Heart's Content

Part Thirty-Six

{'Ships in a Harbor' by Claude Monet from Wikimedia Commons}

The disagreement between Genevieve and Lisette caused a rift between them that they did their best to conceal when in the presence of others in order to avoid any questions concerning why they were upset with each other when they were normally on very good terms. When they were alone, however, they each took to their own separate activities and any attempt on Genevieve's part at mending the issue between them was succinctly thwarted by Lisette.

Genevieve couldn't help but be distressed by the whole ordeal because she didn't feel that there was any way for her to have avoided their current circumstances. If she had treated Lisette's question as one asked hypothetically and said that she would run away with her, she knew that Lisette would have turned it into a realistic scenario as she had anyway even before Genevieve had been able to respond. It crossed her mind several times during the next few days that perhaps it was best to put a halt to their relationship right then, and she also began to feel regret for even admitting her feelings in the first place. In the end they would not be able to remain together even if it was what they wished and any attachment they had developed would be for not.

Since there was no consoling Lisette and Genevieve herself was inconsolable, she was grateful when Maurice suggested that Sabien take time off in order to rest up before the wedding. Sabien had already been taught all that his father thought he needed to know before he left for Alémaire and there was little more he could learn in order to be prepared to run the business without him.

Sabien's presence created a much needed distraction even though he also provided a reason for Lisette and Genevieve to feel on edge. It was easier for Genevieve to pretend that she and Lisette were on their usual terms with Sabien there since she could carry on a conversation with him while Lisette worked on finishing her painting. Lisette's lack of participation in whatever topic they happened to be conversing on was understandable since her focus was elsewhere and there was less room for a potentially awkward situation to arise.

They spent their morning this way, in calm occupation, none of them venturing to disturb the tranquility that was present by mentioning the wedding even though it was something that was constantly on all of their minds. Eventually Sabien received a message from the dockmaster informing him that The Gallant had arrived in the harbor. Sabien didn't mention to Lisette and Genevieve what the message said, but he did ask that they excuse him and left them to themselves, much to their inwardly expressed dismay.

The Gallant belonged to Nathaniel Giullero Junior, Sabien's close friend and a long time admirer of Lisette. When Nathaniel wrote to Sabien to inform him that he was making it a priority to attend his wedding, Sabien immediately spoke with the dockmaster of Seldoné and requested that he send notice as soon as The Gallant came into port.

Nathaniel Giullero Senior Had been a business partner of Maurice for many years up until a recent business venture hadn't gone as planned and caused him to lose quite a bit of money. It had taken him nowhere near the financial ruin which the Olivays now endured, but it had been enough to affect a general distrust and faint animosity between the two families. It was because of this falling out that the patriarch of the Giullero family discouraged his younger namesake from continuing a relationship with the Olivays, though he didn't outright forbid it.

Wedding invitations had of course been sent to all in the Giullero family and while Nathaniel Senior declined to attend, his son of course did not. Nathaniel Senior had made it quite clear that he did not approve of an engagement between his son and Lisette and his opinion had not grown any better after the families' estrangement, but there was little that he could do to thwart the prospect since Nathaniel had used his inheritance from his maternal grandfather to pave the way for his own business ventures. His self reliance concerning his own fortune prevented him from fearing the idea of being disowned by his father, especially since he was his only heir. There was also a certain sense of freedom in knowing that even if he hadn't been the most likely to inherit his father's assets, it wasn't really something that he needed to concern himself with since he had already begun to build his own mercantile empire.