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She placed a protective hand over her tummy. ‘Of course I understand, Oliver.’ She said in a small voice. ‘But what about primogeniture?’
‘That’s all my father cares about. That’s why he wouldn’t take the test. In case …’
‘In case you’re not his son and then the Hall goes to …’ Abigail trailed off.
‘Yeah – some distant cousin twice removed, living in Australia, no doubt. I don’t know what would happen to be honest.’
Abigail reached for his hand. ‘I understand you need to do this, but like I said before, the results stay between the three of us.’
Oliver looked at her. ‘I know you’re trying to protect me from losing the Hall, but Iwilltell my father.’
‘Have you considered that there may be another reason he didn’t want you to take a test?’
Oliver looked at her, bemused.
Abigail remembered the day she met Hugh Somerville, standing in that bedroom, staring at his late wife’s portrait on the bedroom wall. ‘I think he loved your mother so much he can’t bear the thought that she had an affair. It would break him.’ And Abigail thought of something else. ‘All these years, I think he’s believed she had an affair, and he’s taken all his hurt and anger out on you.’
Oliver stared at her, then glanced at the laptop. ‘So, this will be a good thing, setting the record straight – once and for all.’
‘But if it’s true, he won’t want it confirmed, will he? At least by not knowing, a little part of him could think the rumours were wrong, and she didn’t have an affair.’
Oliver sighed. ‘I’ve got to think of myself, Abigail, my feelings – not his. What if I’m someone else’s son? Perhaps I have a right to find my biological father before it’s too late. Hell, it could already be too late.’
Abigail thought of Toby, unaware until he’d found out about the cottage that he’d been adopted. It was too late for Toby. He’d never had the opportunity to find his real parents. Everyone deserved the truth, no matter how hard, how painful. She’d heard the saying that ignorance is bliss, but she thought that down that road lay missed opportunities and heartache – eventually.
Abigail took the laptop from Oliver’s lap.
‘What are you doing?’
‘I’ll be quicker than you. I know my way around the AncestryDNA website.’ She logged on to the site. ‘Right, choose a password.’ She attempted to pass the laptop back to him so he could enter it.
‘I choose Abigail.’
She smiled at him. ‘You can’t use my name.’
‘Why not? Is it already taken? Did Toby—?’
Abigail shook her head, frowning when he reminded her that she still hadn’t told him about the baby, about Bertie.
‘You need to have a mixture of letters and numbers.’
‘Oh, okay. What’s the number of your cottage?’
Abigail looked at him in surprise. Although Lili had guessed correctly that Toby had used the name of the son he’d never meet for his password, he also used two numbers. She’d also guessed it was the house number of this cottage.
‘It’s twenty-two.’
‘Abigail22 it is then.’
She caught him smiling as she entered the password. He got out his wallet and handed her the card to make the payment.
‘It’s all done.’ Abigail closed the lid on the laptop and leaned forward, placing it on the coffee table. ‘It’s being posted today, so the test will arrive in a day or two.’
‘Great. I’m going to do it by return of post. I’ll make sure Carys does too.’ He sat back on the sofa, hands around the back of his head. ‘It never occurred to me before, to take a DNA test with my sister.’
Abigail’s expression creased into a frown when something Albert had said came to mind. He’d been looking directly at Carys when he’d said,A word of warning. You’d better leave well alone, and persuade your friend to do the same, because I’ll tell you now, no good will come out of finding out the truth – for any of you.
Abigail turned in her seat and stared out of the window at the lighthouse. Did he know about Oliver, and that if they dug into his family tree, he would discover he was illegitimate and could forfeit his right to inherit the Hall?
