Page 56 of The Granddaughter's Irish Secret
‘Go through the door to the left and you’ll come into the living room,’ Philip instructed. ‘The doors to the terrace are open. I’ll go and make some coffee. Or would you prefer tea?’
‘Coffee for me,’ Rose said.
‘Me too,’ Noel chimed in. ‘Do you need any help?’
‘Oh, eh, not really,’ Philip said. ‘I can manage. You go out to the terrace. The view from there is quite nice.’
It was more than ‘quite nice’, Rose realised, even when she was inside the living room door. The picture windows revealed a panorama of the bay and the ocean. The blue water was dotted with white sails as a little armada of sailing dinghies headed out to sea. ‘Must be the sailing school on an outing,’ she said to Noel. ‘What a spectacular view.’
‘Stunning,’ he said behind her.
They walked through the bright, airy living room and out onto the terrace, where a woman sat with a little girl on her lap on a garden sofa. She looked up as they arrived. ‘Hello. You must be Rose.’ She got up, putting the little girl down and holding out her hand. ‘I’m Kathleen. So lovely to meet you at last.’
Rose shook Kathleen’s hand, feeling confused. ‘Hi, Kathleen. Yes, I’m Rose and this is my friend Noel Quinn.’ She looked around the beautiful terrace, with its large pots of flowers and stone balustrade. ‘But I thought I was going to meet someone called Penny Lincoln?’
Kathleen smiled and pushed the little girl forward. ‘Here she is. My daughter Penny. Say hello to Rose, Penny.’
‘Hello, Rose,’ the little girl said, and held out her hand. ‘Howdodo.’
Rose did her best to hide her confusion and shook the tiny hand. ‘Hello, Penny. How nice to meet you. How old are you?’
‘Free,’ Penny said and held up three fingers. ‘How old are you?’
‘Thirty-five,’ Rose said, and crouched down so she was level with this enchanting little girl. She had brown curly hair and enormous hazel eyes with long eyelashes. ‘That’s a very pretty dress. Did your mummy make it?’
‘No,’ Penny said with a giggle. ‘She bought it in the shop. She can’t make dresses.’
‘Oh, well,’ Rose said, getting back up. ‘I’m sure she can do a lot of other things.’ She glanced at Kathleen. ‘Sorry, but I thoughtyou’d be Penny. Melanie said…’
‘Melanie is Penny’s godmother,’ Kathleen explained. ‘She probably didn’t make that clear. Or she was joking. Of course, it’s Penny who inherited the necklace. It’s been in my husband’s family for over a hundred years.’ Kathleen paused. ‘I believe you have an identical one?’
‘Oh, eh, yes,’ Rose said. ‘I do. I’ll show it to you in a minute. But first, I’d like to hear what you can tell me about Iseult, who I believe was the stepmother to your husband’s…’ She paused, trying to figure out the relationship. ‘I don’t really know the details of the family.’
‘It’s a little complicated,’ Kathleen agreed. ‘But here is Philip now,’ she added as he came out on the terrace carrying a tray. ‘Philip, could you tell Rose what you know about Iseult? I have always found the ins and outs of the relationship with her difficult to remember. She married your great-great-grandfather, is that right?’
‘Yes.’ Philip put the tray on a table and pulled out a chair. ‘It’s quite fascinating. She’s a legend in our family.’ He handed Rose a steaming cup of coffee.
‘Thank you.’ Rose sat down on a chair and Noel settled beside her on another. Philip joined his wife on the garden sofa while little Penny played with a doll’s house beside them.
Philip offered Rose and Noel a plate with ginger snaps. ‘So,’ he said, once they all had coffee and a biscuit, ‘I’ll tell you about Iseult, who I believe was your great-aunt or something, Rose?’
‘She was my great-grandfather’s sister,’ Rose replied. ‘My father’s great-aunt. But she seems to have run away from home or something because we know very little about her.’
Philip nodded. ‘Yes, that’s true. She did run away from home with my great-great-grandfather Patrick Lincoln, who was a lot older than her. Apparently, he was her father’s friend from university. They both studied in Cork and became friends. Then Patrick married very young and had a son, my great-grandfather, who had two children, a son and daughter.’
‘I have a photo of a family group taken at Willowbrook House,’ Rose interrupted, picking up her tote bag. ‘I have it here, if you want to have a look.’ She pulled out the album and found the photo, which she showed to Philip.
He looked at it with great interest for a moment. ‘Yes, that’s Iseult with my grandfather’s sister. Her name was Adeline.’
‘Weirdly, that’s my grandmother,’ Noel cut in. ‘I only discovered that recently, actually.’
‘Wow, really?’ Philip asked, looking at Noel incredulously. ‘I believe Adeline married a lawyer and moved to Dingle.’
‘Exactly,’ Noel said, smiling. ‘My grandfather. His name was Maurice Quinn.’
‘So then we’re second cousins?’ Philip asked. ‘How amazing.’
‘Such a strange coincidence,’ Kathleen remarked. ‘All these connections.’
