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BEFORE TESS LEFT THE house the following morning she phoned Colette for a brief chat and arranged to call around that afternoon, dying to tell her friend about the discovery at her house. She also had to call in at the surgery soon but thought it could wait another day. At the moment the priority was safeguarding Eugénie’s legacy. Once James was handed over to Mrs B, the live-out housekeeper, Tess and Charlotte headed off to Town with several empty boxes in the boot ready to fill with what remained in the cupboard.
As Charlotte drove her eyes sparkled with excitement and Tess couldn’t resist teasing her.
‘Anyone would think this find belonged to you instead of me,’ she said, with a laugh.
‘I know, I can’t help it. Ever since I finished my last book life has been a little, dare I say, flat? It had absorbed so much of my time, living and breathing my work over many months, only surfacing for Andy and James. So after publication I was at a loss with little to drive me on.’ She sighed. ‘Don’t get me wrong, I adore James but small children aren’t that great at intellectual stimulus are they?’
Tess grinned.
‘No, they do have limitations. Can’t you start another book?’
‘In theory, yes, but at the moment I feel I should spend more time with James after being glued to the computer for months. I grew up with nannies, hardly ever seeing my parents, but Andy’s mum was a full-time mother before he went to school and he often says how much he enjoyed that time with her. It’s difficult to find the right balance, which is why you coming to stay and all that’s happening at your house are proving a godsend. I shall have to live vicariously through you for a while,’ Charlotte said, flashing her a smile.
‘Happy to be of use! And I’m glad of your input with regard to anything to do with Hugo, so it’s not entirely one-sided.’
They arrived in Hauteville and carried the boxes into St Michel accompanied by the sound of hammers and drills. Dumping the boxes in the hall, Tess offered to show Charlotte round before heading to the attic, starting with the sitting room. Charlotte was immediately drawn to the far window.
‘What a marvellous view!’ she cried. ‘You’ll be able to watch all the comings and goings of the harbour just as Hugo did from his look-out at Hauteville House. What fun!’ She spun round and Tess watched as her friend gazed at the empty space.
‘This will be a lovely room when it’s finished. I could tell from Andy’s plans the whole house has such potential. Can’t wait to see the rest of it.’
‘Come on, then.’
By the time they had seen everywhere but the attic rooms, Charlotte had made it clear how much she approved of the house and what Tess proposed to do to it, throwing in occasional comments about possible paint colours. The builders looked on bemused as the women navigated uplifted floorboards and drums of electric cables waiting to be buried under floors and in the walls. Finally they arrived on the attic floor and Tess led the way into the room with the now not so hidden cupboard. The last of the plaster had been removed, exposing the panelled wooden door set in the alcove wall.
Charlotte rubbed her hands as Tess unlocked the door, swinging it wide open.
‘What a pretty desk, definitely a woman’s and probably French,’ Charlotte said, as Tess aimed a proper torch over it. Her friend was right, it was pretty, something she hadn’t noticed before, too excited by the pictures and then finding the diaries. Walnut, heavily inlaid with marquetry and boasting bow-front drawers and cabriole legs. Definitely not something to be hidden away but put on show and admired.
‘Expensive, too, I’d guess. My mother has something similar in our Somerset home and I was never allowed to touch it as a girl. So, how did a poor widow manage to buy something like this?’ Charlotte ran her fingers over the dusty surface, peering at the elaborate inlay.
Tess was taken by a thought.
‘I wonder if it was a gift from her employer? For services rendered?’ she said, smiling.
Charlotte laughed. ‘Hugo wasn’t known for extravagant gestures, but he was quite generous when it suited him. Perhaps the answer lies in those diaries. This gets more intriguing, doesn’t it?’
‘Sure does. I can’t wait to read them but for the moment let’s box up everything,’ she waved her arm to include the pictures on the walls and the desk drawers, ‘as I want to keep it safe.’ They lifted the pictures from their hooks and placed them carefully in a box before opening the drawers. Tess had only taken a brief look before and was surprised to find some leather-bound books and ribbon-tied sheets of handwritten paper in a large drawer. It was frustrating to have to wait to examine them properly, but a building site was hardly appropriate. She continued to fill another box with the miscellany of items that appeared to include items once belonging to Hugo, like his handkerchief.
‘Right, I think that’s everything. We can have a good snoop later when we have better lighting. A bit like Christmas, isn’t it?’ she said, closing the flaps on the box.
‘Even better! We might be touching items that Hugo touched or used and no-one has seen for over a hundred years.’ Charlotte lifted up a box, saying, ‘What are you going to do about the desk?’
Tess frowned. ‘It should be safe locked up for now, but I don’t like the idea of leaving it here long-term. I’ll certainly keep it, although it’s not my usual style, which has been Ikea until now, but it’s lovely and...and has history.’
‘Quite right. We could always take it to my house before the builders start working in here–’
‘Someone mention the builders?’
‘Oh, hello, Jack. I didn’t hear you come in.’ Tess turned to see him standing in the doorway, casually dressed in jeans and T-shirt and smiling broadly. She cleared her throat, ‘Charlotte, meet Jack, my builder. Jack meet Charlotte, Andy’s wife.’
‘Hello, Jack, I’ve heard so much about you. Good to meet you at last,’ Charlotte said, balancing a box under one arm and offering a hand.
Jack duly shook it, saying, ‘Pleased to meet you, too.’ His gaze returned to Tess who had picked up a box, ready to leave. ‘I’m guessing you’ve emptied the cupboard. Would you like a hand with the boxes? Wouldn’t want either of you having an accident on the stairs,’ he said, straight-faced.
Tess was torn. On the one hand she knew the stairs were hazardous, particularly if you couldn’t see where you were going; on the other hand, she hated being perceived as a vulnerable woman. She was debating what to say when Charlotte, with her sweetest smile, said, ‘How kind, Jack, thank you,’ and passed him her box. Tess had no choice but to hand him hers, accompanied by a quick nod. Jack went off saying he would see them downstairs.
Charlotte giggled.
‘Your face! I could see you were determined not to give him your box for some reason, but didn’t see why we should risk twisting our ankles, or worse. You fancy him, don’t you?’
Tess’s jaw dropped.
‘No, I don’t. It’s just that he’s...patronising. And...and he wanted to buy my house, turning up the day after my aunt’s funeral.’ The words tumbled out and Tess felt her face flush under her friend’s cool stare.
‘I was right, you do fancy him. And why not? He’s rather sexy, all dark and brooding. Is he single?’
‘I...I don’t know. Look, we should go down, he might be waiting to take the boxes to the car.’ Tess was annoyed with herself; if her friend could read her face, could Jack?
‘Okay. But I wonder if I should invite him round for dinner sometime. After all, Andy likes him, and I can ask other friends, too.’
Tess didn’t know what to say, shrugged and started down the stairs with Charlotte following. Jack was talking to one of the builders in the hall when they arrived.
‘I was just asking Larry if he’d carry your boxes to your car as I have to dash. Only popped in for a quick recce. Unless you have any queries, Tess?’ he asked, heading for the door.
‘No, I’m good, thanks.’
‘Right, bye then, ladies. Give my regards to Andy, Charlotte.’ He nodded and was gone.
Tess was left feeling as if she’d been snubbed, and had to force down her annoyance. Meanwhile Charlotte was giving her car keys to Larry so he could load up the boot. Once he had gone, she turned to Tess, her eyes gleaming.
‘I’ve had a marvellous idea. It would be wonderful to have confirmation of the provenance of the items you’ve found, including the desk. Agreed?’
‘Agreed.’
‘Good. When I was researching Hugo for my book I became friendly with the staff running Hauteville House, who were incredibly helpful. Stéphanie Duluc, in particular, was lovely. Now, we could show her a photo of the desk and see if she has any record of Hugo ever buying anything like it. They have tons of material archived as he kept everything, no matter how trivial. And we could show her the items Eugénie stowed away and see if they can be verified as genuine. What do you think?’
‘I think it’s a brilliant idea. We’ll need to examine what’s in the boxes more thoroughly first, but I’m happy for her to see them.’ A thought struck her. ‘They wouldn’t try and lay claim to them, would they? If they had belonged to Hugo?’
‘I doubt it. He was known to give small gifts to people around him so it’s not likely Eugénie actually stole anything. Certainly nothing of real value.’ Charlotte grabbed her arm. ‘Come on, we’ve things to do.’
Once settled at Charlotte’s house, Tess carefully spread out the items found in the drawers while Charlotte spent a few minutes with James. She was immediately drawn to a leather-bound copy of Les Misérables and on opening it was thrilled to see the handwritten dedication to ‘Eugénie Sarchet’ signed ‘Victor Hugo’ and dated July 1862. A first edition and signed by the author! Her heart raced as she turned the thin pages slowly, anxious not to cause any damage. The book was in pristine condition and Tess wondered if Eugénie had ever read it. But she hadn’t needed to, had she? She would have known the story well from copying it for publication. Tess picked up the be-ribboned handwritten pages and, untying the ribbon, saw they looked like some original pages of Les Misérables written by Hugo with various crossings-out and scribbles making them difficult to decipher. Unless you were his copyist, she thought, gleefully.
Charlotte arrived, bearing two cups of coffee and before she could put them down, Tess shot up, saying, ‘Careful! We can’t drink those here,’ she gestured to the part of the table covered in the scattered pages, ‘let’s sit over there and I’ll explain.’
Settled at the opposite end of the dining table Tess told her what she had found. Charlotte nearly spilled her coffee.
‘Oh, my God! This is incredible. What a find! That Eugénie must have been really important to Hugo for him to sign that book, which was most likely a gift. And it’s known he was careful not to let copies of original manuscripts get out, so she must have secreted pages without his knowledge. I wonder why?’ Charlotte’s face was animated as she drank her coffee.
‘I think she must have been in love with him, or at least in thrall. Hopefully the diaries will tell us. But for now, there’s still more to look at.’ Tess waved towards a pile not yet studied. She finished her drink and returned to her original place. Charlotte joined her. After her friend had examined the book and the manuscript, together they looked through the other items. Another bound volume, also signed, was of Les Travailleurs de la Mer, dated 1866.
‘I learnt about that book in school but left before we were due to study it. As it was Hugo’s homage to the island it was more important to us than Les Mis. And now I have a signed, dedicated first edition!’ Tess grinned at Charlotte.
‘Lucky you! What other gems are there?’
Tess found another single handwritten page, which proved to be even more personal than the dedicated books. As she started to read it, she gasped.
‘Hugo wrote her a poem!’