The remaining houseguests were standing by the small grave M. Gendron had opened in the left corner of the garden, overlooking the sea and, some steps behind them, the staff was also paying their last respects to William Montgomery.
Their different relationships with him notwithstanding, everyone was deeply moved and using those moments in silence to bid him their particular goodbyes before the small box containing some of his ashes was covered by earth and the basalt slab where Unahad written his name, years of birth and death and Thou art most beloved with chalk.Later, those words would be carved in the stone but for now she couldn't bring herself to just put the slab down as if she was hiding William from view.
Earlier, they had driven to Marseille, the closest crematorium, in order to fulfil William's wishes. After a small ceremony where Una and Elliott had delivered beautiful eulogies and the widow had read Edna St. Vincent Millay's «Dirge Without Music» in an heartfelt but steady tone, his ashes were divided into four different boxes: one containing the ashes to be scattered in the Mediterranean, one to be buried in Chateau Ondine's garden, one to be buried in Paris, and the last to be taken to New York.
At first, Una hadn't been very sure about the burial site in the same place where he had been murdered, but eventually chose not to make any change to what William had left decided. Chateau Ondine had been his dream and he had always considered it his best work and she wouldn't let the people who had killed him take it away from him twice.
It was a beautiful postcard-like sunny day. In that moment, they didn't hear birds and there was no breeze to make the trees billow in the wind so, apart from the gentle whisper of the sea underneath, it seemed that the house and the garden were bidding him goodbye as well.
Una cried quietly into her handkerchief and sometimes she used a dry corner of it to clean the sweat gathering at her temples. It was bit hot for the velvet dress with bouquets of burgundy roses over a black background but it had always been William's favourite and she was glad she had brought it to Juan Les Pins and could wear it now.
That wasn't the first time she was parting with William forever, but the repetition didn't make it any easier. Yet, she didn't fault him for having spread his burial over several occasions. There are many significant places for someone when they live a full and interesting life as his had been, and she couldn't be any more thankful and glad for having been given the chance to share it with him.
«Goodbye, my love», she whispered at last, before crouching to pick up a handful of dirt and gently dropping it over the box she had had made for the occasion in a rush.
Nola and Alva, Una's younger sister, who had been able to finally make her way to France after being caught by the news in the midst of a tour through Southern Italy, helped Una to her feet after and also repeated the gesture but without saying anything further.
Elliott and Phryne followed suit and so did Joséphine, Caroline, M. Duval, Mathilde, Mme Leblanc and M. Gendron.
Caroline trembled as she moved, still in shock after having to come to terms with the fact that Philip had really murdered William but she was doing her best to keep her composure. She had cried violently in Phryne's arms when Rousseau had told her about the latest developments but she had decided that her own state wouldn't prevent her from attending William's funeral. Not only was the least thing she could do, but she had always genuinely liked him. While he was the closest thing to an in-law she had, he had treater her like a friend above all. Una and Caroline had hugged after the gendarmes had left, but she still kept a little bit of distance, too ashamed of what Philip had done and as if she didn't deserve being there.
Perhaps because she had already had the time to process the reality of Alphonse's role om William's death, Joséphine's features revealed she felt morose, but there wasn't any other indication of her distressed state of mind and she wiped the tears that dotted her lower lashes with subtle but precise gestures. She appeared to be Caroline's main support but she didn't keep away from Una for long. For her, it was clear that standing by Alphonse's side didn't mean she condone his hideous act and Una had always been a good friend she cherished.
Elliott might have been sleeping when Phryne had checked on him the previous night, but the sunlight revealed how tired and beaten down he was. He had never had particularly youthful features, not even in the pictures from home Nola had shown her in Roedean or when they had met for the first time, but he looked suddenly very old to Phryne. Old and fragile, which was something hard to conciliate with his tall and imposing figure as well as the mental picture she had of him, even in those few instances where she had seen him deeply inebriated. Pathetic and sad, but never fragile. They had stood side by side for most of the day, and Phryne rubbed his arm encouragingly. Seeing Elliott cry made her want to cry, as if the present circumstances weren't enough to make her emotional, despite her somewhat neutral position in the dynamics of the house.
Miss Fisher was little more than an acquaintance, but had known William long enough to miss him and to help catch his murderers.
Nola cried onto the back of her hand, the other holding Una's arm carefully. She could hardly remember living in Paris without Una and William's presence nearby. They had been drawn to each other as expatriates often do, but there was also someone who knew someone who knew someone who knew the Montgomery's and could vouch for how good it was to know them, how pleasant and smart they were. They were all that in public, but they also turned into great friends, those willing to listen to her blabber about her life and the pressure exerted by her family and how she sometimes felt herself close to giving in to it so she could bridge the gap between her and them and know what it would be to not stand on the outside for once, despite her general high regard for doing what she thought was good for her without having to justify it to others. They were also up to having her over in the rare moments when she felt she needed being taken care of. Nola would miss William's humour and warmth tremendously, but it was time to be there for Una, the gentlest person she had ever met and who didn't deserve to be going through such tragedy.
Nola had been tremendously surprised by Alphonse and Philip's involvement. Yet, she couldn't deny that she had hoped they were the ones responsible when it had become undeniable that the killer was someone closely tied with the house. She knew the other people too well or liked them too much for even wanting to entertain that idea.
Even Pavlov seemed sad, laying quietly on the floor near Una.
When everyone had thrown their bit of earth onto the box, Una knelt down and dragged the rest of the monticule nearby into the grave and smoothed it over with her own hands.
Alva and Nola stood back, letting her do that by herself as she had asked, but then everyone helped lay the basalt slap on top of it.
Each other present people left a flower from that same garden as a tribute and, accompanied by tear-stained faces and the Fletcher Henderson record of 'Clap Hands! Here Comes Charlie' that Elliott set to play, William Montgomery's funeral came to an end.
A/n: This is quite a sad chapter, but I hope that it didn't prevent you from 'liking' it enough.
Historical note: Cremation was legally allowed in France since 1887, when a law about funeral choices was passed but its 'development' was quite tied with the fact that it was only in 1963 that the Catholic Church started authorising it. Given this, crematoriums were quite rare in France up to the 'timeline' of this story (and still sort of are). As mentioned, the closest one to Juan Les Pins back then was in Marseille.
Edna St. Vincent Millay's «Dirge Without Music» can easily be found online (and break your heart).
«Clap Hands! Here Comes Charlie' can be found on you tube (leaving it like this so it doesn't get blocked) easily as well.
Blount64: I think the Capitaine and Phryne could make a good team, jut not as good as with Jack. :D Thank you for reading and commenting.
Jj: I had a nice Christmas and I hope yours was wonderful despite the stress. I'm glad to know that the twists and clues continued to keep you amazed and intrigued and find this a deep and complex murder mystery. I have written a couple of them but I had never had something with two levels like this. As I wrote above, I think Rousseau and Phryne would work well together and have even found some common ground. Yay! Thank you.
There are only two chapters left of this story and I'm expecting to post both tomorrow. I hope you're still up to reading them after three months of this story. Thank you for reading.