Page 53 of The Book of Irish Secrets
‘So he won’t come here and claim ownership of the estate?’ Sylvia said, looking worried. ‘I mean, if Louis was the rightful heir, your brother might want to start legal proceedings.’
‘I’m sure he won’t,’ Claire said. ‘I can’t see that he’d want to. His life is in Canada, and in any case, running Magnolia Manor is a huge undertaking. Patrick won’t want to take on that stress and hard work. I can’t see him wanting to do that.’
‘He might want to sell it,’ Sylvia argued, her eyes wide with fear. ‘It’s valuable property and could fetch a huge price.’
Arnaud put his arm around Sylvia. ‘Don’t worry about that now,chérie. I believe Claire when she says her brother won’t want to do anything. It would cost a lot of money in legal fees and take a long time.’
‘That’s true.’ Sylvia shot a calculating look at Claire. ‘But what about if your brother isn’t told about Louis’ birth certificate? If he doesn’t know about Louis’ rights, there is no danger.’
Claire nodded and shot a conspiratorial smile at Sylvia. ‘That’s a little underhanded, but I agree. In fact, we could keep it between ourselves and not tell anyone at all about that little detail. If nobody knows, it won’t cause a problem.’
Sylvia patted Claire’s hand. ‘You’re a true Fleury girl. Let’s not even mention the fact that Louis was born before Cornelius to anyone else except the people who already know, and make them swear to keep the secret. I’ll send a message to Rose, if you could tell your sister.’
‘Agreed,’ Claire said and got up. ‘So I’ll say goodnight. Thank you for a lovely dinner, Arnaud. And Sylvia… I hope I haven’tcaused you too much stress. I didn’t mean to break the news like this. It just happened.’
‘Don’t worry about me,’ Sylvia said. ‘I’m not upset at all. In fact, it’s a relief that it finally came out like this.’
‘Oh, that’s good to know. Bye for now,’ Claire said. ‘Let me know about the family meeting.’
‘I’ll be in touch about that,’ Sylvia promised.
Claire left by the door to the corridor with a feeling she had been through a hurricane. She felt good about the peace between her, Rose and Sylvia. Could this be the start of a whole new connection with a family she had thought were lost? But then she thought of Pierce. All this time she had been worried the truth would ruin things between her and her family, but had her lies simply wrecked any hope of a relationship with him?
THIRTY
Marian stared at Claire through the screen of her phone as Claire told her what had happened.
‘So now at least Sylvia and Rose know,’ Claire ended. ‘Rose was very upset at first. She thought I was some kind of scammer who was going to defraud them or something. But then I showed her the book and that convinced her. But she was still shocked to discover that her great-grandfather had a twin brother.’
‘As we were,’ Marian said. ‘So what about Patrick? Will we tell him?’
‘Not the whole story,’ Claire said. ‘Isn’t that what we agreed last time we talked? I think it would be best not to tell him that Louis was the rightful heir. That will only cause problems should he want to act on it. I mean, imagine the legal case, and how it would look splashed all over the media.’
‘What a nightmare that would be,’ Marian said, looking alarmed. ‘I’ll tell him an edited version when we talk next time. He calls me once a month or so. But I’ll email him today and ask him to call me. Or maybe you should?’
‘No, I think you’d better do it. We’re not in touch much,’ Claire said. ‘We were never close. I mean, he was fifteen whenI was born and had already left for Canada when he was twenty and I was five.’
‘I know,’ Marian said. ‘Patrick was never much for chatting, anyway. Or being in touch with family. But he should be told – well, most of the story anyway.’
‘Exactly,’ Claire said, reassured. The detail about the time of Louis’ birth would have to be buried never to be revealed by those in the know. Claire looked at her sister’s face on the screen, noticing that she looked much brighter and more cheerful than the last time they’d had a video chat. ‘You look better. Are things improving?’
‘Yes, we’re doing quite well now,’ Marian said. ‘I’ve told Andrew about your news. Well, not about the heritage but everything else.’
‘Good.’ They chatted for a bit about other things and then Marian had to go to the shop so they said goodbye.
Claire hung up feeling relieved that she and Marian were on the same page regarding their brother, even if it didn’t feel quite right to keep him in the dark. But it seemed the best thing to do in order to avoid a huge family row that could be even worse than what had happened between the twin brothers over a hundred years ago.
The following days were busy and there was no news about any family meeting from Sylvia, so Claire got stuck into work of which there was a lot to cope with. Easter was around the corner which would mean a brief rest and after that, it would be ‘all hands on deck’ as both Karina and Rose put it. Claire had done all the bookings so she knew it would be madly busy all spring and summer.
And then there was Pierce. Claire hadn’t seen him since the morning after their meal at the pizza restaurant and Karina saidhe had taken Jo to Killorglin to hike in the MacGillicuddy’s for a few days. Jo needed a break from studying and the hiking would be good for both of them. Jo needed some physical activity before she got back to the books again and the exercise and fresh air would be good for her. Claire agreed that Jo needed some daughter-father time without anyone else around. She hoped that it would reassure Jo and help her understand that she would never lose her father’s love.
The weather was glorious and Claire fully enjoyed her days off, when she would take long walks on the beach or along the country lanes above the coastline, where she could fully appreciate the stunning views of the ocean and the cliffs where seabirds like puffins and gannets were beginning to arrive and build nests. She often brought binoculars in order to study the wildlife all around her. She could also see birds of prey gliding high up in the sky which was a lovely sight.
She had never felt so free and so healthy in all her life and she wasn’t looking forward to returning to Dublin. When Hugh’s solicitor was in touch about the sale of the house, she agreed to a far lower share than was really fair. But she didn’t care.He can have it all and good luck to him, she thought, knowing she was probably foolish but she had no wish to start a fight. All she wanted was peace and happiness and she knew she had already found it, where her ancestors had lived and worked for two hundred years or more. Even if she knew it might not be permanent and she risked having to go back to Dublin very soon. Sylvia, Rose and Arnaud had been forgiving, but she had no idea how the rest of the Fleurys would react to her lies.
Pierce and Jo arrived back just before Easter. Claire hadn’t been in touch with him, but now that Sylvia and Rose knew her story, Claire wanted to explain to him what had happened. She justdidn’t know how to approach him. She could hear him talking in his office upstairs each day, but he didn’t come down to say hello. There was no sign of Jo but Claire supposed she was in Pierce’s flat studying. She didn’t want to upset Jo further or cause a problem for Pierce. When Sylvia called her to say the family meeting was taking place in the library that evening, Claire pushed all thoughts about Pierce out of her mind. This was important and she had to get it right.
Once she had had a light meal, she gathered together all her Fleury family material and prepared for the big reveal. With a mixture of nervousness and excitement, she went downstairs, carrying everything in a SuperValu carrier bag. Fearing the worst, Claire made her way down the dark corridor to the library. How would the rest of the family react to the news that she was their third cousin and Cornelius’s twin brother’s great-granddaughter? Would they think she was telling a pack of lies, or believe her straight away?
