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Chapter 41
Lili opened the letter. She stared at it for so long that Alex eventually appeared. ‘Is something the matter?’ He walked up the hallway and joined her at the front door.
‘Joseph passed away.’
‘Oh, I’m so sorry to hear that.’
So was Lili. When they had released Joseph without charge, she had returned to Aldeburgh to see him at home. He had still been recovering from his hip operation. It wasn’t something she had wanted to do – return to The Summerhouse knowing Nate was there – but she had good reason. Apart from the fact that she had longed to meet up with Joseph and talk to him about Otto and her own visit to the house with her mother years earlier, Lili wanted to hear the story that Elspeth had told her first-hand. But Lili’s main purpose for the visit was to persuade Joseph, with her support, to go to his solicitor and challenge the will.
He’d been overjoyed to see her. They had spent a wonderful day together, reminiscing about the past. He talked about his memories of Corfu in the good times with his parents, and the Corfiot family, and all the artist friends his parents used to have before the war.
The meeting had been bittersweet for Lili. Elspeth had been quite right when she had said that Joseph would be loyal to Otto to the bitter end; he would not contest Otto’s will.
Lili looked at Alex. ‘His funeral is next week. The family have invited me.’
‘They have?’ He appeared just as surprised as Lili. ‘Will you go?’
‘I’m not sure.’
Alex wasn’t surprised by her reticence. He could imagine how she felt at the thought of another funeral. They’d not long attended the memorial service for their good friend, Toby.
Lili said, ‘You realise what this means – don’t you?’
‘You inherit The Summerhouse.’
Lili stared at the invitation.
‘Who sent it – do you know?’
‘It’s from Elspeth.’
‘That makes sense.’
‘I don’t think the rest of the family will want me there.’
‘Maybe they’ll surprise you.’
Lili doubted it.
‘When is it?’ Alex asked.
She caught the nervous inflection in his voice before he exhaled in relief at her reply. ‘Friday.’
Lili glanced at the suitcases piled up in the hall and the boxes ready to go into storage. They had stripped the rental flat of all their possessions, most of which were Alex’s. Lili’s were still in the FedEx box she’d retrieved from Ray’s boat. They were preparing for their imminent move to Washington.
Lili had persuaded Alex to take the promotion, and this time she was not objecting to going with him. After what had happened at The Summerhouse, she wanted to make a fresh start as far away from Suffolk as possible. Washington would be perfect.
Alex had questioned Lili about her motives. He felt she was running away from the hurt of discovering that the people she had grown close to had rejected her, even though it wasn’t her fault that she was going to inherit the property. Nobody had contacted her to see how she was; the letter from Elspeth letting her know that Joseph had died peacefully in his sleep was the first she’d heard from them.
Lili had told Alex that he was mistaken about her motives, although there was a grain of truth to his concerns about why she was leaving the country. Shewasrunning away, avoiding the inevitable – inheriting The Summerhouse and those priceless paintings.
As a consequence, and not through choice, Lili had become a minor celebrity. She felt as though the paparazzi hounded her wherever she went. The intrusive nature of having her photograph taken without her permission, and articles printed about her in newspapers, was getting to her. Any thoughts that it was fun being the centre of attention were quickly dispelled when Lili found herself in that position.
Although it wasn’t her fault, she felt responsible that Otto (still known to the outside world as George) and Joseph, who had spent their whole lives in quiet anonymity, had posthumously been thrust into the limelight with the discovery of the artwork worth millions that they had stored in their old summerhouse in Thorpeness.
And Ray hadn’t escaped unscathed either. The former art cop turned heir-hunter was all over the news. He had been inundated by inquiries from people clamouring for his services to see if they, too, were the lost descendants of a secret fortune.
But it wasn’t Joseph’s or Ray’s story that had captured people’s imaginations. What had caused such a sensation was the rags-to-riches tale of the little orphaned girl found lost in Corfu; a child who had grown up in care only to become one of the richest women in the country. Lili had become a minor celebrity. She felt as though the paparazzi hounded her wherever she went. The intrusive nature of having her photograph taken without her permission and articles printed about her in newspapers was getting to her. Any thoughts that it might be fun being the centre of attention were quickly dispelled when Lili found herself in that position.
