it for a long moment.
"She does seem like a fairy goddess. My
memory of those days is like the memory of a dream,
pictures and words that float through my brain on the
surface of soap bubbles ready to burst if I try too hard
to remember the actual details.
"You and Gisselle look a lot like her, you
know. I don't deserve the good fortune of having two
of you to remind me of Gabrielle, but I thank
whatever Fate has brought you here," he said. "Grandmere Catherine," I said. "That's who you
should thank." He nodded.
"I'll spend as much time with you as I can. I'll
show you New Orleans myself and tell you about our
family."
"What do you do?" I asked, realizing I didn't
even know that much about him. The way I asked, the
way my eyes widened at the sight of all these
expensive furnishings in this mansion made him
laugh.
"Right now I make my money in real estate
investments. We own a number of apartment
buildings and office buildings and we're involved in a
number of developments. I have offices downtown. "We are a very old and established family, who
can actually trace their lineage back to the original
Mississippi Trading Company, a French colonial
company. My father did a genealogy which I will
have to show you some day," he added, smiling. "And
he proved that we can trace our lineage back to one of
the hundred Fines a la Casette or casket girls." "What were they?" I asked.
"Women back in France who were carefully