Decision and Destiny: Colette's Legacy

377 Pages·2009·1.25 MB·English

by  Deva Gantt

colette’s legacy
To Mom,
for her steadfast support
and encouragement in all our endeavors,
especially the Colette Trilogy.
Contents
Directory of Characters iv
Chapter 1
PEACE of mind! Oh, the oblivion of peace of mind!… 1
Chapter 2
IT was an hour past daybreak and Charmaine and the… 25
Chapter 3
AN hour before Sunday Mass, Yvette announced she was not… 67
Chapter 4
WILL you marry me, Charmaine?” 88
Chapter 5
CHARMAINE’S eyes fluttered open. The bedside lamp
cast a glow… 174
Chapter 6
CHAOTIC commotion gripped the front lawns. A throng
of servants,… 210
Chapter 7
SPENT of curses, Frederic found the morning less to his… 256
Chapter 8
PAUL raked his hand through his tousled hair,
breathed deeply,… 295
Chapter 9
CHARMAINE woke with a start and sat upright in Pierre’s… 328
About the Author
Other Books by DeVa Gantt
Credits
Cover
Copyright
About the Publisher
DIRECTORY OF CHARACTERS
for Decision and Destiny
On Charmantes:
The Duvoisin Family:
Frederic Duvoisin—Patriarch and master of Charmantes; son of
Jean Duvoisin II, found er of Les Charmantes (deceased); brother
of Jean III (deceased)
Elizabeth Blackford Duvoisin—Frederic’s first wife (deceased 1808)
John Duvoisin—Only son of Frederic and Elizabeth; heir to the
Duvoisin fortune (born 1808)
Paul Duvoisin—Frederic’s illegitimate son (born 1808)
Colette Duvoisin—Frederic’s second wife (born 1810; deceased
1837)
Yvette and Jeannette D uvoisin—Twin daughters of Frederic and
Colette (born 1828)
Pierre D uvoisin—Youngest son of Frederic and Colette (born
1834)
Agatha Blackford Ward Duvoisin—Older sister of Frederic’s late
wife, Elizabeth; John’s aunt; Frederic’s third wife
People living in the Duvoisin Mansion:
Charmaine Ryan—Heroine of the story (born 1818 in Richmond,
Virginia), governess to the Duvoisin children; only child of Marie
and John Ryan
Rose Richards—Elderly nursemaid to Yvette, Jeannette, and Pierre;
formerly nanny to John and Paul; originally hired by Jean II to
care for Frederic as a young boy
Professor Richards—Rose Richards’s husband; formerly tutor to
John and Paul; initially hired by Jean II as a tutor for Frederic
(deceased)
George R ichards—Rose and Professor Richards’s grandson; close
friend of John and Paul; production manager and overall supervi-
sor of island operations (born 1809)
Duvoisin Servants:
Jane Faraday—Head housekeeper
Travis Thornfield—Butler and Frederic’s personal valet
Gladys Thornfield—Travis’s wife; Agatha’s personal maid
Millie and Joseph Thornfield—Travis and Gladys’s children
Felicia Flemmings—Housemaid
Anna Smith—Housemaid
Fatima Henderson—Cook
Gerald—Head groom
Bud—Stablehand
Islanders:
Dr. Robert Blackford—Island physician; Agatha’s twin brother;
older brother to Frederic’s first wife, Elizabeth; John’s uncle
Harold Browning—Charmantes’ overseer
Caroline Browning—Harold’s wife; sister of Loretta Harrington
Gwendolyn Browning—Harold and Caroline’s only daughter
Stephen Westphal—Charmantes’ financier; manager of the town
bank
Anne Westphal London—Stephen’s widowed daughter; resides in
Richmond
Father Benito St. Giovanni—Island priest
Jake Watson—Harbor foreman
Buck Mathers—Dockworker
Madeline Thompson (Maddy)—Mercantile proprietress
Wade Remmen—Lumbermill operator
Rebecca Remmen—Wade’s younger sister; friend of Gwendolyn
Browning
Martin—Town farrier
Dulcie—Proprietress of the town tavern
In Richmond, Virginia:
Marie Ryan—Charmaine’s mother, abandoned as a young child at
the St. Jude Refuge (deceased 1835)
John Ryan—Charmaine’s fugitive father
Father Michael Andrews—Pastor of St. Jude’s Church and Refuge
Sister Elizabeth—Nun and teacher at the St. Jude Refuge
Joshua Harrington—Charmaine’s first employer
Loretta Harrington—Joshua’s wife; sister of Caroline Browning
Jonah Wilkinson—Captain of the Raven, the Duvoisin mer-
chantman
Edward Richecourt—Duvoisin lawyer
In Memory:
Adele Delacroix—Colette’s mother (deceased)
Pierre Delacroix—Colette’s brother (deceased)
Pascale—Colette’s childhood girlfriend
T uesday, August 22, 1837
eace of mind! Oh, the oblivion of peace of mind! They were
Charmaine’s last thoughts as she drifted off to sleep. Like a
prayer answered, she succumbed to a deep and restful slumber, the
first she’d had in three long nights.
Songbirds in the great oak just outside her window awoke her,
and she lay abed enjoying nature’s symphony, a harbinger of the
brilliant day ahead, one that was perfect for a picnic. She rose and
peeked into the children’s room. They w ere fast asleep. She began to
dress, determined to get an early start.
The letter she had written to Loretta Harrington sat propped on
her chest of drawers. She scanned the pages, resurrecting the tur-
moil of the past three days.
I was pleased to receive your letter . . . I am quite well . . . The
children are a constant comfort to me and I enjoy my position
on the island . . . I still do not understand Mr. Duvoisin’s
marriage to so cruel a woman as Agatha Ward . . . I avoid her
whenever possible . . . Paul is the consummate gentleman, and
aside from Rose and George Richards, I sometimes feel he is the
2 DeVa Gantt
only friend I have in the house...George returned this past
week, but you should not harbor hope of him as a possible
suitor...my thoughts have been far from such concerns...
John Duvoisin has ventured home, even though it is whispered
his father forbade him to do so. His presence has rekindled my
former reservations concerning matrimony. I can understand
Frederic Duvoisin’s disdain for his own flesh and blood, for
John is a rude, ill-bred, detestable cur who spends his days
closeted in his apartments drinking from dawn to dusk. I’ve
tried to avoid him at all costs, but he appears at the worst pos-
sible times, and I find myself poorly equipped to respond to his
sarcasm. He has taken a dislike to me for a number of reasons.
He’s learned of my father, undoubtedly through his intended
bride, the widow Anne Westphal London...Do you know
her? But I am not the only person he ridicules. He wages war
with practically everyone, including his aunt or stepmother, as
the case may be...Tell Mr. Harrington he was never more
correct in his opinion of a person than he was of this man.
Please give everyone my love...
Sighing, she tucked the letter into its envelope. Then she sat at
her dressing table and began brushing out her unruly hair.
The serenity of the morning was shattered by a series of vocifer-
ous oaths that brought her straight to her feet and into the corridor.
Joseph Thornfield was racing down the stairs, a wooden bucket
tumbling after him, ricocheting off the walls and splattering water
everywhere.
“Damn it, boy! I love hot baths almost as much as I love music,
but I refuse to be scalded into singing soprano in a boys’ choir!”
Charmaine turned toward the bellowing voice, and her jaw
dropped. There stood John Duvoisin, dripping wet from head to
toe, leaning far over the banister, and shouting after the servant boy.