Page 120 of The Vanished

“Who by? Rory?”

“No. Rose.”

“Her cousin?” Dinah exclaimed. “But why would Rose hurt Honor?”

“Did Geneva tell you about Jesse?”

Dinah nodded. “She never did understand why he suddenly took off. One moment they were announcing their engagement, and the next he had left without a word of explanation.”

“Rose discovered a steward’s uniform from the RMS Olympic in Jesse’s suitcase,” Quinn said. “And some photos and letters that suggested he wasn’t the real Jesse Bellamy. She was going to go downstairs and confront him in front of everyone. Honor tried to stop her. She didn’t want to upset her father when he was already so ill, and she worried that her family would lose everything if Jesse turned out to be a fraud.”

Dinah exhaled heavily. “Well, then she died in vain because they lost it all anyway.”

“Was Jesse’s ruse eventually discovered?” Rhys inquired. He looked much happier now that the story was finally living up to his expectations.

“Not that I know of, but maybe he realized that his bride-to-be was playing him for a fool and carrying another man’s child. Or maybe he got to know the Bellamys and experienced pangs of conscience about duping them.”

“What happened after he left?” Rhys asked.

“Geneva saw no reason to hold on. Her father was gone, Honor was gone, the father of her child was gone, and there was no one left to inherit the hall. She packed a bag, took the jewelry her mother had bequeathed to her, and left.”

“Where did she go?” Quinn asked.

“To London. She struggled those first few years. It wasn’t easy to be a single mum in those days, especially when the child had been born out of wedlock. Geneva eventually found work in a pub. Kenny would sleep upstairs while she served the patrons in the taproom. They got by. And then she met John Wilson.”

“Did they have children of their own?”

Dinah nodded. “They had a daughter. Abigail. She died during the war, when the hospital she worked at was bombed. Geneva didn’t have an easy life.”

“No, but at least she had a life,” Rhys pointed out.

“Yes, I suppose when you put it that way,” Dinah agreed.

“What happened to Rose?” Quinn asked.

Dinah stared at her. “You don’t know?”

“No. I tried to find her, but there was nothing online.”

Dinah chuckled humorlessly. “Rose inherited the lot and promptly cut off her cousin. Geneva never saw a penny from the estate.”

“But how did Rose come to inherit if the estate was entailed?” Quinn exclaimed.

“Rose married within weeks of Douglas’s death. She was a Bellamy, and since there was no direct male descendant, Rose’s husband was now the sole male relation. The Bellamys’ lawyer, Mr. Lefferts, named him a trustee, and when Rose gave birth to Charles, the inheritance was transferred to him. As his mother, Rose became the lady of Bellamy Hall.”

“I have to give it to her. That was absolutely diabolical,” Rhys said, clearly stunned by the depth of Rose’s betrayal.

“Who on earth did she marry?” Quinn exclaimed. She couldn’t see Rose engaging in a whirlwind romance and marrying just weeks after her uncle had died. Not only did it seem unfeeling and improper, but it was also rather too convenient.

“She married the son of one of her father’s associates. Geneva always suspected the marriage had been arranged by her aunt. The young man, who was something of a ne’er-do-well, was promised a fortune, and I expect a certain degree of freedom. He saw the advantages of such an arrangement and agreed.”

“And did the marriage last?”

“It did. Rose and Peter also had a daughter, Ruby.”

“How did Kenny come to own Bellamy Hall?” Quinn asked.

“Charles was killed in Libya in 1942,” Dinah said. “And Peter died in 1944, in a prisoner of war camp. The house had been requisitioned by the government and turned into a military hospital during the war, but the last patients were discharged in the summer of 1945. Rose had plans to retore the hall to its former glory, but Ruby had other ideas. She had never felt an attachment to the place and wanted a fresh start. She married, and she and her husband took advantage of the Assisted Passage Migration Scheme and went out to Australia. Ten Pound Poms they called them because that’s how much it cost to get a new life,” Dinah said with an amused smile. “When Rose passed in 1967, Kenny inherited the property. He was the only male descendant, and he petitioned the court to have the entail lifted. And a good thing it was too, since our girls had no interest in managing the place and the place would have been turned over to the Crown. Our oldest works for Doctors Without Borders, and our youngest lives in Paris. Fancies herself an artist. I put the property on the market when Kenny passed, bought this place, and divided the remaining proceeds between my daughters. Thus came the end of Bellamy Hall and all associated with it,” Dinah said. “Or so I thought, until that poor girl was fished out of the well.”