‘And a relative could have come forward; perhaps they were estranged from your friend and didn’t know about her passing until more recently,’ Mr Conway suggested. ‘I assume the proceeds from the sale of the flat will be sitting in a government account somewhere, waiting to be claimed.’ He nodded again and apologised for not being able to help further before saying goodbye.

So it seemed Connie died in poverty and all alone in what used to be her childhood home. Grace knew they could probably check about the funeral arrangements with Betty’s friend, Maggie, at the coroner’s office of course, just in case a family member had surfaced to organise everything. But even so, why had poor Connie been alone with only a bed and some bags of clothes when she had a lifetime of belongings in storage, some items of which were clearly of considerable value? She could have sold them and made her life a little more comfortable. It just didn’t make sense, especially when Grace remembered the glamorous woman in the picture taken by the harbour in Portofino during the 1950s. The woman with a treasure trove of jewellery and fine art and a collection of vintage gowns seemingly from another, more affluent time … a golden era of gaiety and prosperity for Connie. In stark contrast to the way she lived at the end of her life.

And in that moment, and with tears still smarting in her eyes, Grace made a decision: she was going to do whatever it took to find out what had become of Connie. How had her life spiralled into one of such obscurity where her next-door neighbour didn’t even know how she was living, so desperate and alone with her shabby bed and empty food cupboards? It broke Grace’s heart and she couldn’t imagine her own life coming to an end in that way, or indeed her mother’s life. What would become of Cora if she stopped caring for her? Would she end up like Connie? Lonely and hungry? It could so easily happen. No. Having forged a connection with Connie through her diaries and notes, Grace now felt even more compelled to find out the truth. It was the least she could do for a woman in time who fell in love, only to have her heart broken, and who lived a glamorous life in Italy … but then somehow ended up all alone back here in her childhood home in very different circumstances to the ones she had enjoyed all those years previously.

Chapter 7