Sarah closed the typescript and looked across at me with tears in her eyes.
‘It brings it all back,’ she said, ‘and fills in quite a few gaps, too.’ She paused. ‘Do you think Dad really despised Aunt Laura?’
‘Of course not. He was a young man, remember, when he heard about it, and he thought it was most romantic. But it did make him see her in a new light – gave her more depth, as he put it. Actually, I think it influenced him more than he realises, and explains why he’s so good at portraying women in his books.’
‘I suspect,’ Sarah said carefully, feeling her way, ‘that it was Uncle Mike who despised her, and he couldn’t bear it.’
I nodded thoughtfully. ‘The trouble was, he didn’t have time to get used to the idea. If it had been one of his friends who’d had an illegitimate child, I’m quite sure he’d have been understanding. After all, he didn’t condemn Linda. But it was his mother, whom he’d always adored and felt so close to.
‘He suddenly realised they’d not been as close as he’d thought, since she’d never told him the truth, and coming so soon after her death, it was too much for him. Even so, if Derek hadn’t been with him when he found out, he might have come to terms with it eventually. But Derek, being Derek, lost no time in stirring up trouble.’
Sarah laid the typescript down on the table. ‘You know, when Sophie said last summer what you were going to do, I was a bit ambivalent about it.’
‘So was I, when she suggested it.’
‘I’m glad you went ahead, though. After all, it’s part of our family history. I can show it to the children when they’re older.’
And talking of the children,’ I said, rising and going to the window, ‘it’s time we rescued your father and David.’
Out on the lawn, Matthew was engaged in throwing a ball to his two-year-old grandson, while Sarah’s husband bounced the baby on his knee. She came and joined me, slipping an arm round my waist.
‘Of course it’s sad remembering everyone who died,’ she said, ‘but Dad’s book also brought you to Touchstone, and that’s something to be thankful for, isn’t it?’
‘It certainly is,’ I said.