The Carlotta Diamond
Farringdon Hall, Old Leasham RUDY had just arrived at the door of the sickroom and raised his free hand to knock, when he heard his brother-in-law's low, well-modulated voice, and paused to listen.
"So what exactly is it you want me to do?" Simon was asking.
"I want you to try and trace Maria Bell-Farringdon, my sister," Sir Nigel's voice answered.
Sounding startled, Simon said, "But surely your sister's dead? Didn't she die very young?"
"That was Mara, Maria's twin sister. They were born in 1929—I was three at the time—so Maria will be in her mid-seventies by now, if she's still alive…"
His curiosity aroused, Rudy stayed where he was, his ear pressed to the door panel.
"The last time I saw her was November 1946. Though she was barely seventeen at the time, she was pregnant and unmarried. Despite a great deal of parental pressure, she refused to name the father, and after a terrible row, during which she was accused of bringing disgrace on the family, she just walked out and vanished without a trace. Our par-ents washed their hands of her, and her name was never again mentioned. It was just as if she had n ... read full excerpt from The Carlotta Diamond ebook
