A cold sweat broke onhis face.
“Are you still there?” Rob’s voice came from anotheruniverse.
“What? Yes, I’m here.” His mind was blank. “I can’t believe it.”
“I’m afraid it’s true. The deeds were delivered to the house today at noon. I just got the confirmation receipt from the courierservice.”
George tossed the phone on the bed and stalked out to the gallery.
The door to his father’s study was still open. Nothing on the desk. George upturned the in-tray and yanked the desk drawers open. Nothing.
This was all a ghastly mistake.Had to be.
He ran downstairs to the hall and looked for the post-tray. It wasn’t there.
Then he saw it on the table and stopped stock still. A large envelope tied with a blue ribbon.Red Arrow Couriers, special deliverywas stamped on it. George was breathing hard as if he’d run amarathon.
Hand shaking slightly, he picked it up, and a small envelope like a birthday card slipped from the ribbon and fell on the floor; he ignored it while he tore the package open.
His eyes scannedthe pages.
LAND REGISTRY. PROPERTY DEEDS.
BLUE SAGE BAY ALSO KNOWN AS LE COU, AND ALL STRUCTURES THEREIN.
He flicked through all the pages and read everything twice.
A padlock insidehim broke.
A lid that had been firmly shut, in that far-off compartment in his soul where his thoughts about his mother were kept. That lid now burst open.
Why would his father do this? George’s eyes scanned the papers a third time, looking for a clue, a hint that it was a mistake. But everything was notarised, signed and stamped.
He sat down slowly on the stairs and shoved the papers back into the torn package. And that’s when his eyes landed on the small white envelope on the floor. Like a wedding invitation.
His father’s handwriting.
To Millie Summers (soon to be Millie DuMontfort)
George’s stomach clenched and heaved as he tore the envelope open. Inside was a single sheet of his father’s embossed stationary folded over a thin tissue page edged in silver. He pushed it aside to read the message.
He had to rest his hand on his knee because it was shaking too much for him to make outthe words.
To the future Lady DuMontfort.
No bride should come to her wedding empty handed.
Accept this small gift with all my love.
Yours always,
Richard.
George stopped breathing.Richard. His father’s informal signature, his first name that no oneever used.
George refused to believe it.
There had to be an explanation.
