“How is it the person knew I had ordered this wardrobe?”
LaCroix pressed his palms together and rested his chin on his fingertips. “Hmm. This, I do not know.” He stared, eyebrows drawn together, and appeared as if he might be praying for an answer. Pointing to Cordeviolle, he said, “If you will excuse me, it may be better for you to speak directly with him.” He showed Gabriel to a seating area off the main showroom. “You would be more comfortable here, yes?”
Gabriel sat in one of the two mahogany chairs that flanked a round table. This had become more than he expected, and he had promised Rosette he would return with the fiacre so she could take the coach to the market. Once again, the partners engaged in a conversation punctuated with finger-wagging and forehead-holding.
He forced his thoughts to solving the mystery of the donor. Though he knew a broad spectrum of people because of the café business, most were acquaintances with little knowledge, as far as he knew, of his personal affairs. Considering those who had the means to accomplish paying his debt narrowed the possibilities to less than a handful. For Tante Virgine and even André, the money owed was not beyond their reach. But his aunt would never undertake such a stunt for fear of her sister’s wrath, which displayed itself in ignoring Virgine. And for someone who required human contact to survive along with air, food, and water, that separation would be a death. André, while able to use his money freely, probably had no knowledge of Gabriel’s visits to the tailors. More importantly, he would not undermine Gabriel’s pride.
Having exhausted the list, Gabriel stood to look for Monsieur Cordeviolle. The tailor headed in his direction, but alongside him were the father and son Gabriel wanted to ignore. Watching the three men, Gabriel then realized the one person he had forgotten. His father. Certainly his pockets were deep, but his responsibility to his family with Rosette hardly necessitated a pocket at all.
Gabriel heard Cordeviolle’s farewells to the two men. Then, walking over, Cordeviolle motioned for Gabriel to sit as he took the other chair.
“Monsieur Girod, please accept our apologies. This is, you understand, a most unusual situation.”
“Of course. As I am sure you understand that, depending on the person responsible, I must initiate appreciation or an offer of compensation.”
Cordeviolle sighed. “The gentleman responsible requested that we not reveal his identity. And he has been our customer for quite some time now.”
Gabriel’s frustration was tempered by the tailor’s apologetic tone. He respected the man’s unwillingness to be dishonorable. “It is not that I don’t appreciate the gesture, it is that it creates a certain sense of obligation.” He stood and said to Cordeviolle, “Please thank Monsieur LaCroix for his help, and thank you for yours as well.”
“You are most welcome.” He nodded. “Please, wait here, and I will bring your wardrobe to you.”
Moments later, he handed the clothes to Gabriel and then, in a voice so low Gabriel hardly heard him, said, “C’est son père tout craché.”
* * * * *
Years of practicing restraint enabled Gabriel to delay his reaction to Cordeviolle’s observation until he reached his carriage. In commenting that Gabriel was the spitting image of his father, Jean Noel, the man accomplished both honoring his promise to the father and acknowledging the confusion of the son. And if not to convey the identity Gabriel sought, why would he have mentioned the resemblance? And why would his father choose to do this now?
This was the first time Gabriel had placed such a costly order. He still didn’t know how his father knew the information, unless the tailor who’d helped him had made the same remark. As hommes de couleur libre themselves, they understood the system of marriages de la main gauche. The tailor knew Jean Noel and Rosette had what some called a “left-handed marriage,” in which neither were bound to the other but in most cases resembled marriage in every way. With the exception that placées willingly, consistently, and generally happily participated in the physical aspect of the marriage. Ironically, the system disfavored the free men of color like himself. The choice between a protector who provided well for her or someone like Gabriel who often struggled to attain or maintain success was not difficult for most women of color. Sometimes, if cast off by their protectors, the former placées would consent to a marriage with a free man of color. Except for his mother, who defied the system by telling Jean Noel that she would no longer need “protection.”
Gabriel could count on one hand the number of people who knew that his father did not leave willingly. To spare him humiliation, one of Rosette’s concessions was allowing others to believe he no longer desired her. It might have been inevitable, but unlikely. Before Rosette ended their relationship, Jean Noel appeared content, comfortable, when he visited. After it ended, he tried to arrange time with his children and, at the same time, avoid Rosette. He looked like a starving man allowed to attend a banquet but forbidden the food. And now Gabriel understood his father’s pain because it was his pain as well.