“Les Lucioles has been in my family for five hundred years,” said Henri, puffing his chest out with pride. “This dovecote was built in the time of Louis the Thirteenth.” He patted Jean-Paul on the back, feigning fatherly affection. “One day my son will take over from me. Once he has found a wife and produced an heir. Am I right?” He pulled a face and gave a few exaggerated nods, appraising his son like an old king. “Yes, one day you will inherit all that is mine. It has lasted five hundred years; there is no reason why it won’t last another five hundred. Eh?”
Ava winced as he flung open the door so that it crashed against the wall, sending the doves shooting into the air like bullets. “It’s beautiful,” she commented, stepping inside.
“It is very special to me,” said Jean-Paul without looking at her. Then he put his hand on his heart. “Very special.”
Phillip glanced at his wife. “Slightly more charming than ours, don’t you think, Shrub?”
“Oh, I think ours has a lot to recommend it.”
“No doves,” he added.
“We should buy some. We can’t have a dovecote without doves.”
“And give it a lick of paint,” Phillip continued.
“No, no. Don’t paint it. You will ruin it if you paint it,” said Jean-Paul. “I like it just the way it is. It has a secret magic.” Ava pretended to be distracted by something in order not to have to look at him.
“So, when are you planning on returning to Hartington?” Phillip said to Jean-Paul.
“Next week,” he replied coolly. “I needed to spend some time with my mother.”
“Can’t you find him a suitable English girl?” Henri interrupted. “Don’t they make them like you anymore?” he added to Ava with a wink.
Ava smiled sweetly to hide her embarrassment. “You flatter me,” she replied, shrugging off his comment with a laugh.
“Come, let me show you Antoinette’s garden.” He put his hand in the small of her back and escorted her out of the dovecote. Jean-Paul walked behind with Phillip, but she felt his eyes upon her and the frisson of excitement they caused. “We need to find him a girl,” he said, lowering his voice.
“He’s young,” Ava replied in his defense.
“It is time he settled down. Between you and me, I had to get him out of Paris. He was living the life of a playboy, dating the most unsuitable girls. I will not hand over the estate to a woman of that sort, who will piss it all away on frivolity.”
“Don’t you find him changed?” she asked, suddenly realizing that she was in a position to help him. “When he arrived in England, I’ll be honest, I didn’t think he’d last a week. He had never done a day’s work in his life and it showed. He was completely ill equipped to work in a garden and arrogant with it. But he’s changed. Can’t you see it?”
“He looked as miserable as a dog!” said Henri unsympathetically. “I said to Antoinette, ‘That boy’s in love.’”
“With the garden,” replied Ava deliberately. “He’s in love with my garden. You wouldn’t believe it unless you saw it with your own eyes, but he’s put his heart and soul into it. He’s worked so hard to create something really beautiful and he’s never too proud to learn. When he comes back he’ll enjoy the fruits of his labor.”
“I am pleased.” Henri shrugged. “I wouldn’t believe it had anyone else told me but you.”
“I think he worries about Antoinette,” she added carefully.
“She’s stronger than she looks.”
“I’m sure. He’s a dutiful son.”
“He’s her only son. That makes her very anxious. You understand, you’re a mother. She’s overprotective and over-indulgent. If he came back from Paris with one of his strays she’d accept her. Anything to make him happy.”
“And you’re tougher, to compensate?”
“Perhaps.” He looked at her with narrowed eyes. “You’re very perceptive, Ava Lightly.”
“It’s easier to see if one’s not involved.”
“I can see the bigger picture. Life is not a fairy tale. I need a son who is a man. I entertain on a grand scale. Some of the most important men in the land walk through my gates. I cannot hand the business over to a man who does not accept his responsibility with a grubby tart for a wife.”
“You want your son to be like you,” she said, feeling sorry for Jean-Paul, his destiny all mapped out for him like that. Even though it was a magnificent destiny, there was still so much pressure to conform. While his father was alive, there was no hope of freedom, except in England with her.