When Strangers Marry (Vallerands #1)(22)

“You have a right to know, Lysette, what happened between Max and Etienne Sagesse. It will help you to understand my son better, and perhaps even to forgive him a little. He is not nearly as wicked and selfish as he seems. When Max was younger, he exceeded all the hopes his father and I had for him. He was a wild boy, to be sure, often given to mischief, but also warm and kind, and full of charm. Nearly every woman in New Orleans, young or old, matron or maiden, was in love with him. His downfall, naturellement, was a woman.

“Corinne Quérand was the daughter of a highly respectable family in New Orleans. Max was your age when he married her. So young, in fact, that he was not able to see the real woman beneath the beautiful facade. The first year of their marriage Corinne gave Max the twins, and he was overcome with joy. It seemed that they would be very happy together, but then…” Irénée paused and shook her head regretfully.

“What happened?” Lysette demanded.

“Corinne changed. Or perhaps she now allowed her true nature to be revealed. The beautiful mask dropped away, and she began to discard her morals and self-respect as garments she was simply tired of wearing. Corinne had no interest in her children. She wanted to hurt Max, alors, she took a lover. I think, Lysette, that you can guess who that was.”

Lysette swallowed hard. “Etienne Sagesse.”

“Oui, c’etait lui. Corinne flaunted her indiscretion with Etienne in Maximilien’s face. She knew Max still loved her, and that drove her to such cruelty…Mon Dieu, my son suffered as no mother would ever want to see her child suffer. He desired to call Etienne out, but his pride would not let him admit before the world that his wife had been unfaithful to him.”

Noeline secured Lysette’s hair at the nape of her neck and moved to hand Irénée a handkerchief.

“Merci, Noeline,” Irénée said, swabbing at her moist eyes. “Anyone could understand why it would happen. Corinne had tortured Max with his own feelings for her, until he couldn’t stop himself. It was justified, wasn’t it, Noeline?”

“Oui, madame.“

“What happened?” Lysette asked, although she already knew.

Noeline was the one who replied. “Madame Corinne was found in the empty overseer’s house, set back in the woods. She was strangled.”

“Max claimed that he found her that way,” Irénée said. “He insisted that he didn’t kill her, but he had no alibi. The authorities considered the circumstances and chose to be lenient. They can on occasion be persuaded to look the other way, especially in the matter of an unfaithful wife. The duel with Etienne never took place. Max continued to insist he was innocent, but no one had faith in his claim. His friends proved to be unsteadfast, and Max was left alone with his grief. I was certain that after time had passed he would recover and become something like his former self. But the bitterness consumed him. He became incapable of expressing affection, of trusting anyone, of allowing himself to care for anyone except his sons.”

“Madame, do you believe in his innocence?” Lysette asked.

Irénée paused an unbearably long time. “I am his mother,” she finally answered.

Lysette frowned, thinking that didn’t quite sound like a yes. “Perhaps there was someone else who had reason to kill her?”

“No one else,” Irénée said with terrible certainty.

Lysette tried to imagine Maximilien Vallerand putting his powerful hands around a woman’s throat and choking the life from her. It was impossible to reconcile that image with her knowledge of the man who had cared for her when she was ill. She could accept that Vallerand was ruthless, not to mention manipulative. But a murderer? Somehow she couldn’t make herself believe it.

“Max must be pitied,” Irénée said. “Now you understand why Max saw you as the means to force Etienne into a duel. He regards it as his opportunity to avenge the past. I have little doubt that he will kill Etienne. Perhaps then Maximilien will be able to put the entire tragedy to rest.”

“Or,” Lysette murmured, “your son will simply have more blood on his hands.”

———

Irénée could not help but be gratified by the number of visitors she received on Thursday. All her female friends and relatives came from far and wide, eagerly seeking information on the most thrilling gossip to be passed around in years. The controversy had spread to every corner of New Orleans. It was obvious a duel was forthcoming. Everyone knew that Maximilien Vallerand had virtually stolen Etienne Sagesse’s fiancée from under his nose and ruined her.

“The rumors are untrue,” Irénée said placidly, reigning over the crowd in the parlor like a queen, handing around plates of cakes and langues de chat, tiny pastries that dissolved on the tongue. “How can anyone believe my son could assault the virtue of a girl living under my roof? Not only was I there to chaperone her, but she was ill with fever! I myself nursed her through it!”

Four gray, lace-capped heads nodded together. Claire and Nicole Laloux, Marie-Therese Robert, and Fleurette Grenet were Irénée’s staunchest friends, supporting her through the most dire circumstances. Even in the dark days of Corinne Quérand’s murder, they had not stopped paying calls and had never thought to withdraw their friendship. Irénée was a gentle and generous woman, and everyone knew her to be a lady of the highest refinement. Her son, on the other hand…