Emma's Secret

  Evan broke it. ‘Robin, why do you think Emma kept the Glynnis letters, yet hid them in that strange way?’

  He let out a deep sigh. ‘I just don’t know. It’s a mystery to me.’ A smile broke through and he exclaimed, ‘But I’m damned glad she did.’

  ‘Who did what to whom?’ Paula asked, coming back into the library.

  ‘Emma. She kept the letters, and you found them, and I’ve found my only grandchild. You are the only one, aren’t you?’ He shot a glance at Evan.

  She smiled. ‘I am. I do have two sisters but they’re adopted.’

  Paula said, ‘You two are looking very pleased with each other, Uncle Robin, Evan. But I want to caution you both…there’s Jonathan to contend with.’

  ‘Ah yes.’ Robin sat back in the chair, steepled his fingers, brought them to his mouth. ‘I shall talk to him next week, explain everything. As long as he knows that I am not going to change my will, everything will be all right.’

  ‘I don’t want anything!’ Evan exclaimed, and then blushed when he gave her a stern look.

  Paula said, ‘You know that, Uncle, and I know it, but will Jonathan believe you? Will he accept your word?’

  ‘I shall make him believe me.’ Robin rose, went and sat next to Evan on the sofa, took her hand in his. ‘You and I don’t actually know each other, we’ve only just met, but you are my grandchild, and I am going to create a Trust for you. Immediately. I shall attend to it on Monday. But remember, this is between the three of us.’

  Evan nodded, not daring to say a word.

  ‘What a good idea, Uncle Robin. And you don’t have to worry about me. I’m not going to tell anyone, not even Shane,’ Paula promised.

  Later that day Evan read a lot more of her grandmother’s letters to Emma, and was instantly engrossed in them. Glynnis had written in great detail, giving Emma colourful descriptions of her life in New York with her son and her husband Richard. Evan found them fascinating. She also understood that the two women had grown closer over the years, sharing a special bond because of Owen.

  Putting the last one she had just read back in the bundle and tying the blue ribbon carefully, Evan placed the letters under her sweaters in a drawer, knowing she wanted to peruse them again, perhaps tonight after dinner.

  As she showered and washed her hair, Evan thought of Glynnis. Her admiration of her gran had grown and grown in the last twenty-four hours, because of her dignity, kindness and the way she had led her life. She had even brought Owen to London on several occasions when he was a little boy, and Emma had met him. Didn’t her father remember these occasions? Perhaps he did, but had preferred not to tell her. Or maybe he had simply not understood who Emma was, or forgotten or blocked them out.

  Stepping out of the shower, Evan dried herself, put on a terrycloth robe, and stood in front of the mirror drying her hair with a blower, thinking now about Robin. She had liked him almost instantly, had found him warm, kind and very courteous, and she was quite certain he liked her. Of course, they had to get to know each other properly, and that would take time, but instinctively she felt they would have a worthwhile relationship eventually.

  Naturally Robin had been concerned about her father, and she was too, truly unsure of the way he would react to the news. She had made up her mind not to telephone him in Connecticut; at least if she did she would not tell him about the sudden startling development in their lives. She knew him well, and she believed his reaction would be very mixed. He had been devoted to Richard Hughes, who had brought him up, and whom he regarded as his father. Well, of course Richard had been his father. Her grandmother had once said something to her…that any man could get a woman pregnant but it was what a man did with a child later that made him a true father. She had often thought about her gran’s words, and now they made perfect sense. Glynnis had been thinking about Richard when she had uttered them.

  After brushing her hair and putting on a little makeup, Evan moved into the bedroom where she quickly dressed, choosing a silk dress of pale aquamarine, a colour which suited her perfectly. She fastened Glynnis’s string of small pearls around her neck, and put on the matching earrings, then slipped her feet into low-heeled silk shoes that matched the colour of the dress.

  She was the first one to arrive in the upstairs parlour, and she went and stood at the leaded window, looking out towards the hillside opposite, and then she turned to go back into the room. She saw the photograph at once, recognized Robin immediately, Robin as a much younger man, perhaps in his thirties. Picking it up, she saw that the broken glass Paula had referred to had been replaced. She held it for a moment, staring at the face, seeing her father and herself reflected there. Odd, though, that Robin Ainsley had a look of Richard Hughes…She smiled to herself as she put the photograph back in its place amongst the other framed photographs of Emma Harte’s family.

  Even though it was early June, these old country houses were cool, she had noticed, and she made for the other side of the room where a fire blazed in the hearth. A moment later Gideon came in, his eyes lighting up the moment he saw her.

  Hurrying over, he brought her into his arms, kissed her cheek and then stood away from her, exclaiming, ‘You should always wear that colour. You look wonderful in it!’

  ‘Thank you, kind sir,’ she said, smiling up at him.

  ‘My parents will be here in a moment, but what’s going on? My mother said Paula wanted to talk to the three of us privately, with just you and Shane also present. Why not Linnet and Julian?’

  ‘We must wait for Paula, Gid, she will explain everything.’

  He frowned, said in a low voice, ‘Don’t tell me the mystery of your ancestry has been finally solved?’

  Evan threw him a cool inscrutable look, but made no comment.

  When Emily and Winston came in, Emily hurried over to her, kissed her on the cheek, and said, ‘It’s lovely to see you, Evan. And I must congratulate you again: the retrospective was so well mounted.’

  ‘Thank you.’

  Winston joined them, also kissed her on the cheek. ‘It goes without saying that I agree with Emily. My wife is always right. Now, what’s all this about, Evan, do you know?’

  ‘I’m about to tell you,’ Paula announced from the doorway, gliding into the upstairs parlour, followed by Shane. ‘Let’s sit down,’ she said, and lowered herself onto one of the sofas near the fire. Once they were all seated she proceeded to explain how she had knocked Robin’s photograph off the long library table, taken it apart to remove the broken glass, found the key for the silver-scrolled casket, and the photograph of Glynnis and Owen with Emma.

  ‘The casket was full of letters from Glynnis Hughes to Emma, and it became instantly clear to me that Robin Ainsley was the father of Glynnis’s son, Owen, who is Evan’s father.’

  ‘Oh my God!’ Emily cried. ‘Then you are one of us, Evan! Oh, of course. Now I know who it is you look like! My mother when she was young, about your age. Goodness me, you’re a Harte.’

  Winston said, ‘Well, my dear, welcome to the family. You’re going to make a wonderful addition.’

  Gideon simply sat there, staring at her, his face quite unreadable.

  Shane said, ‘Paula went to see Robin the other day, told him everything, and he confirmed that he had been involved with Glynnis during the war. That in itself is another story for later, however. Paula also informed Evan when she arrived yesterday, and this morning she drove Evan over to the Priory to meet Robin. Seemingly it went very well’

  Emily asked, ‘Did you like him, Evan? And how did he react to you?’

  ‘I liked him, yes, he was very courteous,’ Evan answered. ‘So very nice, and I’m sure he reciprocated my feelings.’ She looked across at Paula questioningly.

  Paula nodded and told them, ‘I do believe Robin is truly thrilled. He didn’t say that exactly, but he was very keen to know Evan better and to meet her father eventually. And we all know what Jonathan is…yes, I think Robin is over the moon that he suddenly has a grandch
ild.’

  Gideon, recovering from his initial surprise, gave Evan a long, loving look, and said, ‘I second my father, Evan. Welcome to the family, yes, welcome, welcome!’

  There was a little amused laughter amongst the others, and Paula continued, ‘For the moment, this must remain confidential. It’s between the six of us only. No one else in the family can know. Not until Uncle Robin has told Jonathan, and reassured him that Evan’s advent in his life is not going to affect Jonathan’s inheritance.’

  ‘I hope he believes it!’ Emily exclaimed.

  Shane said, ‘I know what you mean.’

  Winston looked thoughtful, pondering for a moment, and then he nodded to himself. ‘Uncle Robin is not Emma Harte’s son for nothing. He’s as shrewd as she ever was. And let’s not forget he’s a barrister, well schooled in the law, and that he was a Member of Parliament and a member of the government for years. He’s not going to fumble this one, rest assured. He’s going to use the right words, come up with all the right answers when he sees Jonathan.’

  ‘And when is that going to be, do you know, Paula?’ Emily asked.

  ‘Uncle Robin said he was going up to London on Monday. To see his solicitor. Perhaps he wants his advice about handling Jonathan.’

  ‘Possibly,’ Winston said. ‘But it’s more than likely he wants to draw up some sort of legal papers that give Jonathan the guarantees he’ll probably want.’

  ‘I agree with you, Winston,’ Shane said, standing up, pulling Paula to her feet. ‘Now, let’s go downstairs and have a drink. The others are going to wonder what’s going on up here.’

  Paula said, ‘Remember everyone, not a word to anyone, not even Linnet. We know what Jonathan is, we don’t want him going wild before Uncle Robin has placated him. And it’s funny how gossip spreads in this family.’

  Winston and Emily nodded, and followed Shane and Paula out of the upstairs parlour.

  Gideon said, ‘We’ll be down in a few minutes.’

  When the others had left, Gideon went and sat next to Evan on the sofa. Taking her hand in his, he looked into her large soulful eyes and said softly, ‘So how does it feel to know that we’re related?’

  Evan sighed, her face serious. ‘It startled me at first, of course, but when I got used to the idea it didn’t bother me. Does it bother you, Gid?’

  ‘No, why should it? I was taken aback, I must admit that, because there had been talk about you being a long-lost McGill. As it happens, you’re a long-lost Harte actually.’ He laughed, then leaned into her, and kissed her on the mouth. Her arms went around him and they kissed for a long moment, intimately and with passion.

  Finally Evan pulled away. ‘I think we’d best go downstairs, don’t you?’

  Leering at her a little theatrically, Gideon shook his head. ‘I’d much prefer to stay up here with you, doing this. But I suppose we have to display a little decorum and join the others for drinks. Later, after dinner, I’ll take you for a drive, so that we can be alone. All right?’

  ‘Very all right,’ she answered, happiness flooding her face.

  It seemed to Evan that the following ten days passed in a flash. She was very busy at Harte’s. The retrospective was a huge success, so much so they were innundated with requests for interviews from newspapers and magazines, and there was quite a lot of interest from foreign publications. This aside, they were starting to do record business on the various fashion floors.

  Evan sat at her desk in her office on Wednesday afternoon, going over her appointments for the rest of the week. Thankfully things had eased off a little for her personally, and she only had two photographic sessions to supervise. One was set for tomorrow afternoon, and the second on Friday morning. Leaning back in the chair she thought about the weekend. It was going to be very special. On Friday evening Paula and Shane were giving an engagement dinner for Linnet and Julian at Pennistone Royal; only the three families were invited, the Hartes, the O’Neills and the Kallinskis. And then on Saturday night the sixtieth birthday party for Shane and Winston would take place in the gardens of the ancient house.

  Everyone was excited about the upcoming weekend, and she was driving up to Yorkshire on Friday afternoon with Linnet and India. They had toyed with the idea of taking the train to Harrogate but in the end had settled on the car because it was more convenient.

  As thoughts of the weekend ran through her head Evan glanced at the dresses hanging on the rack at the far end of her office, and she stood up, went over to look at them. For the engagement dinner she had bought a lovely, pale-grey silk slip dress with spaghetti straps, very simple and elegant, but she was uncertain about what to wear on Saturday night for the birthday party. She knew Gideon loved her in light blues and aquas, and her first choice was a floating chiffon dress in a mix of those colours, with long, full sleeves and an ankle-length skirt. Now, as she looked at it again, compared it with the rose-coloured silk India had picked out for her, she knew the blue chiffon was right for her. There was something delicate about it: and it was soft, feminine and romantic.

  The shrill of the phone made her jump, and she hurried back to the desk, picked it up. ‘Hello? Evan Hughes here.’

  ‘Hello, darling. It’s Gid.’

  ‘Yes, I know.’

  ‘I’ll pick you up at six-forty-five tonight. Is that all right?’

  ‘Yes, of course. I’ll see you then,’ she answered, then made a kissing sound against the receiver.

  ‘Many kisses in return, my Evan,’ he said, and hung up.

  As she began to move towards the rack the phone rang again. She snatched it up. ‘Evan Hughes,’ she said into the receiver.

  ‘Hello, Evan. It’s your father.’

  ‘Hi, Dad, thanks for calling back. How’re you, how’s my mother?’

  ‘Doing much better, Evan. She’s not so depressed at the moment, we’re going out more often and she’s even been into New York with me this past weekend.’

  ‘Oh Dad, that’s so wonderful. I’m really thrilled.’

  ‘I got your message that you wanted to talk to me urgently. Is everything all right?’

  ‘No problems, no problems at all, I just wondered if you’d made any plans to come to London? Remember you said you were thinking of taking a vacation here this summer.’

  There was a small silence, a hesitation at the other end of the phone, and then Owen cleared his throat, and said, ‘I couldn’t make it before August. Yes, I was thinking of August. It’ll be lovely to see you Evan, I’ve missed you.’

  She caught the sudden wistfulness in his voice and for a moment she almost told him about Robin, but caught herself just in time. She was worried about his reaction and informing him about the letters, all they had revealed, over the phone would not work. And so she bit back the words, and said, ‘I can’t wait to see you, and I’ve missed you too. Will Mom be coming with you?’

  ‘I’m not sure. Certainly I’ll bring her if she’s well enough.’ Owen chuckled. ‘That’s where we first met, honey.’

  ‘I know. How’s business, Dad?’

  ‘Can’t complain. And I know you’re just thriving, I can hear it in your voice.’

  ‘I am. I love London, and I love working at the store.’

  ‘Still being nice to you, are they?’

  ‘Very much so, and as I told you last week, the retrospective was a huge success.’

  ‘Congratulations again, honey. I’ll call you soon. Or call me when you’ve got a moment. At home. Your mother loves your calls, Evan.’

  ‘I will Dad. Love to Mom and the girls. Love you.’

  ‘I love you too, Evan.’

  They hung up, and she stood looking at the receiver for a moment, her mind full of Robin and everything that had happened in the last ten days. How her life had changed…

  It was six-fifteen when Evan left Harte’s through the staff entrance, and she knew at once that she was going to have trouble finding a taxi. There were none in sight. She glanced up and down, and then decided to walk. It was
a nice evening, quite warm, and although it was a good twenty minutes from Knightsbridge back to the hotel, she knew it was wiser not to dawdle, looking for a cab. Anyway she might easily pick one up on the way home.

  Striding out, she hurried on past the back of the store and a small parking area, so intent on getting back to the hotel as quickly as possible she did not notice two men and a woman loitering just beyond the parking lot. It was only when one of the men grabbed hold of her arm, that she saw them, startled, her eyes widening. The woman lurched at her, punching her in the stomach; Evan gasped, doubled over, dropping her briefcase in the process.

  Evan felt a hard blow in the middle of her back and her legs gave way. She fell onto the pavement, gasping even harder, her breath strangled in her throat. The woman grabbed her handbag, and one of the men leaned down over her, showing a knife. She recoiled, terrified, certain he was going to stab her. ‘Please don’t hurt me,’ she whispered, barely able to speak.

  ‘Gimme the earrings,’ the thug bending over her hissed, ‘c’mon, gimme the pearls.’ He kicked her thigh with a booted foot and bending closer he pressed the knife point at her throat.

  Shaking now, and filled with spiralling fear, Evan pulled off the earrings, fortunately clip-ons and dropped them on the ground. The other young thug pounced on them, and the one with the knife at her throat said, ‘The watch. Gimme the Rolex or I’ll cut yer.’

  With trembling hands Evan took off her watch and threw it down, shrinking into herself, doubling over, bracing herself for another kick from the booted foot. But nothing happened. She lay there curled in the foetus position, hardly daring to breath. Suddenly she felt the boot smash against her side, and the thug kept on kicking her, while his partner bent even closer to her body, pressing the knife point on her neck, breaking the skin. ‘I’m gonna cut yer…’

  ‘Hey, what’s going on!’ a woman’s voice shouted, echoing down the street.

  Evan heard running feet and she opened her eyes, saw her three attackers fleeing; a moment later a young woman was bending over her, asking her if she was all right.