Louis shook Bert’s hand, and Angus’s, and bowed low over her mother’s and grandmother’s hands to kiss them, and then he shook hands with Josiah, who greeted him warmly. Nothing about their appearance or behavior would have suggested that Josiah, Angus, Augusta, and Magnus were not alive. They looked, felt, and behaved entirely real. Only if they did their disappearing act would one know, and Bettina was going to warn them not to while Louis was there.
“Why don’t we go inside and have some tea?” Gwyneth suggested, smiling politely at Louis and engaging him in conversation as they walked in. Bettina could see that the house looked beautiful and was filled with flowers. She was very proud of her home, just as Louis was of his family’s chateau in France. And his father had agreed to let them move into the house on the Place Fran?ois Premier in Paris once they were married. He couldn’t wait to show it to Bettina when they went back. It wasn’t a palace, or as large as Bettina’s home, but Louis’s city home was a very handsome house. And the chateau was huge, daunting, ice cold, and nearly impossible to heat. But his parents lived there, and Louis only went there a few times a year.
“Is he French?…He must be French,” Augusta was saying. “Did you see him kiss my hand? No self-respecting Englishman would do that.” Louis was smiling at what he overheard, and was tempted to do it again to shock the old lady. Despite his restrained exterior, he had a sense of humor.
Gwyneth handed him a cup of tea as they sat in the drawing room, and she asked if he took milk and sugar or lemon, and he said plain. The moment Bert observed him more closely and how he and Bettina spoke to each other, he knew why Louis was there. There could only be one reason why he had come so far. And now Bert wanted to know who he was. He whispered a question to Bettina, and she smiled and nodded.
“You could have warned us,” he scolded her.
“I wanted it to be a surprise,” she said innocently and looked very young.
“Well, it certainly is.” He took her aside and led her into the library, while Gwyneth chatted with Louis in conversation with the others. So far, it was all polite, banal repartee.
Once he had her alone in the library, Bert looked at his daughter seriously. “All right, who is he and how do you know him? How did you meet? Who are his parents, and does he have any? He seems rather old for you,” he said sternly.
“He’s a lovely person, Father. You’ll love him. He’s a banker like you. He’s French. He has a house in Paris, and a chateau in Dordogne, or his family does. I met him through the Margaux. They like him very much, and I love him. We want to get married.”
“You didn’t ask me last time,” he reminded her. “Why now?” he asked, still a little miffed over Tony.
“Louis wants to ask your permission,” she said seriously, and Bert could see all that it meant to her in her eyes. He was pleased that she was doing it the right way this time, with the right man. It was his only concern.
“How old is he?”
“He’s forty-one, Father. But he’s not old,” she insisted.
“He’s eighteen years older than you. That’s a lot.”
“He’s very good to me. He’ll take care of me.” She was pleading with him. Bert had already seen that he was a kind, proper person, and approved, particularly since the Margaux had introduced them. They would never have introduced them if he were unsuitable.
“And where would you live? Here or in France?” He guessed the answer before she said it. She hesitated for a long moment, knowing he’d be sad.
“He has to work there, Papa,” she said in a soft voice. “At the bank. We’ll have to live in Paris. But you can come to visit us anytime. And he wants to adopt Lili.”
“That’s a long way for us to go,” Bert said practically, knowing Gwyneth would be upset. “And we can’t leave your grandmother and Magnus.”
“Yes, you can,” Bettina insisted. “Nothing can happen to them now,” she reminded him with a grin, which reminded her of her warning. “And please don’t let them do anything weird while he’s here, nor Uncle Angus.” She knew Josiah would behave.
“I can’t control your grandmother, but I’ll say something to the others. When are you thinking of getting married?” he asked her.
“That’s up to him, and whatever he works out with you,” Bettina said demurely. “Where are the Gregorys?” She wanted them to meet Louis too.
“They’re in Maine till Labor Day.”
She looked disappointed. She knew they had to leave before that.
“Well, I’ll wait for him to speak to me,” Bert said, as they left the library and walked back to where the others were. Louis was engaged in a lively exchange with Augusta, which worried Bettina.
“What are you saying, Grandma?” Bettina asked her, as Augusta looked at her.
“I was telling your friend that he has excellent manners for a Frenchman.” Bettina rolled her eyes and suggested they show Louis to his room. It had been a long day. They’d been up since dawn on the train. And a few minutes later, Phillips took him to one of the large guest bedrooms. Gwyneth wanted him to have the best one.
“We dine at seven-thirty. It’s early, I know,” Bert said pleasantly, and Louis asked him politely if he might have an audience with him before dinner, and Bert said he could. He wasn’t wasting any time. Gwyneth overheard them, and raised an eyebrow at her daughter.
“Is it what I think?” she asked Bettina in a whisper as she followed her upstairs to her bedroom. It had stood empty for five months while she was gone.
“Yes, Mother, it is,” Bettina said, turning to her, as tears filled Gwyneth’s eyes. She tried to restrain them but couldn’t.
“I should never have let you go to Paris,” she said sadly. “Now you and Lili will live there.” Tears rolled down her cheeks as they hugged each other.
“I’ll come to visit you, and you can visit us too, I promise. He’s such a fine man.”
Gwyneth nodded, pained that she was leaving the nest again. But Bettina looked so happy. She had never hoped to meet anyone like him. “Is it really what you want?”
Bettina nodded in answer. Gwyneth didn’t want to stand in her way, and knew she had been miserable in San Francisco for several years. With Tony, and the baby, and a life that was too quiet for a young girl, with more responsibility than she had wanted, on her own. Her life in Paris would be better for her.
They chatted for a while as Gwyneth helped her unpack, and tried to adjust to the idea of losing her daughter. She had thought she was coming home to stay, but she had only come to say goodbye.
Louis and Bert came to a satisfactory understanding when they met before dinner. Bert granted his permission for them to marry. He was impressed by what a serious man Louis was, and satisfied that he truly loved Bettina. Bert was sure she would be in good hands, and he had liked all of Louis’s answers to his questions. And he was obviously a person of substantial means.
Louis was waiting for Bettina at the bottom of the stairs when she came down dressed for dinner in a pale blue satin dress and the tiara she had worn when she came out. This was a special occasion, and she hadn’t worn it since.
“What did he say?” Bettina whispered with stars in her eyes.