Chapter 23 #3
“I found him in his study. It was gruesome... what they had done to him....” He shook his bewigged head, and Rafe caught a whiff of an expensive Oxford Street cologne that seemed at odds with Lamartine’s modest appearance.
“I will not distress the ladies with the details. Suffice it to say when I reached his side the comte was valiantly clinging to life. I cradled his noble head in my arms.” Lamartine stopped as if overcome.
Rafe looked over at Alix and saw tears pooling along her lower lashes. He restrained a grimace. He didn’t believe Lamartine’s story any more than he had that night in Madeleine’s grand salon. He waited, certain that Lamartine was nearing the purpose of his visit.
“I begged Monsieur le Comte to tell me what I could do to comfort him in his last moments. He looked up at me, his hand locked in mine, and whispered that there was something I could do to protect his wife and child, and his beloved Valcour.” Lamartine cast a quick glance around, judging his audience, wondering if he’d struck the right note of drama.
Madeleine looked composed, but pale, and silent tears slipped down Alix’s cheeks. It was going well.
“The comte told me that he’d taken the precaution of transferring his property titles into my name to prevent them from falling into the hands of the Revolutionary government.
He wanted me to take the titles, along with his notarized letter and make certain the transfer was registered with the district authorities.
I promised him that I would see it done, and I think...
I pray to the Good Lord that he died in peace. ”
Lamartine spread his hands and looked appealingly at the de La Brou women.
“But I have failed in my promise. Though I searched through all my master’s papers, I could not find the titles.
And now time is running out. In a month’s time the authorities will claim Valcour.
” He allowed his shoulders to slump. “They have already come round to chain the gates.”
Rafe heard Alix inhale sharply and wished he’d struck Lamartine with something heavier than a candlestick.
Lamartine raised his head and looked straight at Madeleine.
“Madame knows that I was raised by the village priest after my family perished.” She nodded.
“Father Bonheur taught me that there is nothing more sacred than a deathbed oath. And so I have made my way here to see if perhaps you, or Mademoiselle Alix, have the papers that will enable me to save Valcour.”
He saw Madeleine cast a questioning look at Alix, and a feeling of deep satisfaction washed over him.
So, he had guessed correctly.
The little fool had slipped away with the titles.
For the finishing touch, he pretended to fumble about his coat pockets. “I have a letter here that will prove the truth of what I have told you.”
Madeleine took the letter from his outstretched hand and perused it quickly.
Wordlessly she passed it to Alix. When Alix finished reading the letter, Madeleine finally spoke.
“Valcour is Alix’s inheritance. It will be part of her dowry and her legacy to her children.
” Glancing at Rafe as though she thought he might raise a challenge, she said, “I think the decision about what should be done should be left up to her.”
Alix sat very still for several moments, then raised her chin, her eyes now dry and her lips set.
“Thank you mother for allowing me to decide. Valcour meant more to my father than any of his other estates. He used to say that de La Brou blood had been mixed into the mortar of its walls, and that was what made them so strong.” She looked over at Lamartine and her voice softened.
“Robert, I cannot thank you enough for comforting my father in his final hours, and for making your way here so that we might know how he died.”
Lamartine gave Alix a slight smile.
“But,” she continued, “I cannot bring myself to give the titles over to you. They have been in de La Brou hands for nearly four hundred years, and they will remain so, no matter what that rabble government in Paris might say.”
“But mademoiselle—” Lamartine began.
“No, Robert. Who can say what might happen in France? There is still a chance that the king and queen might be rescued and restored to the throne, or that the dauphin might live to see his parents avenged. And the king’s brothers still live safe from the reach of the revolutionaries.”
She looked at Madeleine and Rafe. “I, too, swore an oath on my father’s soul. That I would keep the titles safe, and that someday I or my offspring would return to Valcour.”
She handed the letter back to Lamartine.
“In the name of my father, I thank you again and I release you from your promise. You have done as much as you can, Robert. My mother and I shall always be grateful. If you let us know where you are staying, we shall have some money sent over to cover your expenses and to help you make a new start.”
Madeleine rose, tugging a small, embroidered bell pull by her chair to summon a footman, and Lamartine understood their meeting was over.
He resisted the urge to throw their offer of money back into their simpering faces as he made his farewell.
He’d be back for the titles. The silly bitches, he thought as he smiled and bowed his way out of the room.
If they thought they’d seen the last of Robert Lamartine, they were sadly mistaken.