Forever Young The Beginning (62 page)

“
That’s true. She leaves
this week.”

They went riding then and soon were in
the woods. There was a good sized river running through the place
and there were eight different natural pools where it was either
shady or sunny. A small waterfall of maybe ten feet height emptied
into a deep pool area. Numerous places afforded stupendous views of
the sea and the surrounding countryside.

They talked then of having Angus and
his officers stay at their new house a few days and of Ian building
a place for some of the children to come play on special
occasions.

“
I have to go away to Madrid
on bank business. I’d like for you to come with me. Can Celita and
Tom run the hospital while you’re gone?”

‘
Yes. I’m going wherever you
go. That is that. I remember what happened when we parted last
time. No more of that for me!”

“
Alandra, I’m so happy! When
we get done with that business, I’m taking you to Henri and Marie’s
place. You’re going to love it. Then we’ll go and see Celeste sing
and see my home in Scotland and my grandparents in the Netherlands.
I’m going to take you to the Swiss Confederation in the wintertime
and teach you how to skate on ice. We’ll go to Vienna too and maybe
Prussia. Oh lass, we are going to see and do so much together. I
can’t even tell you all that I want to show you!”

“
Then we’ll do it all love,
and we’ll do it together.”

“
Marie, I’ve been working on
our new identities. Did you find out anything about that property
near Zurich?”

‘
I did. It’s around three
thousand six hundred acres more or less. The home and buildings are
in mostly good condition. Do we know any more about the place in
Luxembourg?”

“
No. I expect to hear by
next week at the latest. I’ve found a good place in Lausanne too,
on Lake Geneva. I heard about a place near Turin, in Italy. It was
a big one though, some five thousand acres, both sides of the river
too.”

“
Zurich might be
best.”

“
Yes. Karl and I have done a
preliminary sketch up of a new identity for us as the Laforges. We
have done all of the outlines for the necessary property transfers.
Some would be directly owned by this Laforge couple but over ninety
percent would be anonymously held in our trust network. And by the
way” he said with a wink “I hear that that Mrs. Laforge is a petite
and ravishing brunette.”

“
Well sir, I hear that Mr.
Laforge is a devastatingly handsome banker.” She walked to his
chair and plopped into his lap, kissing him and tousling his
hair.

“
He’s one lucky man, I can
tell you that. Getting back to this other though, we have to
consider the laws of the Swiss Confederation, and in particular the
Zurich and Lausanne Cantons. We also have to take into account
French, Spanish, Italian, and English laws. Oh yes, and the laws of
the Duchy of Luxembourg and the southern and northern Netherlands.
The outlines make it easier. Karl has been a big help here. We only
have a few years though to make our move. Ian should be returning
from Spain in the near future. I want his input on this move
too.”

“
Do you think he’ll have
success with the Rodriguez bank?”

“
Yes.”

“
I do too. If you give up
your seat on the council, we won’t have to remain so close to
France. Your region would be taken over by a newly appointed judge.
We could go anywhere we want then.”

“
How do you feel about
that?”

“
I know that Ian would like
to see America. I’ve seen something in his eyes when he talks of
the place. He has meant so much to me, Henri. If we ever decide to
expand into America, he’s the one to do it for us.”

“
Do you want to go there
too?”

“
Mmmm, someday I want to go
there with you. I think it’s too soon for us to go there. We aren’t
accustomed to the kind of life that they live over there. Ian would
love it there, no doubt. He’s unattached except for Alyssa
now.”

“
Alyssa. Hmmm; aren’t we
going to bring her over?”

“
Yes, if she wants it. Ian
has told her a little bit, since she did recognize him as the one
who rescued her. She could do it any time if she chooses. I have
word that she has a young man who is more than just interested in
her though.”

“
Speaking of Ian and being
attached, don’t forget that the Spanish girl… Alandra is it? She
lives in Barcelona, and you know how he loved her. And he’s still
in Spain now.”

“
Oh, Henri, she’s long since
married, especially in Spain.”

“
You’re probably right.
Anyway getting back to this move and all…..”

“
I support you completely
and I think your influence on the
Council
is good for Europe and for
all of our kind as well. I haven’t changed in my feelings about
that at all. I know that you get weary of the travel. But really,
most of it is to do with the banking and not with
Council
business.”

“
That’s true.”

“
To cut the amount of time
that you travel I think we should bring in both Louis and Mustafa.
Both are bright and multilingual.”

“
They’re still a bit too
young.”

“
Yes, you’d have to do it
all with Ian and Li for a while yet, then they’d be old enough. We
can bring both of them to cross over either before or after the
move. They should be as valuable to us in banking as Ian has been.
And don’t forget that your travel has been in large part due to
getting the draft-sharing system working. Now that it’s working
well, you won’t have the demands there like before
either.”

“
How did I get such a smart
and lovely wife?”

“
You were sooo lucky, were
you not?”

“
Don’t I know it? Mmmm; the
boys have gone fishing, the staff has gone for supplies, and here
you are sitting on my lap.” He kissed her and soon it became a
passionate kiss. He leaped to his feet and in one bound landed at
the foot of the staircase carrying her. She shrieked ‘Henri!’
followed by laughter as still carrying her he bounded to the top of
the staircase in one leap.

***

Alandra and Ian had hosted Angus and
the officers of Elsie at their home in the hills above Barcelona
for some four days. They had said their goodbyes and had left for
Madrid as soon as Angus and the rest of them had departed. Ian had
promised that he and Alandra would come to Scotland.

In Madrid, Ian had gone to El Banco de
Rodriquez and had formally presented his proposal to the manager
there. He now knew that the Rodriguez bank was founded by who would
have been Alandra’s father in law had not their son Philippe’ been
killed in the duel with Carlos. He would let the thing play out as
it would and wouldn’t try to capitalize on that. So he and Alandra
went sightseeing as would befit any wealthy young Spanish
couple.

Ian noticed that things were far more
staid and formal in Madrid as compared to Barcelona. The city was
larger and there were lots of sights to see. The second day Alandra
suggested they hire a carriage and driver to show them all of the
different buildings, offices, and other features, as well as homes
of prominent people. They spent an enjoyable afternoon this way.
Just before they were finished with their tour they turned into a
fashionable and well-manicured part of the city. There was an
imposing three story stone building which the driver announced was
the home of the Chief Prosecutor for the Crown. Ian rolled his eyes
to Alandra to see if she had caught that Carlos’ father lived
there. She met his gaze and nodded.

They spent one more day sightseeing
and looking around at the surrounding countryside. Then they
decided to go to the bank before leaving. The chief there told them
that Senor Rodriquez himself was in Madrid and in his office at
that very minute. Shortly Ian and Alandra were shown in to his
office.

Roberto looked up and his face split
into a smile of joy when he saw Alandra. He rose immediately coming
around his large desk, and formally kissed her hand saying
“Alandra, how good it is to see you!” Then he looked toward Ian
with his eyebrows raised. They were introduced. Extending his hand
Rodriguez said “Senor McCloud, if you are this lovely lady’s
husband, then I’m simply Roberto to you.”

“
If you are Roberto to me,
I’m Ian to you.”

“
Then please be seated, Ian.
I’ve gone over your proposal and now after meeting you I have no
further questions. I want to do this partnership today. I was a
merchant for many years and I know well how easy it is to buy and
sell goods across borders if there is a reliable system of honoring
drafts. If you’re ready, I’ll summon my officer with the necessary
paperwork. We can sign both your copies for Banque de Lafayette and
mine here and now. Please allow me to get the paperwork now.” He
then left the room

He was gone a bit when Alandra said
“Ian, when you killed Carlos, did he truly know why he was being
killed?” There was the sound of papers dropping to the floor behind
them. Ian turned in a panic just in time to see Roberto standing
frozen, staring at them. Alandra covered her mouth with both hands.
He straightened and stepped back and looked around to be sure no
one else had heard that and then closed his door and came around
the desk with the papers.

“
My officer will be here
shortly with the other copies. I heard what you said, Alandra. Is
this true?’

Alandra looked at Ian who nodded.
“Yes, it’s true. Ian killed him in a duel. He humiliated him in
front of several hundred people exactly where Philippe’ was
killed.” Roberto looked at Ian and raised his eyebrows and widened
his eyes.

Ian nodded silently.

“
I wish I’d seen that. I
wish that I could have said what I have thought these years since
that murderer did his work.”

“
I got to tell him that
Philippe’ had sent his regards.”

He nodded in grim satisfaction. “Good
then. He was reputed to be the finest swordsman in
Spain.”

“
On that day, I was
better.”

“
But why did you kill
him?”

“
I was following Alandra
when she went to the grave. She didn’t know I was in Barcelona.
After she left, the caretaker at the cemetery told me how it
happened. I knew then that I would see him pay for what he’d done
to her.”

‘
How is it that you were
following Alandra?”

Ian looked to Alandra then and she
told Roberto the entire story of how they met. The officer with the
papers had to wait outside a good while until she had finished.
Roberto came around the desk then and taking Ian’s hands drew him
to his feet and hugged him for a long time. With tears in his eyes,
he said “I’m grateful, Ian. Alandra is as a daughter to us and now
you’re as a son to us. We’re in your debt.”

“
You’re not in my debt
Roberto; I did the world a favor. For ours and your sakes, it is
best forgotten.”

“
You two must come to
Almeria. I won’t take no for an answer.”

“
We will, but only if you
and your wife will visit us in Barcelona. We live there now.” They
parted company then, but only until the evening when Roberto had
them over to his place in Madrid. The rest of the evening was just
spent by Roberto asking about Scotland and in particular about the
time when Alandra was rescued from the pirates.

Ian and Alandra stood near the bow of
the Xebet as she came into the harbor of Marseille. Soon they were
in a carriage going to the chateau. That afternoon they arrived,
surprising Marie and Henri completely. Introductions were made and
hugs and kisses were exchanged all around. Mustafa ran to greet
Alandra and she was astonished at how he had grown. He was maybe a
bit taller than Ian now and was only twenty. Louis was introduced
to her and Ian reminded Alandra that Cosette had been his
sister.

They had a pleasant evening visiting
then and later Ian played his violin to accompany Marie on her
piano. The next day they went riding and they took a change of
clothing and went to the waterfall to swim for several hours. Ian
caught a mess of fish downstream from there and they had roast fish
that night for supper. Alandra got to meet Sophia when Li and she
came over for supper. The two women seemed to take to each other
right away. Alandra hugged Li and complimented him on having such a
lovely wife.

Over the next few days, she truly came
to know why Ian loved these people so much. It took time for her to
adjust her mind to being in the presence of five vampires as one of
only three humans not counting the staff

The personal library of the Lafayettes
was impressive and Alandra soon could understand how it was that
Mustafa and Louis were so well-educated. There was an impromptu
firearms exhibition one afternoon and she could see for herself the
level of marksmanship that all of the family had. It was explained
to her why Ian had been the one to get everyone interested in
practicing with firearms as well as swordsmanship and unarmed
combat.