Placing the towels on the bed, Steph walked over to the dresser and opened the first drawer. Inside were three cosmetics bags. Steph took each one out and had a quick look at the contents. Elizabeth sure liked her make-up and none of it was cheap stuff, as far as Steph could see. She replaced the bags and opened the second drawer. This contained another bag, but slightly bigger than the others. A quick look informed her it was full of hairbrushes, curling tongs and straighteners.

On top of the dresser was a shoebox. Steph carefully lifted the lid and was surprised to see it was full of perfume bottles. Some appeared to be hardly used, while others were obviously favourites. It seemed odd that all of Elizabeth’s belongings had been packed away. Steph wondered who had done this. For some reason, she didn’t think it had been Harry. She was sure he would have given more attention and care to his wife’s things.

Steph moved on to the wardrobe. There was a small key in the lock which turned with ease, and the mahogany door opened without protest. A dusty smell of lavender mothballs and traces of expensive perfume filtered out. Chanel No 5, if she wasn’t mistaken. There had been a small bottle of it in the shoebox.

Steph wasn’t surprised to see the wardrobe stuffed with what she assumed was Elizabeth’s clothing. She ran her fingertips across the fabrics – cottons, silks, velvets, cords – creating a kaleidoscope of textures and colours. Numerous shoeboxes were stacked at the bottom of the wardrobe, some larger than others which probably contained boots, Steph decided. She knelt down and lifted the lid of one of the boxes. Inside was a cloth bag, and when Steph looked further she could see it contained a pair of nude-coloured shoes with a bright red insole and bright red sole and heel. She replaced the lid and stood up.

‘What secrets you could tell if only you could speak,’ she whispered at the clothing as her gaze lingered on them. A brightly coloured winter coat hanging from the rail, squashed at the end, caught her attention. Steph managed to pull it out from the other clothing. It looked beautiful. It was made of silk and the fabric was handprinted with dragonflies. It had an oriental look to it. Steph adored dragonflies and this coat looked exquisite. She had a sudden and overwhelming desire to try the coat on, just to see how it felt being Elizabeth Sinclair for a moment.

She slipped it from the hanger and slid her arms into the sleeves, pulling it across her chest. It was a little tight and she guessed that Elizabeth Sinclair had been a smaller size than she was, at least across the bust anyway.