day she had arrived with Paula to meet him for the first time he had feasted his rheumy old eyes on her lovely face. He had noticed that she looked like his twin, Elizabeth, when she had been twenty-seven, as Evan was now. Evan. His granddaughter. His only grandchild. His blood flowed through her veins, and one day, if she married and had children, it would flow in their veins … she ensured the continuation of his bloodline, his genes. It had always been important to him, the flowering of a family, but before the arrival of Evan this had not seemed probable.
Instantly, Jonathan sprang into his mind and a chill settled over him. He could only pray that his son would never harm Evan. Certainly Robin had made absolutely sure that Jonathan really did understand that his inheritance was intact, and not jeopardized by the advent of Evan. In fact, he had gone to extraordinary lengths to prove this to his son, taking steps that involved both their solicitors and the execution of various documents, which were binding.
On the other hand, Jonathan was unpredictable. For a long time now he had considered his only child a loose cannon and, even worse, a sociopath. There was no way of knowing what he might do. Or when.
‘Are you all right?’ Evan asked, feeling Robin’s sudden tension.
‘Yes, yes, I’m fine,’ the old man answered, forcing a smile. ‘But I must admit I do feel the cold even on a sunny day like this. Let’s go inside, Evan. I have something I wish to show you.’
Together they walked into the library, and Robin murmured, ‘Do sit down on the sofa, I won’t be a moment.’
She did as he said while he hurried to the desk. Her eyes followed him. What a fine-looking man he was; tall, erect, and handsome in old age, and today he was much more robust and full of vigour. This pleased her. She had only just found him, and he was already eighty … the thought of losing him dismayed her.
A moment later Robin was sitting down next to her and handing her a photograph, a snapshot taken a long time ago. Staring down at it she exclaimed, ‘It’s of you and my grandmother. My goodness, what a gorgeous couple you were! So good-looking.’
He laughed in delight at her compliment. ‘We did look wonderful together, you know, everyone remarked on that. As you can see, I’m wearing my RAF uniform and your grandmother is the height of fashion for the times, very much the glamour girl, as always. Well, anyway, it’s for you, Evan.’
‘Oh Robin, how lovely of you. But are you sure you want to part with it? You’ve had it for such a long time.’
‘Who better to give it to than – our granddaughter. I want you to have this picture of the two of us when we were young and in love and before things had gone so horribly wrong between us.’
She nodded, touched his arm affectionately. ‘I shall treasure it always.’
His blue eyes lit up and he smiled at her. ‘Now, will you take pity on an old man and stay for lunch?’
‘I’d love to,’ she said.
But as she walked to the dining room with Robin, Evan knew there was nothing but trouble in store. Her intuition told her that her father would be difficult, and that the situation would more than likely explode.
Tessa Fairley Longden stood on the terrace, watching her small daughter bustling around like the proverbial mother hen, placing Daisy her porcelain baby doll, Teddy the bear, and Reggi the rag doll in the chairs she and Adele had just arranged around the small tea-table.
Once the child was satisfied she looked up at her mother, and said, ‘Daisy is keeping Teddy company and I’ll sit next to my Reggi.’
‘That’s a good idea, Adele. I’m sure they’ll be happy wherever you’ve put them,’ Tessa answered, smiling down at the three-year-old, who was looking up at her questioningly.
As she spoke Tessa made a mental note to wrest the rag doll out of her daughter’s clutches as soon as possible. It was dirty and bedraggled, quite disgusting looking really, but the child loved it so much, clung to it, never let it out of her sight. Tessa had long realized it was like a security blanket to Adele, but it did need washing, by hand, of course, so that it would not fall apart. Tonight, she thought, I’ll wash it tonight if I can get it away from her.
She was enjoying being here in Yorkshire with Adele, her first bit of peace since leaving her husband, Mark Longden.
Bending down, Tessa smoothed her hand over her child’s silky, silvery-blonde hair, and murmured, ‘I’ll be in the library working, sweetheart, if you need me.’
Adele nodded, and said in a solemn voice, ‘At your computer, Mumma.’
‘That’s right.’ Tessa’s heart overflowed with love for this extraordinarily beautiful child, so precious to her, the one person she loved the most in this world. Leaning over her, she kissed the top of her head, lingering for a moment longer on the terrace; but after a second or two she finally drew herself up, took a deep breath and walked briskly into the library, sitting down at the table she had pulled over to the French windows.
It was Elvira’s day off, and the nanny had gone into Leeds, leaving Adele in her care. Tessa had toyed with the idea of taking Adele with her to the Harrogate store, but in the end she had changed her mind, had decided not to go after all. It was such a beautiful morning it seemed almost criminal to keep the child cooped up in an office; she could just as easily work here at Pennistone Royal on the plans for remodelling the Harrogate store, while Adele enjoyed the sunshine and the fresh air, playing outdoors on the long terrace at the back of the house.
Tessa had decided long ago that the library was the ideal place for her to work when she was here at Pennistone Royal. It was a long, spacious, airy room with a high-flung ceiling and walls panelled in light-coloured pine. Tranquil, a peaceful spot, it was well insulated with its many floor-to-ceiling shelves filled with leather-bound books.
Earlier this morning she had set herself up at the far end of the library, near the French windows. These opened onto the terrace where Adele could play happily until lunchtime. Tessa had pulled the library table over to the glass doors, creating a makeshift desk out of it. Adele was now in her direct line of vision; she could even hear the child chattering away to the teddy bear. Apart from being able to keep an eye on her daughter, she was readily available if the child needed her for any reason.
Tessa worked steadily at her computer for the next twenty minutes, glancing up from time to time, smiling to herself, thinking of how well Adele played alone, treating her dolls and the bear like real playmates, talking to them in the most natural way, as if they were alive.
Adele was a clever, inventive and imaginative little girl, and she could already read simple books even though she was not yet four. Tessa had come to understand that her daughter enjoyed learning new things, and she was extremely intelligent for her age, and in some ways rather precocious, at least when it came to learning. Not precocious in an irritating way, like some children were; Adele was sweet by nature, and a rather endearing child with her fey and somewhat whimsical traits and mannerisms.
Unexpectedly, Adele turned around and saw Tessa staring at her through the open glass doors, and she laughed, waved to her mother.
Tessa waved back before returning to her work. She concentrated hard, trying to pull together all of her ideas for the much-needed changes at the Harrogate store. This
