Chapter 43
Whilst Stéphane was away, I was happy to see Louis several times. And I think it made him happy too when I told him I had decided to finish whatever it was I had going on with Stéphane. ‘He definitely hasn’t turned out to be the love of my life.’
‘You have no idea how pleased I am to hear you say that,’ Louis said.
On one of the days, Louis wanted to take me to a restaurant at the top of town. I told him I didn’t feel up to eating very much. ‘A sandwich on the beach would be more than fine. I’ve been feeling a bit nauseous the last couple of days. I think I must have picked up a bug somewhere.’
Louis gave me a concerned look. ‘I have to ask – did you ever sleep with Stéphane?’
I nodded. ‘Just the once on Valentine’s Day.’ An event that now seemed far away.
‘In that case, you have to face the possibility that it may not be a bug – you could be pregnant,’ Louis said softly.
‘I thought that only made you sick in the mornings,’ I said weakly. ‘I’m sick at such different times.’
In fact, I felt quite sick at that moment.
Having decided that I wouldn’t see Stéphane again, thoughts of being pregnant with his baby were quite overwhelming.
I knew instantly that, if true, one reckless evening spent with a man I no longer had any feelings for would have thrown away all my plans for the future.
How would my parents react? Did I truly want to stay in France and marry Stéphane?
It wouldn’t be anything like the life my parents and I had planned for me.
But maybe it’s what fate had in store for me.
I closed my eyes for several seconds before I looked at Louis. ‘I’m sure Stéphane will stand by me if I am pregnant,’ I said quietly. I was not prepared for Louis’s next words in any way whatsoever.
‘Oh Evelyn, my darling girl. I can tell you there is no way he will stand by you for several reasons.’ Louis paused.
‘Since you told me you were stopping seeing him, I haven’t told you some of the things I’ve discovered about Stéphane Rochefort.
You are not going to like any of what I am about to tell you and I am sorry to be the one breaking the news. ’
Louis took a breath as he regarded me intently before speaking again.
‘I saw Stéphane in Cannes the other morning with a woman and a small boy holding his hand. I discreetly started to ask a few more questions around people who know him. So, the first thing is, he is married to a woman called Florence. He already has a son, Bertie, with her, and she is currently expecting their second child. Secondly, every time he told you he was going to Paris on business, he was in fact going to Marseille to see Florence and Bertie who, after the liberation, went to visit her parents there for a few weeks. Thirdly, Florence has now returned to Antibes and they are living together in a villa near the top of the town.’ Louis regarded me compassionately. ‘I’m so, so sorry.’
I shook my head as I tried to stop tears cascading down my face and began to walk away. ‘Sorry, I need to be alone to think about this.’
‘I’ll come by tomorrow,’ Louis said. ‘Make sure you’re OK.’
‘Thank you.’
How the devil did I become involved with a married man with the morals of a tomcat is one of the questions I’ve been asking myself ever since that conversation with Louis.
And yes, I am almost certain that I am pregnant.
The other question I have to ask myself is, who the hell was I to take the moral high ground about Odette sleeping with a married man who consequently walked away?
I’d done the same thing – albeit in blissful ignorance.
* * *
Evie closed the journal slowly. How could her great-grandmother have fallen for such a ‘bad boy’ so many years ago.
And what had happened to the baby? As far as she knew, Grandmother Charlotte was an only child.
Did that mean what she was beginning to suspect it did?
And just how common a surname in France is Rochefort?
Worrying connections were beginning to be made in Evie’s brain, and she could only hope and pray that she was wrong.