van sat at her desk in her office at Harte’s on Saturday morning, staring at the simple sketches she had made for Linnet. She had started them last week, when she was at the Leeds store, and they showed her suggested changes for the various fashion departments. She was pleased with her ideas and hoped Linnet would be, too, because she knew the changes were good, could be made without the expenditure of a large amount of money.

When Linnet had given her the task of revamping three different fashion departments on two separate floors, Evan had been flattered by Linnet’s confidence in her, as well as excited by the challenge the task posed. Now her eyes swept over the sketches, which were somewhat rough, but certainly they would help a draughtsman come up with more finished plans. What’s more, they were absolutely accurate in their details and measurements.

Setting the drawings aside, Evan now turned on her computer to check her e-mails, made a few notes about the Leeds project, then sat back in her chair and took a sip of coffee. All manner of things began to run through her head, but within seconds she was thinking about the dinner last night with her parents at Rules.

It had been successful in the end, but it had certainly started with a strange undertone. Her mind automatically veered to her father. He had seemed difficult when he had arrived with her mother for drinks. Her mother had been perfectly all right, though changed in her demeanour and looking wonderful. But her father was peculiar; it was almost as if he were spoiling for a fight.

Perhaps he had been nervous, and maybe he had imagined, perhaps even worried, that she had somehow changed in the eight months she had lived in London, that she was not the woman he had said goodbye to in New York.

In certain ways she had changed, Evan knew that, but not very drastically, and certainly not in her character or her personality. They were still intact. It seemed to her that once he had realized this he had calmed down, become his normal self again, the man she knew.

She had always been close to her father.

She loved him; no, adored him, really. And they had been a team of two when she was growing up. Inseparable. Grandma Glynnis had joked about that, the way they did everything together, like two old buddies, Grandma always said.

And then last night something truly odd had happened, and it had thrown her off balance. She had spent the night tossing and turning, unable to sleep, thinking about Owen Hughes, who and what he was. He was still her father…but he had lied to her, she was positive of that, and suddenly he had become, in a flash, just like that, no longer the man she thought he was, had believed him to be.

In the end, in the early hours of the morning, she had convinced herself that it didn’t matter. She still loved him, that was a given. You loved people despite their faults. After all, no one was perfect, everyone had human frailties. He had told her a lie, but it was a white lie, and perhaps there had been a reason for it.

Actually, Evan wouldn’t have known he’d lied if she had not happened to glance at her mother at that precise moment. Her face had told the story; her mother’s expression had been one of contempt. Or had it been disgust? Whichever, it had telegraphed the truth to Evan, had announced in no uncertain terms that Owen was lying.

There was a sudden knock, and before Evan could say anything the door flew open. Linnet came hurrying in, looking disturbed, Evan thought, and instantly straightened in the chair, automatically bracing herself for trouble of some kind.

‘Do you have a minute, Evan?’ Linnet asked.

‘Of course. What’s wrong? You look upset.’

‘Perplexed is a better word.’ Linnet sat down heavily in the chair near Evan’s desk, and continued, ‘I just had the strangest conversation with Tessa, and I’ve got to admit it took me completely by surprise. In fact, I’m still taken aback.’

‘What was it about?’

Leaning forward, Linnet said in a low voice, ‘She asked me to look after Adele while she goes to Paris with Lorne.’

Evan herself was momentarily startled by this, and then she exclaimed, ‘But why wouldn’t she ask you, Linnet? You’re her sister, she trusts you, and has confidence in you. She’s very nervous about Adele’s welfare right now, concerned for her.’

‘I know, but on the other hand I was a bit surprised she didn’t ask our grandmother, Daisy Rickards. They’re actually rather close, and Daisy would be much better looking after little Adele than me.’

‘Obviously Tessa thinks you’re the best choice, while your mother is still in New York. I’m sure she would have asked Paula to babysit Adele if she’d been here.’

Linnet puffed her cheeks, blew out air. ‘Gosh, that’s one tremendous responsibility, looking after another person’s child, and especially Adele, under the present circumstances. Mind you, Elvira’s going to be with us, and it is only for a long weekend,’ Linnet explained. ‘At Pennistone Royal, because Tessa’s very insistent about that. Anyway,’ Linnet paused, gave Evan a small smile, and asked, ‘I was wondering if you’d come with us, spend the weekend in Yorkshire? It would be fun if our chaps were with us. Please say yes.’

‘Yes.’ Evan laughed, added, ‘I’d be happy to be with you and Adele at Pennistone Royal, it’s one of my favourite places. And you’re right, it would be great if Gideon and Julian joined us.’

‘Thank you so much, I do appreciate it, Evan. Anyway, before I accepted to do this for Tessa, I did suggest she took Elvira and Adele to Paris with her, but she dismissed the idea out of hand. I can’t say I blame her. I happen to agree that it’s better if Adele remains in England with some member of the family, that she doesn’t travel abroad until this nasty divorce is over and everything is settled. I fully understand Tessa’s worry about Mark Longden. I don’t trust him either.’

Evan said, ‘And I have my suspicions about him, and his friend and client Jonathan Ainsley. I think he’s a rotten piece of work, from everything I know about him. He’s been a lousy son to Robin.’

‘Jack Figg’s on top of Jonathan,’ Linnet told her, ‘breathing down his neck. At least Jack’s operatives in Hong Kong are, and we’ll know exactly where he is from now on. By the way, Tessa’s become a convert to the religion of Jack Figg, his religion of total security.’

Evan burst out laughing. ‘You say that in such a droll way, Linnet, and I think Jack’s a pretty terrific guy.’

‘He is, and he’s turned Pennistone Royal into the most secure house in the British Isles. Want to bet?’

‘Oh, no way! I think you’re correct.’

‘There’s one thing that does puzzle me,’ Linnet suddenly announced, getting up, walking over to the window, glancing down into Knightsbridge. Without turning around, she went on, ‘I just can’t get over the fact that Tessa asked me to look after her child. I mean…she’s always been so competitive with me, calling herself the Dauphine, the heiress apparent, wanting to take over from Mummy now. And Mummy doesn’t even want to retire, for heaven’s sake, won’t retire until she’s old and decrepit. Not that I think she’ll ever be that. Oh well, I guess times have changed.’

‘Or Tessa has changed,’ Evan suggested softly.

Linnet swung to face Evan, gave her a hard stare. There was a quickening in her green eyes when she said, ‘There’s a certain truth there. I do believe that the abduction frightened her, made her truly aware how much she loves Adele. And perhaps she does put Adele first, before anything else. At the moment.’

‘I wouldn’t be surprised if she did retire and sooner than you think.’

‘I’m not so sure she’d do that, Evan. You see, Tessa’s far too ambitious. She wants to run the stores, because she’s the eldest and thinks it’s her right. But she wants to manage them in her way, on her terms, not the way Mummy has run them for over thirty years.’ Linnet laughed lightly. ‘You know what, Evan, Tessa would love me to retire, and that’s the truth.’

‘I know how she is, but it’s a bit silly to discuss all this, since nothing’s going to change as long as Paula is in charge.’

‘Agreed.’

‘Why is Tessa going to Paris with Lorne?’ Evan asked, her curiosity getting the better of her.

‘Because he’s making a film there, starting in about another week. The whole cast and crew are going over, according to Tessa, and they’ll be in Paris for about six weeks. Then they come back to work for two months at Shepperton Studios. He invited Tessa for the first weekend he’s there, because he thought the change would do her good.’

‘He’s a really lovely man,’ Evan said, and then glanced down at the sketches. ‘I was just going over these before you came in, and was about to bring them to your office. My ideas for the Leeds store.’ She handed Linnet the sketches.

Linnet looked at all of them quickly, and then started at the beginning again, studying the six sketches more carefully. Eventually she looked up. ‘How clever you’ve been. Bringing all of the fashion departments onto one floor, and designing an open-floor plan so that they flow into each other.’

‘With the small boutiques for accessories, in various corners and smaller areas,’ Evan pointed out, ‘there is a wonderful flow, as you just said. And the customer doesn’t have to go to another floor for shoes or bags and other accessories. Everything is there.’

‘I think it’ll work perfectly. You’ve done a good job, Evan.’

‘Thank you,’ she answered, pleased by Linnet’s reaction. Evan then explained, ‘Actually, what I’ve done is borrow from your mother’s idea on the fifth floor here, the way she has put lingerie, sleepwear, at-home clothes, casual and exercise clothes, hosiery, and casual footwear in different boutiques next to each other.’

‘That’s right, I see that now. But I think this open-floor plan works much better, Evan. Let’s go to the fifth floor and take a look, shall we?’

One of the things Evan loved most about her job at Harte’s was the store itself. Many a morning she came in early, long before its doors opened to the public, so that she could walk the floors. Being out on the floor was thrilling to her, especially when she was alone except for the odd maintenance person, or another early bird like herself. The store impressed her, gave her a great sense of satisfaction.

Linnet felt the same way about it; they often compared notes, and now as they walked through Lingerie together, Evan confided, ‘I love all the floors, all the departments, but my favourite is cosmetics. What’s yours, Linnet?’

‘Cosmetics, too, but I’m also crazy about the Food Halls. You know when my great-grandmother, I should say our great-grandmother, first started she had a little shop in Upper Armley, on the outskirts of Leeds, and her mainstay was her food products. My mother told me that Emma Harte also loved the Food Halls here, too, and perhaps I inherited that inclination from her.’

‘Maybe you did, and who wouldn’t love our Food Halls: they’re fantastic. I often see Tessa browsing around, buying there, but then she’s very much into food, such a great chef. Gideon says she missed her calling, that she ought to be cooking for the world.’

‘I bet he said “just like Paula,” because my mother thinks she has to feed the starving multitudes, truly believes she’s Mother Earth.’

‘I know she does, and yes he did say that. Nicely.’

‘Oh, I know. Gideon adores my mother.’

‘Who doesn’t? Anyway, getting back to my sketches, in particular I took this area as my model, Linnet, but instead of small, self-contained boutiques I made an open-floor plan…’ Evan glanced around, and added, ‘That way, with no real walls, or entrances into boutiques, the customer feels no constraints, can see everything, well almost. Oh goodness, there’s my mother!’

‘Where?’ Linnet asked, glancing around, a look of expectancy on her face. ‘I don’t see anyone who could possibly be your mother, Evan.’

‘Over there, the woman looking at the négligées. The blonde.’

‘The blonde! That’s your mother? Gosh, I can hardly believe it. She looks like your sister.’

‘Not quite.’ Evan giggled, and then taking hold of Linnet’s arm she purposefully hurried her across the floor, exclaiming, ‘Hello, Mom! Fancy seeing you here!’ as Marietta Hughes swung around.

Her face lit up at the sight of her daughter. ‘Hi, Evan honey. I was going to call you when I’d finished here.’

‘Mom, I’d like you to meet Linnet O’Neill. And Linnet, this is my mother.’

The two women, both beaming, shook hands, and then Marietta said, ‘You look very young to be the boss.’

Linnet began to laugh. ‘I am too young to be the boss, and anyway, I’m not. My mother runs Harte’s, Mrs Hughes.’

‘Oh, I know that. I mean Evan’s boss. That’s what she always says, Linnet’s my boss.’

‘I bet I know why you’re browsing through all these gorgeous nightgowns, Mom. You’re looking for something special for Angharad, who you’re convinced is going to be a bride soon.’

Marietta gave her daughter a bright smile and shook her head slowly. ‘Why no, I wasn’t looking for something for your sister. I was browsing for myself.’

This comment startled Evan, but she managed to keep a neutral look on her face and answered, ‘Oh, well, there are some lovely things here, Mom. Linnet does a lot of the buying.’ She turned to Linnet, and went on, ‘What do you think would be suitable for my mother?’

‘Let’s go down to the other end, Mrs Hughes, I know just the designer for you. I think you’ll love her nightgowns and négligées.’

‘Thanks, Linnet, and please call me Marietta.’

Linnet inclined her head, smiled, and taking hold of Marietta’s arm she led her to the other end of the nightgown section and a series of well-stocked racks.

Evan followed, walking behind Linnet and her mother. Today Marietta was wearing a pale-blue cotton skirt, matching cotton shirt, and high-heeled blue sandals. Evan couldn’t help thinking what great legs her mother had. Funny, but she’d never noticed her legs before. Of course not. Her mother had been in a dressing gown or trousers for most of her life.

Once more, innumerable questions ran through Evan’s head. What had wrought this extraordinary change in her mother? She had no idea and she was riddled with curiosity. She made up her mind to find out. As soon as she possibly could.

Tessa sat at her desk staring into space, thinking about her impending trip to Paris, feeling suddenly ambivalent about it. She wondered if she’d made a mistake, agreeing to go with her twin when he went to start the movie.

The thought of leaving Adele alone with Elvira worried her, even though they would be at Pennistone Royal, which was now a fortress, thanks to Jack Figg and his security systems. When she had voiced her worries to Lorne yesterday, he had suggested she ask Linnet to spend the weekend at Pennistone Royal in order to keep an eye on Adele. ‘She’ll never refuse you, Tess,’ Lorne had said, had reminded her how much Linnet loved the little girl. ‘Go on, ask Linny, you’ll see, she’ll say yes.’

And so this morning she had approached Linnet, admittedly a little tentatively, and had been happily surprised when her half-sister had so readily agreed. Half-sister. That’s the way she always thought of Linnet. Just as she thought of Shane as her step-father, which he was, but he had treated her like his own, and she knew how much he loved her. But they were O’Neills and she was a Fairley, and somehow she could never forget that. On the other hand, Linnet had behaved like a true sister when Adele was stolen by Mark. She had taken charge, done all the right things, and because of Linnet everything had been handled with the minimum of fuss for the maximum of success…

The shrilling phone on her desk interrupted her thoughts, and she reached for it. ‘Hello?’

‘Is that you, Tessa?’ a woman’s voice asked.

‘Yes, it is. Who am I speaking to?’

‘It’s Great-Aunt Edwina,’ the Dowager Countess of Dunvale announced, bellowing down the phone like a bustling British general about to lead his troops into battle. ‘Have you forgotten me, Tessa Fairley?’ she went on. ‘I certainly think so! I haven’t heard from you in the longest time.’

‘I haven’t forgotten you at all, Great-Aunt Edwina. In fact, I was talking to India about you the other day, and we–’

‘How is that granddaughter of mine? It strikes me she’s become decidedly elusive lately. Haven’t heard from her either. Never mind, you’re both very young, no time for an old lady like me, what?’

‘Please don’t say that!’ Tessa exclaimed, feeling guilty about neglecting her great-aunt, and also wondering why Edwina was phoning her. There was always a reason when she made a call. Suddenly Tessa thought of Dusty Rhodes and the stabbing, wondering if Edwina had got wind of it. But how? Easily. She lived near Harrogate, just outside Knaresborough, and news travelled fast, bad news travelled faster. And there was also Uncle Robin who lived nearby at Lackland Priory, and spoke to Evan all the time, who no doubt filled him in about everything.

Clearing her throat, Tess said, ‘India and I were talking about giving a dinner party for you, Great-Aunt Edwina, and the only reason I haven’t phoned you is because–’

‘Adele was abducted,’ Edwina interrupted. ‘I’m glad Linnet managed to foil that terrible husband of yours. And that the child is safe. Now, what’s this about a dinner party? Why would you and India give a dinner party for an old lady like me? And who would come, eh? Now answer that one, Tessa Fairley.’

‘Your son and daughter-in-law would certainly come–’

‘Bah! Rubbish. All the way from Ireland. Forget it. Anthony never moves too far from those damned bogs of his.’

‘They would come, Great-Aunt, and so would your grandchildren, and Mummy and Shane, and I’d come, and what about your brother and sister, Robin and Elizabeth? And there’s Emily and Winston. The whole family would come, I’m sure of it.’

‘And would my darling India bring her new boyfriend, do you think? The famous artist.’

‘You’d have to ask her,’ Tessa murmured, noncommittally, afraid to be drawn into a discussion about Russell Rhodes, unaware of how much the old countess knew. Probably everything, she thought to herself, groaning inside.

‘I want to see you and India. And as soon as possible,’ Edwina said.

‘Oh. Is something wrong, Great-Aunt?’

‘No. Well, not that I know of, but I am ninety-five, you know. Still in fine fettle, mind you, ready to tackle anything or anyone. So, how about it? When are you two likely to be in Yorkshire?’

‘We both have to be there this coming week. We’re revamping the Harrogate and Leeds stores,’ Tessa explained quietly, more than ever worried now.

‘Then I’d better see you then. You’ll come to dinner at Niddersley House. Please be good enough to inform India. I can’t reach her on the phone. And let me know tomorrow at the latest which evening you’ll come to supper.’

‘Yes, Great-Aunt Edwina. What about our dinner–’

‘We’ll discuss that when I see you next week.’

‘I’ll try to find India. She must be somewhere in the store, out on the floor.’

‘When you do find her, please have her telephone me. And thank you, Tessa. Goodbye.’

‘’Bye, Great-Aunt. I’ll tell India to give you a buzz, and we’ll see you next week.’

Tessa hung up, sat back in the chair, and wondered what this was all about. She couldn’t help asking herself if Edwina knew about the stabbing, that question rearing up again as it had a few minutes ago. How could she know? Robin could have told her. After all, they were siblings.

My God, she’s the oldest of the lot, Tessa suddenly thought. Emma Harte’s first child, born when Emma was only sixteen, out of wedlock. Only daughter of Edwin Fairley. And a true Fairley right down to her boots, even though she was illegitimate. Aunt of her father, Jim Fairley, who had been Edwin’s grandson. God, what complications in this family, she thought.

Opening her engagement book, Tessa turned to the coming week, flipped the pages, looking for a night to go over to Niddersley House. And she noticed at once that she was due to fly to Paris on Thursday evening with Lorne. Thursday August 30th, 2001. And her mother was coming back from New York on September 5th.

We’ll have to go to dinner with Edwina on Monday or Tuesday, Tessa decided, because she would have to return to London on Wednesday afternoon.

Closing the book, she stood up, grabbed her mobile, slipped it in her jacket pocket and went out into the store, looking for her cousin India, knowing she must relay the messages from her grandmother.