‘Be reasonable, love,’ Richard spoke to her more gently. ‘We never liked the old man and he never liked us. And if his leaving the shop to Miss Browne here is his way of putting two fingers up at us, well that’s not her fault. And,’ he added smiling, ‘it’s probably what we deserve.’

I said nothing. I felt ill, physically sick with the certainty that what Richard had said was true. Nick had used me as a weapon of revenge against his nearest and dearest and I could have hated him for it. I didn’t want his shop. I didn’t want any part of the plot he’d been hatching against his family. He’d made a fool of me. I’d not expected to profit by his death and now everyone would think I had. I was on the verge of tears myself.

Richard put his arms around his sister. ‘Come on now, Helena. It’s not as if he left you penniless, is it? And old Harry here is as rich as Golden Balls anyway.’

‘I want my grandmother’s rings,’ she insisted tearfully. ‘I don’t want that trollop to have them.’

‘I don’t know anything about any rings,’ I repeated. Dear God, if it wasn’t bad enough Verbena Clarke thinking I’d pinched her earrings, here was another one who thought I’d helped myself to her baubles! I turned to Mr Young. ‘Is there anything else, or can I go now?’ I just wanted to escape from the room, get away from the sobbing Helena, away from all of them.

‘No, no. There are obviously legal formalities, Miss Browne, but nothing that needs your attention today.’

‘Then I’ll take my leave,’ I said with as much dignity as I could muster.

Mr Young hurried to my side. ‘I’ll show you out.’

‘Thank you for acting with such restraint in there,’ he said, as soon as he had closed the door behind us.

I deflated like a balloon. ‘I don’t want any of this.’

‘I wouldn’t be too quick to refuse it, Miss Browne. It is a considerable bequest. And,’ he added kindly, ‘I believe that Mr Nickolai left it to you because he had become fond of you – what I’m saying is, don’t act in haste. Take your time to think about it. You can always dispose of the property later if you don’t wish to keep it.’

I nodded glumly. I could hear voices being raised again behind the door. Richard and the Burgoynes were getting going again. I wanted to go somewhere quiet, somewhere I could think.

‘Harry Burgoyne is a very wealthy man in his own right,’ Mr Young continued. ‘He and his wife certainly don’t need the money, and I don’t believe they’ll contest the will. They won’t risk losing what they’ve been given. And they don’t really have a case.’