The Keeper of Secrets by Amanda Brooke Page A

shirt.
    They had spoken only briefly to arrange the meeting. Elle had merely explained who she was and had told Corinne that she had something that belonged to her. Now, five minutes into the showdown, the conversation seemed to be stalled on polite pleasantries. Elle had lost her nerve and one look at the chocolate cake she had mistakenly ordered made her fight back a wave of nausea.
    â€˜So, what is it you want to know?’ Corinne asked.
    The directness of the question jolted Elle out of her mental paralysis, but rather than answer immediately she placed the prepared stack of envelopes on the table in front of her. ‘You loved my dad once, didn’t you?’
    The twinkle in Corinne’s eye was one of surprise. ‘I thought these were lost for ever. May I?’ She picked up the letters and began leafing through them as she spoke. ‘I don’t suppose there’s any point in denying it, is there?’
    â€˜I’d like to think the time for keeping secrets is over,’ Elle replied. ‘Please, I need to know.’
    Before answering, Corinne wrapped her hands around her letters as if she could absorb each and every word she had written. ‘Your dad and I were in love, yes. I’d even go so far as to say to that we were star-crossed lovers – or so we thought at the time. I came from a very middle-class family. My father was an MP who had great expectations for his only child. I was about to head off to Cambridge to study languages when I met Harry. The sixties may sound like a liberating time to grow up in, but this was very early on, practically still the fifties in many respects, and the old class distinctions were as strong as ever. Your dad saw the division even if I refused to acknowledge it.’
    â€˜You put a lot of effort into reassuring my dad that he was good enough for you.’
    â€˜And I failed miserably,’ she added. ‘It drove a wedge between us in the end. I did well at university and one of my father’s contacts offered me a one-year placement overseas as an interpreter. I wasn’t interested. I wanted to finish my education and return home to Harry and become a teacher, but he thought I would be making a huge sacrifice. I didn’t see it that way. We could have been happy, but he wouldn’t listen. Out of the blue he decided to join the navy. He promised that when he became a naval officer he would finally be able to take his place by my side. Later, when he realized that wasn’t going to happen, he ended our relationship.’
    Corinne had already picked out the envelope that held the very last letter she had sent him. She took it out and stared at it.
    â€˜And was it the end?’
    When Corinne looked up, her eyes were glistening but she staunched her tears as she watched Elle place another smaller set of exhibits on the table in front of her. Corinne had the good grace to blush.
    â€˜I went on to become a teacher – that part of my life at least went according to plan. And as you know, your dad became a teacher too. It was inevitable I suppose that our paths would cross again.’
    â€˜Had he always wanted to teach?’ Elle asked. It was a question she had never before considered. She had grown up knowing that he had once been in the navy and she had simply assumed his training had given him the skills and discipline to take up physical education.
    From the look on Elle’s face it was obvious she’d already started making the connections for herself. So Corinne answered, ‘No. He deliberately chose teaching so there was a chance we would bump into each other again.’
    â€˜He told you that?’
    Corinne nodded.
    â€˜But he met Mum before he left the navy. Which means that while he was deciding to settle down with her, he still picked out a career that would lead him back to you,’ Elle said, thinking out loud.
    Corinne nodded again but less confidently this time, even though it was a