CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

By early morning, the entire team was on a train to France. As they passed through the lush green valleys of England and into the famous Chunnel below the English Channel, they ate a light breakfast in the dining car.

They'd tried several times to reach out to the St. Valary family, but no one had answered yet. According to the team back home, there were no death records for the couple and no additional children that were known.

"I'm not even sure what I'm going to say," said Daphne. "Hello. I think I'm your daughter."

"That's a start," smiled Mags. She reached across, squeezing her hand. "They're going to be thrilled that you're alive. Gabi will be able to draw blood and get it verified that you're related. It will all be okay."

"What if I'm not their daughter? What if their daughter was Cassandra? What if all of this is just a mistake, and I'm setting myself up for more disappointment?"

"Honey, you're asking too many ‘what ifs,'" smiled Brix. "Besides, that painting about damn near proves it. You could be her twin."

Only making her nerves more anxious by talking about it all, she ordered a small plate from the dining car and ate a light breakfast, speaking casually to the others.

Zulu made sure the painting was shipped to Belle Fleur so that it would be waiting for her when they arrived home.

When the train arrived in Paris, they took a second train to Amiens. With a little over a hundred thousand residents, the picturesque streets and buildings brought a sense of calm and déjà vu to Daphne. The pretty floral baskets hanging from the street lamps brought vivid color to the dark stone buildings.

"I feel like I've been here before," she whispered as they walked down the streets. The eyes of residents and shopkeepers turned to stare in her direction as if they knew her, or at least someone who looked like her. Daphne didn't notice, but the others damn sure did.

Just outside of the main town was where the chateau was located. A classic French style chateau with its steeply hitched pitched roof, topped with finials and decorative gabled wall dormers. The three stories were simply magnificent, and the gardens, although slightly overgrown, were surely magnificent in their day.

With the iron gates wide open, they walked through only to be greeted by two large Saint Bernards ready to lick them to death. If they were meant to deter strangers from coming onto the property, the poor beasts had failed miserably.

"Hello there," smiled Daphne, rubbing the dog's head. Zulu stepped up to the front door and rang the bell. When no one answered, he rang the bell again and knocked.

"Maybe no one is home," said Brix.

"They wouldn't leave the gate open if they were gone," said Daphne.

She wasn't sure how she knew that, but she knew it. The dogs took off around the back of the house, and Daphne slowly followed. The others gave her some grace, allowing her to proceed at her own pace.

When she rounded the corner of the house, she spotted a man and woman seated beneath an ivy-covered gazebo. They were having tea, just speaking quietly to one another. Daphne stopped, staring at the couple.

The man appeared to be of average height, perhaps in his early to mid-sixties. The woman was slightly younger, a small frame, narrow shoulders, and silver hair cut in a stylish bob. Suddenly, she turned, staring at the people.

"I'm sorry, we're not accepting guests at this time. You can make an appointment to see the chateau," said the woman with a forced smile.

"I-I don't mean to interrupt your day," said Daphne, stepping closer. The man stood, staring at the young woman walking toward them. "I know this is going to sound crazy, but I have reason to believe that I'm your daughter."

"H-how. H-how," repeated the woman.

"Darling, look at her. She's your twin," said the man. The woman stared at her. "You're her absolute twin. How is this possible? How are you here?"

"You're Mary Elizabeth and Francois St. Valary," said Daphne. "You were on the Costina when it sank. Forty-seven children were lost on that ship. I was in an orphanage with forty-seven children when I was adopted by Lord and Lady Bishop in Great Britain. My name is Daphne Bishop. I'm thirty-three years old."

"It cannot be," said the man, shaking his head. "We were told all were lost. We were told… No. This cannot be."

"Sir, my name is Dr. Gabrielle Slater. Daphne has married my grandson, and I believe we can clear this up with a blood test. Would you agree?"

"Y-yes," said the woman, staring at her mirror image. "Yes. Although by looking at you, there is no doubt. You are my daughter."

"Ma'am, out of curiosity, was Daphne your only child on that ship?" asked Brix.

"Yes. But there were other children." Brix nodded, and Daphne smiled at her.

"Dauphine. That was your name. Dauphine Marie St. Valary."

"Dauphine," smiled Daphne. "I had a labrador. A black labrador." The man and woman laughed, reaching for her hands.

"You remember," smiled the man. "This is too good to be true. We searched, we waited, we prayed. I dared not to hope any longer."

"Let's take that blood and find out. Shall we?" smiled Gabi.

While Gabi took the blood samples to the local hospital to be uploaded, the data sent to her own lab that could rush the results, the others toured the chateau with the St. Valary family. Everything seemed familiar to Daphne. Everything.

She remembered the notches on the stair balusters. She remembered the torn wallpaper in the back of her closet. She remembered the slight hump in the wooden floors on the fourth floor. All of it was flooding her memory.

"Can you explain how this came to be?" asked Francois.

"Well, sir," said Brix, "we think that Daphne's adoptive mother may have planned something quite horrendous. She is a woman who has attempted to climb the social ladder with Britain's aristocracy. We're not sure what's happening with her and what her ultimate plan is, but we believe that all of this was planned. Even the deaths."

"It is unfathomable," he said, shaking his head. "All these years of grief, of pain. For what? For one woman's greed and desire to social climb? We removed ourselves from society. We couldn't face anyone any longer. We just wanted solitude and one another."

"I'm glad you had one another and didn't let that destroy your marriage," said Daphne. "I'm very glad that you didn't just give up and fade away."

"In many ways, we did," said Mary Elizabeth. "We stopped our charitable work with the Lightkeepers. We didn't visit our friends or take trips any longer. In many ways, we stopped living. We were just existing. You were our only child, Dauphine. The only one we would ever have. Our souls were ripped from our bodies."

"I'm so sorry you went through so much pain. If it helps at all, my life was a good life up until recently when I discovered what my adoptive mother was doing. My husband and my best friend, along with all of these people, helped to save me. I'm happy now. Very happy, but I want to find out what my mo-, what Lady Bishop has done."

After the others had a light lunch on the grounds of the ancient chateau, Gabi and Zulu returned from town and smiled at the group. They all stared at Gabi, anxiously awaiting the results of the blood tests.

"Mr. and Mrs. St. Valary, I'm very happy to tell you that you have a daughter. A beautiful, intelligent, much-loved daughter. Your results are a match."

"Oh," whispered Mary Elizabeth, gripping her husband's hand. "You're home."