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the life she shared with her brilliant father, had lost him and gained a terrible burden of guilt?
    How could it be possible for life to change so drastically in such a short time!
    “There is nothing to detain us,” said Rebecca. “What we must do now is plan for the future. And you will do this better away from here. You will be able to think more clearly in Cornwall.”
    I knew that she was right.
    “So pack what you need,” she went on. “We’ll catch tomorrow morning’s train.”
    “There is something I have to tell you, Rebecca,” I said. “It’s about Joel Greenham.”
    She smiled and I saw the understanding in her eyes.
    “Before he went away,” I added, “we became engaged … secretly.”
    She turned to me, smiling. I had not seen her look so happy since the tragedy.
    “Oh, Lucie,” she said, “I am so pleased. This is wonderful. Of course, I knew there was something between you and Joel. He will take care of you. When is he coming home?”
    “I don’t know. I haven’t heard anything yet.”
    “These missions don’t usually last very long and he has been away some time. I wonder whether he will have heard … he can’t have done so. If he had I am sure he would have come home right away.”
    “It seems so long since he went away,” I said.
    “As soon as he comes home you can go back to London … or he could come down to us. Oh, Lucie, I can’t tell you how happy this has made me.”
    “I should have told you before only we didn’t intend to announce it until he came back.”
    “It will help so much. You’ll be able to start afresh. I can see that you don’t want to make too many plans until he is with you.”
    Her mood had changed. She was clearly thinking what a help Joel would be to me.
    She was right, of course.
    “So,” she went on, “we’ll leave tomorrow morning.”
    Celeste was coming with us. We had insisted that she did; and I think she was relieved to do so, although she was a little diffident, as was her way; she confided in me that she was not sure whether Rebecca really wanted her, but was asking her out of kindness.
    Poor Celeste! Her life with Benedict had nurtured this feeling of being unwanted; although in the last years he had tried hard to make things different between them.
    So we prepared to leave. I was telling myself that, in the peace of Cornwall, I should see everything more clearly. I would be able to convince myself that I was foolish to harbor these uneasy feelings about a man who had deliberately set out to kill my father, shattering his life in a matter of seconds and bringing misery to his family.
    I had packed and we were ready to leave.
    “We should get a good night’s sleep,” advised Rebecca.
    She herself brought a glass of milk to my bedroom. She stayed by my bed and talked to me.
    “Everything will be different in Cornwall,” she said soothingly. “The children will love to see you. They are rather adorable. And the grandparents … ours and Pedrek’s. You know how they love it when you come. Ours will be trying to snatch you away from us and get you to Cador. But I shan’t allow it.”
    “It all sounds so cozy.”
    “It will be best, Lucie. And soon we shall be hearing from Joel. I am sure he will come straight to Cornwall when he knows you are there.”
    “I’m getting rather worried about him. It seems so long since he went.”
    “Well, it is a long way off, and I don’t suppose getting letters through is very easy. Soon he’ll be home. Oh, I am so glad you and Celeste are such friends. Poor Celeste!”
    “I always feel that I want to look after her,” I said.
    Rebecca nodded. “Now drink that milk and get off to sleep. We’ll have a long day tomorrow.”
    She took the glass, set it down and tucked me in as she used to do when I was a child.
    I put my arms round her neck.
    “I am so glad to have you, Rebecca,” I told her.
    “And I to have you, little sister,” she replied.
    Then she kissed me and went out.
    I think I