Page 46 of The Lost Heiress

Teddy shrugged. “She wouldn’t say.”

“But the child,” Church said. “There would be hospital records, a birth certificate—”

“Not for a home birth,” Teddy said. “Not if they used a private doctor and paid him to keep his mouth shut.”

“But what happened to the baby?”

“I don’t know,” Teddy said. “Saoirse told me they planned to make her give it up. She didn’t know where or to whom. She was sick over the whole thing, that all this was happening to her and she didn’t have a choice.”

Church considered this. On the one hand, the story sounded preposterous. A secret pregnancy, a secret child, that no one had breathed a word about for the past forty years? But Church doubted Teddy would make something like that up. It was too much of an over-the-top story for someone as sly as Teddy Mountbatten to bandy about, even if his intent was to throw suspicion back in the direction it had just come from, at the Towers family themselves.

“Is there anyone who can corroborate this?” Church asked.

Teddy shrugged. “The staff—anyone who was working there at the time would have known.”

Florence Talbot’s face flashed in Church’s mind. She was working with the family when Saoirse disappeared. But she seemed very protective of the Towers family, willing to keep their secrets. If Church was going to find someone who had been working there and would willingly corroborate Saoirse’s pregnancy, he might have to look elsewhere.

“Why didn’t you come forward with any of this before?” Church asked.

“Saoirse told me all of this in confidence,” Teddy said. “When she first disappeared, I thought she’d merely run off. Maybe she’d found out where they’d sent the baby and she’d gone to find it. Then, as more time went by and I never heard from her, my mind took a darker turn. I thought maybe she hadn’t run off. Maybe they’d found a way to silence her forever. And who would want to cross someone like that?”

“You were afraid of her family?” Church asked.

Teddy set his fork down and finished chewing. He gave a wry smile. “Well, they aren’t just any family, are they?” Teddy said.

“No,” Church said. “No, I suppose they’re not.”

After they’d finished their lunch and Church had paid the bill, he leaned across the table toward Teddy.

“Can I ask you just one more thing?” he said. It had been nagging at him since they’d started their conversation. “Why talk to me at all?” Church asked. “‘Silence is the true friend that never betrays’ and all that?”

Teddy smiled. “I suppose either I am guilelessly innocent or I have some hubris myself that my good sense cannot cure me of.”

Chapter Sixteen

July 1982

When Ana descended the steps to the front drive at 8:00 a.m. sharp that Saturday, she saw Ransom there, leaning against the same blue convertible that Salvador had rescued her in that first day.

“At least one of you is on time,” Ransom said when he saw her.

Well, hello to you too,Ana thought.

Ransom had insisted on taking Saoirse to Los Angeles himself to find her a dress for her party. Ana had initially thought this was a kind, brotherly gesture, until Saoirse had assured her that there wasn’t anything benevolent about it—Ransom just wanted to make sure that she didn’t pick out something that could be interpreted as inappropriate or salacious by Page Six.

“Is this all you’re bringing?” he asked, reaching for her bag.

“I thought we were only going for one night?” Ana said.

“We are,” Ransom said. “I’ve just rarely seen a woman pack so economically.”

As if to prove his point, his assistant, Jacqueline Yates, appeared on the steps behind them with a bulging suitcase.

“Is this really necessary, to start so early?” Jacqueline asked, yawning. “Or did we all do something truly revolting in our past lives that requires such punishment?”

“We need to make the most of the day,” Ransom said, stepping forward to take her bag next. “Besides, I’ve been up since six a.m.”

“Dear God, why?” Jacqueline said.