Antoine was more vocal. ‘Perhaps Alexandra doesn’t want to oversee the renovation of old buildings, or clear out the orangery. We mustn’t take advantage of her.’
Alexandra found her voice. ‘A project like this would be wonderful. I’d love to do it,’ she said. ‘If you didn’t mind?’ This she addressed to Antoine.
He shrugged and smiled. ‘If it makes you happy, I am happy.’
Although delighted with his reaction, Alexandra felt obliged to protest a little. ‘Except that it will be expensive to renovate the buildings.’
‘We’ve got my truffle money,’ said Stéphie.
‘And we will pay in advance for everything,’ said Penelope firmly.
‘Would you mind if I talked to Alexandra about this in private?’ said Antoine. Without waiting for an answer, he ushered her out of the room.
When they reached the study Alexandra remembered he was someone who told other people what to do with their businesses and wasn’t just a father who loved spending time with his children.
‘Before you take this on, Alexandra,’ he said seriously, ‘you must give yourself time to consider what it entails. You will have to deal with French builders, planning approvals, buying supplies at the best prices, all sorts of things which will be new to you and you may well not wish to undertake.’
‘Won’t you be here?’
‘Not all the time. There are some loose ends that need tying up with my last project. If we went for this, you would be in charge. Although of course I hope we’ll have David, too. And Maxime for the legal part.’
‘I’ve never done anything like this before,’ she said, suddenly filled with doubt.
‘If you want to do it, you will do it. I have perfect faith in you. We’ll do what we can and not worry about the rest.’
Alexandra felt a sudden flip of excitement. It was a massive project but so exciting. ‘I’d love to do it! And I know David and Jack will help when they’re not teaching.’
Antoine smiled and Alexandra felt she’d been breathed on by the sun itself. ‘Thank you, Alexandra.’
Chapter Thirty
The following day, Antoine and Alexandra surveyed the buildings with much more concentration than they had before. Alexandra had a notebook and pencil and Antoine had a builder’s tape measure. Alexandra found it easy to visualise how things would look if a wall was knocked down or moved. She had done a fair bit of knocking down walls in London, in her home there, although mostly she had crossed her fingers when it came to knowing whether or not the ceiling might come down too. Luckily for her it had been a successful strategy.
Here, there would be builders, people who knew what they were doing. But they might also say: No you can’t do that. She would have to accept that – at least until she knew a bit more about what they were hoping to achieve and the building process.
‘There is a father and son who do a lot of work in the area,’ said Antoine. ‘They will know other tradesmen. We’ll ask them to come and look at what’s required. It’ll be a big job; they may prefer not to take it on. If they don’t, we’ll have to find someone else.’ Antoine frowned. ‘I want you to know what you’re taking on, chérie.’
He was looking at her so intensely she had to look away.
‘Let’s go and see the orangery,’ she said. ‘That’s where Penelope wants the party.’
They turned away from the outbuildings and walked across to the orangery, which was on the other side of the chateau.
As they approached the building, Antoine said, ‘It is rather inconvenient that Penelope is so set on having her wedding breakfast in the orangery, but the reason for it is romantic. I suppose, as a Frenchman, I should encourage romance.’ Alexandra turned away so he wouldn’t see her blush. ‘Now,’ he said, finding the key on the ledge, ‘let’s see if we can make it suitable for a celebration.’
As Alexandra and Penelope had discovered before, the orangery was mostly in need of sweeping and painting.
‘It’s because it’s part of the chateau and it has been used more recently,’ Antoine explained, examining what appeared to be a patch of damp in the corner. ‘The other buildings have been ignored for so long.’
‘Félicité’s mural will improve it, but it will need to be quite big. Maybe she could get Jules, the boy she likes, to help her.’
‘Hmm,’ said Antoine. ‘Maybe not, considering the history this building has.’
Alexandra laughed. ‘We’ll get Stéphie to be their assistant. Henri too. They can be chaperones.’
But as Antoine locked up the orangerie she couldn’t help feeling wistful about her feelings for her boss. Unrequited love could be rather draining.
Once the world had gone back to work after the Christmas break, Antoine and Alexandra visited the builders in town. It was an old-established business, handed down from father to son for three generations. The father was not hopeful they could take on the work. He explained why at length, sucked his teeth and shook his head. But once his son came into the office and saw Alexandra and discovered she was going to be in charge of the operation, everything became a lot more positive.
