Rue Toulouse by Debby Grahl Page A

Frances said. “I’m not going to sit by and let Caterine walk away with Ma Chérie.”
    “That’s right,” Hyacinth added. “Something must be done.”
    “Y’all can sit here bitching and moaning about the injustice of it all, but you’re wasting your time,” Randal said. “Caterine has loved Ma Chérie since she was a little girl.” He laughed. “So it seems to me the only way to get control of Ma Chérie would be if Grandmère and Caterine were both dead.”

Chapter Ten

    Caterine stood frozen in disbelief outside the parlor door. After Randal’s chilling remark, the room had gone quiet.
    Until her uncle Jules broke the silence. “As Randal said, sitting here going on and on about this is pointless. Mother has made a decision. Caterine now owns Ma Chérie. And glowering at me, Frances, isn’t going to change that. Like it or not, we have to accept this and go on.”
    At sounds of her family stirring, Caterine ran into the darkened dining room. She peered through a crack in the door, watching as her uncles and Raymond went into the library, Randal and Charlotte left through the front door, and her aunts and Paulette headed upstairs.
    Caterine made sure the entry hall was empty, then hurried into the parlor to retrieve her purse.
    “Well, little cousin, you’ve created quite a family uproar.”
    Startled, Caterine turned to see Raymond leaning against the parlor doorway.
    “For heaven’s sake, Ray, you about gave me a heart attack.”
    He smiled. “Sorry, I was coming out of the library and saw your mad dash from the dining room. So how much did you overhear?”
    Caterine shrugged. “Not much.” Even though she liked Ray, she wasn’t about to let him know she’d heard it all.
    “You’ve managed to really piss off the family this time.”
    Caterine snorted. “No kidding. It would have been pretty hard to miss that.”
    “Keep your powder dry, little cousin.”
    “What’s that supposed to mean?”
    “It means watch your back.”
    Caterine’s mouth had suddenly gone dry. “Ray, you’re scaring me.”
    “Good.” Without another word, he turned and went out the front door.
    As she had many times before, Caterine felt alone, an outcast in her own family. She grabbed her purse and, with tears streaming down her cheeks, ran to the solace of her carriage house.
     
    In a bedroom upstairs, Paulette lay propped up against a mound of lace-edged pillows. At the foot of the bed, Hyacinth paced.
    “I will not see all my dreams destroyed by that batty old lady nor her brat of a granddaughter.”
    Paulette scowled. “Yes, well, what can we do about it?” She chose another chocolate from the box by her side. “Once again Caterine has gotten her way. It’s really too bad she didn’t die with her parents.”
    Hyacinth snorted. “That certainly would have made things a lot simpler. After the accident, Caterine should have been sent to live with her mother’s people in Virginia, but, of course, Miss Dauphine wouldn’t allow that. No, she had to stay right here where she could be coddled and pampered. It was enough to make me sick.”
    “Remember how Charlotte and I used to torment Caterine?” Paulette said with a satisfied smirk. “Like the time I tore the head off her favorite doll and threw it in the pond?” She smiled. “She cried for weeks. And the time Charlotte locked her in the closet and she peed her pants? Grandmère was furious.” Anger replaced her humor. “Bobby told Grandmère I was the one who did it. I don’t care if he is my brother, I hate him about as much as I do Caterine.”
    Hyacinth’s eyes narrowed in anger. “Bobby is as much mine as you are. I will not have you bad-mouthing him. Caterine has always been a conniving little brat who played on Bobby’s sympathetic nature.”
    “Mother, you always take his side. What about me?”
    Hyacinth threw up her hands in exasperation. “Oh, for God’s sake, Paulette, why do you think I want you to learn how to run Ma Chérie?