Paul began to tell me about some legislators who were trying to get him to run for office and who would be paying us a visit in a week or so when James suddenly appeared to announce I had a phone call. Neither Paul nor I had heard the phone ring.
"I was standing right beside it and picked it up quickly," James explained.
"Who is it?"
"Your sister. She sounds very excited and demanded I call you to the phone immediately," he said.
I grimaced. I was sure she was going to tell me she and Beau had become formally engaged. That was one bit of news she wanted to deliver personally so she could hear my reaction.
"Excuse me," I said to Paul, and rose.
"Take it in my office," he suggested. I went there quickly, fortifying myself for the announcement. "Hello, Gisselle," I said. "What's so urgent?" She didn't respond for a moment.
"Gisselle?"
"There's been an accident," she said
breathlessly. Oh no, I thought. Beau.
"What? Who?"
"It's Daphne," she gasped. "She fell from her horse late this afternoon and struck her head on a rock."
"What happened?" I asked, my heart pounding. "She died . . . just a little while ago," Gisselle said. "I have no father. . . I have no mother. I have only you."
7
The Ties
That Bind
.
Paul looked up from his coffee as I slowly
reentered the dining room, One gaze at my face told him I had received bad news.
"What happened?" he asked.
"Daphne . . . fell from her horse and struck her head. She's dead," I reported in a lifeless voice. The news had left me stunned.
"Mon Dieu. Who phoned?"
"Gisselle."
"How is she taking it?"
"From the tone of her voice and the things she said on the phone, not too well, but I think she's more frightened than anything else. I'll have to go to New Orleans," I said.
"Of course. I'll cancel my meetings in Baton Rouge and go with you," he offered.
"No, you don't have to go right away. The funeral isn't until Wednesday. There's no sense in your hanging around that dreary house all day."
"Are you sure?" he asked. I nodded. "All right. I'll meet you there," he said. "What about Pearl?"
"I think it's better for me to leave her here with Mrs. Flemming."
"Okay. Tragic," Paul said, nodding slowly.