Rose closed her eyes for a moment, trying to process what she was agreeing to. All she wanted was to curl up and stay at home for the foreseeable future, but Jessica was right. It would do her the world of good to go away and do something that didn’t remind her of what she’d lost, even if it did feel too soon. Besides, she’d spent the last six months at home. It was time to do something for herself and try to live her life again.
‘Okay, I’ll do it,’ she said.
Jessica’s eyebrows shot up. ‘You will?’
Rose groaned, already wanting to change her mind. ‘I will.’
‘Brilliant! Now come on, let’s do more googling. I want to see what the Santiago family looked like,’ Jessica said, pulling her laptop closer again. ‘And I want to see if we can find any clues about the piece of blue silk that you were left.’
Rose leaned into Jessica as she scrolled through photos, trying to see her grandmother in any of the faces on the screen, to see some resemblance that showed her a connection.
‘I wonder if the lawyer will understand what was left behind in the box,’ Rose mused out loud. ‘Wouldn’t he know all about the adoption, if he’s the one charged with contacting my family? Wouldn’t he have the answers?’
‘Maybe. I mean, I would hope so, but perhaps it was all shrouded in secrecy?’
Jessica went silent for a moment, as she clicked on a photo showing a smiling, extremely handsome polo player sitting astride a horse.
‘Is he a Santiago? He’s very handsome.’
‘No, this is Nacho Figueras, the most famous polo player in the world. I just wanted to ogle him for a moment, since he comes up in almost every search for Argentine polo families.’
Rose swatted at her. ‘I asked you a serious question!’
‘Sorry, I did hear you, but no. I don’t think it’ll be that simple.’
‘You don’t?’
‘I think family secrets like that take forever to untangle, and that someone who was used in a professional capacity might not be aware of the more personal details,’ Jessica said, closing the laptop and turning to face her. ‘She might have left her estate to her daughter, or granddaughter in this case, but I’d say there are plenty of things that her lawyer doesn’t know. It sounds to me as if this might have been kept a secret for a very, very long time, which means few people will know the truth.’
‘Rose, look at this,’ Jessica said, pointing to her screen. ‘It’s a death notice for a Valentina Santiago, dated three months ago.’
Jessica leaned over and read the article, her heart heavy as she realised the sad coincidence of two women from two generations of the one family dying in such a short time span.
Valentina Santiago, the daughter of the late Basilio Santiago, one of the most successful landowners and businessmen in Buenos Aires during the 1930s, has passed away peacefully at home. Known for her lifetime of philanthropy towards polo and women in sport, she will be forever remembered for her significant generosity.
‘There’s no mention of any surviving family members,’ Jessica said.
Rose read the article again, finding it hard to believe that she might be related to the woman she was reading about.
‘We can search for more in the morning,’ Jessica said with a yawn. ‘I think the jet lag is finally catching up with me.’
She kissed Rose on the cheek and shut her laptop, and Rose did the same, finishing up and putting her laptop on her bedside table.
But when they eventually turned the lights out, lying side by side in the bed together, Rose found it impossible to sleep. All she could think about was the call Jessica was going to make in the morning, and whether she was being silly to think of flying to Buenos Aires, even if it was only for a few days.
I wish you were here, Mum.
Which was precisely why she knew she had to go and see what this lawyer had to say. If there was family out there in the world waiting to meet her, or a heritage that was ready to be discovered, then she owed it to her mother and her grandmother, in their memory, to find out everything she could.
She glanced at Jessica’s sleeping form in the dark, making out the silhouette of her body, lying on her side, turned away from Rose. Jessica was like the sister she’d never had, and she knew that if all else failed, she could always move to be nearer to her.
But first she needed to see what awaited her in Argentina. She could worry about the rest of her life after that.
4
THE SANTIAGO FAMILY ESTATE, ARGENTINA, 1930
Valentina smiled at her father as she ate the last of her breakfast, careful to dab the crumbs at the side of her mouth so that she didn’t invoke the wrath of her mother. Her father was sitting across from her, with his newspaper held just low enough that he could look at her.
