The Liddles were there and came back to the farm afterwards to drink whisky and talk. Marie stood uncomfortably in a black dress that was too tight for her and tried to express her grief about Joanna’s death.

‘The poor girl,’ said. ‘I suppose it all got too much for her. After all those years.’

No one ever discovered what had triggered Joanna’s sudden breakdown. The police had made half-hearted inquiries to discover where she had been on the morning of her death but Alex had not come forward. She managed to persuade herself that she had not seen Joanna in the garden at Monk’s Wood. She went to Ursula’s funeral but stood apart at the graveside and declined Molly’s invitation to go to Back Rigg with the other mourners.

‘We’ve decided to go for wardship proceedings after all,’ Marie said. ‘Not out of spite. But to give Cassie a bit of security. I shouldn’t think the Grenvilles will oppose it. Not after all they’ve been through.’ She paused. ‘They say that Marcus wants to sell up but Mrs Grenville won’t hear of it.’

George had been worried that Ursula’s funeral would be disturbed by the press. With Jeremy’s arrest and Joanna’s suicide the newspapermen camped out by the Lodge had been ecstatic. The story had almost everything – passion, class, drama. There had been headlines of: DOUBLE TRAGEDY FOR MP’S FAMILY. Only sex was missing. Because they never found out about Kate Craven or Alexandra Prime it was impossible to inject a satisfactory element of sex. That meant that the story was quickly forgotten and the friends of Ursula Ottway, who gathered at the funeral to say goodbye to her, were left in peace.

Copyright

First published in 1992 by Macmillan

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Copyright © Ann Cleeves, 1992

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