“I didn’t like her.” Rowena flicked some crumbs from the table. “While your father and Freddy were still alive I would occasionally hear about what she was doing and sometimes Beryl would write about Jacinta…”

“Who’s Jacinta?” Dan’s head was starting to whirl.

“Freddy and Beryl had a daughter…Jacinta.”

“You mean there are more of them?”

“They only had one child, Jacinta.”

“Are you telling me I’ve got distant cousins I’ve never met, never heard a murmur of? Why haven’t you mentioned them before?”

“We weren’t close and after Freddy died I had no reason to keep in touch. Beryl lives in Brisbane. She was always such a snob, thought herself better than the rest of us. Your father liked her though. He spent time with Freddy and Beryl after your mother died.”

“I guess that was why Dad made Freddy one of the executors of his will. You’re the other one so it’s in good hands.” Dan watched Rowena tap the letter against her other hand. Unease tingled in his chest. “Why now?”

“What do you mean?”

“Why are you telling me about Beryl now?”

“Because of this.” She waved the pages slowly in his direction.

Dan looked from the letter to his aunt’s face. There were dark shadows under her eyes he hadn’t noticed before. He had rarely seen her like this. She was a strong woman and she’d had to deal with many things over the years. Very little fazed her like this letter seemed to have. He watched her take a sip of her tea and waited for her to reply.

“The letter is all about Jacinta. The poor child was so cosseted and spoilt she never stood a chance. Beryl made her into a piece of work. From the bits I heard, Jacinta turned into a right little madam in her teenage years, went off the rails and led a fairly wild life and now this…” She paused and looked at the letter she held in her hands.

Dan didn’t know what to make of it. He didn’t understand why Rowena was telling him all this out of the blue. It was a surprise to learn he had distant relatives but that still didn’t explain Rowena’s agitation. Maybe she was feeling guilty she hadn’t told him before and now something had happened to them.

“Are they all right?” he said.

She kept staring at the letter.

“Rowena?”