‘No,’ said Antoine. ‘They had a specially trained truffle hound, a perfect area of woodland and not a single one.’
‘It was very disappointing,’ said Stéphie. ‘Can I have another slice of cake?’
‘Is Jack back yet?’ asked Henri. ‘He said he might try and find a guitar for me.’
‘You’re not learning the guitar,’ said Lucinda, without apparently needing to consider her answer. ‘You are a brilliant cellist. You’re not allowed to waste your time and talent on a guitar.’ She drew breath. ‘And I forgot to say, Jack is visiting my mother.’
‘Really?’ said Antoine, surprised.
‘Yes. And my mother’s old friend Gérard is also coming for dinner,’ Lucinda went on. ‘I came to invite myself to dinner here to leave them alone. The conversation will be very boring.’
‘But Jack is there?’ said David. ‘Visiting your mother? How very curious.’
Lucinda shrugged. ‘I would be jealous if I thought either man was romantically interested in my mother, but of course, they can’t possibly be.’
‘Why is that?’ asked David, who, Alexandra could tell, found Lucinda highly entertaining.
‘She’s a grandmother!’ Lucinda said, scandalised. ‘She is far too old to have admirers.’
Chapter Fourteen
Jack arrived back after supper, staying in the kitchen very briefly before going to bed. He was as polite and charming as ever, but Alexandra had no idea if he’d had a good day or not. He seemed distracted and unwilling or unable to tell them how his dinner with the children’s grandmother had gone. It was very strange.
It was only later, when Alexandra was clearing up, that Antoine told her it had been arranged that Lucinda would take Félicité and Henri out the following day. Alexandra couldn’t decide if she was annoyed that Stéphie had been left out or relieved. If Lucinda wasn’t going to treat the three children equally, maybe it was better if Stéphie wasn’t included.
‘Do you know what they’re going to do?’ she asked Antoine.
‘She wants to buy them clothes, and do something cultural, I expect,’ said Antoine. ‘She has asked me to look at the prospectuses she brought. Maybe they should go to boarding school. It may be the only sensible solution.’
‘Stéphie will miss them terribly if they went away.’
David appeared in the hall. ‘I’m going to take myself off now. It’s been a lovely day but I’m tired.’
‘Thank you so much for cooking us such a wonderful meal,’ said Antoine.
‘It’s an absolute pleasure, old chap,’ said David and went upstairs, making Alexandra wonder if he wasn’t rather overdoing the English-gentleman act.
She was about to follow David when Antoine said, ‘Don’t go up just yet. Come back into the kitchen where it’s warm and have a glass of brandy. I need advice about my children’s education.’ He sent her a glance. ‘Even if you are only twenty.’
Inordinately flattered, Alexandra allowed herself to be seated in the comfy chair, which had become a bit more comfy since she had found better cushions. Antoine handed her the brandy.
‘What do you think? Should I allow Lucinda to send them to boarding school?’
‘It’s hard to say. I did go to boarding school myself but I didn’t like it. It was very old-fashioned and I’d been used to a certain amount of freedom, living in London with young women who never really knew what I was up to. I wasn’t happy only being able to walk to the nearest town, which was very small, on Saturdays, with a friend, if we asked permission. I suppose I did enjoy being with girls my own age, but not enough to make me want to stay at the school.’
‘And did you learn anything there?’
‘It did fill a few gaps in my knowledge. I was considered bright and was advanced in some subjects but I was dreadful at arithmetic. David taught me sums.’
‘Oh?’ Antoine sat back in his wheelback chair with the rush seat.
‘I met him when I was selling – or trying to sell – antiques at the Portobello Road market. Have you heard of that?’
He shrugged. ‘It’s a market; it sells antiques.’
That didn’t quite sum up the bustling, colourful, cosmopolitan community she’d come to love but this wasn’t the moment to comment. ‘Well, I’d managed to wangle myself a bit of space on someone else’s table. I had to look after the whole stall while the proper stallholder went shopping. David was next door and could see I was getting in a muddle with the money. And I didn’t know the basic trading terms. He took me to the pub and made me learn my times tables and percentages. He taught me a lot of other things too.’
‘You went to school without knowing your times tables? Surely you learn that when you are small?’
