She couldn’t bring herself to even consider listing the Austens, although they would have fetched a small and instant fortune on the open market.

‘Rachel,’ said Alan Crosswick’s voice into her ear as she picked up the phone. ‘Good morning. I have news.’

‘Hello, Alan,’ Rachel said, her heart beating unevenly in her chest. ‘Can you give me a moment? I’ll go upstairs.’ She smiled at Gilly, told her she’d be back shortly, and made her way up the iron staircase.

‘We believe we have located an heir,’ Crosswick said, once Rachel had reached the mezzanine. ‘It’s a young woman named Trudy Goodwin, and she currently lives in North Carolina.’

‘North Carolina?’

‘I know, it seems rather random, doesn’t it?’ Crosswick laughed briefly. ‘She’s at Duke University Hospital. She’s a student doctor. Anyway, I’m about to dispatch a letter that will give her what I imagine will be the shock of her life. I’ll let you know when we hear from her.’

Through the numbing fog that had enveloped her mind, Rachel realized that Crosswick had stopped speaking and was expecting some sort of answer. ‘Thank you for keeping me informed,’ was all she could think of to say.

‘I’m sorry the wait has been – and will continue to be – so uncertain,’ Crosswick said. ‘I understand that it can’t be easy. Thank you for being so diligent in your upkeep of the building and the business. I’ll make sure that Ms Goodwin is aware of your conscientious stewardship and the wider situation of your accommodation. If she decides to keep the lighthouse operating as it does now, she will need a manager. I’m hopeful you won’t need to leave at all.’

Rachel tried to imagine what a busy young doctor in North Carolina would do with eighty thousand books and a lighthouse in a field in Scotland, and failed to come up with a single answer.

Behind her, footsteps clanged on the staircase and she turned to see Toby appear at the top of them. He tipped his head to one side and gave a quizzical smile, and Rachel realized her expression was fixed in a frown.

‘I’ll be in touch soon,’ the solicitor told her. ‘Call me if you need assistance at any time.’

‘Thank you, Alan,’ Rachel said. She hung up as Toby came closer. His hair was getting a little longer, Rachel noticed. It was beginning to curl around his ears. She liked how it softened the angles of his face.

‘Everything all right?’ he asked.

She tapped the phone against her thigh. ‘They’ve found the heir. They’re going to contact her now.’

‘Ah. That’ll be some news to get, won’t it?’

‘That’s what the solicitor said,’ Rachel said, laughing. Then she sobered again, taking a shuddering breath.

Toby touched her arm and made her sit in one of the reading chairs, the one he usually took. He sat opposite and leaned forward, his elbows on his knees, his expression sympathetic.

‘This is ridiculous,’ she said. ‘I knew something like this was coming. Now it has, that’s all – I shouldn’t let it shake me up like this.’