Page 66 of The Diary at the Last House Before the Sea

River shifted beside her. Then he said: ‘I regret not keeping in touch. I was fifteen and an idiot. And I’m sorry if Bartie has broken your heart.’

‘What makes you think he has?’

‘I saw you kissing him the other day on the village green.’

‘So you were there. I thought I caught sight of you.’ A thought suddenly struck her. ‘Did Bartie tell you that he’d changed the time of the picnic from one o’clock to twelve fifteen?’

‘He did not,’ said River drily. ‘That detail must have slipped his mind.’

‘What an absolute?—’

Clara’s shoulders slumped as it became even more clear that she’d been manipulated from the start. At best, she’d been a distraction for Bartie and, at worst, a potential obstacle to be managed.

‘Also, have you got a girlfriend back in Australia?’ she asked.

‘No, why? Ah.’ River breathed out slowly. ‘Another of Bartie’s lies, I suppose.’

Clara nodded miserably. ‘Go on then. Aren’t you going to say “I told you so” now it’s turned out that Bartie is a nasty piece of work, just like you warned me?’

‘Nope. You’re not the first person he’s taken in with his charm and hideously fabulous good looks.’

Clara could have kissed him then, for being kind. But instead she asked: ‘How did you find us this evening?’

‘When Bartie went AWOL, I waited at the pub for a while before realising he’d probably sneaked off to see you. I’m a total moron and had let slip where you might be. So I came to find you. Basically, I was worried about you and with good reason. He shouldn’t have grabbed you like that.’

‘Would you have fought him, if he hadn’t let me go?’

River laughed ruefully. ‘That was a bit gung-ho of me. Have you seen his muscles? He could probably floor me with one punch. But yes, in answer to your question, I would have fought for you, Clo. That’s what friends do.’

Clara leaned against him in the darkness and he slipped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her close. They were friends again.

A bright moon was rising and they sat for a while, watching its light glint on the water.

‘I have some news,’ said Clara as one of the bats that roosted in the castle keep swooped above their heads. ‘About Audrey. I know you said that I should let the whole thing drop but, well…’

‘Let me guess, you didn’t.’ River let go of Clara and shifted round until they were face to face. ‘That doesn’t surprise me. You always were very?—’

‘Single-minded?’

‘I was going to say bloody-minded but, yeah, single-minded will do.’

Clara grinned. ‘It’s just that I think I worked out what Audrey planned to call herself if she managed to reach the boat and start a new life somewhere else.’

Sitting there on the floor in the ballroom, it had all seemed hopeless until Bartie had barged in. He’d been offended that she’d apparently rather read her copy of Rebecca than spend the afternoon in his bedroom. But his flippant résumé of the story outlined on the novel’s back cover had sparked an idea that Clara couldn’t wait to explore.

River blinked in the fading light. ‘How on earth did you work out Audrey’s new name?’

‘She told me, in the final entry in her diary: Can a flower bloom in the snow? Only time will tell. It didn’t make any sense but then I wondered if she was referring to the new life she was hoping to build under a new identity and only time will tell if it would work.’

‘OK, I get that, but what about can a flower bloom in the snow? How does that tell you what she planned to call herself?’

‘“Flower” was easy – perhaps, as a reminder of my gran’s help, she’d choose the name Violet. But I couldn’t work out what her surname might be. I tried searching online for people with her maiden name but that came to nothing. Then I tried using the place where she was born as a surname but it turns out there aren’t any Violet Dorkings online. Or, at least, I couldn’t find any.’

‘Dorking?’

‘It’s a town in Surrey. So then I searched online for her birth certificate and tried using her mum’s maiden name instead, which still didn’t work. But then I had a brainwave.’

‘Don’t keep me in the dark! What was the surname that she chose?’

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