Page 38 of The Book of Irish Secrets (Magnolia Manor #5)

They went into the kitchen, where Arnaud greeted them with a wave of his wooden spoon.

He was dressed in beige chinos, a striped shirt under a large white apron.

‘Welcome, Rose and Claire,’ he said. ‘I already laid the table. I knew you would want to join us for dinner after your meeting. I hope the emergency wasn’t about something serious. ’

‘Not at all,’ Rose said and pulled out a chair for Sylvia. ‘A shock, of course, but once it had sunk in, I was more than excited,’ she said with a smile at Claire.

‘So it was about family?’ Arnaud asked.

‘Yes.’ Sylvia sat down and put her napkin in her lap. ‘Something I feared would happen one day, but now that it has, it’s such a relief that it’s out.’

‘But you’re not going to tell me?’ Arnaud said as he ladled food onto plates at the cooker.

‘I will when I’ve had a glass of wine and some food,’ Sylvia promised.

‘Coming up,’ Arnaud said and put a plate heaped with herby chicken casserole and potato gratin in front of Sylvia. ‘Rose, pour your grandmother a glass of the Merlot that I just opened. I’ll serve you all and then you can tell me what you have been talking about.’

Rose poured wine for Sylvia and Claire. Arnaud served everyone chicken and the potato gratin and sat down beside Sylvia.

He raised his glass. ‘Well, à votre santé , whatever the reason was for this meeting.’

‘Cheers,’ Rose said, clinking glasses with him. ‘Granny, you have to tell Arnaud what’s going on.’

‘Maybe I’ll let Claire do it,’ Sylvia suggested as she dug into her chicken. ‘I want to enjoy every bite of this and let the wine calm me.’

‘Claire?’ Arnaud said, looking intrigued.

Claire sipped her wine and then looked at Arnaud. Between more sips of wine and bites of chicken, she told him all about who she was and why she had come to Kerry.

Arnaud’s eyes widened, and he forgot to eat as he listened intently.

‘ Quelle histoire ,’ he exclaimed when Claire had finished.

‘Of course I knew the trouble Cornelius caused when he was involved with my grandfather. Which brought me here and then it all ended happily for me.’ He took Sylvia’s hand and kissed it.

‘I wouldn’t have met my dear sweet Sylvia if it hadn’t been for him. ’

‘I forgive Cornelius everything because of that,’ Sylvia said.

‘But I never heard the story of his twin brother,’ Arnaud said. ‘Never knew he existed.’

‘Neither did I,’ Rose said. ‘I thought Claire was lying. But then when I saw her great-aunt’s book and everything in it, I knew she was telling the truth.

But it took a while before it all sank in.

I’m still trying to accept it, to be honest.’ She looked at Sylvia, who was enjoying her food and wine, looking cool and unperturbed. ‘And Granny knew about it all along.’

Sylvia put down her knife and fork. ‘Well, it was something I had pushed to the back of my mind. I never thought it would come up, so I had more or less forgotten about it, as strange as that may seem.’

‘I can understand that,’ Arnaud said. ‘Life happens while you’re living it, so old stories, especially those of other people, can be put into a memory bank and then all kinds of other things make you forget. But you are both too young to know this.’

Claire nodded. ‘I do see what you mean, though.’

‘Me too,’ Rose said. She finished her meal and then got up.

‘I have to go home. I promised Sophie to read her a bedtime story. Granny, will you let me know when we are having the family meeting? You need to get Lily, Dominic, Vi, Jack, me and Noel together. And Claire, of course. As soon as possible, please.’

‘I will,’ Sylvia promised. ‘Even if rounding everyone up will be like herding sheep without a collie,’ she added with a laugh. ‘Off you go. Sophie is waiting and you can’t disappoint her.’

‘I know. I’ll just go and get my jacket from the office. See you soon, Claire. Bye, Granny.’ Rose kissed Sylvia on the cheek. ‘Delicious meal, Arnaud, thank you.’ Then she left through the back door, closing it softly behind her.

‘More chicken?’ Arnaud asked Claire.

‘No, thanks,’ Claire replied with a smile. ‘It was delicious, but I don’t have room for any more. In any case, I think I’ll go upstairs now. I want to call my sister in Australia and tell her what has happened.’

Sylvia looked at Claire with interest. ‘How many brothers and sisters do you have?’

‘Just a brother who lives in Canada and a sister in Australia.’

‘Two more Fleurys,’ Sylvia said. ‘You must tell us about them when we have our meeting.’

‘Of course,’ Claire said. ‘My sister is very excited about this, actually.’

‘And your brother?’ Arnaud asked.

‘He doesn’t know yet. I haven’t been in touch with him for quite a while,’ Claire explained. ‘We’re not very close. He’s a lot older than my sister and me and he left for Canada when I was only five years old. He started a business there. He’s more Canadian than Irish, really.’

‘So he won’t come here and claim ownership of the estate?’ Sylvia said, looking worried. ‘I mean, if Louis was the rightful heir, your brother might want to start legal proceedings.’

‘I’m sure he won’t,’ Claire said. ‘I can’t see that he’d want to. His life is in Canada, and in any case, running Magnolia Manor is a huge undertaking. Patrick won’t want to take on that stress and hard work. I can’t see him wanting to do that.’

‘He might want to sell it,’ Sylvia argued, her eyes wide with fear. ‘It’s valuable property and could fetch a huge price.’

Arnaud put his arm around Sylvia. ‘Don’t worry about that now, chérie . I believe Claire when she says her brother won’t want to do anything. It would cost a lot of money in legal fees and take a long time.’

‘That’s true.’ Sylvia shot a calculating look at Claire. ‘But what about if your brother isn’t told about Louis’ birth certificate? If he doesn’t know about Louis’ rights, there is no danger.’

Claire nodded and shot a conspiratorial smile at Sylvia. ‘That’s a little underhanded, but I agree. In fact, we could keep it between ourselves and not tell anyone at all about that little detail. If nobody knows, it won’t cause a problem.’

Sylvia patted Claire’s hand. ‘You’re a true Fleury girl. Let’s not even mention the fact that Louis was born before Cornelius to anyone else except the people who already know, and make them swear to keep the secret. I’ll send a message to Rose, if you could tell your sister.’

‘Agreed,’ Claire said and got up. ‘So I’ll say goodnight. Thank you for a lovely dinner, Arnaud. And Sylvia… I hope I haven’t caused you too much stress. I didn’t mean to break the news like this. It just happened.’

‘Don’t worry about me,’ Sylvia said. ‘I’m not upset at all. In fact, it’s a relief that it finally came out like this.’

‘Oh, that’s good to know. Bye for now,’ Claire said. ‘Let me know about the family meeting.’

‘I’ll be in touch about that,’ Sylvia promised.

Claire left by the door to the corridor with a feeling she had been through a hurricane.

She felt good about the peace between her, Rose and Sylvia.

Could this be the start of a whole new connection with a family she had thought were lost?

But then she thought of Pierce. All this time she had been worried the truth would ruin things between her and her family, but had her lies simply wrecked any hope of a relationship with him?