Chapter Eight The first week of February
Jarrod lay in bed thinking about all the legal implications of the forgery, the absent annulment papers, the empty wine warehouse, and all of the pilfered possessions from the Chateau. Charles was a charlatan, no doubt.
Would the French legal system be of any help? It did not seem to want to be involved in the dispute. Too many factions...Who would have had access to the annulment papers besides the missing messenger? His mind drew a blank. The majordomo had given them to the messenger and the messenger was missing.
The next two days were a dead-end at LeHavre and the chateau. The messenger's boarding house room was bare. The servants at the home had seen nothing out of the ordinary. The auction house sales were stopped but the funds were gone.
Jo and Jarrod continued to go through the Chateau for items that Charles had not found. Jo packed up two crates for the family in California. Jarrod wanted several of the first edition books and Jo picked out three rare manuscripts for JP's collection. He also found a volume of Elizabeth Barrett Browning's sonnets. It brought a smile to his face.
He also found two antique rifles for Nick and Heath and a neoclassical bust of Hippocrates for Eugene's office one day. A Waterford crystal vase was carefully packed for Victoria as well as a Venetian glass mirror for Audra. A vanity mirrored tray for Adrienne and a porcelain horse jewelry box for Isabella were added to the crate with a Swiss music box for Rose and tin soldiers for Jay.
They didn't take the most valuable items to the chagrin of Auguste. Jo and Jarrod picked out personal gifts for the people they loved. Auguste was still angry at the thought of Charles possessing the Beaufort treasures.
Jo found a painting of her distant ancestor, Katherine Swynford Beaufort in the attic. His affair and legitimization of their children with John of Gaunt melded into the royal lineage of England. She wanted that painting for their home. It was painted 300 years after she lived but the neoclassic replication conveyed their characteristic auburn hair.
At first, Jarrod was uncomfortable taking anything from the home but Jo convinced him, "Would you rather leave it for Charles and Melanie? As soon as we leave here, the local magistrate won't stop them, I guarantee it.
They regretfully left china, silver, crystal, furnishings, and much more at the house. Three hundred years of Beaufort treasures were soon to be lost. Tens of thousands of dollars left at the house. Jo didn't want to think about it but only allowed herself to look to her future in California with Jarrod and their family. Jean had already pensioned off the staff and provided for them. It had to be enough.
Jo had spent one of the afternoons taking cuttings from the rose gardens. She wrapped them carefully in burlap bags to add to the stash she had been collecting from LeHavre gardeners to ship back. She had already left orders for spring cuts of the grapevines to be shipped to Nick in May. Those were the treasures she valued the most.
The men loaded the two crates onto the next ship addressed to Stockton and to JP Morgan in New York. These last memories of her former life to her new life as a Barkley.
Auguste and Grau's investigations came up empty too. There seemed to be nothing else to do. Go home to Stockton and wait for a Papal court in June or Jean to be contacted in October. This trip had been a legal failure but not a personal one for the couple. They were going to talk about their plans at supper at the Inn.
"Well, Jo what would you like to do?" Jarrod poured her a glass of wine. He continued, "I would like to visit Paris while we are this close. A few days and then we can book passage… I know this hasn't turned out the way we wanted but I don't regret a moment of our trip."
"Marie, please...it's time to be married." Father Clement showed up at their table breathless. He had slipped his novice companion again.
"Father Clement, would you like to sit down? " and Jo pulled up a chair for the elderly man. He grabbed a roll with both hands and nibbled on it. Jarrod nodded and got up to go over to the cathedral to let them know he was with them again.
"No! Don't go. We need to plan your wedding so you can take communion. It's time. It's time, Marie. Please. Let me marry you today." The novice ran in apologizing again.
"He is so crafty. He can disappear in an instant." Jo and Jarrod smiled at him and his charge. They were going to miss Father Clement.
"Marie, the time is here" and they walked out the door of the inn. Jarrod and Jo continued their planning for the trip home via Paris.
Isabella was sick every morning this week. Heath brought her a cloth and kept the basin filled with cool water for comfort. He held the cool compress on her head and throat until the feeling passed.
"I love you 'Bella" She smiled weakly back at her gentle cowboy.
Silas sent up a tray of toast and tea to settle her stomach each morning. Victoria watched carefully and made sure Isabella was comfortable.
Heath shared their news with Nick. "Well dang boy, you work fast. Going to get me a nephew to help me run this ranch." He slapped Heath on the back and on a second note, bear-hugged his little brother."
"Nick, we aren't going to say anything for a while, about two more months just to make sure everything is ok."
Charles and Melanie were staying in Paris. He had around $75,000 in his accounts from the winery and the auction house. Jarrod Barkley owes me twice this much or more! Jo, that little usurper has ruined my life with these Barkley people. damn the admiral too for going off for penance in all places, a monastery.
Melanie too was frustrated. When they married in San Francisco, she thought she was getting a wealthy aristocrat that would dote on her and herself alone. She soon found she had married a spoiled child that needed to be taken care of himself…. He had immediately drawn funds from HER accounts to make the trip to France…Her late husband would be rolling over in his grave if he had seen where his money was going. He would have called Charles, a fop, and many more profane words. 'A man who worked for his money would have never appreciated her marrying one who thought he shouldn't.'
Melanie was furious about Charles's face. He was going to be permanently disfigured with a crooked nose with a huge bump in the middle of it. The bruising still had not gone away even after seeing the doctor in Paris. She even thought there was a broken cheekbone involved.
"What in the hell did you think, Charles, challenging a rancher? as they boarded a train for Paris.
"I am a man of means. I don't resolve issues with my fists. Barkley is a heathen."
"Well, that American heathen just rearranged your face. A lot of good your means did.
They didn't speak the rest of the ride to the city.
Melanie had involved herself in his machinations with the Barkleys the very first day they fled upon hearing BlackJack had come back from Tahiti. She was actually the one to come up with the plan to use Heath's name against Elizabeth Beaufort.
Charles had explained all the intricacies of the trust with husbands having control of their wife's assets in the states, his destruction of the annulment papers to give him time to extract "his rightful portion" from the sisters, and the Admiral's great estate outside of the trust.
When she finished packing, she went downstairs to leave instructions with her foreman and business manager.
"M'am I know you are in a hurry but we need some signatures before you leave"
Melanie signed drafts and billings. At the bottom of the pile was an agreement for breeding of a Barkley bull with three of the DeLand heifers. She almost tore it up in anger but decided against it. This might come in handy.
She remembered her husband keeping people's signatures in case he needed their proxy on land speculations and stock mergers. Hmmm
She dropped the signature by her business office to be copied, told him what she wanted the document to say, to date it the 'day of the wedding', and to ask Phil Archer to sign it. His hatred of the Barkleys was well known in the Valley. Plus what did he care about a foreign trust anyway… a man should be running a trust anyway...women didn't have good sense in business ventures...everyone knew that.
A hundred dollar note and Phil Archer notarized the power of attorney. It really didn't say anything illegal and it didn't affect California...so long as it inconveniences the Barkleys. The DeLand clerk assured him that no one would see it in the United States.
"Madame Beaufort, Monsieur Barkley...you have a visitor from the church."
(I added a reference to Katherine Swyford Beaufort for fun. Katherine by Anya Seton is one of my favorite all-time historical fiction novels. Her legendary beauty and love with John of Gaunt in the 14th century was the scandal of the century and the Tudors became her descendants. )