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I call Pierre for advice because I can’t think of anyone else. “Hi, Pierre. Hal and I need to come and see George.” I start without preamble. “But we need someone to sit with Grandad. Can you think of anyone, do you have their phone numbers?”
She takes a moment to process this. “Don’t worry, I can come. See you in a bit.” She doesn’t even ask me why I suddenly need to see George.
I could weep with gratitude.
Hal glances at the clock, his expression doubtful. “It’s gone seven.”
I know why he’s worried. Du Montfort Hall is a long way east. When Pierre and Gabriel invited us for dinner last month, a horse-cart came to pick us up and the trip took half an hour. Pierre, on foot, would need an hour.
“We’re really pushing it, if we rock up at nine o’clock at night.” He paces the room, back and forth, back and forth, his long legs eating up the floor. “I hope George Du Montfort doesn’t go to bed early.”
“Sometimes I wish La Canette had cars.” I, like Hal, am too anxious to sit still. My knee jumps spasmodically.
Ten minutes later, there’s a crunch of wheels on the gravel outside. It’s Pierre on her bike.
“How did you get here so fast?” I open the door to let her in.
“Short cut.” She takes a look at Hal and me. “Go, go. George is expecting you. Don’t worry, I’ll take care of Hedge.”
She even draws me a map of a more direct route, using foot paths that bypass the village altogether. We hurry down small country lanes and a shortcut through the apple orchards, not even looking at all the beautiful scenery around us.
Fifteen minutes later we are being ushered into the marble entrance of the Du Montfort house. Just as the housekeeper is leading us in, George himself comes down the curving staircase and welcomes us. He’s in shirt sleeves and dark-navy trousers, no jacket. No doubt he’d been relaxing after work.
“I’m sorry to disturb you.” I start.
He waves my apology away. “Let’s go to my office.”
I don’t know what Pierre told him but clearly, he understands we have an urgent problem.
“Mrs B, can we have—” He glances at me. “Coffee? Tea?”
“Nothing.” I answer.
“Doesn’t matter.” Hal says at the same time.
“Let’s have a pot of tea.” George nods to the housekeeper and takes us to a large room with a wide desk, some armchairs, and a conference table.
Chapter Forty-Nine
Hal
I let Elodie do the talking because I can’t bear to explain the amount of work I’ve put into landscaping; the thought of losing the gardens makes me sick.
George clearly understands the implications. He listens to us, his expression giving nothing away. But when she shows him the map of the two intertwined gardens, his eyes keep flicking to me.
She explains about the loan, her doubts, Sweeny’s claim that Hedge agreed to the original terms of the debt, a claim Hedge denied. The story is bad and sounds worse with every repetition.
“And I was there,” she says for the third time. “When my grandfather agreed to sell the old shop and lavender field in exchange for the loan. There was absolutely no confusion because Alastair argued the old shop was too small to be of use. And when he came back, we discussed how he could convert it to a café over-looking the lavender field.I was there.” She repeats with heart-breaking emphasis. “He talked to me about his plans.”
George takes the paperwork and studies every document carefully. When he finally glances up, I have the feeling I’m about to fall down a deep, bottomless, hole in the ground.
“They have dotted every ‘i’, crossed every ‘t’ and closed every possible loophole.”
Elodie leans forward on the edge of the studded leather armchair. “Doris says they talked to Grandad alone for nearly two hours. Which means, they got him so tired that he became easily confused.”
George looks up at this, and there’s a fleeting expression, something like a grimace that disappears before I can be sure it was there. “I see,” is all he says.
He keeps his thoughts to himself; if they’re anything like my thoughts, then they’re not good. Tiring an old man on purpose is a dirty trick; unfortunately, it isn’t illegal and cannot form the basis of a challenge to the sale. There needs to be a different kind of challenge.
