Chapter 15
15
PRESENT DAY
Maggie looked at the photo of the couple on the bench in Place Dauphine. ‘I love the story behind this one.’
‘I love that your grandmother took it,’ said Allegra.
‘And I can’t believe you were engaged! That’s the most ridiculously romantic proposal I’ve ever heard.’
‘Was yours?’ asked Allegra.
Maggie laughed. ‘Not at all. I mean, we’d been together for a while and were both at that age where we felt we should get on with it. I think he suggested it just after we’d taken the bins out.’ The clocktower chimed again as it did every fifteen minutes and Maggie looked at her phone screen to check the time. ‘It’s almost midnight. I don’t want to keep you up but please can you just tell me what happened with you and Etienne? Obviously, you didn’t get married…’
‘It was a crazy time. I made a long-distance call to my parents the day after Etienne proposed; I remember going to Cannes with Etienne to do it. My father was furious, as expected. He yelled for what felt like forever, then put the phone down. He wouldn’t let me speak to my mother. It was awful but I was determined I was doing the right thing. I didn’t care if they didn’t approve. Then we got back to Paris.’
‘My grandmother must have been so happy for you,’ said Maggie. ‘That must’ve helped?’
‘By the time we got back, she’d gone,’ said Allegra.
The sadness in her voice was palpable. ‘When I got back to my room, that box was on my bed—’ she put her hand on the small brown case between them ‘—with a letter from her explaining that they’d been asked to leave. She was obviously worried about taking the box with her, she said it contained her most precious photographs and maybe because Luc was in some of them, maybe she thought it would make matters worse. So, along with her camera, she left the box with me to look after. In the letter she made me promise I would use that camera on her behalf until we met again. But, of course, I couldn’t bring myself to. I felt it belonged to her and I wanted to keep it that way. My job, as I saw it, was just to keep it safe until I saw her again.’
‘Oh, Allegra, I’m so sorry. It must’ve been devasting to come back to find that your best friend had gone.’
‘We’d gone from such happiness and went back to Paris expecting to spend New Year’s Eve with Elizabeth and some other friends. The plan had been to go to the Bal, of course. With Elizabeth gone, we almost didn’t go but I remember Etienne persuading me that she would have wanted us dancing, not sitting about being miserable. So, we did go and for a few hours we forgot everything that was going on. It was so busy. We danced and drank, then I stayed at his. The next morning, I walked back to my apartment to go and change, I remember I had Etienne’s jacket around my shoulders. It had turned really cold.’ Allegra shivered at the thought. ‘I looked up and noticed the light was on in my apartment. I should’ve realised something unusual was going on but for some reason, I just went on up. When I opened the door to my room, my father was sitting on my bed.’
Maggie gasped. ‘What did you do?’
‘What could I do? He was right there in front of me, sitting on the bed, holding my passport in his hand. He looked right at me and told me I was coming home.’
‘I can’t bear it.’ Maggie put her hands to her face.
‘He said I was to pack my things right there and then, that we had a flight home later that day. There was an almighty row. He said I was making a huge mistake getting married. I told him I wasn’t a two-year-old he could just drag back home; I was eighteen and could do as I pleased. That’s when he told me that my mother was ill.’
‘I’m so sorry. What was wrong?’
‘He said she had cancer. He hadn’t wanted to tell me on the phone. He said that he couldn’t tell my mother I was engaged as it would make her worse.’
‘But that’s emotional blackmail, isn’t it?’
‘At the time I felt so guilty. It was all such a shock. He made me feel like the most selfish person in the world.’
‘So, you went home?’
Allegra wiped a tear from her face. ‘I didn’t see how I could do anything else.’
‘That’s so awful.’ Maggie’s words were barely audible. She put her hand on Allegra’s arm.
Allegra took a deep breath. ‘It was all such a long time ago, but you never forget moments like that. I can see his face now, the veins on the side of his temple pulsing…’ Allegra’s words tailed off.
The bells from the clocktower rang out once more, telling them it was midnight.
‘I think you should sleep now,’ said Maggie. ‘We can talk more tomorrow. Thank you, though. I hope you don’t think I’m being too nosey.’
‘Not at all. It’s so rare nowadays that anyone’s interested in folks as old as me.’ Allegra laughed gently.
‘I don’t understand why that should be so. You seem to have all the best stories,’ said Maggie.
They made their way back down the stairs, Maggie carrying the empty glasses and Allegra with the box of photographs.
‘Sleep well, Maggie. I’m so glad you’re here.’
‘Me too,’ said Maggie. And she meant it. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d just sat and talked like this with someone, not checking her watch or worrying where she had to be next. Her mind felt clear, her shoulders relaxed. As she sank into the bed, the soft duvet around her, she thought once more of the couple on the bench – that stolen moment, captured forever – before drifting off to sleep.
* * *
Maybe it was the sea air or the warmth, she couldn’t be sure, but that night Maggie slept deeply. Even the bells from the clocktower didn’t rouse her. It wasn’t until she heard a soft knocking at the door that she woke, Allegra’s voice on the other side.
‘Maggie, are you awake? There’s tea for you here but don’t get your hopes up. I’m an American. I’m just off to get some bread.’
‘Thank you,’ called Maggie from her bed, stretching her arms out wide. ‘Shall I come with you?’
‘No, you stay and drink your tea. I won’t be long. We can have breakfast upstairs when I’m back. Put some coffee on; there’s a cafetiere on the side and the coffee is in the fridge. Back in half an hour.’
Maggie waited for a moment, then got up and opened the door. She looked down. Allegra had been right to manage Maggie’s expectations; the tea was the colour of porcelain. She smiled to herself and went to open the windows, pushing the shutters aside. Her room was at the back of the house, overlooking the hills beyond the town. The terracotta-topped buildings of the Old Town gave way to modern white apartments and hotels further out, creeping up towards the wooded slopes behind. The pale blue sky was completely clear of cloud, the air already warm. She listened to the quiet hum of the town waking up below, the sound of scooters and cars on the boulevard in the distance.
Climbing back into bed with her mug of tea, Maggie thought back to the conversation the night before. She had loved hearing about Allegra and Elizabeth’s time in Paris but there was so much more Maggie wanted to know. At the same time, she didn’t want to pry.
Her phone vibrated on the table beside her bed, alerting her to a message. She picked it up and looked at the screen. It was from an old contact at a production company she occasionally worked for. Opening the message, she read through the details. There was a producing job available on an upcoming reality series, set in a manor house in the Cotswolds. She knew the programme; celebrities competed to win a trophy through a series of increasingly ridiculous tasks and plenty of tactical voting. It was an eight-week job with pre-production starting in two weeks’ time. Clearly someone else had pulled out at the last minute for her to be asked so close to the start of filming but Maggie wasn’t proud. And as painful as it sounded – she’d done too many reality shows over the years to find it fun – at least it was a decent chunk of time. Her parents could keep Tiger for her, and she could even rent out her flat for a few months in the meantime.
Maggie was just about to respond with a resounding yes when she remembered Jack. What if he was working on it too? Deciding she knew the contact well enough to ask without it being awkward, Maggie typed out a reply, asking if he was on the same job. The response came back immediately. Yes, he was, and so was Lottie.
Maggie’s heart sank. She’d had a feeling about Jack but having them both there, with Lottie’s growing bump for all to see and no doubt talk about, was almost too much to bear. However, turning down the job – or rather, the money – wasn’t an option. Maggie would just have to put her game face on and get on with it. She replied and asked for details to be emailed over, trying to ignore the knot in her stomach.
After taking a quick shower, Maggie threw on a T-shirt and shorts and went to make some coffee as instructed. By the time she took the cafetiere and a couple of cups up to the terrace, Allegra was already there, dressed in a flowing cobalt blue kaftan with a blue patterned silk scarf around her head. Large black sunglasses shielded her eyes from the bright morning sun and even at this early hour, Allegra sported a slick of deep red lipstick.
Maggie thought she looked impossibly glamorous. She, on the other hand, was dressed pretty much like her teenage self. On the table was a plate with some sliced fresh peaches, a bunch of grapes and a basket of croissants, along with jam and butter.
‘I didn’t hear you come back,’ said Maggie. ‘I would have done all this.’
‘The exercise does me good,’ said Allegra, putting a croissant on her plate. ‘Help yourself, they’re still warm.’
‘They smell divine,’ said Maggie, pouring out two cups of coffee and passing one to Allegra.
‘So, given we’ve only really got today, I’ve arranged a little surprise for you this morning. Afterwards we can pick up some food at the market for our lunch, then perhaps go out for something to eat later depending on how you feel. How does that sound?’ Allegra tore off a strip from her croissant and curled it elegantly into her mouth.
Maggie nodded, swallowing the mouthful of fresh peach she’d just taken. ‘Really? You didn’t have to do that. Whatever it is, it sounds great, thank you,’ she said, genuinely thrilled.
‘Did you sleep well?’
‘Like a log,’ replied Maggie. ‘I honestly haven’t slept that well for months, possibly years.’
‘You’ve had a tough time,’ said Allegra.
‘Not really.’ Maggie took a sip of her coffee. ‘I’m way more fortunate than most. I have a good job. My parents are both still alive and well, for the most part.’
‘What about friends, do you have good friends around you?’
‘Yes, I do. I mean, most of them I know through work. Most of my old friends got married, had kids, moved away. Since the divorce, I’ve had my head down with work. It’s not that I’ve lost them, I just don’t really see them as much.’ As Maggie said this out loud, she realised it sounded pretty lame. The truth was, she’d cut herself off voluntarily. The last thing she ever wanted was to be a burden or, worse, pitied. ‘I guess I keep myself busy enough to not be lonely.’ Maggie thought about the endless evenings she’d had in by herself in recent months, lying on the sofa before falling asleep to something mindless she’d been watching. Why did she get the feeling Allegra knew Maggie was fooling herself? ‘Was it easy to make friends here?’
Allegra nodded. ‘It’s a small town, really. Once the tourists have thinned out, everyone knows everyone. It’s sad that no one lives next door on either side now, the houses are rented out. Different people come and go but that suits me. It’s quiet most of the time and I can keep myself to myself. I still have friends who come to stay, especially from the old days when I ran a gallery.’
‘When did you run a gallery?’ Maggie topped up her coffee, then offered the cafetiere to Allegra.
‘Thank you,’ said Allegra, pushing her cup across the table. ‘I had one for years, back in New York.’
‘Oh yes, you went back.’ Maggie’s face fell at the thought of Allegra being dragged away from Paris, from Etienne, against her will.
‘Not for one second did I think I wouldn’t be going back to Paris. As far as I was concerned, I assumed I was returning with him to New York for however long it took, help nurse my mother through her illness, then return to Paris. I thought it was just a matter of persuading them that marrying Etienne wasn’t a terrible idea.’ Allegra took off her sunglasses and put them on her head. ‘But as we know, life doesn’t always go to plan. Shall we walk and talk? I can tell you on the way. Go and grab your swimming costume, you’ll need it.’
Maggie took a last gulp of coffee. ‘You really are full of surprises.’