Xavier looked stunned. ‘Her what?’
‘I know, crazy, right?’ Leoni nodded, her brown eyes glittering. ‘That awful friend of hers, Cybille, recommended him, said he helped her out with her divorce or something. Anyway, Grandmother hired him to investigate Cat.’
‘You’re not serious?’ It was outrageous, even for his grandmother. Xavier frowned. ‘So that’s how Seraphina met him – she bumped into him here, I’m assuming.’
Leoni raised her eyebrows. ‘Exactly. Grandmother must be feeling pretty guilty about that but if she does, she hasn’t come out and said it yet. And the other thing I wanted to tell you was also about Cat. Angelique turning up here like that? Grandmother engineered the whole thing. She approached Angelique in the first place and then used Cat to sort out the ad campaign.’
Xavier put his head in his hands. It made sense. He had known Cat wouldn’t have approached Angelique off her own back – why would she? But why would his grandmother do such a stupid thing in the first place?
‘She was playing at matchmaker,’ he realised. ‘She doesn’t know what happened when we split up and she thinks I wanted Angelique back.’ Xavier groaned.
Leoni watched him. She wasn’t about to let on that Cat had filled her in about Xavier’s relationship so she stared back at him silently, pretending she was still in the dark. ‘By the way, Cat only did what Grandmother asked her to do because she thought it might mean the old lady was finally accepting her. And she didn’t want to say anything to you because Grandmother asked her to keep it a secret, though knowing you, you probably didn’t give Cat a chance to say anything much. Frankly, I think she should have blown the whistle on Grandmother immediately but as you’ve probably seen, Cat isn’t like that.’
Xavier sat back, trying to process all the information Leoni had given him. Everything made sense; it was just a case of rearranging perspectives in his head and getting his emotions sorted. He glanced at Leoni, not sure what she knew. He hadn’t spoken to her about Angelique’s pregnancy at the time so it was unlikely she had been aware of it, although . . . Xavier paused. Olivier had known. Somehow, Olivier had overheard something and he had seemed oddly keen to make sure Xavier wasn’t about to top himself over the incident, although why he had been so concerned was beyond Xavier.
Had Olivier spoken to Leoni about it? Xavier wondered. It was possible but his gut feeling was that he hadn’t. Leoni might not be the most emotional of women but he was certain she would have said something about Angelique’s pregnancy if she’d known. Still, Xavier wondered why Leoni was fighting Cat’s corner all of a sudden and he said as much.
Leoni smiled. ‘She helped me out with my home fragrance campaign . . . we talked about . . . oh, girl’s stuff mostly. She’s not as bad as I thought she was,’ she admitted, seeing Xavier’s amused expression. ‘In fact, she’s lovely, all right? I just couldn’t see past my own jealousy, that’s all.’
Catching sight of the time, Xavier stood up and finished packing. ‘That’s a bit deep and meaningful, where did all that come from?’
‘Ashton, actually,’ Leoni said a shadow crossing her face. ‘Back in the days when we were talking.’
‘Why, what’s up?’
Leoni sighed. ‘I don’t know. Since I met Jerard, I think I might have shut Ashton out a bit. I thought he might have been seeing this woman Marianne in Paris – long story, but she’s totally wrong for him.’
Xavier met her eyes. ‘That’s his choice, though, isn’t it? I mean, I’m not saying I think Jerard isn’t the man for you, am I?’
‘Is that what you think?’ Leoni was astonished. She wasn’t even aware that Xavier knew Jerard.
Xavier looked non-committal. ‘I just want the best for you, that’s all. Jerard is . . . he’s very focused on work, to the exclusion of everything else.’
‘How do you know all this?’
‘An ex-girlfriend of mine dated him and she got thoroughly fed up with being cast aside in favour of his BlackBerry,’ he explained, hoping he wasn’t trampling all over Leoni’s heart.
‘Really?’ Leoni looked dismayed. ‘That sounds familiar. At least it’s not just me. I was beginning to think there was something wrong with me because Jerard kept choosing work over spending time with me.’
Xavier zipped his bag up smartly and kissed her on the cheek. ‘Don’t be silly. And I hope I haven’t hurt your feelings, L. I just want you to be happy. You deserve to be adored, you know? By someone who puts you first . . . who worships the ground you walk on.’
‘I wish. Let me know if you know anyone who might do that, won’t you?’ Leoni wondered why Xavier had used Ashton’s old nickname for her.
Xavier stared at her before be answered. ‘Yes, yes, I will.’
Leoni frowned. What was eating him? ‘Do you think I should get in touch with Ashton?’ she asked as Xavier headed downstairs.
‘Definitely.’ Xavier paused and looked up. ‘And I doubt very much he’s dating that woman you mentioned.’
‘How do you know?’
‘Because he’s been in love with the same woman for years.’ Xavier fervently hoped he was doing the right thing. ‘Ashton’s definitely a one-woman man, and he cares more about romance than business, that’s for sure.’
Seeing Leoni staring down at him in bewilderment, Xavier hurried to the pool but Cat was nowhere to be seen. Damn. Now he was going to have to go to Morocco without speaking to her. Xavier grimaced. He just hoped she stayed at La Fleurie until he had done what he needed to do in Morocco. He had to be sure of his feelings and then things needed to be sorted once and for all. Xavier made for the front of the house and slid into the car waiting to take him to the airport.
Sitting bolt upright in a rigid chair in her private quarters a few days later, Delphine felt absolutely wretched. She had started out with such good intentions but she had inadvertently caused a dreadful mess. Boundaries had become blurred and lines had definitely been crossed. Delphine felt uncomfortable as she recalled the almost triumphant way Leoni had informed her that Xavier knew she was behind Angelique’s involvement in the ad campaign. She supposed it was bound to come out sooner or later but she had half expected Cat to spill the beans. The fact that she hadn’t was to her credit; it had been Leoni who had finally informed Xavier.
Gripping the top of her new cane, Delphine wondered how she could have got it all so wrong. She still didn’t know what had gone on between Xavier and Angelique but she got the impression from Leoni that Angelique had done something unforgivable, something that should have made her think of Xavier’s hurt feelings before coming back here so deliberately. Yet, here she was at La Fleurie, behaving for all the world as though she belonged here, ordering the staff around, wafting around in next to nothing and generally making her presence very much felt.
Delphine chewed her lip. Had she been blind to Angelique’s faults the first time round? Or had Angelique simply played her for an old fool, turning on the charm and acting the successful-but-misunderstood career woman for all she was worth? Delphine suspected it was the latter, as much as it pained her to admit it. Her thoughts turned to Seraphina and she was suffused with guilt, the acrid sensation leaving a bad taste in her mouth.
She, Delphine, was responsible for bringing Yves Giraud into their home. She had trusted him, in spite of her misgivings about his manner and his unhealthy interest in La Fleurie and everything that came with it. Delphine didn’t know if Yves had started out with hopeful aspirations of ingratiating himself into the Ducasse fold via Seraphina or if he was simply an opportunist with a taste for young girls, but either way, her own involvement in the whole sorry affair was shameful.
Delphine had done her best to atone for her sins by making sure Yves would find it hard to work within their circle again. She had cancelled any cheques he hadn’t already cashed – after all, he had hardly earned them – and she had put the word out amongst her friends that Yves was untrustworthy. Her good friend Cybille had been surprisingly sanguine in respons
e to Delphine’s tale of woe, which led Delphine to wonder how pure Cybille’s relationship with Yves had been in the first place. She suspected Yves might have helped Cybille through her painful divorce in more ways than one but she knew better than to voice her opinion out loud. Cybille was far too powerful to offend.
Delphine got up and slowly walked across the room. Her hip was playing up badly – caused by stress, her doctor had told her. Apart from Seraphina’s traumatic experience, the biggest thing Delphine had been forced to face up to was that she was a terrible judge of character. There was Yves, and now it seemed that Angelique was not the woman she had thought she was. And as for Cat . . .
Delphine stared at the package on her desk. Cat Hayes had undoubtedly triggered this bizarre chain of events but she herself had held the reins and orchestrated the whole debacle almost single-handedly and that was something she was going to have to live with. And she felt guilty – guiltier than she had ever felt in her life. She had ignored the misgivings she had felt about getting in touch with Angelique and she had allowed the situation to unfold without much thought to the consequences if her assumptions turned out to be wrong.
Suddenly feeling very old, Delphine picked up the parcel on the desk. She had a chance to buy some more time and she wasn’t going to waste it. There were many things to put right and it wasn’t going to be easy but she knew she had to do more than most to put everything back together again. Decisively ignoring the parcel, Delphine sat down again and let out a heavy sigh. She only hoped she wasn’t too late.
Chapter Twenty
Having worked tirelessly with Cat on her proposal, Leoni was at last ready to pitch it to Guy. Feeling nervous but as well prepared as she thought she could possibly be, she set her laptop up in the boardroom and made sure there was a glossy brochure at the head of the table.
Leoni flicked through it, realising how glad she was that Cat had helped her at the end. Her product knowledge was exceptional and she certainly knew how to put a glitzy, well-thought-out proposal together. The brochure they’d created was so slick and convincing, it would surely persuade Guy to go ahead with the home fragrance idea. Cat had somehow found a way to make the whole idea seem utterly crucial to the advancement of the business yet achingly simple in its execution; a perfect idea presented in a fail-safe, businesslike manner.
If only she’d accepted Cat’s offer in the first place, Leoni thought, she could have saved herself a huge amount of stress but she knew she hadn’t been ready to take the olive branch Cat had been proffering until now. Maybe she was finally laying Olivier’s ghost to rest, Leoni thought, feeling a momentary sense of peace. It was definitely time to stand on her own two feet; she had been hiding behind Olivier’s business loyalty for far too long; she was now finally ready to be a lone, but confident, voice.
Toying with the brochure, Leoni thought about Ashton for a moment. She missed him, really missed him. If only as a friend, she knew she wanted him back in her life. She must call him as soon as the meeting was over, she decided. Hearing Guy approaching, she hurriedly closed the brochure and slid it back across the table. Looking up, she was surprised to see how ashen he looked. His silver hair was as smooth and tidy as usual and his pale blue shirt with monogrammed white cuffs was impeccable but his brown eyes had heavy bags beneath them. The drooped set of his shoulders added to his air of dejection but, by contrast, his mouth was tight, suggesting he was in no mood for idle chit-chat.
That suited Leoni down to the ground but she couldn’t resist checking he wanted her to present her idea today. ‘Are you all right, Uncle?’ she asked, concerned. ‘You look . . . tired.’ She wanted to say ‘terrible’ but there seemed little point in kicking Guy when he was clearly down.
‘I’m fine,’ he snapped, glaring at her. ‘Why wouldn’t I be?’
Leoni started up the laptop without a word. She guessed Guy was upset over the drama with Seraphina at the party but she was taken aback to see anger flashing in his eyes. As her visual presentation began on the big screen on the wall, Leoni wondered why Guy seemed irate rather than regretful. Wouldn’t most fathers be worried and desperate to protect their offspring in a situation like that? Perversely, Guy was bristling with rage, looking very much as if he would like to throttle Seraphina rather than give her a fatherly hug, should he clap eyes on her.
Leoni couldn’t understand his reaction but she knew him well enough to know she wouldn’t be thanked if she attempted to question him about it. No one had been able to reason with Guy since Elizabeth’s death; he was blind to his own faults and hell-bent on lashing out at anyone who dared to question him.
Guy was aware of Leoni’s scrutiny. He was also aware he was going to have to summon every ounce of concentration to give Leoni a fair hearing. He was so agitated about his children, he could barely see straight. Besides which, he was still very opposed to the home fragrance idea, partly because he knew his mother hated it with a passion and partly because he wasn’t sure he could see the point of it either. But then, didn’t he feel that about most aspects of the business right now? None of it seemed to matter, none of it seemed important in the scheme of things, and that feeling had been building for months now, maybe even years.
Guy’s heart constricted but he couldn’t bear to allow the desperate feeling that was spreading through his body like a cold, icy finger to take hold. He had no idea what might happen if it did but he feared he may well fall apart if he allowed his inner sorrow a voice. He had kept it at bay for so long now, it was almost a knee-jerk reaction, but every so often it caught him unawares, prickling at his conscience like a well-meaning and overly tenacious friend who was keen to force him into submission. Guy remembered what Cat had said to him about grief counselling and almost growled out loud as he dismissed the idea. What rubbish!
He sighed tiredly, knowing Leoni deserved her moment and knowing he owed it to her to put his own turmoil aside for the next fifteen minutes. He had delivered Leoni an ultimatum with a time limit in terms of putting her idea together and presenting it; the least he could do was hear her out. He pulled himself together and sat up, forcing himself to appear both alert and open, despite his misgivings and regardless of his relentlessly churning stomach.
‘Please.’ He gestured for Leoni to begin. ‘I’m ready when you are.’
‘Let me introduce you to the world of home fragrance,’ Leoni started, feeling her nerves slide away now that her big moment had finally arrived. ‘This is home fragrance the Ducasse-Fleurie way, which means luxury, style and, above all, quality.’
Getting into her stride as soon as she started speaking and fully believing every word of her pitch, Leoni proceeded to present her idea coherently. She backed up each aspect of her presentation with facts about their target market and plenty of well-researched figures but she also appealed to Guy’s creative side by describing her candles, her linen sprays and her room scents in detail. She outlined the luxurious design, the simple but effective packaging and the intended promotional plans with evocative wording. On Cat’s insistence, she also kept it professional and informative. Guy detested flowery prose and Cat believed he would respond better to something slick, colourful and straightforward.
‘I believe this line will be simple, elegant and a beautiful addition to our luxurious and much-loved products,’ Leoni finished, allowing her laptop presentation to flash up images of the samples Jerard had created, as well as some other ones she’d had made in anticipation of her pitch. She carefully removed the sample products themselves from their boxes and allowed Guy to handle them, not even realising she was holding her breath as she waited for him to respond.
‘It’s . . .’ Guy paused, not because he was intending to keep her dangling, but because he was searching for the right word. ‘Impressive,’ he said finally, meeting her eyes. He picked up the candle and turned it round in his hands. ‘Really impressive,’ he added with a nod.
‘Really?’ Forgetting to maintain a cool, detached exterior as Cat had suggested,
Leoni’s brown eyes lit up behind her glasses. ‘I’m so pleased!’
Guy smiled briefly but warmly and just for a moment Leoni caught a fleeting glimpse of the uncle she had grown up with. She had missed him; he had been in hiding for the past few years.
‘Look, it’s not what I expected at all,’ he informed her, his eyes regarding her keenly. ‘I admit I envisaged this line as tacky and commercial but it’s not at all. You’ve truly embodied the feel of Ducasse-Fleurie and you haven’t compromised on the elegance or the wonderfully opulent aura of our fragrances. Well done, Leoni.’
She beamed, delighted by his reaction. For the first time, she felt important and relevant in the family business. She felt as if she’d finally proved herself.
‘I can’t take all the credit,’ she garbled, her words jumbling up in her excitement. ‘Cat helped me put this together.’ Leoni flushed. ‘I would have finished it a lot sooner if I’d just let her help me but it took some time. Olivier . . . you understand, it was all too hard for me to accept but I finally came to my senses.’
Guy raised his eyebrows. ‘I suppose I understand what you mean about Olivier. Personally, I feel that he’s finally done something good . . . something all of us can be grateful for.’
Leoni stiffened. Loyalty to her sibling was automatic but, in spite of herself, she was intrigued. ‘Something good? What do you mean? By marrying Cat?’
‘Maybe.’ Guy shrugged. ‘Olivier was such a troublemaker. He was always telling lies and creating havoc. It’s just … doesn’t it strike you as odd?’
‘What?’
‘How a perfect stranger can come into our world and make more sense of it than we, the family, can?’ he responded, drumming his fingers on the table mindlessly. His expression became sombre. ‘What does that say about us?’
Leoni stared at him, unable to think of an answer. She had never heard Guy talking so introspectively before and she had never thought of Cat as a saviour in any way. Glancing down at the glossy brochure, she knew she would never have been able to produce it alone. Maybe Guy had a point. Leoni also realised that Guy wasn’t just talking about brochures and PowerPoint presentations when he mentioned Cat saving the family. It was a sobering thought.
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