The Last Time I Saw Paris - Lynn Sheene [100]
“How appropriate.”
Claire nodded, but her face must have shown her confusion.
“You don’t know what he does?” Yvette looked doubtful.
“Well.” Claire smiled. “It seems Grey learned everything about me, but you know how secretive he can be when it suits him.”
“Yes, he can be maddening.” She turned to the window. “Thomas is a noted landscape architect. He has been commissioned to create gardens in Britain, New York and here in France. His expertise is in French gardens of a certain era.”
“Le Nôtre,” said Claire, without thinking.
Yvette smiled. “Yes, gardens based on André Le Nôtre’s designs in the eighteenth century. He has told you more than you thought.”
Claire turned away from Yvette and stared out over the landscape. Her chest ached. No wonder he loved meeting her in the Parisian gardens. It was the Paris he loved and he had shared it with her.
Yvette gestured toward the gardens. “It’s a bit overgrown now, with Thomas traveling.”
Claire’s mind churned, her heart anxious. She had to search the place. If there was evidence, and she did not find it, people, including herself, would be captured, tortured and likely killed. Yvette and Peter may be in great danger. But she ached to know what this place was to Grey. What he had said about the American. She turned to Yvette. “I can’t imagine growing up in a place like this. It must have been like living in a fairy tale.”
“I had a privileged youth, although I didn’t realize it at the time.”
“How did Grey—Thomas—come to live here?”
Yvette gazed over the landscape, her attention far away. “My family was once considered important. As befitted my status, I was sent to the finest schools, traveled across Europe, associated with the best families. Then my grandfather, the Baron de Langon died. We learned, as did all of France, that the family was completely impoverished. The servants were sent away. I was sixteen and brought home from school. All that was left to the de Langon name was this château. Nothing more.”
“What did you do?” Claire asked.
“I became a governess, employed by a family in England. An upper-class family with a young boy. The parents were cold, but Thomas—he was kind, warmhearted and so curious. When he turned nine, I got permission to bring him and his family’s gentleman on a trip to the château for the summer. His gentleman was Peter.” Yvette stopped, lost in the memories.
Claire stared at Yvette. A boy of a priggish family, destined to be more of the same. Into his young life saunters a beautiful, sophisticated Frenchwoman. Of course he was enchanted. Of course he changed his life. She was suddenly grateful to old de Langon for losing the family’s wealth.
“These gardens were designed by Claude Desgotz, the nephew and pupil of Le Nôtre. But for years, this looked nothing like what you see today. My parents, then myself, hadn’t the means to keep this up. By the time Thomas was grown, the château had fallen rather badly into disrepair.”
Claire shrugged. “It looks amazing now.”
“Thomas restored much of the gardens to their original state. He also created his own private gardens near the château. I believe Le Nôtre himself would enjoy this view.” She turned to Claire, her schooled voice charged. “Of course, the last couple of years Thomas has been gone. To Paris. Other places. Perhaps, you know more about that than I?” Yvette’s expression was polite, but her eyes searched Claire’s.
“A bit,” Claire said, her mind working.
“I would enjoy hearing about Thomas’ life away from here.” Yvette smiled, but Claire saw the worry in her eyes.
“I think Grey should tell you that.”
Yvette sighed; she turned back toward the window. “It is impossible to get back to Noisiel this evening. There will be no train until morning. You will stay tonight.”
“You are so kind,” Claire said.
Claire helped Yvette prepare a simple dinner. Potatoes, a piece of beef from a neighbor down the road. For Peter, a broth. They ate in the salon; the small table pulled close to the fire crackling in the hearth. Yvette and Peter regaled her with stories about Thomas when he