room. This room, with its huge sliding windows, overlooking the terrace and the mouth of the river, was light and airy. Tentatively Harriet ran her fingers over the keys of the baby grand piano positioned in the corner and in front of the side window so the pianist had an inspiring view up river. She’d always loved this room. Ellie had taken her very first steps on the ancient carpet that still covered the wooden floorboards. She’d spent so much time in this house when she and Amy had been family.
It was when she walked into the large farmhouse-style kitchen that the tears finally started and she frantically searched for a tissue. It was all still so familiar.
The large Aga cooker, the pine table where eight or ten of them would gather for one of Amy’s delicious suppers and put the world to rights fuelled by a couple of bottles of wine. The dresser filled with Amy’s collection of blue and white china. Surely any moment now, Amy herself would open the back door and come in, her gardening trug filled with vegetables, urging everyone to stay for lunch.
Taking the letter the solicitor had given her out of her pocket, Harriet pulled out one of the wheel-backed chairs and sat at the table. Had saving this to read here been a good idea? Perhaps reading it somewhere neutral would be better. Or even waiting for Frank and opening it together. No. It was her past that was involved. A time when Frank hadn’t been around to protect and look after her.
Carefully she opened the envelope. Maybe it would explain things. Tell her where the money for the huge legacy had come from for instance. More importantly, explain why Amy had made the bequest.
My dearest Harriet,
Sadly we’ve not seen each other for many years but I’ve thought of you so often. You and Ellie. I hope you were able to re-build your life and eventually find happiness again. I wish you had felt able to keep in contact but do understand your reasons for severing your old life completely from the new one you were forced to face. From the day you married my brother, you became my family. In all the years, I have never thought of you as anything other than my sister-in-law.
I know Trevor Bagshawe will have explained my wishes to you and your initial response will probably be to shout NO, NO, but please think about it carefully before you decide to turn my legacy down. It is my way of making up for all the hurt you suffered at the hands of my family all those years ago. Money does not equate happiness, I am well aware, but it does provide opportunities that would otherwise be impossible. I hope it will give Ellie the chance to explore and live her life to the full.
It is not my intention to cause you more distress, but I very much long for Ellie to know her true family origins. I dreamt for years of seeing you and Ellie happy in this house again.
With much love,
Amy
Harriet’s skin tingled as she read the letter. Inside her head, Amy’s soft Devonshire voice was saying the words as she read them. The tears were falling freely as she finished reading and she searched in her bag for another tissue. She’d hurt Amy more than she’d ever realised with her determination to sever all contact with the family and the town. Amy had written to her about six months after the scandal broke, asking her to keep in touch, but she hadn’t replied. Being genuinely fond of Amy, she’d longed to but, in the end, the need for a completely new life had won and she’d torn the letter up.
The chair scraped across the floor tiles as Harriet stood up and pushed it back. Sitting here in Amy’s kitchen on her own was unnerving. All those long-ago feelings of hurt, uncertainty, guilt – oh the guilt – were flooding back.
She’d seen enough for today. She’d come back with Frank. She folded the letter back into the envelope and placed it in her bag. No information there about where the money had come from. Maybe Amy won the Lotto or something. Investments? No way of knowing.
It was when she walked into the large farmhouse-style kitchen that the tears finally started and she frantically searched for a tissue. It was all still so familiar.
The large Aga cooker, the pine table where eight or ten of them would gather for one of Amy’s delicious suppers and put the world to rights fuelled by a couple of bottles of wine. The dresser filled with Amy’s collection of blue and white china. Surely any moment now, Amy herself would open the back door and come in, her gardening trug filled with vegetables, urging everyone to stay for lunch.
Taking the letter the solicitor had given her out of her pocket, Harriet pulled out one of the wheel-backed chairs and sat at the table. Had saving this to read here been a good idea? Perhaps reading it somewhere neutral would be better. Or even waiting for Frank and opening it together. No. It was her past that was involved. A time when Frank hadn’t been around to protect and look after her.
Carefully she opened the envelope. Maybe it would explain things. Tell her where the money for the huge legacy had come from for instance. More importantly, explain why Amy had made the bequest.
My dearest Harriet,
Sadly we’ve not seen each other for many years but I’ve thought of you so often. You and Ellie. I hope you were able to re-build your life and eventually find happiness again. I wish you had felt able to keep in contact but do understand your reasons for severing your old life completely from the new one you were forced to face. From the day you married my brother, you became my family. In all the years, I have never thought of you as anything other than my sister-in-law.
I know Trevor Bagshawe will have explained my wishes to you and your initial response will probably be to shout NO, NO, but please think about it carefully before you decide to turn my legacy down. It is my way of making up for all the hurt you suffered at the hands of my family all those years ago. Money does not equate happiness, I am well aware, but it does provide opportunities that would otherwise be impossible. I hope it will give Ellie the chance to explore and live her life to the full.
It is not my intention to cause you more distress, but I very much long for Ellie to know her true family origins. I dreamt for years of seeing you and Ellie happy in this house again.
With much love,
Amy
Harriet’s skin tingled as she read the letter. Inside her head, Amy’s soft Devonshire voice was saying the words as she read them. The tears were falling freely as she finished reading and she searched in her bag for another tissue. She’d hurt Amy more than she’d ever realised with her determination to sever all contact with the family and the town. Amy had written to her about six months after the scandal broke, asking her to keep in touch, but she hadn’t replied. Being genuinely fond of Amy, she’d longed to but, in the end, the need for a completely new life had won and she’d torn the letter up.
The chair scraped across the floor tiles as Harriet stood up and pushed it back. Sitting here in Amy’s kitchen on her own was unnerving. All those long-ago feelings of hurt, uncertainty, guilt – oh the guilt – were flooding back.
She’d seen enough for today. She’d come back with Frank. She folded the letter back into the envelope and placed it in her bag. No information there about where the money had come from. Maybe Amy won the Lotto or something. Investments? No way of knowing.
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