Free A Bordeaux Dynasty: A Novel by Françoise Bourdin Page A

anything. Yet she could tell that he was attracted to her—from little hints. Alas, he remained deliberately distant, abiding by Aurélien’s silent reprobation. For a few months, Laurène had accepted the situation, amused by Aurélien’s protective attitude toward her, and by Jules’s eloquent silence. Then she realized that their relationships, such as they were, could never be altered.
    Understanding that her sister wasn’t ready to talk, Dominique changed the subject.
    “Aurélien took me aside this morning,” she said. “He wants to celebrate Jules’s birthday in grand style. Thirty—that’s some milestone! I’m supposed to come up with an exceptional meal, and Alex has to go through the cellar to find the very best bottles we have. Can you imagine?”
    Laurène started to laugh, recognizing Aurélien’s unpredictable character through these demands.
    “Nothing’s too good for Jules, as usual. And when is this gala evening supposed to take place?”
    “Tomorrow. Jules doesn’t know about it.”
    Dominique hesitated before adding, “Aurélien invited Mom and Dad. And he thought that Granny could maybe come, this one time. He also called Maurice Caze. Remember him?”
    “He lived near Saint-Julien, right?”
    “Exactly. He’s Jules’s godfather. But that’s not why Aurélien invited him. Maurice Caze is also the father of a very pretty young woman. … Aurélien thinks of everything.”
    Annoyed, Laurène shrugged.
    “She’s pretty,” she said, “but dumb as a doorknob. I can’t believe that Aurélien is thinking of Camille as a potential daughter-in-law.”
    “If you ask me,” Dominique said, “he’s mostly thinking about Caze’s vines.”
    She was chuckling, but her sister wasn’t. Once again Laurène was feeling uncomfortable. Since Robert’s arrival at Fonteyne, she’d discovered with delight that she could be interested in someone other than Jules. She’d only had a vague memory of Robert and was very surprised when she saw him the morning he returned. This sudden attraction had the charm of novelty and delivered Laurène from her past obsessions. She’d suddenly decided that it was no use being twenty and pretty if all you did was cling to pipe dreams. For the past three days, she was finally seeing a solution to all her problems. She could feel instinctively that Aurélien wasn’t at all protective of Robert. And this might just be a way to get back at Jules’s indifference.
    “Your head is in the clouds a lot these days,” Dominique told her as she took the driveway leading to Fonteyne.
    “Clouds …” Laurène said with her eyes set on the sky. “There are plenty of those.”
    Robert was fiddling with his stethoscope, his eyes riveted on his father. He’d carefully read the medical file Aurélien had reluctantly handed him. They’d gone to the library so as not to be disturbed. It was Aurélien’s favorite room, the refuge where he forgot all about his worries. Even with the mahogany paneling, the room was bright, rays of sun pouring through the four large windows. Robert found there the atmosphere he’d adored as a teenager. He’d studied in this room, in a silence and light he still remembered. By tacit agreement, no one entered the library when Aurélien was there. But Robert and his brothers always had, even as kids, access to the books without any restrictions. Their father would tell them to read whatever they wanted, as long as they read. And they spent entire Sundays sliding the ladder along the shelves, in search of books they might enjoy.
    Robert began to pace and smiled at the sound of his steps on the polished hardwood floor, one of the many details that had brought him back in time and moved him since his return to Fonteyne.
    “There’s nothing too worrisome,” he said, “but I’d like you to consult a cardiologist.”
    “What?” Aurélien hissed. “You’re not sure of your own diagnosis?”
    “I’m a surgeon, you know? I’d like the