garlic next to the old woman grew twice as fast as the one beside Allegra. Still, she liked sitting and listening to the women as they chatted and laughed at each other’s jokes, even though she had no idea what they were saying.
Suddenly there was a roar at the door, the smell of engines overriding that of the garlic. Allegra looked up to see Etienne sitting atop a small red tractor.
‘That’s René?’ asked Allegra.
Agnès laughed. ‘Yes, that is René. It belonged to Nicolas’ grandfather. Still going strong.’
One of the other women said something in French and the others all laughed.
‘She said it looks like your Prince Charming needs to work on his mode of transport for you,’ said Agnès, translating the joke.
Allegra felt herself blushing.
Etienne walked into the kitchen, leaving the tractor running. ‘What shall we take?’
His mother pointed at the pots on the table. ‘That can all go now, and we can bring down anything else. Just put it all on the table in the hut when you get there.’
Together, Etienne and Allegra loaded up as much of the food on the trailer as they could, securing it with rope to keep everything from moving about. Etienne climbed up onto the driver’s seat and helped pull Allegra up beside him. Then, once his mother had shooed the dogs out of the way, they set off down the drive towards the vineyard, feast in tow.
* * *
By the time Allegra and Etienne got there, guests had started arriving and the table was soon laden with even more plates of cheeses and patés, bowls of salads and numerous bottles of wine as more and more people joined the celebration. Lanterns hung from the branches of the trees and lined the long tables, and as the natural light started to fade the lanterns cast their soft yellow glow on the crowd gathered below. Bottles of wine were uncorked and poured into small glass tumblers as people took their places and once everyone was seated, the huge pots of stew were brought out onto the tables and distributed from one end. Numerous toasts to the grape harvest were made – the ‘ vendange ’ as Allegra worked out it was called – each one greeted with great cheers from everyone, young and old.
‘Is it always like this?’ asked Allegra, as Etienne filled her glass with more rosé, dark in colour. It tasted of wild strawberries. ‘It’s like the best party I’ve ever been to. Do you remember when you told me how I’d feel when we were back in Paris, the first time you took me to the Bal?’
‘The jazz club?’ said Etienne. He put down the bottle. ‘Of course I do.’
‘You said I would feel it here.’ She placed her hand on his chest and looked straight into his eyes, feeling the strong beat of his heart.
‘And do you?’
Allegra nodded, holding his gaze.
‘You two, over here!’ Elizabeth pointed her camera at them.
Allegra went to move her hand from Etienne’s chest, but he put his hand over hers and held it there. He looked at her, as if saying a thousand words that only she could understand.
Elizabeth came and sat opposite them. ‘Caught on film,’ she said, reaching for her glass. She drained it, then picked up Luc’s glass.
‘Hey, easy,’ said Luc, taking it from Elizabeth.
She scowled at him, before taking a piece of bread from a basket on the table. She picked at it, rolling pieces of dough into a ball before popping them into her mouth.
Allegra wondered what had gone on between them. They’d seemed inseparable just a few hours before. She reached across the table and squeezed her friend’s arm. ‘Hey, come with me to find somewhere to, you know—’ she lowered her voice ‘—pee.’
‘Sure,’ said Elizabeth, dropping her bread back on to her plate.
‘Back in a minute,’ said Allegra to Etienne, before getting up and joining Elizabeth on the other side of the table.
As soon as they were out of earshot, Allegra asked if everything was alright.
Elizabeth shook her head. ‘I’ve done something really stupid, Allegra.’
Allegra grabbed her hand. ‘What’s happened?’
‘What do you think happened?’
Allegra’s eyes widened. ‘You didn’t…’
‘Sleep with him? No, worse.’ Elizabeth put her face in her hands. ‘I told him I loved him.’
‘But that’s great! Isn’t it?’
‘Not if they don’t say it back, it isn’t.’
Allegra tried to think of something positive to say. ‘Obviously you just caught him off guard. He’s clearly mad about you.’
‘It seems not as mad about me as I thought he was. And now I feel foolish. I think I’d rather he’d just pretended. Instead, there was a long, unbearable silence after I’d said it.’
‘But isn’t that better than saying it if you don’t mean it?’ said Allegra.
‘I guess, but right now I’m so embarrassed. I feel like such an idiot.’ Elizabeth wiped an angry tear from her face.
Allegra wrapped her arms around her friend and squeezed her tight. ‘If he doesn’t love you then he’s a fool.’
‘What do I do now?’ Elizabeth glanced over at the table. ‘He’s talking to Etienne as if nothing happened. Obviously, it doesn’t bother him one bit.’
Allegra held her friend by the shoulders, forcing her to look back at her. ‘You need to tell him how you feel.’
‘Is that what you would do?’
‘I think so. But this isn’t about me, it’s about you. And I don’t think you should let this fester. If it’s a deal-breaker you need to tell him.’
Elizabeth nodded. ‘You’re right. But I was so sure he loved me too. It hadn’t occurred to me that he wouldn’t say it back.’
Allegra felt both sad and cross for her friend. Elizabeth was so open and honest as a person. Allegra knew she’d never put her feelings on the line like that, for fear of them not being reciprocated. Perhaps that’s why she’d always kept things to herself, whoever she’d been romantically involved with. Not that she would even call her relationships romantic – until now. She wiped the tears from Elizabeth’s face. ‘Listen, I know you’re heartbroken, but this is what we’re going to do. We’re going to go and dance, and you are going to absolutely be yourself and have a good time. Okay?’ She took Elizabeth’s hand, and they went to join the small crowd dancing in the moonlight as the band played.
It was a moment Allegra was to be reminded of years later, when she’d all but forgotten about it. One that, as it turned out, was to change her life in a way she would never have imagined. It was also the night, under a harvest moon, that Etienne kissed her for the first time.