All That Glitters (27 page)

Zack spoke hesitantly. “Lilli and Francois thought they could force Hildy to confess that she was the guilty one by kidnapping Cammie.”

Fran opened his mouth to say something, but was unable to utter a sound.

Zack walked back to where Fran was sitting and put a comforting hand on his shoulder, as he continued with what he knew he must tell him, no matter how much it hurt. “Lilli has had a vendetta against Hildy ever since Greg was shot in the court of law where she and Roger Fielding were suing him for stealing their musicals. I was there and saw the whole thing. I don’t blame Lilli for believing his lies, but I do blame her for the kidnapping.”

Seeing how upset Fran was, Zack spoke as gently as he could. There was no backing down now. “Francois thinks Hildy is to blame for Greg not returning to marry Lilli, but Greg was planning to marry Hildy until she found out what kind of man he was. Francois believed Hildy had robbed him of his real father, and he planned to get even with her by robbing her of her daughter. He planned to kill Cammie as soon as Hildy made the confession he was demanding.”

Fran started to rise from his chair, but Zack stopped him. “That’s not all,” he told him. He hated to hurt him even more, but the whole truth had to be told. “We have reason to believe that Lilli and Francois hired a hit man to shoot Andre. We found him on the road near the Chateau in Biarritz, almost dead. We rushed him to a hospital just in time to save his life. Andre couldn’t have made that ransom call.”

Fran turned and looked at Zack. “Are you sure Lilli and Francois did this? Why would they want Andre dead? We thought he was dead!” He shook his head in disbelief. “There must be some mistake. I can’t believe I’ve been living all these years with a murderer.”

Zack was silent for a moment, then continued. “Lilli and Francois were afraid that Andre would tell you the truth. They decided to silence him once and for all.”

“But when Andre disappeared years ago he didn’t know about Cammie being kidnapped! She hadn’t even been born! I don’t understand.”

“That’s not what they were trying to keep him from telling you. There’s a lot more to this.”

“Did Andre tell you why he disappeared?”

Zack’s eyes narrowed. “One day Lilli asked him to kill someone. He left so he wouldn’t have to.”

“What?! Who did she ask him to kill?!”

“Andre wouldn’t tell us. He said someone would be in danger if he did.”

“Mon Dieu! Mon Dieu!” Fran exclaimed. “Is there anything else?”

Zack reached into his pocket and pulled out the diary that Andre had entrusted to him. He thumbed through it till he found the page with the corner turned down.

As he held the diary, for a moment he felt as though time had stopped. How can I tell him?

Before he could come to a decision, Fran, enraged by what Zack had told him, jumped up from his chair and headed toward the drawing room.

Zack pocketed the diary and followed him.

Fran confronted Lilli. “Is what Zack just told me
true?” he demanded.

Lilli looked with pleading at Fran. “Cherie, please understand. I had to find a way to make Hildy admit her guilt and clear Gregory Wilcox’s name.”

Fran’s face was red with anger. “You and Francois have disgraced the name of Dubonnet!”

Up until now Hildy had kept silent. But she suddenly snapped. She stepped forward and confronted Lilli. “Even if you believed Greg’s lies, Lilli, that didn’t give you a license to kidnap and plan to murder my daughter!” Her voice shook with anger. “I wrote ‘The Ginger Jar’ six months before I ever met Greg. He stole my musicals, not the other way around. This was proven in a court of law years ago!” She threw her hands up in a gesture of futility. “Where does this stop?!”

Fran glared at Lilli and Francois with disgust. “How could you have kidnapped Cammie?”

“I wish I could say that was the worst thing she did,” Zack interrupted. “But you have a right to know what really happened to Vivienne. Do you remember that Lilli and Vivienne went horseback riding the day Vivienne was killed? No one else was with them, so it was easy for Lilli to say that Vivienne was killed from falling off her horse. But that’s not the way it was.” He looked at Lilli. “Shall I tell him the rest, or do you want to?”

Lilli looked frightened. “Vivienne was riding too fast and her horse tripped. She hit her head on a rock. By the time I got to her to try and help her she was dead.”

“No, Lilli,” Zack said calmly, “that’s not what happened. You deliberately tripped Vivienne’s horse so she couldn’t help falling off. When you discovered she wasn’t dead, you hit her on the head with a rock. You reported it as an accident. And you did it just so you could marry Fran and give your son the title of Count.”

Lilli was defiant. “Where did you hear such a ridiculous story?! You can’t prove that! You weren’t there. You don’t know what happened. She fell from her horse.”

Without a word, Zack reached into his pocket and pulled out the diary. He opened it again to the dog-eared page and held it out to Fran.

“My diary!” Lilli exclaimed, and tried to grab it out of Zack’s hand, but he stopped her.

Fran took the diary from Zack. There was no mistaking the handwriting. It was Lilli’s.

When Fran finished reading it, he looked up and stared at her as though he were seeing a stranger. “I trusted you! You killed my wife! My beloved Vivienne!” His voice shook with outrage. “I took you into my family! I gave you my name and was a father to your son! How could you have done this? Didn’t it matter at all what it would do to me?” He put his head in his hands, hiding the tears that rushed to his eyes. “Dear God, how could this have happened?” he whispered under his breath. He rose and walked over to the desk, unable to look at his wife or stepson as he spoke. “Lilli—Francois—I want you out of my house and my life. Now!” He reached for the phone and called the police.

They had all been listening so intently they hadn’t noticed that Francois had sneaked out of the room, deserting even his own mother to save himself.

The police quickly found him, and took him and his mother to headquarters, where they were booked for kidnapping and murder. Gabe was booked as an accomplice.

After they left, Fran sat in his chair, lonely and crushed. He looked drawn, and the color had drained from his face.

“Cammie—my dear, dear girl!” he groaned. “How you all have suffered!” He slowly rose from his chair, no longer erect, but with shoulders stooped, looking like an old man. “I think I’ll go up to one of the guest rooms,” he told them. “I need to be alone. I can’t bear to go to the one that Lilli and I shared.”

“Of course,” Zack said. He looked at Fran with great sympathy. “I’m sorry I had to tell you this.”

Fran stopped him with a gesture. “You only told me what was true,” he said.

With that he left, his head bowed with grief.

CHAPTER XLI
 

It was three o’clock in the morning when Cammie, sleeping in the room next to Fran, woke up and heard him pacing. She donned her robe and went into the hall.

Jeremy, whose room was on the other side of Fran’s, appeared in the hall at the same time.

Together they knocked on Fran’s door.

Fran opened it and motioned for them to come inside. He sat down in the easy chair, and they sat opposite him.

Cammie spoke to him with great tenderness. “Fran, I know how you must feel. You must be very disillusioned by what Lilli and Francois did. I’m glad I didn’t marry Francois, but I’m really sorry you’re not my father-in-law. I was looking forward to it.”

Jeremy dropped to his knees and took Fran’s hand in his. “We have some good news, Sir. Cammie and I are very much in love. We want to be married as soon as possible.” He looked at Cammie, and she nodded consent for him to go on. “We’ve discussed it,” he continued, “and we’d love to be married here under the trees that shade that beautiful pathway. And—” he hesitated—“would you do me the honor of being my best man?”

The sad, silver haired gentleman’s eyes filled with tears as he looked at Jeremy. “You would want me to do that? It would be my honor, not yours!”

“Good!” Jeremy grinned. “It’s settled! Now all we have to do is make arrangements for the wedding.”

Cammie looked with pleading at Jeremy. “I don’t want a lot of fuss,” she told him. “I’ve had enough pomp and ceremony to last me a lifetime, and look what happened! I want this to be simple and quiet, with just my parents and friends at the service.”

Fran perked up at the news, and
started planning. The twinkle had returned to his eyes. “How
soon do you want to be married? Is tomorrow too
soon? I could arrange for a clergyman to come first
thing in the morning. We could hold a quiet ceremony
out under the trees.”

“Sounds perfect!” Jeremy agreed.

Cammie put her arm through Jeremy’s as she turned to Fran. “As soon as we’re married,” she told him, “I’m going to help Jeremy find out who he really is. He’d still be looking if he hadn’t been sidetracked saving me from Francois.”

Fran looked at them fondly. “I love you both as though you were my own,” he told them. “Jeremy, I would be very honored if you would wear one of my uniforms to be married in. I think we’re about the same size, and it would please me greatly.”

Jeremy embraced him. “I’d be honored, Sir.”

“And, my dear,” Fran said, turning to Cammie, “I wonder if you would consider wearing Vivienne’s wedding dress for the ceremony? You’re about the same size she was. I’ve saved all her clothes. I couldn’t bear to part with them. It was all I had left of her after—” His voice trailed off before he finished his sentence.

Cammie threw her arms around his neck and kissed him. “I’d love to!” she exclaimed.

“There’s one other thing,” Fran continued. “Jeremy, do you have a wedding ring to give Cammie?”

“Well—no,” Jeremy replied. “This has all happened so fast, I haven’t had a chance to think about it. Maybe Cammie and I should go into town before the ceremony, and shop for some rings.”

“That won’t be necessary,” Fran said, smiling. “Just a moment.” He walked to the other side of the room and opened a locked drawer in the armoire. He took out a small jewel box and handed it to Jeremy. “I saved Vivienne’s wedding and engagement rings,” he explained. “I couldn’t bear to part with them. I’ve been saving them for—” His voice choked. Then he smiled. “It doesn’t look as though I’ll be needing them now. My dear ones,” he said, “I’d be honored if you would accept them as your own. That is, Jeremy, if that’s all right with you.”

Jeremy opened the small box. It contained a beautiful, large diamond, with clusters of small diamonds surrounding it, and a wedding band covered with more small diamonds, both in antique settings.

Jeremy handed the box to Cammie, who gasped with delight when she saw them. “Oh, Fran!” she exclaimed, “they’re beautiful! Are you sure you want us to have them?”

“Absolutely!” he declared. “That’s why I’m giving them to you.”

Tears glistened in Cammie’s eyes as Jeremy put the engagement ring on her finger. “I’ll give you the other one tomorrow,” he told her. He put the box in the pocket of his robe and turned to Fran. “Thank you, Sir. That was a wonderful gesture.”

“One more thing,” he said. He removed his own wedding ring and handed it to Cammie. “I’ve worn this since my beloved Vivienne and I were married. I’d like you to put it on Jeremy’s finger during the ceremony.”

“But, Sir,” Jeremy protested “that ring means something special to you! Are you sure—-”

“Absolutely!” Fran declared. “This will complete the whole picture—Cammie with Vivienne’s rings, and you, Jeremy, with mine. And now—you had better get some sleep,” Fran told them. “You have a big day coming up tomorrow.”

CHAPTER XLII
 

At ten o’clock the next morning, Cammie and Jeremy stood in front of the Vicar.

Cammie wore Vivienne’s beautiful, but simple, white wedding dress, and Jeremy wore one of Fran’s uniforms.

Hildy stood beside Cammie as Matron Of Honor, and Jay stood, ready to give the bride away—this time happily.

Fran stood by Jeremy’s side, a very proud best man.

And so, to the tune of the birds singing and the frogs galumphing in the pond nearby, Cammie and Jeremy were married.

The Vicar had just pronounced them husband and wife, when one of the servants informed Fran that there was a man in the drawing room who insisted on seeing him.

“Tell him we’re busy. Ask him if he can’t come back another time.”

“He says it’s urgent,” the servant told him.

Fran turned to the others. “I’m sorry,” he said. “This should only take a minute.”

As he started to leave, Zack felt an urgency. Just a gut feeling, but he had learned over the years to obey it. “I’ll go with you, Fran,” he told him.

Together they went to the drawing room.

It was Andre!

“How good to see you!” Zack exclaimed. “How are you feeling? You look a lot better than the last time I saw you!”

“What happened to my son?” Fran demanded.

Zack looked startled. Fran had a son?

“Sir,” Andre interrupted, “I have a confession to make. You may never forgive me, but I can’t live with this any longer.” He turned to Zack. “I didn’t tell you the whole story. I’m ready to now. I want the others to hear this. Please call them.”

As soon as they were all gathered in the drawing room and had sat down, Fran turned to Andre.

“You took my son riding. You both disappeared! What happened to him?”

Jay and the others were as surprised as Zack. “Your son?! You had a son?” Jay asked him.

Fran bowed his head. “I haven’t been able to talk about it to anyone,” he replied. “It hurts too much.” He pulled out his handkerchief and wiped his eyes. “My first wife, Vivienne, and I had a son. He and Andre disappeared the same day. Please, Andre, tell me—did someone kidnap him?”

“Oh, Sir,” Andre said, “I’m so sorry. I did.”

“What?! Why?!”

“I had no choice. I had to save the little boy from being murdered.”