Page 48 of The Granddaughter's Irish Secret
‘I’d like to see that photo,’ Lily said. ‘I suddenly feel I want to know more about that woman. What year was it taken, do you think, Rose?’
‘Judging by the clothes, around nineteen twenty or so,’ Rose said after a moment’s reflection.
‘Iseult would have been around thirty years old then,’ Sylvia suggested. ‘She was ten years younger than Cornelius, that’s all I know about her. He died in nineteen seventy at the age of ninety. The funeral was a huge celebration of his life. Everyone in town came and we had a wake in the ballroom that lasted all night. There was singing and music and speeches and a lot of laughter. A wonderful send-off for a very charming man.’
‘Who caused us a lot of trouble,’ Rose filled in.
‘Oh I know. But it ended well in the end, and here we are, making it work.’ Sylvia sighed and stared through the window at the stunning view of the ocean. ‘How time flies,’ she mumbled. ‘It seems like yesterday sometimes, and then it’s as if it happened in another life, another world…’
‘The sixties must have been great craic, though,’ Lily said.
Sylvia brightened. ‘Oh yes, such fun. The beginning of a whole new era. The music, the fashion, the whole youthrevolution. Liam and I went to London to see if it was really as swinging as they said. And it was. I wore the short skirts and the boots and we heard the Beatles and the Rolling Stones in tiny little clubs and danced the night away.’
‘I bet the skirts looked great with your fabulous legs,’ Lily said. ‘Rose, you must include those fun photos of Granny and Granddad in the display at the café.’
‘Good idea,’ Rose said, her mind still on what Sylvia had told them about Iseult. She was getting closer to finding out the truth – she felt it – but not close enough. There were still many pieces missing in the jigsaw. She had no idea what she’d do next, but she was dying to tell Noel what she had just heard. He had been a huge help finding Melanie Blennerhassett, so maybe he would have some idea how to find the Lincolns and Willowbrook House, if any of them still lived there. Noel would know what to do next.
Noel was nowhere to be found that weekend, however. Rose tried to phone him several times but all she got was his voicemail. He didn’t reply to any of her texts, so she assumed his date had been of the ‘hot’ variety, and that the old friend he was meeting was single again. This gave her an odd feeling of loss. He had been so available to her, always there to help and to join her in her quests. He had also been nearly as eager as she to delve into the family memorabilia. Now it seemed as if he had disappeared. Had he suddenly lost interest? Was that date the start of a romance between him and a girl he had been in love with when he was in college? Rose felt as if she had lost her security net – someone in her life who’d always come to her aid whenever she needed it, be it stuck on a mountain in a thunderstorm, or finding the answer to a riddle she had been trying to solve ever since she found out about the necklace. She had never experienced a friendship like that before, not with a man anyway. She’d thought there was something else brewingbetween them, sweet and nearly romantic. But now she felt she had lost it, and that made her sad.
Rose tried her best to overcome her disappointment. She decided to carry on alone and not involve anyone else again. She’d find Penny Lincoln and that house eventually, even if she had to bother Melanie Blennerhassett again. She hadn’t sounded very friendly the last time Rose spoke to her, but there was no other way than to have another go. After all, it was her only link to the owner of the necklace, which, she suspected, was the real one.
On Sunday afternoon, Rose, sitting on the sofa in her living room, called the number again, her stomach churning, trying to think of a way to convince the Blennerhassett woman to help her contact Panny Lincoln.
‘Hello?’ Melanie said.
‘Hi, Melanie,’ Rose said, her mouth dry. ‘This is Rose Fleury again. I’m really sorry to bother you, but it’s important that I get in touch with Penny Lincoln.’
‘Is this about the necklace?’ Melanie asked.
‘Yes, that’s right,’ Rose replied. ‘It’s very important that I get in touch with the owner.’
‘There is something a little fishy about your interest in it,’ Melanie said, sounding suspicious. ‘You’d better tell me the truth.’
‘Oh all right,’ Rose said, trying desperately to find a more plausible explanation. But she couldn’t think of anything. ‘The thing is,’ she started, ‘I have a necklace that is identical to the one Penny owns. My necklace has been in my family for generations and it was made in eighteen eighty we think. So I wanted to find out where Penny got hers, and then include it in a vintage fashion show I’m running. I thought mine was unique, but then I saw the other one, so…’ Rose stopped, wondering if this half-truth sounded plausible or like a pack of lies.
‘Oh,’ Melanie said, her voice softer. ‘I see. Why didn’t you say so?’
‘Well, I felt it was too personal,’ Rose explained. ‘I didn’t want to involve my family in this. But now…’
‘Of course,’ Melanie said, her voice sympathetic. ‘I will get in touch with Penny and her family and ask them to call you. I’m sure they’d be interested to know how there can be two identical necklaces. And I’m sorry if I was a bit snarky with you before.’
‘That’s okay,’ Rose mumbled. ‘I’m sure I came across as very pushy.’
‘Very understandable under the circumstances,’ Melanie soothed. ‘I’ll call them right away, I’m sure they’ll contact you very soon.’
Rose heaved a sigh of relief and thanked Melanie. She started going through her emails, but couldn’t stop thinking about the promise of the call.
It didn’t take long for the phone to ring. Rose snatched it up. ‘Hello, Rose Fleury here.’
‘Oh hello, Rose,’ a man’s voice said. ‘My name is Philip Lincoln. I heard from Melanie Blennerhassett about the necklace and the duplicate you have. Or whatever it is,’ he added.
‘Thank you for calling me,’ Rose replied. ‘It’s a little hard to explain like this on the phone.’ She paused for a moment. ‘I know this is going to sound strange, but I think our families, and the necklaces, are connected.’
‘Yes, you might be right,’ Philip replied. ‘But I’m not sure how.’
‘Maybe we could talk about this in person?’ Rose suggested. ‘I’d love to meet you and Penny, and explain, if that’s possible.’
‘Of course,’ Philip said. ‘We live in West Cork, just outside Kinsale.’
