Anne went into the lobby, with Aramis following close behind her. When she saw, who was waiting for her, she walked faster. "Jeany, how wonderful to see you!" she said, fondly embracing her friend.
"Hello Anne, I'm glad I finally found you."
"Welcome to Grasse. Why didn't you say anything? We could have picked you up."
Jeany just shrugged. "I wanted it to be a surprise."
"Do you want me to get Athos? I think he's already finished with his dinner," Aramis asked, after he had greeted Jeany, too, albeit not as enthusiastically as Anne, who was just getting Jeany's room key from the receptionist.
"No, no, I'd like to unpack and settle in first," Jeany answered.
"Of course. Come, I'll show you your room, you're on the same floor as Constance."
Anne went ahead, pulling Jeany over to the stairs. Aramis took her luggage and trotted after them.
"So, here it is. The room is a little smaller," Anne said, once they had reached the room.
"No, that's more than enough for me. It is beautiful," Jeany said, looking around. Aramis put down the luggage and retreated again. With Jeany here now, too, things between Milady and Athos were bound to become a lot more interesting. A true love triangle, Aramis thought on the way back to the others.
Anne stayed behind to help Jeany unpack. "So, how did you find us?" she asked.
"That wasn't so easy. I knew from Athos that you were in Monte Carlo, at the Hermitage, so I went there first, but the receptionist told me that you had already checked out. With a little insistence, she told me that you had gone on to Grasse. Well, since Grasse is relatively small, it was easy to find this hotel, since it's the only one matching Louis' usual standard, so I tried my luck here first."
"A real odyssey," Anne said, impressed. Jeany had gone to a lot of trouble to find them.
"Why are you all here in Grasse, anyway?" Jeany asked.
"Oh, that's a long story," Anne said.
"I think we have time," Jeany said, looking at the amount of clothes she still had to put away.
"Okay, so, first we were in Nice, where we met Feron."
"Ah, Louis' cousin?"
"His brother, actually. He's responsible for the local business and he's setting up a branch office here. One evening, he had organized a welcome party for us."
"Oh, that's very considerate of him," Jeany remarked.
"Well, actually it was more for him than for us. A matter of prestige. We made a lot of acquaintances. The Guise family, for example, apparently one of the most powerful and influential on the coast."
"More powerful than your family?"
Anne shrugged. "I have no idea. And even then, we don't want to settle down here. There's room enough for everyone. We also met Mourlon, he's a big name in real estate, and Soulier, a politician, ore someone with connections to politics at any rate, I'm not quite sure. Oh, and Nicollier."
"Yes, but how did you end up in Grasse?" Jeany avidly followed Anne's story, but she was getting impatient.
"Hold your horses, I told you it's a long story. Okay, we spent a few days in Nice, sightseeing in the city, and on the beach. We had a nice time, but at some point, Milady decided she wanted to go to Monte Carlo. And since Louis can't say no to her, the rest of us had to tag along."
"Who is Milady?" Jeany asked.
"Louis new lady friend. Has him wrapped around her little finger. She's a little strange and mysterious, I don't quite know what to make of her. Anyway, in Monte Carlo we stayed at the Hermitage, as you know. A very impressive hotel. And that's where we met Nicollier again."
"And who was that again?"
"A friend and business partner of Feron. He deals with finance matters here, and among other things he's the owner of the casino in Monte Carlo, which we have also visited. But, believe it or not, we – Constance, I and the guys – have found out that Nicollier uses the casino to launder money."
Jeany was surprised at how much she had missed.
"We confronted him with it, of course, I have to protect Louis' interests after all. We can't afford to do business with someone like him," Anne stated. Jeany nodded.
"We convinced him to resign from the business partnership with Louis."
"That's good."
"Yes, but Louis only knows that Nicollier has resigned. That made him so angry that we had to leave in a hurry. And that's how we ended up in Grasse," Anne finished her tale.
"But why Grasse of all places? It's not exactly a metropolis, I can't really see Louis here."
"I have no idea. I was very surprised myself. Today we visited a perfume distillery. Apparently, he has plans with it. The director of the plant was at the banquet tonight, too."
"It all sounds very mysterious. Well, if you need me for anything, I'll help," Jeany offered.
"That's nice of you, but you should get settled in first and enjoy your vacation. You worked hard enough the past few weeks. At least that's what Athos said."
"Oh, did he talk about me?"
"Yes, I asked about you and he could hardly stop talking. He really likes you."
Jeany smiled dreamily. They were together and she was happy with him, but it was nice to hear that he spoke so much about her that others noticed.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Constance moved slightly to check what time it was. Through an opening in the curtains she could see a glimpse of the sun rising over the horizon. Good, then she could stay in bed for a little longer. An arm, that was firmly wrapped around her, pulled her back against the body of the man beside her in the bed. "Lie back, it's far too early yet," D'Artagnan grumbled.
"I know, I just wanted to check what time it is," Constance said, snuggling back against D'Artagnan, but she didn't go back to sleep.
"There's enough time. Go back to sleep for a while." D'Artagnan relished the opportunity to stay in bed with her for a little longer. Usually they both had to get up early, because of appointments or assignments, so they didn't have much time together. Although they were officially together now, Treville couldn't make any exceptions in his case, and D'Artagnan didn't want him to, either. Still, he often missed Constance and looked forward to the moments they could spend together. Gently, he stroked his thumb up and down her shoulder and placed a kiss on the top of her head. Constance snuggled even closer, if that was at all possible.
"I still have to think about those poor workers at the plant," Constance said. It helped her to talk about such things with D'Artagnan. He didn't always have to reply or offer advice. No, just telling him her concerns and sharing her thoughts with him were often enough. At first, he hadn't understood and had always tried to find a solution for her, but eventually he understood, that Constance was capable of finding her own solutions, she just needed him by her side.
"I know, Porthos felt the same," he mumbled, still half asleep.
Constance sat up, wriggling out of his grasp. The sudden movement made him open his eyes.
"What do you mean? Porthos?"
D'Artagnan thought for a moment. It wasn't really his place to tell her this, since it was something between Porthos and his friends, but he could trust Constance and knew that she could keep a secret.
"Porthos isn't from Paris originally. He came here as a young boy with his parents. He can hardly remember and sometimes he says, he's glad about that. When they fled, he lost a lot of relatives. And even once they had reached Paris, he had a hard time of it, alone with his mother in a foreign country. Only when he became a soldier, did he feel a sense of belonging. That's why this life, this job, is so important to him."
Constance nodded and snuggled back against D'Artagnan, who had closed his eyes again. Now she understood Porthos a little better, even though she had a hard time picturing Porthos as a young, frightened refugee. He always seemed so solid and self-assured.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Later that morning, D'Artagnan, Aramis, Porthos and Athos met in Porthos' room to go over the things they had found in Feron's secret office. Apparently, D'Artagnan and Athos hadn't gotten very much sleep last night, as evidenced by the dark circles under their eyes, and the occasional yawn. Aramis and Porthos grinned. They were happy for Athos, that Jeany had been able to join them.
In front of them, Aramis, Porthos and Athos had the printouts of the scanned documents they had found in Feron's office. Last night, Nathan had transferred the files he had found on Feron's computer onto a thumb drive, which D'Artagnan was currently going through. They had decided not to involve Treville yet. Once they knew exactly what they had found, they would inform him and then he could act upon their results. He wouldn't be of much help with what they were doing right now. And they understood that the captain had more than enough to do with ensuring Louis' safety. Athos was just glad, that Treville seemed to be back to his old self.
For a while, the only sounds to be heard where the shuffling of papers and the occasional loud yawns, but after an hour, Aramis gave up. "We'll never get this done alone. Neither you nor I know exactly what we're looking at here. I think we should let the experts take a look."
"No, this is our job, we shouldn't involve anyone else," Athos decided.
"Aren't Anne and Constance already involved anyway?" Porthos remarked. "So, what difference would it make if we ask them?"
Athos couldn't say anything against that argument, so he just nodded resignedly.
Aramis immediately got up and left in search of Anne and Constance. At this time of the day, they probably relaxed in the garden.
Meanwhile, Porthos and D'Artagnan decided to grill Athos. "So...looks like you had a late night."
"I don't know what you're talking about," Athos said, feigning innocence.
"Well, the way you've been yawning..." Porthos suggested.
"Maybe...."
"Man, don't make us drag every word out of you!" D'Artagnan said, but, ever the gentleman, Athos didn't say anything more, just smiled softly to himself.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
The evening before
Before he headed up to his room, Athos had learned from Aramis that Jeany had arrived. He had snarled at Aramis for not telling him right away, and then headed straight for Jeany's room. He had hurried back to the house so quickly, that Aramis hadn't even had time to defend himself.
Athos nodded at the door and heard a rumbling sound from within. Seconds later, the door was opened and before he could really see her, he had already tightly wrapped his arms around her.
"Hey," Jeany breathed, completely overwhelmed by his greeting. He just buried his face against her neck and breathed in her wonderful scent. How much he had missed this. He pushed her away a little, only to passionately kiss her. At first, Jeany was surprised by the intensity of the kiss, but that's what their relationship was like, full of love and passion, which kept her heart beating faster time and time again. During the kiss, Athos steered her closer and closer to the bed.
"I missed you," he whispered, moving from her lips only to pepper her neck with kisses instead.
"I missed you too, that's why I packed my bags and followed you," she said, noticing how breathless her voice was sounding already.
"You took your time," Athos growled, pulling the t-shirt up and over her head.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Present
Aramis returned with Anne and Constance.
"You need our help?" Constance asked around, winking at D'Artagnan, who just stuck his tongue out at her.
"Yes, definitely, thanks. We have all the documents from Feron's office, but we can't make heads or tails of them," Porthos explained, pointing to the printouts. Anne and Constance immediately started going through them, in a much more organized and structured manner than the men earlier.
Every now and then they explained a point or two, and Aramis especially listened attentively. As for Porthos, it was all Greek to him. His area of expertise was finding strategies to fight against enemies, not stocks and bank statements.
At some point, Constance voiced a theory. "I think Feron periodically transferred money to Guise, but so far I can't say how much or what for."
Anne nodded. She had found something similar in her documents.
"Okay, for now, we'll highlight anything that seems strange or that doesn't fit." Anne handed everyone a text marker and they went back to work.
Around lunchtime, Jeany came into the room. Athos immediately looked up.
"Oh, sorry, I didn't want to interrupt you. Can I help you with anything?" Jeany asked.
Anne threw her papers back onto the table. "No, I think we're beyond help. Looks like it will be more difficult than I thought to go through all the documents and make sense of them. Maybe we should take a break."
"Good idea, we could all use a little time to clear our heads," Constance agreed with Anne's suggestion.
"We could go take a look at the town," D'Artagnan suggested, putting the laptop he had been working on aside. He hadn't had very much luck with the computer files either and that frustrated him.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Half an hour later the small group met in front of the hotel, where the cars were already waiting for them. Jeany wore a black tank top, with an asymmetrical high low, cream colored skirt, black platform sandals and a few pieces of jewelry. Athos was in black jeans, with a grey t-shirt, base cap and sneakers.
Due to the warm weather, Constance had chosen a thin A-line maxi dress in cream, with brown toe sandals and a matching brown bag. D'Artagnan wore
Anne wore a patterned black crop-top with a pistachio-colored tulle maxi-skirt and pointed ballerinas. Her clutch matched the color of the skirt, while the other accessories were in gold. D'Artagnan wore light brown Bermuda shorts, a white t-shirt, a light brown base cap and black Converse sneakers.
First, they went to the old part of Grasse. The town wasn't very big, but they enjoyed the quiet they had all missed in Nice and Monte Carlo. The small town was picturesque and the small streets gave it a quaint, romantic flair. The houses were all built of the same light brown stone, giving the town a homogeneous look. The church was not only the highest building in town, it had also been erected on the highest point of the town.
The hotel receptionist had organized a tour guide for them, who could show them all the important hot spots of the town and tell them something about its history. Afterwards, they were taken to the gardens, the Jardins de la Princesse Pauline. The midday sun was perfect for enjoying the gardens and a leisurely stroll beneath the trees. Anne and Constance took a couple of photos of features they wanted to implement in the gardens of Chateau Fontainebleau.
After an hour, the weather proved too hot for the men. The ladies relented and they all went back into the town, where they had a late lunch in a restaurant named "Rendez-Vous" at the Place aux Aires. Locals and tourists alike were having lunch in the numerous restaurants situated around the place. After lunch, they visited Notre Dame de Puy, an impressive gothic church, with a long nave and, unlike the chapels in Fontainebleau, walls of rough, unrendered stone.
In the evening, they just had to visit the Jasmine Festival. As the name suggested it was a festival in honor of the jasmine blossoms, which were highly valued as an important part of many perfumes. The highlight of the festival was a large parade through the inner city, which the seven didn't want to miss. Once they had taken their places behind the barricades, they were impressed. The parade could hold its own with the ones in Rio de Janeiro. There were different floats, all lavishly decorated with a variety of beautiful flowers. Interspersed between the floats were musical groups playing their songs. The largest float contained the "Miss Perfume" as well as two runners-up, all waving at the cheering crowds.
Once the parade was over, the streets were cleared for traffic again and the visitors congregated around small stalls for snacks and alcoholic beverages. Anne and Constance wanted to stay a little longer, even if that meant D'Artagnan, Aramis and Porthos had to be on constant alert. Big events like this were very difficult as far as the security of their principals was concerned. The group was clustered around one of the bar tables. Anne and Constance had gotten champagne with jasmine flowers and were sipping with pleasure. "Look, over there, isn't that one of the workers from the distillery?" Constance unobtrusively pointed out a man not far from their table.
Anne nodded. "Come, let's say hello."
Constance was a little surprised, but followed Anne. Her friend probably had a good reason.
"Bonsoir, Monsieur. I don't think we've been introduced. We visited your distillery yesterday," Anne greeted the man. At first he was surprised that a stranger, and a beautiful woman at that, had greeted him, but once she mentioned the distillery, he shrunk back and lowered his eyes to the floor. Now Constance tried her luck. "Are you using jasmine flowers in the distillery?" she asked. At first the man remained silent, but when Athos and Aramis joined them and blocked his exit, he realized that he had to talk to the ladies. "No, Madame, I don't know. I'm just a simple worker."
"You're working daily with the finest substances and ingredients, so you probably inhaled the scent at some point," Constance continued.
"We're not supposed to breathe in the scents. We have a protection for our nose to prevent that."
Anne and Constance found it alarming that the workers were only able to breathe through the mouse under their already difficult working conditions.
Anne tried a different approach. "Are you originally from Grasse?"
The man just shook his head, but did not say anything.
"Do you live here now?" Jeany asked, joining the conversation.
"Yes, back there. It's a small house for the Fragonard workers," the man said, pointing into the distance.
"Then we'll accompany you there," Anne said. The man looked up in alarm, looking her in the face for the first time. "No, Madame, you mustn't. It's not tidy."
"Well, don't worry, our rooms are often untidy as well," Constance said, trying to reassure the man.
"No, you don't understand. We're four people in a room, we have very little space for ourselves and we have to share the bathroom. And since we often work late, we don't have time to clean. It would be embarrassing for us, if you were to see that."
"Did you talk to your director about that? Maybe he can provide a domestic help, if you often have to work overtime," D'Artagnan suggested. The man once again silently shook his head, then he squeezed between Athos and Aramis and ran away.
"What was that all about?" Constance asked. Anne looked at the fleeing man questioningly. "I think there's more wrong there than we originally thought," D'Artagnan said.
"If Louis wants to do business with him, we should make sure that the work and housing conditions are safe and good," Anne decided.
"Then we'll take care of that," Porthos said, earning himself a critical look from Athos. They weren't supposed to interfere, but he didn't say anything.
"Thank you, Porthos. Constance, we should talk to Soulier, maybe he can provide more information."
Constance nodded. The small group left the town and returned to the Hotel.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Michele Guise stood in his father's office. Guise senior was currently away on business and had offered his son the use of his office for that time. Michele had called together his father's best employees and was giving them instructions. "I want to know about Aramis. What information has been collected so far? I want the report on my desk by the end of the meeting," he ordered. As far as harshness and relentlessness were concerned, he was a chip off the old block. Word among the employees had it that, if possible, the son was even worse than the father.
Michele was respected by the employees as well as the servants of his father, when it came to business matters. Immediately, the assembled people started rummaging in their briefcases for the requested reports. Michele continued. "I want Louis reigned in again. I don't care how. Involve Soulier and Mourlon if necessary. Louis and his entourage have to come back to Nice, where we have them under control and can influence the flow of information."
Most of the people present nodded. "I want to see Feron still today, make it happen. He has to reign in his brother or we'll terminate any and all business with him. That's all."
With the meeting adjourned, the assembled people left, leaving the requested report behind. Michele took a seat hat his father's desk and went through the file and the collected photos. "Interesting, Aramis. So you have a lady friend, that Anne. Let's dig a little deeper, shall we?" he murmured to himself.