The Secret of Summerhayes by Merryn Allingham

Author:Merryn Allingham
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Published: 2017-09-17T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nineteen

‘We were just coming to find you, Mrs Summer.’ Her nervousness made her jerk out the words. ‘We’ve found the paintings you told us about. Paintings of the gardens. Jos thinks they’ll be useful.’

Alice’s smile was serene. ‘Elizabeth loved the gardens. William loved them, too. He kept the paintings safe while he waited for her to come back. And he kept a picture of her, too. It was the only self-portrait she ever did, but he saved it along with the others. I’ve no idea where it might be – he had to hide it away. From his father.’

‘We must try and find it.’ Beth was picking her way through what had suddenly become a minefield.

‘Yes, do dear. I want it hanging on the wall when Elizabeth arrives.’

It was then that Beth noticed the white envelope Alice carried and her heart sank. At least three weeks had passed since the last letter, and she had dared to believe it really was the last, and that whoever had sent them had tired of the game. She had put the letters out of her mind and fervently hoped that Mrs Summer had, too. But now, out of the blue, another one. Why now? Could it be that Elizabeth was alive after all and near to Summerhayes? Was Alice about to be proved right? Or was this a new attempt to hurt the old lady? The ‘ghosts’ on the lawn, the twine tied between chairs, had failed, so had the unknown writer regressed to earlier tactics? Perhaps there were two people involved. The ghosts and the twine were crude attempts to harm, but the letters had a psychological subtlety designed to disturb a woman who was already confused. Her employer had known such sadness in her life that she was bound to grasp at the small piece of happiness the letters offered, and then be driven to madness if that offer melted to nothingness.

‘Shall I take that for you?’ Beth held out her hand, meaning to remove the letter from sight as quickly as possible.

The fragile figure made no answer, but backed out of the doorway and shuffled along the corridor to the apartment and the open door. For an instant, Beth was too bewildered to move, but then rushed to follow, catching up with Alice on the threshold.

‘You best settle her,’ Jos said, coming up behind. ‘I’ll call when I can.’ And then he disappeared.

He walked back to the billet without realising where he was going. His mind was chasing phantoms from his past, snatching at half-remembered conversations, trying to make sense of what had happened this evening. His mother had lived here. His mother was Alice Summer’s daughter. It verged on the inconceivable. He’d been bold in his assertions to Beth, but now his brain teemed with doubts. How could this have happened? He could accept that his father might have been here. As a young man training as an architect, what better project than Summerhayes, with its new house

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