Chapter Summary: Luncheon at the de Chagny home outside Paris with the new American friends. The rest of Raoul and Christine's family are introduced.

CHAPTER THREE

Katherine sat quietly at the dining table as servants cleared away the dishes and wondered how she had ever allowed herself to be talked into this. These people were so very different from her family, they were animated and vibrant and everyone had something to say. Meals at home were not like this! Those times were quiet and reserved, Father asking questions, Mother smiling benignly down upon her two children. Here the meal was full of chatter and laughter, the languages alternating quickly between French and English, people talking over each other, ignoring the servants who stood discreetly in the background. Katherine peeped through her lashes to study the faces around her, trying to remember faces and personality.

Across from her sat a handsome young man with sandy brown hair and warm brown eyes. That was the oldest son, Katherine thought, Jean-Paul. Sheliked him; he had been quiet and greeted her with gentleness. During the luncheon, he had also managed to reach her eyes and draw her into the noisy family circle. To his right sat his wife, Therese, a small woman with huge violet-blue eyes and hair the color of flame. Therese had a quick laugh and a bright sparkle in those eyes. Katherine concentrated and remembered that they were the parents of two-year old Bertrand.

Seated next to Therese was another young man with the same sandy hair and brown eyes as Jean-Paul and that, Katherine recalled, was Richard, the middle brother. He was more like her, Katherine thought; Richard was quiet and observant but always ready with a wise comment. Katherine knew he would be someone she would like to join in conversation. Seated next to Richard was his wife, Leonie, a lovely green-eyed brunette, who reminded Katherine of a serene Madonna, still and peaceful. Or perhaps that was just because Leonie was a new mother; her daughter, three-month old Chloe, asleep in the upstairs nursery with her cousin Bertrand.

Katherine had been safely sheltered during the meal by having Andrew seated to one side and Gustave to the other. The two young men had done most of the talking, telling stories of their school days, finishing each other's sentences. They had everyone laughing as they spoke of playing "Robin Hood" in the woods surrounding their garret, robbing their rich friends only to use the money to buy food and drinks at the local pub. That story had earned a sigh and shake of the head from the woman seated at the foot of the table.

A quarter of a century had done little to mar the beauty of the Comtesse. Christine's hair was still dark and shiny with only a few strands of silver beginning to peak through. Four children and nearly twenty-five years of marriage had done nothing to her slim figure. And she had the most luminous eyes that Katherine had ever seen in any person. Eyes that - Katherine was certain - would break your heart if you stared into them long enough. But the Comtesse had been so kind during the meal, asking questions of Katherine about her family and home in those moments when her own children took a breath before continuing their own speech; Katherine had liked her instantly.

At the opposite end of the table, seated at the head, was the Comte. Katherine's heart had melted when she had been introduced to him. The Comte was as kind and gentle as her own father and he seemed to sense Katherine's longing for that man on the other side of the ocean. The Comte had led her into luncheon, patting the hand on his arm, speaking softly to her, giving Katherine a sense of security and comfort. Katherine could not help but see the way his eyes had lit up when they looked at his wife. She had decided then and there that she undoubtedly liked him.

The young woman who was seated to the Comte's left, though, scared and worried Katherine for she had never met such a spirited person. Annalise had laughed nearly the entire way through the meal, her food barely touched. She had talked to everyone, her head moving to catch each eye. She was so animated and full of life, Katherine thought; nothing at all like the other young women she counted as friends and acquaintances. In some way, Katherine was envious of Annalise who, in spite of her position, obviously felt free to let her soul and spirit dance their way through life.

"Would you like to do that, Katherine?"

Katherine was startled out of her silent reverie to find Annalise addressing her. She blushed. "I am sorry. I was deep in thought."

The Comtesse lifted her napkin from her lap, placing it on the table in front of her. "It is no wonder. I am afraid my family has barely given you time to even catch your breath over the last hours." Her eyes smiled gently at Katherine.

"Pray, accept my apologies for our children," the Comte added, directing a raised eyebrow and a tilt of his head at his daughter.

"I was wondering," Annalise tried again knowing and ignoring the look from her father, "if you would like to take a turn around our garden. The early spring flowers are blooming and it is such a lovely day."

"I should like that," Katherine told her, she felt the need for air.

The young women began to rise and the men pushed their chairs back from the table coming to their feet.

"Annalise," Christine addressed her daughter in a tone that finally stopped the spirited young woman. "Please take a shawl and your brother."

Gustave looked at Andrew. "Care for a walk? We can go to the stables." He looked at his mother. "We can all go to the stables."

"I would like that," Andrew told him. "We have the most wonderful horses back in Virginia."

"Do you ride?" Annalise could be heard asking Katherine as the four young people left the bright dining room.

"I am afraid I do not ride very well," Katherine had to admit as she drew the shawl Annalise had given her around her shoulders.

"My father taught us," Annalise said. "We have all been riding since we were old enough to stay upright in the saddle. Father is a wonderful horseman."

The small stones of the path crunched under their feet as they moved through the formal gardens at the back of the house. Annalise and Katherine had shawls draped lightly over their arms, a nod to Christine's request and not to the lovely warmth of a very early spring afternoon. Gustave and Andrew walked, discreetly, a few paces behind their sisters.

"What do you make of my family now that you have met them?" Gustave wondered.

"They are everything you described them to be," Andrew told him. "They are very nice."

"I do believe there is a genuine compliment hidden in that statement," Gustave laughed.

"There is," Andrew assured him. "I find your family to be warm and welcoming. If it would not seem too forward, though, may I ask a question of a somewhat personal nature?"

"Andrew! You have held my head as I was sick after a night of too much drinking, if that is not as personal as one can get, then I do not know what is! Please, ask your question. I promise not to take offense."

Andrew grinned. "We have held each other's heads." The two men laughed; Andrew grew serious. "This is your own backyard yet your sister cannot walk here without your company? I realize that proprieties must be met but, surely, not within the confines of your own home."

Gustave sighed and clasped his hands behind his back. "Oh, the proprieties must always be met but you are right, our mother has always been concerned that someone is with Annalise. We have never questioned it. Maman has not always been able to enforce that request, you understand, for Annalise will have her own way at times and Father will abet her. Actually, Father is the only one who seems to be able to reassure Maman that we are not little dolls who will be swallowed up by the cruel world."

"I suppose that all parents want to protect their children or, perhaps, it is just their daughters that they wish to cocoon. I know that our parents were reluctant to let Katherine come to Europe alone. They only agreed after someone from the diplomatic corps who was coming to serve in France with our cousin agreed to let Katherine travel with him and his family."

"I understand that," Gustave said. "Your sister is very reserved and very beautiful. I think that had I been her father, I would have done the same." He looked at Andrew. "What do you think of my sister?"

"She is beautiful and spirited." A smile warmed Andrew's face. "She is great fun, I think. She is everything you said."

"And more."

"That is something universal about all sisters!"

They laughed and Gustave stopped, pointing towards his left. "Those are the stables. Annalise," he called.

"I know," she called back. "You are going to the stables. We are going to keep walking."

Gustave shook his head. "Do not leave the grounds. You know what I mean. I do not wish to get a scolding from Maman." He saw his sister nod her head and wave at him over her shoulder. "She won't listen," Gustave said to no one in particular before turning to Andrew. "Come. Let me show you some of the finest horseflesh in all of France."

"Brothers," Annalise told Katherine with a smile as she took the girl's arm.

"They do mean well," Katherine assured her.

Annalise was slowly leading Katherine further and further from the house, winding her through the garden pathways. "We have the loveliest flowers here when they are all in bloom." She pointed at snowdrops and crocuses that had poked their tiny heads up to the world as heralds of a new season. "Soon there will Dutch tulips and daffodils. Then the lilacs and irises and lilies will bloom. There are always bright colors blooming out here and the smell is so delicious as it comes into your room on the morning breeze."

"We have the most beautiful roses back home that bloom all summer."

Annalise frowned. "We have never had roses and I do not know why." They walked on in silence for a moment. "Would you like to see one of my favorite spots?"

Katherine looked back towards the house and stables. "Are we not going a bit far?"

"It's not much further, I promise and we shall just look and come right back." Annalise twinkled. "It shall be a tiny adventure."

"I suppose," Katherine hesitated.

"Good!"

The two young women walked past the last of the formal beds and turned into a pathway that had been trampled through a swath of wild grasses and flowers. Ahead of them was a solid wall of ivy behind which stood a thick row of trees just budding with small green leaves. Annalise turned to smile at Katherine before letting go of her arm and reaching into the ivy. A click could be heard and as the wall of ivy was pulled back, Katherine saw the light coming through a wooden gate in a stone wall. She allowed Annalise to lead her through that gate and out into the outside world.

"It is so pretty!" Katherine exclaimed. "It looks like home."

They stood on a strip of grass just outside the open gate, fields opening up before them. Across the fields ewes were munching the sweet grass replenishing the energy necessary for the lambing season that loomed upon the horizon. Scattered amongst the white sheep were brown cows, their heads still, staring off into the distance as they thoughtfully chewed their cud. A herdsman passing by dipped his head in acknowledgement to the young women.

"This was our favorite playground when we were children," Annalise told her. "My brothers were always sneaking through that gate to come out and run and chase after the animals. I chased right after all of them as soon as I was old enough to follow. I think it distressed my mother to no end. And this is where we would ride under my father's watchful eyes until we had mastered our lessons. See that?" Annalise directed Katherine's attention to their right towards a small copse of trees and a road that ran nearby. "That is where all of us would play hide and seek. And that road is why my mother did not like us playing out here. It leads toward the country and occasionally gypsies will pass that way."

"Gypsies would scare me," Katherine said.

"I think they would scare any child but I always wanted to see them because I thought it would be exciting."

"And now?"

"I do not know," Annalise admitted. "I suppose I would still like to be scared. My mother and father used to tell me tales from the north when I was a child and some of them were quite scary full of wolves and gods with hammers and all sort of wonderful characters. I used to love those stories."

"I always liked happy stories," Katherine told her.

"Well, then, we shall have to make our own happy stories over the next few months while you are here in Paris." Annalise replied.

Katherine lowered her eyes before raising them and smiling gently. "I should like that very much."