“That’s terrible, Lucy. With everything that’s happened, it’s not a wonder you wanted to keep it all to yourself.” Billie grabbed the opportunity to continue with her questions.
“So he tarnished the family name with hints of madness on your mother’s side. No wonder you dropped out and remained hidden all these years. I imagine the scandal would have been a bit much to bear.”
“Yes it was. Every day I trained at the Red Cross I worried he’d find me and drag me back to the estate. He was more than capable of it. It was such a relief to be posted overseas out of his clutches. I knew if I went back to the house I’d never escape again and I couldn’t bring myself to do that, not after she went to such lengths to get me away to safety.”
“I doubt Wilz would have approved anyway. Seems to me that she fought to get you out of there.” Alex glanced up from his seat on the carpet. Billie reached for her son’s hand and gave it a quick squeeze. “Imagine what would have happened if you’d gone back. I wouldn’t have this young man. I wouldn’t be here either.”
“True. I hadn’t actually thought of it like that. Anyway, I got what I wanted, a job overseas looking after our troops, doing something meaningful with my life. When I got back to Sydney and found out about Wilz, I sought advice and changed my name legally. I took Lucy’s name as homage to the best friend I lost in the war. I wasn’t sure if my father would be looking for me or not and didn’t want to be found.”
“Frederick, I’m assuming you had something to do with that?” Hamish glanced over at him.
“Yes, therefore that part of Lucy’s history became client privilege and I couldn’t speak about it.” He gripped her hand. “After a while it became unnecessary to even think about where she’d come from. It was never an item for us. We were happy with what we had and didn’t need to think about the estate, even when he died. Lucy decided to ignore it and let the property go to the Historical Trust. Too many painful memories for her and she didn’t want the public to know about the families supposedly – shall we say - madness. Now my parents are both dead, I don’t give a fig who knows about the connection to be honest.”
“But what about Alex? What if he wants it, Frederick?” Hamish turned to Billie and waited for her father. “It’s his heritage, after all.”
“Yes it is and he can claim it if he wants to. The will leaves it to the Historical Trust for a period of ten years so long as they maintain it. The free lease will roll over for another ten years after that if nobody comes forward to claim it and so on. Don’t worry, I’ve always had my ear to the ground regarding Foxborough Hall.”
“Really? That place is going to be mine if I want it?”
Mother spoke to Alex. “Do you want it, my dear boy? I’m sorry, but I wasn’t thinking of anyone other than myself when I swore Frederick to secrecy.”
He shrugged his shoulders. “I’d like to think about it, it’s such a neat place. Maybe I could see myself living there one day. I’d like to see it happy again. I’m sure it could be now that Mom’s found what happened to Wilz. I mean, houses have souls, don’t they? And perhaps some of the house could be open to the public. Can we at least think about it?”
“Honey, you can think about it all you like. If you don’t want it, fine. If you do, I’m sure Grandad will sort it out for you.”
“Of course I will. It’d be a shame for the place to be forgotten now that the mystery has been solved.” Frederick patted his wife’s knee. “I saw your face when we were there, my dear. You miss it, I could tell.”
“Even I didn’t realise that I did until I saw it again, but you’re right. Alex can take it up whenever he wants to and if he decides against it, I know it’s in good hands.”
“It’s a lot to take in. And neither of us has to rush anything, Alex. I’m going to take a time to think about Sam’s offer before I make my decision. I want you to concentrate on school for the next couple of years. You’ll have plenty of questions about what direction you’ll take to keep you busy for quite some time.”
“Talking of questions, I still have one for you, Billie.” Mother leaned forward in her chair. “Who was he?”
Billie touched the side of her nose. “I’m afraid it’s not my secret to share.”
“Bless you. That’s all I needed to know.”
THE END
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Volume Five
Mistress for Magnus
MISTRESS FOR MAGNUS
Ann B Harrison
Copyright 2014 Ann B Harrison
Copyright
No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the author.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are products of the authors imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely
