The Love I Never Knew: Contemporary Romance Mystery (Ariadne Silver Romance Mystery #1)

by Morris Fenris

  Chapter 5

  I

  Even the sandy stretches of Arizona decided to celebrate Christmas with snow and carols. For the first time in her life, Ariadne paid much heed to Christmas carols. She opened the door of her house and listened to the children sing the legendary songs symptomatic of Christmas. It would be Christmas day in two days and Christmas Eve in a matter of hours. Growing up, Christmas was not a very big issue in her house. She had seen the rest of the neighborhood decorating their houses with lights and trees but her house remained dark. Nobody in the Silver household bothered about Christmas. It was no different from the other days. Little Ariadne had not received any memorable Christmas gifts during her childhood. Christmas in the orphanages and the foster homes were mostly bland and nothing special. Once she had grown up, Christmas meant special requests and higher tips from the customers. Ariadne had never celebrated Christmas in the true spirit of festivity, until now. Ariadne had to make sure she had everything in control before her family arrived at Arizona. She had a lot to do. She had to look after the food and cleaning at the same time. Although she was affluent now and could easily afford to keep hired help, Ariadne preferred to do her work on her own. There was nothing more liberating than having to do your own things. Besides, when she was growing up, Ariadne had to do every single thing on her own. She was used to work and worked best under pressure. Lucien and Eugenia would be there any moment and she still had the turkey in the oven. Ariadne felt overwhelmed, she set the table flawlessly and tried preparing a French cuisine in honor of her imminent guests. Her room smelt of roses and a delightful piece of music kept playing in the background. The setting was deliberate and just perfect. While she was away from Lucien, Ariadne took advantage of her time and learnt a lot about French customs and cultures. She researched a bit on French history and had developed an admirable grasp over the French language. Now she could not only communicate in French but also read and write the language. She was really happy about her progress and felt hopeful about her situation. She was standing at a cusp of moment where she could really declare herself as a happy and successful woman. She was Alice from Wonderland. Only this time, Alice chose to stay back in Wonderland. Things turned out to be quite clement for Ariadne ‘Alice’ Silver. Although she was still in the dark about her grandmother and would like to know more about her, she felt she could wait and that the information was not worth risking her engagements with two of the most beautiful people she had met in all of France. Ariadne had her absent grandmother to thank who in life could not be of much help to her but in death conferred upon her not only a fair share of material fortunes but also a happy life. She could only feel gratitude for her grandmother and hope that her soul had found peace and rest. Ariadne had definitely come to a point in life where she got a definite closure. She could finally come to terms with her mother’s choked up dead body and forgive herself for the incident. Ariadne realized that a lot of her skepticism of the world and hatred for men stemmed from the series of unrequited relationships she had been conditioned to witness from a very early age. She could not have been older than Eugenia when she got into prostitution. The women whom she met as a child abused her when she could not make enough money for one night. Ariadne remembered spending nights after nights on cold ruthless pavements waiting for a customer to hook up with. Most of the people she met were penniless tramps and diseased old men. Her life was as unflattering as it was absurd. In Eugenia, Ariadne found hope and promise for a better tomorrow, a healthier childhood. She genuinely felt she would be able to make up for her own childhood destitution by giving a child a proper wholesome life. Ariadne could not concentrate on chores that day. She kept staring out of the window and ran for the door on hearing the slightest scratch. She was beside herself with joy and when she heard the doorbell ring and found the love of her life with his beautiful daughter standing on the other side of the door. Ariadne could not believe her eyes. She was standing on the uneventful sandy soil of Arizona with a slice of delicate French evenings waiting at her thresholds. She could not believe her eyes even then. Even before Ariadne could surprise her family by showing off her new language skills, Eugenia made her drop her jaw by standing up from the wheelchair. While Ariadne had been away, Lucien continued his child’s treatment and after several sessions of surgery and physiotherapy, little Eugenia could walk again, thus rendering Ariadne’s thoughtful additions to the house completely useless.

  II

  Ariadne could not get over Eugenia’s prosthetic legs. She was definitely taken by surprise because in all of her Skype conversations with the little child, she had been very careful not to mention this neat little addition to her being. Both Eugenia and her father wanted Ariadne to feel surprised and needless to say, they did a very good job at it. Ariadne cried tears of joy for several minutes before allowing her Christmas guests to settle down and have a look around the place. Eugenia found Arizona very interesting. It is but human nature to find living situations obverse to our condition appealing and out of the ordinary. While the Mediterranean sun was an object of regular occurrence for this little Parisian child, a dead stretch of sandy nothingness appealed to the poet in Eugenia and she went as far as to declare that sleepy Arizona was in fact better than France. The three of them laughed together in the manner of an old-fashioned family gathered together for a Christmas meal. After they had settled down and freshened up a little, Ariadne took her daughter-to-be in the newly made music room where Eugenia played a tearful rendition of “Silent Night” on the harpsichord. Lucien Valier was the proudest man alive. He had the most beautiful girlfriend and the most talented daughter any man could possibly be blessed with. Lucien wanted to surprise Ariadne even further. In an attempt to make peace with their disjointed lifestyles and finally get some time together as a family, Lucien came up with the perfect plan. That’s why after dinner on Christmas Eve, when the Hatter and Alice were sitting by the fireplace and sharing childhood memories together, Lucien interrupted Ariadne, fell to his knees like a gentleman should while proposing to a woman and declared his undying love for her soul and wanted her hand in marriage. Ariadne was courted with Baudelaire’s poetry, French wine and cheese. Eugenia seemed to have been a part of this plan because the moment her father fell to Ariadne’s feet, Eugenia turned to the harpsichord and played the most maudlin melody Ariadne had ever heard. Her eyes sparkled with the pure white fire of her proposal ring. After what seemed like a really long time, Ariadne was in tears. She did not know whom to thank. She was grateful to Eugenia for accepting her as a part of Lucien’s family. For Lucien her gratitude knew no bounds. He was the first person Ariadne had met on her first visit to France and he remained in her life as her friend and lover. Soon was to become her husband. Ariadne ‘Alice’ Silver was on the right side of Wonderland once again.

  III

  Mrs. Ariadne Valier completed one year of her marriage on the 27th of July. The anniversary party was a great success. It also marked the anniversary of her French-American spa. Ariadne Silver Valier had been quite a successful woman in France. On arriving in France, she lost no time to set up her new spa. As promised, she upheld her idea of an American quality of service and by the end of the first month, had completely revolutionized the market for health and bodily rejuvenation in France. Amidst all the hard work that she had to put in to make her success story stand out, Ariadne found time to write a book, an autobiography of sorts where she charts the story of her life as she remembered it, in its most original and honest version. Ariadne Silver Valier wanted nothing else from life. Her grandmother had been a guardian angel, a typical fairy queen who appeared when the damsel in distress needed her the most. Most of Ariadne’s life was spent in sweet serendipity. She discovered France, she discovered love and she discovered family at every step of her life. One lesson that she learnt from all of it is that life always hands out events with equal measures of pleasure and pain. Ariadne could never cry and complain about her life’s misery because it was never an undivided
block of misery for her. Sure, she had to go through prostitution and poverty but even then she learnt something from her situations. She learnt how to be tough and resilient. She learnt how to best carry oneself and what to do when life hands out extremes. Ariadne never cried over spilt milk and never lost all hope. She had always been skeptical of men and the world she lived in. With time, things changed for the better and Ariadne changed for the best. There was no Job-like questioning of faith and no tearful declarations of self pity. Ariadne lived through life with stiff jaws and preternatural tolerance. Her book “Know Thyself” had become an instant best seller and led to her further fame and popularity.

  Monsieur Lucien Valier finally came to terms with the demise of his first wife. Isabelle was his first consort, his first love. They had known each other since their days in the University. Lucien and Isabelle were comrades of war and countless student revolutions. She had been the keystone that had framed his ideals. Isabelle had compelled the care free Lucien to grasp the history of his great motherland. They were from polar opposite backgrounds. While Lucien had aristocracy written all over his attitude while Isabelle was the true proletariat. She had freed Lucien from his gilded cage of aristocracy. She had taught him to love unknown ideals and unknown concepts. Isabella was a fiery spirit that translated itself into her lucid poetry and melodious music. She had swept Lucien off his feet with her unbridled freedom. She was Nature’s child. When other girls were rubbing dollops of sunscreen lotions on their faces, Isabella embraced the sun like she felt a familial connection with it. Her skin tanned, but she did not care. She loved the warm glow of the Mediterranean sun on her face and the soft drops of rain on her shoulders. She loved the little drops of colorful flowers growing amidst the green grass. While Ariadne inspired poetry, Isabella was poetry itself. Eugenia was a perfect reflection of her lost mother. She was so one with nature, that Nature gifted the little girl with her mother’s beauty and then doubled it. She had received her mother’s talent for music. Every time she played the harpsichord, she reminded him of the free spirit of her mother. Lucien was thankful to Isabella for gifting him Eugenia before her demise. But what he had remained grateful for to her was for sculpting him into a man of spirit, ideals and madness. The generosity of spirit and the wildness of nature with which the duo lived and loved in their college days lived on through Lucien Valier. Isabelle would be 10 years in the grave the next month. Lucien visited her grave on her death anniversary every year and left his heart wrapped in a lily beside the tombstone. This year’s visit would be a bit different, with his second wife and his daughter by his side. Lucien Valier worked hard against time and tide to improve his professional ranking and become a significant name in the world of probate solicitation. Untiring work had never failed a man; it was no exception for Lucien Valier well. His daughter had forgiven him for abandoning her for all those years her mother had been away. Somehow she felt responsible for her mother’s death. Although Eugenia had a very vague recollection of her mother’s face, she was sure that had her mother lived on, she would be someone like Ariadne. There were after all similarities between Ariadne and Isabelle.

  IV

  Yes, it seemed like a dream to her now. Ariadne ‘Alice’ Silver recollected her entire life in a nutshell, between puffs of marijuana and splashes of warm water. The whorls of smoke revealed satiated images of love and camaraderie. The bathroom stupor of a maudlin afternoon took Ariadne back to her marriage day. She had looked radiant and ethereal in her pristine white dress. Everybody had suggested her to wear a designer dress for the ceremony, but she had refused. She had roamed the streets of Paris searching for a dress that would speak to her identity. She had found it in a little seamstress’ store in a corner of Paris. The dress was nothing elaborate. It was a gown with a modest train. It had lovely delicate patterns on it with a pink bow sash round the waist. She had worn cute kitten heels with her wedding gown and had walked up the aisle like a veritable Alice from the Wonderland. Eugenia was her maid of honor and the summed up experiences of her life served as her something old, something new and something blue. Ariadne Silver got married inside the cathedral at Strasbourg. The gigantic statue of the Virgin Mother loomed large in her stately divinity as Ariadne got involved in a redeeming experience of conjugal love. She was surrounded by people who genuinely respected her courage and had gathered there to witness a profound moment when the conspiracy of the universe to reward Ariadne with what she deserved was realizing itself in reality. It could not have been better. Ariadne Silver had come a long way from being the ‘white trash’ of school. She was now a force to reckon with. Her book had turned her into a hero overnight and here were the witnesses beholding the moment of their hero’s triumph. Several thousand fairy lights flittered and shone around her as Eugenia played the church organ with amazing dexterity and welcomed her new found mother as her father’s new bride. Alice had just been put inside a new Wonderland. Her journey was only beginning.

  Book Samples

  Sample from The Love I Lost, Book 2 of the Ariadne Silver Romance Mystery Series

  http://www.amazon.com/Romance-Eugenia-Novella-Mystery-Suspense-ebook/dp/B017PIAF0E

  Chapter 1

  I

  Five beautiful years had passed since Ariadne “Alice” Silver became Mrs. Lucien Valier. The five years spent in Phoenix with her new family had been full of happiness and positive progression for all of them. Alice expanded her business and was now the successful owner of a dozen spas throughout Arizona and France. Lucien opened his own law firm from their home and was doing very well, and his beautiful daughter, Eugenia, had blossomed into a beautiful teenager and was making huge strides with her medical condition as well as with her music studies. The sky was the limit and it seemed as though the only way for the family to go was up.

  The time was about 7 PM and Ariadne was looking forward to Eugenia's return from her music class. She was just beginning to feel anxious as Eugenia was usually home by this time. As she paced back and forth through their huge reception hall, she was trying to rationalize with herself. “Perhaps Eugenia wanted to spend some extra time extracting the melodies she was engulfed with,” she thought to herself. She sat down by the window with a cup of tea in her hand.

  Ariadne aimlessly stared into the sky and attempted to cast her worries aside as she reminded herself of all she had been through and how happy she was now. Though Eugenia was faced with her own struggles due to her physical deformity, she was progressing, and Alice was glad that Eugenia would never be faced with all of the rough experiences she had gone through.

  The focus on her past and present was broken as she heard the doorbell ring. She jumped up, feeling immense relief because she knew it had to be Eugenia returning home. She rested the teacup on her custom-made teak wood table and tightened the tie of her red velvet robe as she rushed to open the door. As she flung the door open, to her surprise it wasn't Eugenia. There was a man standing in the doorway, probably in his early thirties. He wiped his bushy brow and twirled his mustache as he asked, "Mademasollie, j'mappele Frank. Mr. Valier?"

  "Oui."

  She assumed that the man must have been one of Lucien’s clients, and opened the door wide to welcome him in. As the man entered, Alice leaned outside and peered down the road for a moment to see if Eugenia was anywhere in sight, but to her disappointment, there was no sign of anybody else. She sighed and locked the door.

  Lucien had his personal office upstairs, beside his and Ariadne's bedroom. Only the people with special appointments were invited there. Many of his clients didn't even know of its existence, but the ones who knew about it also knew the rules to maintain quietness and not disrupt the calm of himself and his family.

  Ariadne asked the butler to make their guest comfortable and to alert Lucien of his arrival. Flooded with a new wave of anxiety, she returned to her throne of solace and grabbed her cup of tea. Her eyes wandered through the room and rested on the grandfather clock. Her tension about Eugenia rose with every tic
k of the clock’s hand and a few desultory voices in her head began to speak of her daughter being unsafe for some reason. She tried to wait patiently. It was on a very rare occasion that she ever had to worry about something. A few more minutes passed and she firmly held the teacup to keep her hands from shaking. Just then, Lucien came down from his office with his client. He shook his hand and guided him to the main door. As he was about to walk back upstairs, he looked at Ariadne who was sitting quietly and tapping her foot on the ground nervously. He sat down next to her and kissed her on the cheek.