Page 39 of The Book of Irish Secrets
Words can’t quite describe what happened during the annual Magnolia ball, when Caroline O’Sullivan walked into the ballroom on her father’s arm. All eyes turned to stare at this beautiful young woman, a vision in blue silk. As she glided in, Louis managed to elbow Cornelius out of the way to ask her for a dance and soon the two of them were on the floor, dancing the waltz to the tune of ‘The Blue Danube’. Louis only had eyes for Caroline and they looked into each other’s eyes as they danced so beautifully, as if their feet didn’t touch the floor. I knew then that we were witnessing love at first sight. How romantic, we thought, how perfect that this girl and Louis, the heir to the estate, would fall for each other without any prompting from anyone. John was so happy. This would make him feel better after Iseult’s rebellion.
Claire paused for a moment while she took all this in. So Louis and not Cornelius was the heir to Magnolia Manor? This was confusing. She had always thought Cornelius was the heir. Caroline had married Cornelius and not Louis. But why? And then Louis had left and made a new life for himself in Dublin. Why had he left without Caroline? What had happened to cause all this? There was no answer and when Claire turned the page, she found that there were no more. The last pages had been torn out of the copybook, only leaving little fragments at the spine. Had someone ripped out the pages so that the secret remained hidden? It was so frustrating to nearly be there and then be cheated of the last part of the story.
Claire felt around at the bottom of the box but found only bits of papers that were receipts and other such scraps of paper of no interest. Then she remembered Auntie Rachel’s book with all the photos that she hadn’t come to the end of yet. There could be something there that might throw some light on this latest mystery.
Dazed, Claire got up from the stool, clutching the old copybook. She decided to keep it; nobody knew it was there so it wouldn’t be missed. Then she left the room, not forgetting to turn off the light. It was quite dark on the top landing and she could hear rain smattering against the windows of the flat when she went inside. She quickly turned on all the lamps and pulled the curtains, which made the living room look very cosy.
Claire went to fetch Auntie Rachel’s book and settled on the sofa to look through it. She looked at the family tree again, at the names and dates but, of course, the twin brothers’ birthdays were the same. Then she turned the pages and studied the photos, paying extra attention to those of Caroline Fleury, especially the ones taken just after her wedding to Cornelius. She was indeed very beautiful and she seemed to look at Cornelius with love and affection in her beautiful eyes. But there wasa hint of sadness in her gaze and Claire began to wonder if Caroline was thinking she had married the wrong brother. If she and Louis had, as Maria Fleury described, fallen in love at first sight, what had happened to destroy it? It had to be something momentous, something incredibly bad and unforgiveable that had driven Louis away from his family and his rightful inheritance.
Feeling frustrated, Claire closed the book and put it away in the case under her bed where she kept her own files, adding the old copybook to the collection.
But as she wandered back into the living room, Claire couldn’t shake the feeling that this changed everything. Louis had been the rightful heir to Magnolia Manor. If anyone found out who she was, they might think she was here for the wrong reasons. It would look as if she had come to claim her family’s right to Magnolia Manor.
TWENTY
On Monday morning, Claire found a pile of work waiting for her when she arrived back at Karina’s house. There were a huge number of invoices to send out, bookings to confirm and emails to reply to. Karina was in the kitchen trying out new recipes and not in a mood to be disturbed. ‘I’m in the zone,’ she said when Claire stuck her head in to ask about a particular booking. ‘Which means I’m totally obsessed with lamb at the moment. It’s the season, of course. Spring lamb and all that. I want to do something Argentinian. The way they cook lamb is so different to what we do over here. So…’ She waved a wooden spoon at Claire. ‘I need to be alone while I create. I might let you taste it later. But right now – shoo!’
‘Okay, sorry.’ Claire backed out of the kitchen, knowing she would have to manage on her own. Karina was not available while she was creating.
‘Have you been shooed out of the kitchen?’ Pierce asked as Claire bumped into him in the corridor on her way back to the office.
‘Yes. Karina is in the zone,’ Claire said. ‘Whatever that means.’
‘It means she’s so into the dish she’s creating that she can’t think about anything else. I’m taking a coffee break. Want to join me in my office upstairs?’ Pierce asked. ‘I think you might need a break, too, as you’ve been here since early this morning and now it’s eleven o’clock.’
‘Is it?’ Claire asked. ‘I lost all track of time while I was working. So much to do right now.’
‘It’s the season for weddings and christenings and all kinds of parties,’ Pierce remarked. ‘It won’t calm down until after the summer, so consider yourself warned.’
‘I guessed that was the case,’ Claire said, smiling at Pierce. He looked as if he had been working hard himself. His hair was messy as if he had been running his fingers through it several times and his glasses were smudged. But all that made him oddly beguiling and she wanted to smooth his hair and clean his glasses for him. ‘I’d love a coffee,’ she said, in order to hide her tender feelings towards him.
‘Great,’ Pierce said and started to walk ahead of her. ‘Come this way. I have a Nespresso machine upstairs. And two Danish pastries from the bakery.’
‘How can I resist?’ Claire asked and climbed the stairs behind Pierce.
‘I knew you were a fellow Danish lover,’ Pierce said as they arrived on the top landing. He held a door open. ‘Here we are. Welcome to my office. It’s not as grand as Magnolia Manor, but I like it.’
Claire stepped into a bright, airy room where the sun shone in through two tall windows. She glimpsed a view of the ocean over the rooftops of the town and also saw the tower of the nearby church. There was a desk by one of the windows with a laptop and piles of papers and drawings. Another table had a coffee machine and mugs, and the little sofa by a period fireplace was littered with magazines, books and newspapers.‘Nice room,’ she said as she went further in and looked around for a place to sit down.
‘But a bit of a mess,’ Pierce said and rushed to the sofa and cleared a space. ‘Here. Sit down while I make us both some coffee. Sorry about the disorder but I’m in the middle of several editing jobs, cover designs and a publicity campaign.’
‘No secretary or assistant?’ Claire asked as she sat down.
‘No. I’m a bit of a one-man-band, I’m afraid,’ Pierce said. ‘I did have a guy working for me a while ago but he left to go to Dublin to a bigger firm than mine. Not that I blame him. Who’d want to work for me?’
‘I’m sure it’s quite an interesting job,’ Claire said and picked up a photo of a farmhouse kitchen. ‘Is this the cover of Karina’s book?’
‘Yes,’ Pierce said. ‘What do you think?’
‘I love it,’ Claire said. ‘Makes me want to cook.’
‘That’s good to hear.’ Pierce busied himself with the coffee machine and then handed Claire a cup of steaming fragrant coffee. ‘Hope you like this one. I’ve mixed up the pods so I have no idea what exactly it is.’
Claire took a sip. ‘It’s very nice whatever it is.’
‘Great.’ Pierce took two pastries from a paper bag and put them on plates, giving one to Claire. ‘The Danish as promised.’
‘Lovely.’ Claire took a bite and smiled at Pierce when she had swallowed. ‘This is a treat, I have to say. They are delicious.’
