Page 36 of A French Inheritance

Briony and Jeannie walked up through the fields with Meg so that Jeannie could see inside Briony’s unit. Both Holly and Calvin were open and they met Holly’s daughter, three-year-old Carla, for the first time. Carla immediately wanted to pet Meg, who rolled over for her tummy to be scratched.

‘I’m planning on opening the brocante in time for the summer and when I’m ready, I’m going to do an advert in the Nice Matin .

Hopefully I’ll be able to have an advertorial rather than a straightforward advertisement,’ Briony said to Holly and Calvin.

‘I was thinking of taking a picture showing all three units to use in the advert, are you both happy with that?’

Calvin agreed instantly. ‘Great idea. Happy to chip in with the cost.’

Briony, who had seen the fleeting look of worry cross Holly’s face and realised she couldn’t afford to offer anything, said quickly, ‘No. I’m not asking either of you to contribute to the advertisement.

But rather than picture one unit, it’s better to show everything that is available up here.

You okay with that?’ she added, looking at Holly.

‘Thanks, that’s great.’

Leaving the units Briony and Jeannie made their way back down through the farm fields to the lake, where Meg went for a swim and Briony and Jeannie sat on the bench.

‘Before I forget, Lucy has invited us for supper this evening up at the farm. She wants us to meet Hannah and Debs, their daughters. I did accept on your behalf.’ Briony looked at her mum. ‘Are you free or have you arranged to meet Yann?’

Jeannie shook her head. ‘No. I’m free.’

‘Good.’

‘It’s lovely here. Giselle loved it by the lake. I wonder…’ Jeannie stopped.

‘What are you wondering?’ Briony said.

‘Granny’s ashes came over with Gerry,’ Jeannie said quietly, looking around. ‘They are in one of the boxes in my room. Maybe this would be a lovely place to scatter them? She loved the garden too, so perhaps there would be better. What do you think?’

Briony was silent for half a moment, trying to think which place would be better. ‘For selfish reasons, I think the garden. I like the idea of her being close, staying in a place she loved that is now mine.’

‘That’s what we will do then. Scatter her ashes down near the old trees under the owls’ nest in the garden.’

‘Just the two of us saying a final goodbye? Or do you think we should have a little memorial gathering for people here? I know Granny wasn’t a fan of either funerals or memorials.’

‘I think the two of us. Although I think Yann would like to be with us – he knew Giselle all his life and was very fond of her.’

‘Shall we do it Easter Sunday then, when hopefully Yann will be with us?’ Briony suggested.

Jeannie nodded. ‘Perfect timing.’

Back at the cottage later, Briony showed Jeannie the posters and the postcards from the attic box and Jeannie started to study the photographs.

After about five minutes, she shook her head.

‘Sorry. I give up. I did think I might be able to work out if there were any photos of your dad’s grandparents, but I can’t.

I think these are from before the war and even earlier.

I think the girl with the sad-looking eyes could possibly be Giselle’s maman and Jeromé’s grand-maman, but… ’ she shrugged. ‘Who knows.’

‘Let’s open the second box,’ Briony said. ‘We might have more luck with that one. I’m pretty sure it has a lot of Great-granny Marie-Louise’s paintings in there.’

Inside, they found paintings of all descriptions – landscapes, portraits, views of villages, cottages, the Mediterranean – even a couple painted in the Cubism style.

But the ones they both fell in love with were the Impressionism.

All the paintings had the same small signature in the bottom right-hand corner of the painting as the one hanging in the hall: Marie-Louise.

* * *

Early that evening, Briony and Jeannie walked up to the farm with Meg. ‘Isn’t the weather glorious today?’ Jeannie said as they made their way onto the terrace to join everyone. ‘So much warmer than the UK was yesterday.’

Adam nodded. ‘Thankfully, the last few nights have been warmer, but Météo France are still issuing a frost warning over Sunday night and Monday morning. Downgraded but still a worry.’

‘It does mean, though, that the avocados are likely to escape any damage and hopefully the vines will too,’ Lucy said.

‘Fingers crossed that we get warm sun and blue skies for the weekend, but cloudy nights would be good. The girls will be joining us in a moment. Right now, they’re trying to persuade Elliot to drive them into Cannes after supper. ’

‘I’ve given in,’ Elliot said, appearing on the terrace, accompanied by the girls in question. ‘It’s easier than trying to argue with them. So no wine for me this evening.’

‘Honestly, they can wind you round their little fingers,’ Lucy said, handing the glass of rosé intended for him to Debs.

‘As their godfather, I feel duty-bound to be nice to them.’

‘Don’t let them drag you out at midnight. They can get a taxi back. Or Adam will go down for them.’

‘Jeannie, Briony, let me introduce you to Debs and Hannah,’ Lucy said as the girls appeared. ‘And then they can give me a hand with getting dinner on the table.’

Briony found herself on the opposite side of the table to Elliot, who was sitting between the two girls.

Taking a sip of her wine, Briony looked over the top of her glass at the three of them.

Clearly good friends despite the age difference, she saw a different side to Elliot.

A side that she really liked and hoped she would see more of in the future.