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Chapter 50

‘Joyce made a mistake.’

All eyes were riveted on Albert.

‘Who’s Joyce?’ Oliver asked, staring at the man who claimed to be his father. ‘Was she my mother, then?’

‘Oliver – let him speak,’ said Carys.

‘Joyce was the woman who brought Toby up,’ explained Abigail. The nurse who lived in the cottage and took in the baby who was left in the storm porch.’ She caught Albert’s expression while she was saying this. He was shaking his head.

Albert pursed his lips. ‘That was a story we concocted.’

‘What do you mean,weconcocted?’ Carys asked.

‘Myself, Joyce, and …. Daphne.’

‘Daphne?’ Hugh sat forward in his seat. ‘What has my late sister got to do with all this?’

Abigail saw the expression on Oliver’s face; he remembered what she’d told them about their aunt and the affair she’d had with Albert.

Oliver turned to Carys. ‘We’re cousins – according to the DNA results.’

She nodded.

‘It’s Daphne, isn’t it?’ said Oliver, turning to Albert. ‘She was my mother.’

Hugh looked from Oliver to Albert. He stood up. ‘Well, that’s just a load of old baloney. I don’t know what your game is, Albert, but Daphne never had children.’

Albert sighed. ‘And that’s where you’re wrong. How often did you see her once she married and left the Hall?’

‘I don’t see what that’s got to do with anything,’ Hugh said haughtily.

Abigail did. And so did everyone else in the room.

‘It wasn’t meant to happen,’ said Albert, avoiding Oliver’s gaze. We were careful, but she fell pregnant.’

Hugh was on his feet again. ‘Are you saying that you and Daphne …?’

‘Oh, do sit down, Daddy,’ said Carys. ‘And don’t look so shocked. Everyone knew Aunt Daphne wasn’t happy with who she married. He was almost twice her age. And spent a great deal of time overseas with his regiment.’

‘So, she bought the cottage to live next door to her lover?’ said Hugh, looking shocked.

Abigail didn’t correct him on the fact that the lighthouse had belonged to Daphne.

Hugh had another question. ‘How on earth did she hide the pregnancy from her husband?’

All this talk of being pregnant was making Abigail feel uncomfortable. She caught Albert looking her way.

‘When she fell pregnant during one of her husband’s long sojourns with the army overseas, she managed to hide it during his infrequent trips home for the first three months. Then he went on a six-month tour. He was still overseas when she gave birth right here.’

‘In this lighthouse?’ Carys looked about her.

‘Yes. Fortunately, for us there was a young nurse caught out in the storm on the way to do a shift at the local hospital in Aldeburgh. With power lines down, and a tree blocking the road, she was unable to get into work for her late shift that night. She’d abandoned her car down the road and arrived at Daphne’s cottage. Joyce delivered the baby, our baby, Oliver, right here that very night.’

‘And the baby in the storm porch …?’ ventured Abigail.

Albert shook his head. ‘Like I said before, it was a story we concocted.’

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