Lily looked up at him in surprise. It was the first time he’d interjected on the tour.

He smiled ruefully. ‘My grandfather was quite a character, but a farmer he was not,’ he said of the man he vaguely remembered as a child. ‘He was much more interested in spending money than he was in making it and let the farm slide to the point of no return. My— Blake had grown up with my greatgrandfather’s mentality and saw the estate not as a cash cow, but as a beacon for the whole surrounding area. He realized that he could combine his love of wine with his love of Hawke’s Cove and after a not inconsiderable argument with his father, he invested heavily in the work needed to develop vineyards. Before they were trendy in the UK.’

‘I love that,’ Jameson gleefully proclaimed, as if the personal touch was greater than the sum of all Lily’s explanations so far.

‘Of course,’ Henry pressed on, ‘his first bottle of wine was terrible. He’d made twelve bottles and instead of being put off by the fact he’d produced the most expensive bottle of vinegar ever known to man, he was determined to get it right.’

‘That sounds like Blake,’ Lily asserted with a smile on her face, as if he’d given her something, a gift, a piece of information about the man she clearly cared for and respected. ‘In fact,’ she said, walking down one of the dark corridors, the small group following in her wake … ‘Hold on.’ She came to a stop at the end, reaching a wall completely covered by a full wine rack. ‘Does this look like the one?’ she said, gently retrieving a dusty bottle. The cork, long since seeped in red wine, was mottled and the label yellowed with age.

Henry let out a half laugh mainly full of air. ‘Well, it was before I was born, but yes. That looks like the one.’

‘Do you think we could open it?’

‘Not if you value your life and taste buds,’ Henry assured Jameson. He looked around the space and noticed a slightly out-of-place mahogany chest. Natalie observed that his attention had wandered and came to stand beside him.

‘What’s in there?’ she asked.

But Henry shrugged. ‘I don’t know. I’ve not seen this before.’

‘That’s the … it’s the family’s private collection.’

Frowning, he turned to find Lily avoiding his searching gaze.

‘That must have some pretty special bottles in it.’

‘It does,’ she confirmed with a sad smile.

‘Can we see?’ Jameson asked.

‘I’m afraid not. It’s a personal collection.’

Jameson turned to Henry, ‘I’m sure we could—’

‘No. We don’t have the key,’ Lily interrupted, making Henry frown even more. Why was she being so secretive about it?

‘Oh.’ both Jameson and Natalie’s expressions conveyed disappointment.