Chapter 1: Family Gathering
Sept-Tours. November 2010.
Diana paused on the stairs leading down to the great hall. Was Rebecca crying? She listened intently for a moment, half a mind to retrace her steps, but all was quiet. Just a new mom's nervousness.
She glanced up at the stone walls. During all the centuries they'd stood as silent sentinels, they'd never heard the sound of a baby de Clermont ... until now. Everyone in the household would need to adjust.
Yesterday she and Matthew arrived at Sept-Tours with the twins Philip and Rebecca. Their traveling party also included Ysabeau, Marcus, Phoebe, Jack, and Leonard. During the flight, she was careful to pay special attention to Leonard, her new son-in-law. She'd been relieved to hear that Marcus and Phoebe were so welcoming. She and Matthew had been just a little preoccupied.
After the twins were born, they'd only stayed in London for a few days before heading for France. Now that Benjamin had resurfaced in Oxford, Matthew wanted them in a more secure location. But was any place safe from Benjamin and his ally Satu?
During Diana's first stay at Sept-Tours, Satu had abducted her from one of the gardens adjoining the chateau. In the past month, Benjamin had attacked Phoebe and nearly recaptured Jack. Security was at the top of everyone's minds.
Diana paused as the words from Philippe resonated in her head. Think and stay alive. This wasn't the time to give in to fear. Whatever happened, they'd emerge victorious.
She smiled as she thought back on Jack and Leonard's reunion with Pierre and Françoise. The two de Clermont retainers had been privy to Jack's secrets ever since Philippe found out about him. They knew more about the young couple than she did.
She continued down the stairs to the great hall. Jack and Leonard were standing by the massive fireplace, engaged in a quiet conversation. Lobero wasn't as restrained. He gave a joyous bark at seeing her. Jack immediately shushed him and winced apologetically at her. "I'll put Mop outside so he doesn't wake the twins."
"It will take more than a few barks to wake them up. I cast a spell to dampen outside sounds." She turned to Leonard. "I expect the hall looks a little different than when you last saw it."
He nodded. "Our last visit was in 1812. Much of the furnishings are new."
"1812? That year makes me think of Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture. Were you ... ?" Her words trailed off as she watched Jack sniff the air. "What do you smell?" she asked.
"Figs ... bay leaf ... rosemary." A blissful smile crossed Jack's face. "Philippe—Grand-père—is here."
"I can smell him too," Leonard said, his face transfused with excitement.
"I wish I had your noses," Diana exclaimed, sniffing in vain for any whiff of Philippe. Corra emerged and flew over to the fireplace mantle, letting out a cackle seemingly in celebration. "When did you learn you could smell ghosts?"
"We can't very often," Jack clarified. "Up to now, the only ghosts I've been aware of are those of Goody Alsop, Susanna Norman, and Annick Guerin."
Diana remembered Jack telling her about Annick, the wife of Susanna's son Jeffrey. She was a weaver and a scryer.
"It's the same way for me," Leonard said.
"You can detect their presence in the crypt?" Diana prompted, trying to come to terms with yet another aspect of Jack and Leonard she hadn't realized.
"No, at the Dog and Whistle," Jack said. "The Normans bought the inn in the early 1600s. It survived the Great Fire and is currently owned by their descendants."
"It took me longer to smell the ghosts," Leonard said and smiled at Jack. "I like to think Jack's influence gave me a boost in sensitivity. Sometimes we felt like Corra was there too. I wish you could ask her if she ever helped us."
"You think she did?"
Leonard nodded, his expression surprisingly serious. "Two times that I remember distinctly were when Jack was in trouble."
"I suppose it's possible," Diana said thoughtfully. "During the hundreds of years before I reappeared in the present time, who knows what she was doing?" Rather like you two. Matthew had been so protective of her that up to now she'd had very little alone time with Jack since they reconnected in New Haven. But now that he was better, she hoped to rectify the blanks in her knowledge about both of them. Matthew and Ysabeau might not approve, but that didn't matter.
"And now we can sense Grand-père ..." Jack's eyes grew bright. "He once told me that he looked forward to the day I could call him that out loud. I hope he realizes how honored I feel."
Leonard squeezed Jack's hand. "How honored we both are to be welcome in his home. We'd about given up hope that the reunion with you and Matthew would ever occur."
Diana turned as Pierre entered the hall, carrying a leather casket. "Madame Ysabeau would like the three of you to join her in the solar."
"Do you know what this is about?" Diana asked Jack as they followed Pierre upstairs.
"Not a clue."
The solar was one of Diana's favorite rooms in the castle. In the Middle Ages, it served as the private sitting area for the family—a foil to the public grandeur of the great hall. At Sept-Tours, large mullioned windows overlooked the woods to the east and south.
Matthew was seated with Ysabeau at the walnut table that often served as a worktable for various projects. Diana arched an eyebrow, but he shook his head, indicating he was as much in the dark as the rest of them.
As she took her place beside Matthew, Françoise entered the room carrying a large leather portfolio.
Pierre stood at the center of the table and placed the casket in front of him."Sieur Philippe requested Françoise and me perform this service should the day come that Jack's status was recognized by the family." He turned to smile at Jack. "It gives me great pleasure to execute his wishes."
He opened the casket and pulled out a small ledger journal. "Jack, Sieur Philippe invested funds for you, beginning early in the 1600s. I was entrusted with keeping the books. Those funds are now yours." Pierre handed him the ledger.
About six months ago, Diana learned that Alain had performed the same service for her. Philippe had been concerned about her status as a witch in a family of vampires. He wanted to ensure that no one doubted she was his bloodsworn daughter.
The financial windfall was something she appreciated but didn't need, but for Jack—who'd probably scraped by virtually his entire life—Philippe's largesse could be life-changing. In addition, the bequest would help to place him and Leonard on a more equal footing with what was undoubtedly a very intimidating family.
"Sieur Philippe also left a letter which I will now read aloud," Pierre continued, unfolding a sheet of note-paper. "To my petit fils Jack and your mate Leonard, I hope this fund proves useful. Pierre has agreed to continue to manage it for you if that is your wish."
Philippe just provided them with an additional gift. By acknowledging Jack and Leonard's relationship in writing, Baldwin wouldn't be able to dispute it.
"For hundreds of years, you have acted on behalf of the de Clermonts although few have known about your service," Pierre continued to read. "It is time for you to take your rightful place in the family. And Leonard, the vineyards are counting on you to maintain their excellence."
"Leonard, do you have yet another unknown talent?" Matthew asked.
Before he could reply, Pierre said, "Sieur Philippe often told me that Leonard's appreciation of wine was second only to his. For over a hundred years, Leonard and Jack were regularly here at harvest time. Sieur Philippe would sneak away to have picnics with them."
"It was something we looked forward to all year," Leonard said, finding his voice. "The years since his death have been difficult for us too."
Jack frowned. "Grand-père appeared to know that he wouldn't be around when I reunited with Diana and Matthew."
"You weren't the only one forced to keep a secret," Matthew explained. "Philippe's burden was the hardest of all. He inadvertently learned that he wouldn't be alive when Diana met Ysabeau."
Ysabeau's face softened with immeasurable sadness. "The ring you wear," she murmured to Diana.
Diana nodded and turned to Jack. "This ring was given to me by Ysabeau before we timewalked. I forgot to take it off when we traveled to Sept-Tours. Philippe had given it to her. He knew she never would have parted with it unless he was no longer living."
Jack looked stricken. "So all the times he spoke to me of an eventual reunion, he knew he wouldn't be present." He stopped, swallowing hard.
"Except that he is," Leonard told him quietly and turned to the others. "We smelled his spirit in the great hall."
Ysabeau gasped. "Walk with me there afterward. Tell me what you sense."
"Leonard and I will both go with you," Jack promised.
"We all kept secrets," Françoise said, opening the portfolio. "These drawings were made by Jack at the Old Lodge when he was sixteen."
"Jack was at the Old Lodge?" Matthew repeated, shocked, and turned to Jack. "Did you realize I own the estate?"
Jack nodded, looking surprisingly guilty. "I overheard Tom Harriot mention that he first met you and Diana there."
Of course, you did. Diana smiled to herself as she remembered several other occasions when Jack as a child had eavesdropped on her and Matthew in London. Despite their best efforts to keep her pregnancy a secret, it too hadn't escaped his sharp ears. Leonard was undoubtedly cut from the same cloth. Little wonder that Philippe had taken advantage of their skill.
"Jack was badly injured in a fall," Françoise explained. "He and Leonard were near the lodge at the time. Leonard sought help, and luckily Gallowglass and I were there to provide it."
Ysabeau's brow furrowed. "His wound couldn't have been very severe if you were able to heal him."
Diana was also puzzled. Françoise had never shown any talent for healing when they lived at the Hart and Crown. She wondered if they'd considered turning Jack. Based on comments Matthew had made, she suspected his youth would have likely prevented it.
"Jack would have survived less than a day unless something was done," Françoise said bluntly. "I was inclined to let nature take its course, but Leonard convinced me to try to save him. Marthe and I had discussed an experimental technique to use on warmbloods. Frankly, I was surprised it worked. Even so, his recovery was slow. He made these drawings while he healed."
Diana and Matthew reviewed the portraits together. Jack had placed them in the setting of the Old Lodge. Thanks to those drawings, she now had documentation of what she and Matthew looked like in Elizabethan England. Sarah would love to view them. There were also drawings of Leonard, Françoise, Gallowglass, Pierre, Andrew, the members of the School of Night—even Lobero. The paper was brittle with age but the drawings had been carefully preserved.
"Once Philippe knew about Jack, I showed the portraits to him," Françoise continued. "He often viewed them and asked me to keep them safe for you."
"Thank you for preserving them so well," Matthew said. "They're an irreplaceable remembrance of our time at the Hart and Crown." He handed the drawings to Ysabeau. "Maman, now you'll have the faces to go with the stories."
Ysabeau turned to smile mischievously at Jack and Leonard. "I'll expect the unexpurgated accounts at a later time when the others aren't around. You probably have many more drawings, non?"
Jack laughed. "The cupboards at home are overflowing. I've been recording incidents for as long as I can remember."
"I'd like to see every one of them," she declared.
#
"William Shakespeare, Marcus!" Phoebe knew she was repeating herself but how could she avoid it?
She and Marcus hadn't been included in the presentation earlier in the day. Jack and Leonard readily filled her in on the events when she corralled them afterward. If only all vampires were equally forthcoming!
Combined with her joy at Philippe's generosity was the thrill of discovery. She'd known the pair were a goldmine of information about the past, but she hadn't expected that their anecdotes would be so profusely illustrated. Jack had drawn the artists, musicians, and architects he'd worked with as well as life at court. She was practically giddy with excitement. Was there a way to share that treasure cave with the world? She was determined to find it.
Marcus had found her admiring Jack's portraits of Ysabeau and Philippe in the great hall. "I suppose you're going to tell me Jack painted these as well," he teased.
"As a matter of fact, I am," she said, enjoying his look of surprise. She loved Marcus with every fiber of her being, but he didn't have a head for art and so far she hadn't made much progress in educating him. That was another item on her agenda. "You see those intricate knots on the gown? Jack told me that was his way of signing a work. In Philippe's portrait, the knots are in the buttons of his jacket."
Marcus stared at the paintings with a new intensity. "I wonder ..."
"What?"
"You caught me reverting to therapist mode," he said sheepishly. "Jack's spent the past few weeks working on a labyrinth for a video game. It has similarities to the knots in his paintings."
"Meaning ...?"
"I'm not sure, but knots could be the key to unlocking those inaccessible memories."
Marcus had decided to give Jack a break from daily therapy. He hoped to eventually get him to remember more of his time with Benjamin. Somewhere buried in Jack's subconscious might be the location of Benjamin's hideout.
Phoebe only had a brief encounter with Benjamin but still experienced nightmares about him. She couldn't imagine how Jack had suffered and didn't want to. Personally, she thought he was better off not remembering.
"I'm glad you can discuss art with Jack," Marcus added. "You're helping him feel like a legitimate member of the family."
"Leonard's equally fascinating. Did I tell you that Ysabeau showed me a first edition of Jane Austen's last works that he and Jack gave her?"
He chuckled. "As well as Leonard having met Jane? I'm in no danger of forgetting."
"Next time we're in London, I need to visit the bell tower," she said. "Leonard told me one floor is their art studio. The walls are lined with books and cabinets of drawings. He said there are so many, they've expanded the collection to additional floors."
"Phoebe, I can tell when you're scheming. What do you have in mind?"
You know I hate to give up my job at Sotheby's when I become a vampire. Jack and Leonard have managed to find a way to continue working. They're giving me ideas."
"Knowing you, I predict you'll make them happen, but let's wait till the scion is formed before starting the revolution." His expression grew serious. "For now, we have to play nice with Baldwin. We'll need his approval."
"I'll behave," she promised. "But the revolution has already begun—the twins, your research on blood rage, the expansion of the Knights of Lazarus. The time isn't far off when Baldwin will have no choice but to acquiesce."
Notes: The title of this story is from a lute song by John Dowland, If My Complaints Could Passions Move: "Thou say'st thou canst my harms repair, Yet for redress, thou let'st me still complain."
Blog: Penna Nomen & Silbrith Conversation. See the Six-Crossed Knot page for background information on the series and an introduction to the world of All Souls Trilogy.
Story Visuals and Music on Pinterest: Six-Crossed Knot board on Silbrith's Stories