and don't care tuppence for her feelings, but parenting is not about patting oneself on the back for being understanding and liberal, it's about guidance, education and training to help the child you love become a man or woman you can respect.' He nodded a friendly goodbye and made for the door, only to pause as he saw Ruth in the shadows of the hall.
'I've been listening,' she said, her wretched eyes full of tears. 'I'm sorry. I didn't mean to.'
'There, there,' said Cooper, gruff with embarrassment, pulling a large white handkerchief from his pocket and offering it to her. 'I'm the one who should apologize. I'd no business to interfere.'
Her eyes brimmed again. 'I don't mind about what you said. I was thinking-if only-you said you wished your children had had my opportunities-do you remember?'
He nodded. He had indeed said that, he thought with chagrin.
'Well, I was just thinking-I wish'-she gave him a watery smile-'I wish I'd had theirs. I hope they appreciate you, Sergeant Cooper.' She took a letter from hei pocket and gave it to him. 'It's Granny's,' she said. '1 didn't throw it away, but I couldn't show it to you because she talks about my stealing.' A tear splashed on to her hand. 'I really did love her, you know, but she died thinking I didn't, and that's almost worse than everything else.'
'Yes,' he said gently, 'I'm sure it is, because there's nothing you can do to mend it.'
'Not ever.'
'Well, as to ever-that I couldn't say. In this life, the best any of us can do is learn from our mistakes and try not to make them again. We're none of us infallible, Ruth, but we owe it to ourselves and to those around us to act with whatever wisdom we possess. Otherwise, how will mankind ever improve?'
She pressed her lips together to hold back the tears. 'And you think it would be wise for me to have an abortion?'
'Yes,' he said with absolute honesty, 'I do.' He placed his broad palm against her stomach. 'At the moment you're not quite old enough or tough enough to be a mother and father to another human being, and you're too riddled by guilt over your grandmother, and what you see as your betrayal of her, to give this baby away to someone else.' He smiled rather shyly. 'That's not to say I expect you to agree with me or that I'll turn my back on you if you decide to have your baby. Dr. Blakeney's quite right when she says it's your choice. But I'd rather see you pregnant when you've lived a little and found a man you can love who loves you, too. Then your babies will be wanted and you'll be free to be the kind of mother you want to be.'
She tried to thank him, but the words wouldn't come, so Cooper took her in his arms instead and held her tight. Behind them, Sarah turned a tear-streaked face to Jack. 'Remind me of this,' she whispered, 'whenever I get complacent. I've just learnt how little I really know.'
My dear Ruth [Mathilda had written], Your mother and I have fallen out over a letter written by my uncle Gerald Cavendish shortly before he died, making Joanna his heir. She is threatening to take me to court over it because she believes she can use it to overturn my father's will. She won't succeed, but I have been unable to convince her of that. She feels understandably aggrieved and wants to punish me. I realize now there has been too much secrecy within this family and so I am writing to you now to acquaint you with the knowledge she already has, because I do not want you to learn about it from her. She will not, I think, tell you kindly. James Gillespie was not your mother's father. Gerald Cavendish was. I realize how shocked you will be by this information but I urge you to do what I have done all these years and see it as something that happened which should not be regretted. You may find this hard to believe but, despite everything, I have always been fond of your mother, as indeed I have been fond of you.
I am faced now with a difficult choice. I am aware, my dear, that you have been stealing from me for some months. I am aware, too, that your mother has given up on life and prefers the twilight world of drug dependency and the casual relationships that give her the illusion of being loved without the ties of responsibility. You are both allowing yourselves to be abused by men and, in view of my own history, I find that deeply disheartening. I realize I have failed you, and have decided, therefore, to set you both free to make your own decisions about your futures.
My intention is to make over a lump sum to you and your mother on your eighteenth birthday, the amount to be apportioned in the ratio 2:1, with your mother receiving double your share. Perhaps it is something I should have done a long time ago, but I was reluctant to give up what I have worked so hard for in the Cavendish name. As things are now, I see that a name is nothing unless the individuals who bear it stand above their peers, for it is not the accident of our births that makes us great but our individual characters. By setting you and your mother free to lead your lives as you choose, I hope to give you the chance to prove yourselves, just as others-those less fortunate-have already done.
In conclusion, should anything happen to me and you find yourself in need of a friend, then I urge you to talk to Dr. Sarah Blakeney, my GP, who will give you nothing but good advice whatever the situation you find yourself in. With love, Granny.
Cooper placed the letter in front of Detective Chief Inspector Jones. 'I've been asking myself where she was going to get the money from to give lump sums to Mrs. and Miss Lascelles if she'd already made a will giving everything to Dr. Blakeney.'
Charlie scanned the page rapidly. 'Did you come up with an answer?'
'I reckon it's on the video, if we'd only known what to look for. Do you remember when she was talking to Ruth towards the end and she mentioned her promise to leave the girl Cedar House before Ruth's behaviour of the last six months had persuaded her to change her mind? Okay, well immediately after that she went on to say something like: 'You'd have had the choice either to sell up or stay but you'd have sold because the house would have lost its charms for you once the estate was approved.' Or words to that effect.'
Charlie nodded.
'I assumed the phrase 'once the estate was approved' referred to the goods and chattels being handed over to Joanna as part of her share.'
'Go on.'
'I think now she was talking about an estate of houses. She was planning to sell off the garden for development. How else could she raise a lump sum for the Lascelles women and still be able to leave Cedar House and its contents to Dr. Blakeney? Just imagine the impact that would have had on Duncan Orloff. A man who can't bear the thought of noisy children next door sure as hell isn't going to sit tamely by and watch his garden turned into a building site.'
'Prove it,' said Duncan placidly. 'Name the developer. Explain why there's no correspondence with this mythical company. Good grief, man, she wouldn't even have got planning permission for such an enterprise. The days of unravelling the green belt are long gone. They're knitting it back together now just as fast as they can.
