Josephine handed Ronnie an empty glass to give her something else to think about. ‘By the way – I’ve been meaning to ask,’ she said to Lettice. ‘Do you know anything about the Fowey woman? She’s causing quite a stir up in town.’
The clumsy change of subject was greeted by a loud scoff from the cocktail cabinet but Lettice – starved of gossip for at least a week – took the bait, as Josephine had known she would. ‘Daphne, you mean?’ she asked eagerly. ‘What’s she been up to? We’ve never met her, but if she takes after Gerald du Maurier, I’m not surprised there’s talk.’
‘Oh, it’s nothing like that,’ Josephine said, conscious that she was about to be a disappointment. ‘It’s just that I had lunch with Victor Gollancz before I came down here – you know he pinched her from Heinemann last year, just after he started publishing – and he’s very excited about the new novel. Full of smugglers and adventure, apparently.’
‘Sounds like any night at the Ship Inn,’ William said.
Josephine smiled. ‘Well perhaps that’s where she’s done her research. Anyway, he’s so pleased he’s thinking of taking out full-page advertisements in the papers.’
‘Oh, how vulgar,’ Lettice said, in a tone that most people reserved for American divorcees.
‘There speaks a woman who’s never looked in disappointment at her royalty cheque.’
‘Yes, I know, but I really do think that…’
The rest of the sentence was lost in the slamming of the front door, and they heard the sound of quick, purposeful steps across the hallway. ‘Forgotten your toothbrush?’ Ronnie called but the joke died on her lips when she saw the expression on her cousin’s face. Without a word of greeting, Archie walked straight over to the drinks table and poured himself a large whisky, which he drank down in one. His glass refilled, he turned to face them.
‘Jasper’s had a stroke,’ he said, looking at his uncle. ‘It happened late this afternoon, while I was questioning him about Nathaniel’s murder.’
‘Good God,’ William said, ‘what a terrible thing to happen. How is he? Is he…?’
Josephine got up to go over to Archie but something in his face made her stay where she was. ‘I’m sorry to say that yes – he is still alive,’ he said bitterly. ‘But it was serious, so there’s every reason to hope that he may take a turn for the worse in the next few hours.’
‘I know he’s done some despicable things, Archie, but surely you don’t mean that.’
‘Oh, I mean it. And do you know why?’ he asked. ‘No? Well, I’ll tell you. Just before he collapsed, he admitted to raping my mother.’ Josephine glanced at William, who was staring at his nephew as though he were speaking a foreign language. Ronnie moved protectively over to her father’s side. ‘How could you let something like that happen?’ Archie continued. ‘And how long did she have to put up with it before someone did something about it?’ William’s silence seemed only to increase his anger. ‘Didn’t it ever occur to you that it might be something I should know about?’
‘Archie…’ Josephine began, but he cut her off.
‘Don’t, Josephine. I know this is nothing to do with you, and I’m sorry you have to be caught in the middle of it, but there are things that need to be said.’
‘William couldn’t tell you, Archie,’ she said, ignoring him, ‘because he didn’t know himself.’
‘Don’t be ridiculous. They were all under the same roof – how could he not know?’ Suddenly, the significance of what she had said dawned on him and he turned to her, horrified. ‘
She hesitated, unable to see a way of vindicating William without betraying her own unwilling collusion in something that had never concerned her. ‘I found out last night,’ she admitted. ‘Morveth told me when we were at the Minack. Your mother told her years ago, but no one else knew except your father.’
‘So that’s what all those questions were about this morning at breakfast?’
‘No – that was to do with…’ She tailed off, unable to continue without exposing another family lie, and unwilling to use Morwenna’s plight to defend herself. ‘You know what that was about,’ she said quietly, uncomfortably aware that all eyes in the room were now on her.
‘Yes. It was about you being as bad as the rest of them,’ he retorted sharply. ‘Worse, in fact, because this isn’t your secret to keep. You don’t belong here, and you have no loyalty to anyone on this estate except me. So why keep quiet? What sort of thrill did you get out of knowing more about my life than I do?’
‘Archie, it was never like that.’ She tried to explain, but he was in no mood to listen.
‘Or is it more serious than that? Are you still trying to punish me for Jack’s death?’
‘Don’t you dare accuse me of something like that,’ she said, her fury suddenly matching his. ‘And stop bringing Jack into our relationship – I thought we’d put that behind us. Anyway, while I was grieving for him, you were busy having your cosy little chats with Morwenna. Does the Lady of Shalott ring a bell?’
‘That’s hardly the same thing.’
‘No, it isn’t. I didn’t ask to be told about your mother and Jasper – Morveth told me out of the blue. From what I gather, though, you didn’t need much encouragement to talk about
Archie started to answer back, but stopped himself. ‘I won’t compete with you for grievances,’ he said. ‘I don’t need to. You know in your heart that you should have told me. I could have taken it from you. Instead, I had to find out like this.’
He turned and left the room. She made a move to go after him, but William put his hand gently on her shoulder. ‘Let him calm down first,’ he said. ‘If you go after him now, you’ll both end up saying things that are impossible to forget. But will you tell me what Morveth said? I need to understand, just like Archie does.’ Reluctantly, Josephine nodded, wondering yet again how far she should go with the truth.
Chapter Eighteen
‘I’m sorry.’
Josephine looked round, startled. Caught up in her own thoughts, she had not heard Archie come back to the Lodge. He stood hesitantly in the doorway to the sitting room, obviously uncertain of his reception. ‘Don’t be silly,’ she said, relieved to see him. ‘It’s me who should be apologising. I let you down.’
She started to get up, but he held his hand out and came over to join her by the fire. ‘You were in an impossible position,’ he said, sitting down on the floor next to her. ‘You’ve been burdened with other people’s secrets from the moment you got here, and I started it with Morwenna and Harry’s suicide. I still can’t imagine why Morveth said anything to you about my mother but, whatever her reasons, it’s hardly your fault.’
‘In her defence, she seemed to be trying to protect you from something, but it rather backfired. Look, I really did want to tell you, you know, but this morning wasn’t the right moment and I thought I had plenty of time to wait until you’d finished the investigation. It never occurred to me that you’d find out another way – Morveth wasn’t going to say anything to you, and I could hardly have foreseen that you’d get it from the horse’s mouth. I suppose I shouldn’t have underestimated your professional powers of persuasion.’
He grinned, and added some more coal to the fire to bring the dying embers back to life. ‘You don’t have to explain,’ he said, paying more attention to the selection of a log than was strictly necessary and avoiding her eye. ‘And there was no need for me to start summoning up our ghosts just because I’d found some more of my own. What I said about Jack was unforgivable.’
She took the poker out of his hand and forced him to look at her. ‘You were in shock. Anyway, I doubt there’s anything you could say to me that I wouldn’t forgive you for eventually. But that’s not a challenge,’ she added, as he raised a questioning eyebrow.
‘It’s a bad sign, you know – bringing the bottle over with you,’ he said, lifting the Dalwhinnie which stood in the grate.
She laughed, and stood up to fetch another glass. ‘Well, that
‘Once I’d calmed down, I had to go back and talk to William. I expected you to be there still.’
‘No. I wasn’t really in the mood for company, so I left soon after you did.’
