Page 156 of The Love Letter

‘Then I suggest you do. Fast, or someone’ll leak it to the press.’

‘That’s exactly my point!’ Zoe’s blue eyes flashed. ‘My life’s not my own anymore. I get papped walking down the street to buy a pint of milk. Anyway, I have two weeks to decide if I want the part. I’m taking Jamie back to school this Sunday, and then I’m going to go down to Dorset for a couple of days to try to get my head straight.’

‘Alone?’

‘Of course not.’ Zoe raised an eyebrow. ‘Those days are long gone. Simon is joining me, not that I mind him being around. He’s a great cook actually. And a great listener.’

Joanna looked at Zoe’s eyes and how the expression in them had suddenly softened.

‘You know, I think this comes down to whether you love Art enough to give up everything for him. Whether your life would be meaningless if he wasn’t by your side.’

‘I know. And that’s the decision I’ve got to make. Jo, did you love Marcus?’

‘I think I was definitely falling in love with him, yes. The problem was that by the time I managed to trust him, ignore his reputation and believe he reallydidhave feelings for me, it was too late. I just wish we’d had longer together . . . he was a very special man.’

‘Oh Jo.’ Zoe reached a hand across the table. ‘It’s so, so sad. You brought out the best in him.’

‘He made me laugh, never took things too seriously, except his precious films, of course. I was completely myself with him and I miss him dreadfully,’ Joanna admitted. ‘Anyway, I’d better be off. I have some . . . work to do back at the office.’

‘Okay. And I’m sorry I even thought for one minute it was you that gave me and Art away to your paper.’

‘Don’t worry about it. To be honest,Ithought about doing it for atleastone minute!’ She smiled as she stood up and kissed Zoe. ‘You know where I am if you need to talk.’

‘I do. And you. Can you come to the launch of the memorial fund at the end of the week? I’m speaking in Marcus’s place.’ Zoe handed her an invitation from a pile on the worktop.

‘Of course.’

‘And also, would you come to dinner here next weekend when I’m back from Dorset? I think it’s about time Art met some of my friends. Then you can judge for yourself. I could do with a second opinion.’

‘Okay. Give me a buzz during the week. You take care.’

Joanna left the house, and seeing a bus pulling into the stop opposite, she dodged through the traffic and jumped aboard. Finding a seat at the back of the top deck, she sat down and opened her rucksack. Pulling out the photograph she had been studying so hard last night, her fingers shook as she opened the box containing the ring.

There was absolutely no doubt. The ring she held in her palm matched the one that the Duke of York once wore on his little finger.

Joanna stared out of the window as the bus wended its way along Oxford Street. Was this the proof she needed? Was this ring enough to guarantee that what her dear old granny had so innocently pointed out was the truth? That Michael O’Connell had been used as a double for the ailing Duke of York?

And there was something else too . . .

Tucking the ring safely back into its box and into her rucksack, Joanna removed Rose’s letter and read it again.

If I am gone, talk to the White Knight’s Lady . . .

James had been knighted. Grace, his wife, was not only a ‘lady’ but a ‘White’.

Joanna felt her stomach flip. It seemed Alec had been spot on.

37

The front doorbell rang and Zoe went to answer it. She smiled as she saw who it was.

‘Hello, Simon.’ Zoe reached up on tiptoe as he came inside and planted a kiss on his cheek. ‘It’s lovely to see you. How have you been?’

‘Well. You?’

‘Coping, just,’ she sighed as Simon headed for the stairs with his holdall. ‘Jamie was sorry to have missed you,’ she added, following in his wake up the stairs. ‘I took him back to school yesterday. He was so nervous, poor thing, but I had a good chat with the headmaster and he promised to keep an eye on him.’ Zoe watched as Simon placed his holdall down on his bed and she picked up a card with a felt-tip picture of two people playing on a computer to hand it to Simon. ‘It’s from Jamie, to welcome you back. He wasn’t so keen on the man who replaced you while you were gone – not as fun as you, he said.’

Simon smiled as he read the words inside. ‘That’s sweet of him.’