Page 83 of A Curious Ending

‘I know,’ Lara said simply. ‘What I meant was that you couldn’t let Richard take the blame.’

Mrs M studied Lara closely. ‘You knew? Was that why you said all those things?’

Lara nodded. ‘She… I… didn’t think you’d let him suffer for something you’d done. After all he may have been a terrible son, not in any way worthy of her. But he was her son. He is also your nephew.’

‘So you do know,’ Lady Porter’s sister said quietly.

The effect on the rest of the room was electrifying. Everyone spoke at once. The voice that penetrated the cacophony was Richard Porter’s. ‘YOU are my aunt?!’ His tone left them in no doubt as to what he thought of that.

‘Hardly a fitting response to the woman who has saved him from prison,’ Abby commented.

Lara waited until the room became quieter and, looking directly at Mrs M and ignoring everyone else, said, ‘You were Margaret Abbott and your sister was Elizabeth Abbott. Have I got that right?’

Mrs M nodded. ‘Linton was my married name. How did you know?’

‘I saw an envelope with “E Abbott” on it and an address in Nottingham when I was looking for the vases Lady Porter left me. When I asked about Lady Porter’s maiden name you seemed flustered and when I looked back, I thought maybe you said “Brown” as it was such a common name and the first thing you thought of.’

‘I almost said “Smith”,’ Mrs M told her with a twisted smile.

‘Do you think you’d be able to tell us about Nottingham? About your childhood?’

A look of bleak misery shrouded Mrs M’s face and she took a handkerchief from her pocket, which she began to twist in her hands.

As she started speaking, Lara recalled Mrs M once saying that there had been no love lost between Lady Porter and her parents. She knew now Mrs M was speaking from experience.

Mrs M spoke while looking at her hands. ‘Our dad was a brute. First it was our mum, she took the bulk of the beatings. Tried to keep us safe,’ Mrs M shrugged, ‘but she was only a little woman and, well, what could she do?’

Something suddenly occurred to Lara. ‘Was your mum a bit of a fan of the Royal Family?’

Something lifted in Mrs M’s expression and she looked up. ‘She certainly was. A great one for reading news of the Royal Family.’

‘Is that where you got your names?’

Mrs M nodded. ‘That’s it. Elizabeth and Margaret. I was a few years younger than—’

‘Lilibet,’ Lara interrupted.

‘How did you know that?’ Mrs M queried, but she smiled as if remembering.

‘I thought you once called Lady Porter “Lily”, but I misheard. I believed you had said “Lily, but…” whereas you had called her “Lilibet”.’

‘Ah,’ Mrs M said, a faraway look in her eyes. ‘Yes, Mum took a great interest in those two princesses and she said we were her princesses. So in private we took up their nicknames. Just between ourselves mind, she was Lilibet and I was Margo. It was our private world.’

‘You have another private world, don’t you?

Mrs M looked resigned now. ‘So you’ve seen the room.’

‘You don’t have to say anymore, Margaret.’ Dr Patil turned towards her.

‘So you knew?’ Lara looked quickly at him.

‘Oh, he’s known. He’s known all along and helped us. I told you he was a good man, Lara.’

Lara heard Abby murmur, ‘Of course he knew. He understood that determination ran in the family.’

Lara felt there was so much she still didn’t know, most of all she wanted to make sense of why the woman in front of her would kill the sister she so clearly loved. Lara glanced around the room, everyone was sitting transfixed listening to the person they had known as Mrs M.

‘Can you talk about the room at the top of the house?’ Lara asked gently.