Page 125 of Sunday's Child

‘Have you seen Mr and Mrs de Marney this morning?’

‘They are at breakfast with Sir Bertram and Master Tommy, miss.’

‘Thank you, Flossie. That will be all for now.’ Nancy turned to Mr Mounce, who had just finished off the last sandwich. ‘Mr Mounce, would you be kind enough to accompany us to the dining room? I want you to tell my family exactly what you told me.’

He rose to his feet, wiping his lips on a clean damask table napkin, which he then abandoned reluctantly. ‘I will have some cake?’

‘Of course. It will only take a few minutes of your time.’

He followed Nancy and Freddie to the dining room where Felicia and Claude were just finishing their meal. Wolfe was about to push Bertie’s chair out into the hallway but Nancy stopped him.

‘This won’t take long, but I want you to hear what Mr Mounce has to say. It’s very important.’

Felicia rolled her eyes. ‘Nancy, dear, we have only just finished eating.’

‘Let the man have his say, Felicia,’ Claude said gently. ‘It’s obviously important to Nancy.’

Mr Mounce cleared his throat. ‘Some time ago, Miss Nancy came to me asking for help to discover her true identity.’

‘Get on with it, Mr Mounce,’ Felicia said impatiently. ‘We haven’t got all day to sit here listening to you go on as if you are in the courtroom.’

‘My apologies, ma’am. I’ll try to be brief and succinct.’

‘Good man,’ Claude said appreciatively. ‘What was it you wanted to tell us?’

‘After a lot of serious investigations, we have discovered that Miss Sunday is really Miss Nancy Greystone, the legal heir to the Greystone estate and family fortune, which was left to her by her papa, Sir Oliver Greystone.’

Felicia choked on her coffee. ‘You are telling fibs, Mr Mounce.’

‘On my honour, ma’am, it is the truth. I have affidavits from the doctor and midwife who delivered Lady Greystone of a baby girl on the day in question, and a copy of the baptismal certificate that the vicar wrote shortly after the birth.’

Tommy leaped from his seat at the table and rushed round to give Nancy a hug. ‘We knew it all along, didn’t we?’

‘Well, I thought it was true, but now I know it is and the will has been probated. All that Mr Mounce has to do is to register my birth, a little late, but it can be done.’

‘Most certainly,’ Mr Mounce agreed. ‘Now may I return to my tea and cake, Miss Greystone?’

‘Of course,’ Nancy said happily. ‘Please do.’

He backed out of the room, nodding to Bertie. ‘Sir Bertram.’

Felicia stared at Nancy in disbelief. ‘Who would have believed it? I certainly would not.’

‘We should travel to Dorrington Place to let my parents have the good news,’ Freddie said, smiling. ‘I don’t care if you are an heiress or a beggar maid, but unfortunately they do, and you said last night you didn’t want to go against them.’

‘Most certainly not. I won’t come between you and your family, Freddie.’

Felicia turned to them, her eyes wide with curiosity. ‘Excuse me, Nancy. Did I hear you correctly? Are Freddie’s parents being difficult?’

‘You’ve met my parents, Mrs de Marney,’ Freddie said warily. ‘You know that they are a little old-fashioned in their outlook.’

‘Old-fashioned or not, I won’t allow them to cast aspersions on anyone from this family. If you are going to Dorrington Place then I am going also.’

Claude laid his hand on her arm. ‘Felicia, my love, this really isn’t our business.’

‘Of course it is, Claude. Nancy is like a daughter to me and a sister to Rosalind and Patricia. Remember the time in London and that trouble in Paris? Nancy helped us to avoid a dreadful scandal. We owe her this.’

Nancy turned her head away to hide a smile. Felicia had changed her tune now that she knew Nancy was of genteel birth.