ANGE TURNS UP at the boathouse just before supper when Ben, Charlie and Claude are having a farewell drink in the pub.
‘I wanted to be clear about things,’ she says, coming in and putting her bag down on the table. ‘I’ve been thinking about what you said, Evie. I shan’t tell Charlie but I’d like to see those papers.’
Evie isn’t really surprised. She guesses that Ange would be reluctant to give up her plan of campaign simply on Evie’s word.
‘Why not?’ she answers calmly. ‘Wait here and I’ll get them.’
She goes to her study, takes the papers from the drawer in her desk and returns to the big room. Ange is still standing by the table and Evie doesn’t ask her to sit or offer her coffee: this is not a social occasion. Evie takes the papers from the envelope and lays them carefully on the table.
‘They’re rather fragile,’ she says. ‘Please be careful with them. They are in the right chronological order.’
She watches as Ange searches for some spectacles in her bag, puts them on, picks up the papers rather gingerly and begins to read them. Almost immediately her expression changes from the familiar slightly disparaging look to one of intense concentration. She reads each page several times, completely absorbed, and Evie wonders what she might be thinking.
When she’s finished Ange stands still for a moment before placing the papers on the table. Then she takes a deep breath and Evie observes that she is marshalling her resources; reassessing her position.
‘Yes, I see,’ she says, very cool, very possessed, taking off the spectacles and replacing them in her handbag. ‘It’s all rather hearsay, though, isn’t it? It could never be proved that Charles was his son, not at this late date.’
‘I suppose that Ben might want to give it a try, though,’ answers Evie. ‘Or Laura might?’
‘Laura?’ Ange stares at her, startled out of her careful composure.
Evie raises her eyebrows. ‘Why not? She has just as much a claim and she might consider it well worth a legal battle. But it’s not only about who wins or who loses so much as all the mess and muddle it involves. So destructive.’
‘Are you threatening me, Evie?’
She laughs then, looking at Ange across the big table. ‘I suppose I am. And this is the deal: that you stop treating the Merchant’s House as yours and Charlie’s. TDF left the house to me because he wanted me to be able to feel that it’s my home, not because he couldn’t decide whether to leave it to Ben as some kind of restitution, though he did feel guilty about that.’
‘I still don’t see why he should. He grafted all his life and so has Charlie. There probably wouldn’t be much left of the estate if it had come down on Ben’s side of the family. It would be utterly unfair to simply take it all away from Charlie and pass it over to Ben.’
‘TDF agreed with that,’ says Evie calmly. ‘And so do I. But there is still a moral dimension. You are the one who preaches the inalienable rights of the law of inheritance, Ange. After all, if it is Ben’s by rights then it doesn’t matter what his ancestors might have done with it. So my decision is that Ben will be allowed the use of the Merchant’s House during his lifetime, after which it returns to Charlie’s estate.’
The expression on Ange’s face morphs from wariness to relief.
‘You mean it comes back to us – to Charlie – when Ben dies?’
Evie nods. ‘Provided that during that time there will be no fuss and nonsense about it. My lawyer has those instructions. Your girls will get it all, Ange, and Laura will get nothing.’
‘And you won’t tell Charlie?’
‘Not unless you persist with this tiresome campaign to make me and Ben feel like outsiders. You started this, Ange, with your insistence on seeing the cartoons restored. The whole thing might have stayed a secret if you hadn’t interfered. Well, now I’ve taken the necessary legal steps.’
Ange stares at her, unable to conceal her dislike. ‘You could change your will at any time.’
Evie sighs, smiles. ‘I could, couldn’t I? But why should I? Ben will have his heart’s desire and Charlie will inherit in the end. I love Charlie, Ange. I don’t want him not only to lose his inheritance but also to find out that he’s not quite who he thought he was. Yes, don’t forget that aspect of it. I hope that Charlie will continue to visit us regularly and keep his connection at the Merchant’s House and here in Dartmouth.’
It is clear to Evie that Ange is thinking it through, that her mind is doubling and redoubling to and fro, seeking for traps and pitfalls.
‘Charlie’s been behaving a little oddly,’ she says, at last, reluctantly as though she hates to confide such an idea. ‘Ever since he came back from regatta. Can you imagine why that might be?’
She’s locked on to Jemima, Evie thinks, but she’s not really sure. Ben’s thrown her off the scent but her instincts are telling her that there’s danger. I must completely scotch this once and for all.
‘Well, of course I can,’ Evie says, almost crossly. ‘Can you really not see how angry it makes Charlie to see you treating Ben as if he’s some sort of layabout squatter? Have you no idea how close those two are? OK, Charlie doesn’t have a clue about the threat to his inheritance but he knows that he has a very great deal and Ben has very little. His marriage has broken up, his wife has been deceiving him, his home is being sold. Can’t you see how happy it makes Charlie to think that Ben has a kind of sanctuary in the place he loves best? But because of your mean-mindedness it’s constantly at risk. Can you really not see that, Ange? They had such a happy time once you’d gone off to Polzeath, just like the old days. Of course Charlie has been preoccupied. I expect that he’s trying not to be disappointed in your grasping behaviour. Trying to decide how he’ll cope if you actually succeed in driving Ben out. He loves Ben. Don’t ever forget that. He’s delighted that Ben is there and can relax while all this shit is going on in his life. But you won’t let him be delighted, will you, Ange? So Charlie is divided in his loyalty between you and Ben. I’d be careful, if I were you.’
Ange flushes that unbecoming scarlet, as if she’s been plunged in boiling water, and then, oddly, seems to relax a little; to look relieved, even. She doesn’t notice that Evie is trembling from head to foot with the sheer adrenalin rush of speaking out at last; all her thoughts are inward.
‘So Ben knows about your will?’ Ange asks. ‘Nobody else?’
‘Ben knows, though I’ve pledged him to secrecy, and Claude knows everything. He’s seen the papers.’
‘Claude?’
Once again the ugly flush washes over her skin and Evie raises her eyebrows.
‘Of course. Claude was TDF’s oldest friend and now he’s mine. He loves Charlie and Ben, and I needed someone I could trust. And, if I were you, I’d want to make certain that Charlie knows about my will, too, and knows that you are delighted with it. Then he can come down and stay with Ben, knowing that his cousin is secure but that the Merchant’s House will come back to him eventually, and then I think you’ll find he’ll relax and be his old self.’
‘But how can I tell him? He’ll wonder how I know. After all, in the usual circumstances you’d be unlikely to confide in me, wouldn’t you?’
Evie smiles at this thrust. ‘That’s true. I could tell him. I’d rather he knew and I think it would be a relief to Ben. But when?’
‘Did I tell you that we’re going down to Polzeath tomorrow morning?’
‘Yes, I knew that. Well, let him come over to say goodbye on his own and I’ll tell him. You’ll have to look surprised when he tells you. And pleased.’
Ange picks up her bag. ‘I expect I’ll manage.’ She hesitates. ‘I suppose I should thank you.’
‘For what?’
‘For leaving the Merchant’s House to Charlie. You needn’t have done that. You could have left it to Ben.’
‘This seems the best solution. It gives Ben security for his lifetime and goes back to Charlie for his children. I would hate either of them to know about the papers. I think it would be very destructive and achieve nothing. This way everybody wins and I can demonstrate my affection to them both. I’m sorry you had to know about the papers. It’s hard keeping a secret from a husband.’
‘I expect I’ll manage,’ Ange says again. ‘I might not see you before we go so I’ll say goodbye.’
‘Shall we see you at Christmas?’
Ange shakes her head. ‘It’s just too busy around then for me and, anyway, it will be a bit of a squash if you and Claude are moving over.’
‘You could use the boathouse.’
‘No. Thanks, anyway. After all, Charlie always does the present drop on his own and it’ll be nice for him to spend a few days with you all together.’
Evie is hardly able to conceal her surprise at this unexpected gesture of generosity and Ange smiles a rather wry and bitter smile.
‘Well,’ she says drily, ‘I suppose I’ve got to start somewhere, haven’t I? Goodbye, Evie. I’ll send Charlie over as soon as he gets back from the pub.’
She goes out and Evie puts the papers away carefully and then sits down to wait for Charlie.