Page 97 of Sunday's Child

‘Proof of what?’ Nancy was curious now. ‘What exactly are you looking for?’

‘Sir Oliver’s will. I think he might have named me as his son and heir.’

‘You think he was your father?’

‘I am sure of it.’

‘What makes you think that, Gervase?’

‘My mother was sickly and Papa was often away from home. I spent most of my early years in the care of Aunt Helena. Uncle Oliver was often absent, but when he was at Greystone he was very good to me. He taught me to hunt and fish, and we had a small boat which we took out on the lake at every possible opportunity.’

‘But if that’s true, it would mean that your mother was really your aunt. I don’t understand why they would want to deceive everyone in such a way.’

‘This is why I’ve been going through all the papers in the study and this boxful was in the attic. It hadn’t been opened for years. I want you to help me, otherwise it will take ages.’

‘Why don’t you put it all in the hands of your solicitor, Gervase? Anyway, I don’t see how any of this concerns me. You said yesterday that you had an idea who my parents were.’

He gave her a sly look. ‘Yes, I did, didn’t I? Well, you help me with this and I’ll tell you.’

Nancy picked up a bundle of yellowed documents, tied with red tape, and took them to a side table. She pulled up a chair and sat down, untying the dusty paper.

‘Surely your parents loved you. Why do you doubt them?’

‘Something happened when I was a young boy. I must have been six or seven. It was the middle of the night and I was awakened by a lot of noise. I got out of bed and went onto the landing to look over the banisters. Uncle Oliver was wearing a black cloak. There was rainwater dripping off his wide-brimmed hat as he handed a bundle to my father. Even from that distance I could see it was a small baby and it began to cry. Papa and Uncle Oliver argued and then my uncle left, slamming the door so hard that the windows rattled. I never saw him again.’

‘What happened to the baby?’

‘I don’t know. Next morning it had gone and Mama spent the day lying on her bed, sobbing. She wouldn’t speak to me and she didn’t even get up to go to church. That was very unusual because Mama was a devout churchgoer. I was left to the mercies of my governess. How I hated that woman.’

‘Did your parents ever tell you what had happened?’

‘No, and when I asked Mama about the baby she told me I was a wicked boy to make up such a tale. I was telling lies.’

‘Were you?’

Gervase shook his head. ‘That baby was real and it was crying.’

‘Did you ask your aunt Helena what had happened?’

‘I wasn’t allowed to see her. They told me she was very ill and she didn’t recover. It was then that my uncle Michael inherited the land and the title. He and his wife moved into Greystones with Christina and Sylvia. I was only a child but I was angry. I should have lived there. Sir Oliver was my papa, I know it.’

‘But the baby, Gervase. Did you find out what happened to it?’

He shrugged. ‘It was the early hours of Sunday morning when Uncle Oliver came to our house. You are Nancy Sunday – you were found on the orphanage steps on that day of the week.’

‘Yes, I was discovered on a Sunday, but the dates would have to match.’ Nancy frowned. ‘It could be a coincidence. Anyway, what are you saying? Whose child am I?’

‘That’s one reason for sifting through these papers. Sir Oliver must have made a will. If we can find that it might tell us both who we really are.’

‘All right, I’ll help you, Gervase. But I still don’t know why you doubt your parentage.’

‘It’s a feeling, Nancy Sunday. Just as I have a feeling that you were the baby I saw that night.’

‘I don’t think feelings count for much in a court of law. Anyway, these are just household accounts,’ Nancy said, sighing. ‘I don’t want to disappoint you, but from what I have heard your uncle was not a reliable person.’

‘He was my hero. I would like to be just like him.’

Nancy could see she was not going to get anywhere with Gervase when he was in this mood. She was disturbed by his suggestion that she was the baby who had been brought to his parents’ house and then abandoned. If that was so then it was a double betrayal, assuming that she was related to the Greystones in some way. Even that was too far-fetched for her to contemplate seriously.