“You mean Fabrice’s grandfather?”
She stared at him but did not respond.
“That’s what happened, you know. His grandmother, Josephine—my own father knew her, as did his father. Too well. She had an affair with an apprentice named Léon Morice while he was there to install the carousel. Haven’t you noticed that Fabrice looks like none of us? The Clement family resemblance is strong. Josephine ruled that château as though she belonged as well. Another foreigner.”
“Where was she from?”
“Bretagne.”
“Isn’t that... part of France?” Cady’s gaze flickered over to Jean-Paul, who nodded.
“It is like a different world there, with different ways,” said Gerald. “In any case, she was so proud of herself, marrying a Clement, becoming lady of the manor. She held herself above the Provençal people. For years she and Yves had no children, and then a handsome apprentice arrives on the scene, and voilà. Nine months later, a baby is born.”
“I heard they used to have celebrations, and invite the whole village to ride the carousel,” said Cady.
“Of course, they wanted to lord their wealth and good fortune over the whole village. There was a huge celebration to announceJosephine’s condition, and the arrival of the carousel. My own father remembered riding it as a boy.”
“Really? Did he tell you which animal he rode?”
He looked taken aback at her question, but then answered, “It was a, uh, pig. With its tongue sticking out.”
“You remember that after all these years?” asked Louise.
Cady imagined she would remember riding the sea creature in Tilden Park for as long as she lived.
“What about the music? Did he say anything about that? Or the steam engine? What about bellows?” Cady continued. “Did he mention if any of the animals made lowing sounds?”
Gerald seemed nonplussed to have his rant against Fabrice’s legitimacy derailed. “Why are you so obsessed with that carousel?” he demanded.
She shrugged. “It’s my thing.”
“Cady’s a photographer,” said Jean-Paul. “She came to Paris to photograph historic carousels for a book.”
“Then she ought to go back to Paris.”
“Papa—,” said Louise.
“Grandfather—,” said Jean-Paul at the same time.
“It’s fine,” Cady assured Louise and Jean-Paul. She smiled and popped a couple of almonds in her mouth, holding Gerald’s gaze. “Honestly. I think Monsieur Clement and I understand each other. But I’m not ready to go back to Paris yet, as I want to clean up the carousel a little, see what’s there and whether it’s salvageable. Unless Fabrice asks me to leave beforehand, that’s my plan.”
“Thank you for the wine,Maman,” Jean-Paul said, standing and pushing in his chair. “I think we’ve subjected Cady to enough of a trial for today. Cady, ready to go?”
“Oh, sure,” she said, standing and trading kisses with Louise. “It was so nice to meet you. And Monsieur Clement.” After a brief hesitation she leaned over to give him the double kisses as well. “I wish you a good day.”
Jean-Paul ushered her out a side door. The late-afternoon air was chilly, but the sun was warm and welcome on her skin.
“That went well,” said Cady.
Jean-Paul glanced down at her, an amused look on his face. “It was pretty cheeky of you, asking him about the missing carousel animals.”
“You think he has some of them?”
“Very possibly. Or at least he knows where they are. He seemed to remember the pig pretty well. I’ll find out.”
“Thanks. Anyway, I figured it was worth a try. As I said, I’m used to people not liking me, and since he was already inclined that way, I figured it couldn’t hurt.”
“Why do you think people don’t like you?”
