Chapter Forty-Eight
Nick hadn’t slept a wink. For most of the night she stared at the ceiling and at 4 a.m. she got up and started to pack, chatting to a sleepy Ohana. ‘Do you know what? When this mess is sorted, I am buying a house and it will be mine and I will sleep in it for ever and ever until the pillows wear out and the roof falls down.’
Ohana wagged her tail enthusiastically.
Nick nodded emphatically but her heart wasn’t really in it. She felt sick with Aster’s revelation that she had been framed. Even worse, that Gabe may be implicated. She didn’t believe that Gabe had told his father about her dog. She knew he had come to Ireland to check her out, but she completely believed him when he said he had no idea who she was. A second later she wondered if she was allowing her emotions to cloud her judgement again. She had fallen in love with Gabe and now there was a very real possibility that he had been playing her along. A minute later she would remember all the texts and conversations and was convinced of his sincerity all over again.
And so the night turned to dawn. Eventually she began to realise that it didn’t matter one way or the other, they were never going to have a relationship. If Aster was correct – how could Nick doubt the evidence? – Gabe’s family were trying to have her thrown into jail.
Nick sent a joint text to Rafe and Gabe telling them that Aster had returned to the UK, so the three women were returning to Norfolk. She kept the text light and brief but said nothing about the new evidence. Maybe Rafe had betrayed her? Maybe Gabe had said something to his twin who had passed it on. Nick groaned. There were too many ‘maybes’. All she knew was that she had finally fallen in love with someone that she could never have.
It took less time for Aster and Mary to pack. Nick wanted to say goodbye to the builders, but she was worried that she might get emotional and they would alert the twins to a change in her behaviour. Her emotions were on the surface right now, and a kindly word from John might set her off. Feeling rude she left a note in the builders’ kitchen and then drove away in Aster’s rental.
Eventually, we all come back to Hiverton , thought Nick, smiling across at Aster.
‘It does feel like coming home, doesn’t it?’
During the previous evening, Nick had gathered the evidence Aster had found from the static database and sent it all over to her solicitor. Whilst they had been driving to Norfolk he had called her to say that he was putting in an emergency request to the FCA and to the judge to throw out the trial. He had sounded cautiously optimistic for a solicitor.
‘The evidence that those figures have been manipulated is clear. Things might move very quickly now. The FCA don’t like to waste time on a case that has no grounds. They’ll probably want to pick over it, but my experts came to their conclusions pretty quickly.’ Hanging up, he promised to let her know the minute he did.
Now the sun was high in the sky and shining down on the Hiverton Estate as they drove down the main drive to the house .
‘Ari says Seb has taken the boys swimming,’ said Nick over her shoulder. Mary was seated in the back holding Ohana for reassurance. ‘It will give you time to settle in.’
Meeting Letta had been wonderful, meeting Aster had been terrifying, now as they drove down a private road and the huge ancient house loomed up in front of her, Mary was petrified. Both girls talked about Ari in glowing terms, but she was the Countess Ariana Hiverton. How could someone so grand be her granddaughter? She laughed and Aster turned around and raised her eyebrow.
‘I was just thinking that the granddaughter I am about to meet is very grand indeed.’
‘Are you nervous?’ asked Aster surprised.
‘Of course she is,’ Nick interrupted. ‘After her meeting with you she’s probably petrified.’
‘Ridiculous,’ snorted Aster and turned to face the house again.
Nick looked back at Mary and smiled sympathetically. As she turned again, the front door opened, and Ari stepped out to meet them, waving her arms madly with a huge grin on her face. Her pregnancy wasn’t obvious yet, but Nick thought she looked as happy as she had ever seen her. She loved family reunions and she was about to meet her grandmother. As they all got out of the car, she ran forward giving Aster and Nick huge hugs and then turned to face Mary.
‘What would you prefer?’ Ari asked bluntly. ‘Gran, Granny, Grandmama, Nan, Nanny?’
‘Mary will do.’ Ari’s face fell imperceptibly and Mary rushed on, concerned that she had disappointed this generous young woman. ‘It’s just I never dreamt I would be someone’s granny and now here I am with five granddaughters.’
‘Of course, Mary,’ said Ari. ‘Whatever you feel comfortable with. We will do everything we can to make you feel welcome.’
Mary looked at Ari fondly and felt a surge of affection for the young woman who – like her sisters – looked so familiar. ‘I suppose I like Granny the best?’
Ari beamed at her and then at her sisters. ‘We have a grandparent! You are clever, Nick, finding her and bringing us together; and Aster, you are brilliant – fancy putting in a back-up for the back-up!’
Chattering, she ushered the three of them indoors and then told her sisters to put the kettle on whilst she showed their granny to her bedroom.
***
Half an hour later the three sisters were sitting out on the terrace drinking homemade lemonade.
‘Do you think she’s lost?’ asked Nick.
‘I told her we’d be sitting out the back and to join us when she’s ready.’
‘She’s not a new cat,’ said Aster with a drawl.
‘I think the analogy works quite well. These are new surroundings and new people. It is a lot to take in. She’ll join us when she’s ready.’
Nick hadn’t heard back from her solicitor and was feeling anxious. With the good news on the horizon she just wanted it all settled. The past months had been horrendous, and she wanted it behind her as quickly as possible .
‘What are you going to do when this is all over?’ asked Ari.
Nick looked over and smiled at her sister, perceptive as ever.
‘Do you know, I’ve been thinking about that. Obviously, I’m going to pick up the Hiverton account again, although Geoffrey probably has it running better than I ever could.’
Her sisters both protested, and she laughed. ‘No, no false modesty, Geoffrey is a genius. I can learn a lot from him. But that aside, I’m going to be choosier about my other clients. Obviously, I’m going to lose some, but it will give me an opportunity to really focus on my core principles, helping start-up businesses with little or no social or financial clout.’
Both sisters nodded in agreement.
‘I also want to build up the charity more. I’m not good at digging ditches in Africa, or helping families with legal aid, or delivering medical supplies but I am good at making money. And I’d like to focus on that. I also want to spend more time on a social life.’
Aster and Ari both laughed in mock horror at their workaholic sister’s pronouncement.
‘And what are you going to do about Gabe?’ asked Ari.
The smile on Nick’s face disappeared and instead she looked coldly at her big sister. That was a topic she wasn’t prepared to discuss yet. She’d already had three texts from him today and had had to fob him off each time. ‘Move on.’
‘But—’
‘I said, leave it. I don’t want to talk about him. ’
Nick could see that Ari wasn’t prepared to do that and was relieved when Mary walked around the side of the house.
‘Ariana, your home is a warren. However do you find anyone?’
‘Wait till the boys come home. They are so noisy you always know where they are. It’s when they go quiet you need to start running.’
As Ari poured Mary a glass of lemonade, Nick’s phone beeped. Everyone looked at her expectantly as she read the text.
‘Well,’ she breathed out heavily. ‘That’s a step closer. The solicitors have just let me know. The case is going to be reviewed by Judge Percival Applethwaite in two days’ time. The documents have been forwarded to the FCA as well. The end is almost in sight.’ She took a sip of the sharp lemonade and turned to Aster. ‘Do you think you’ll be able to work out who planted the evidence in time? It would be great to be able to prove at the hearing that I’ve been set up.’
Aster nodded. ‘I’ll give it my best shot.’
‘Do you know, I may even be able to help,’ said Mary with a small smile.
The sisters all looked at her curiously. It was unclear in what way she could possibly lend assistance, but they were keen to hear what she had to say.
‘I know Judge Percy Applethwaite, or at least I think I do. It’s hard to imagine that there could be two of them.’
‘How do you know the judge?’ asked Aster intrigued. From all that she had heard about Mary’s life she couldn’t see where their paths had overlapped .
‘Letta, do you remember me saying that for a long time I worked as a cleaner in a private residence?’
Nick nodded and Ari interrupted. ‘Do you know, I love hearing you being called Letta again. Sorry, Mary, continue.’
Aster still hadn’t decided if she approved of anyone else calling Nick by their mother’s name for her but if Nick was okay with it she was prepared to delay her judgement. Besides, she wanted to hear what Mary had to say. The way the woman was sitting, Aster was certain that she had a tale to tell.
Mary took a sip of her drink and continued.
‘Well now. I got the job when I bumped into a girl that I used to lodge with. She was a really good-looking girl and always well turned out. We got chatting and I discovered that she had found a good job and had bought a flat. Now, you can imagine I was very impressed. She was younger than I was – I was in my early thirties by then, and didn’t have two pennies to rub together – and there’s herself buying her own property. Anyways, she laughed and said it was a coincidence her bumping into me after all these years. Her boss was looking for a cleaner-cum-housemaid, she wanted a tidy Irish girl with no family. The sort that could be relied upon to work hard and keep herself to herself. At the time I was stacking shelves at night for a pittance so when Fiona or Philippa, I forget now, told me what the salary was I was all for it.’
She stopped and took another drink, emptying her glass. Aster leant forward and refilled it.
‘So, I puts on my best clothes and take the bus over to the address that this girl gave me. The house was in the posh end of town that I never went to. Huge houses set back from the road with their own gravel driveways and a big brick wall at the front. This one even had some big trees at the front. Anyways, I knocks at the door like the timid little thing that I was and this smart girl in a maid’s outfit escorts me into the house and asks me to wait in a study for her employer. I tell you, if it hadn’t been for the fact that I hated stacking shelves so much I’d have turned tail. What right had I to be shown around a big grand house by a maid? I was about to get up and leave when this woman walks in. She must have been in her sixties and had the poshest voice I had ever heard, like the Queen, but with a hint of Brummie. She carried a little Pekinese dog and a cane; I tell you, looking at her I was so scared. It makes me laugh now to think how nervous I was on that first day, when it turned out that it was the turning point of my life.’
She stopped and looked out over the rose garden causing the sisters to look at each other and grin. Big pauses at all the dramatic bits. This was exactly how their da used to tell a tale!