The original was worth a fortune, of course. But that wasn’t the original. Did Hugh know? Had he sold it to Marcus himself? Or was Isobel right, and he wouldn’t acknowledge how bad the financial situation at Aldermere really was?

‘Why did you?’ Rosalind asked. ‘Agree to have the convention here, I mean.’

She thought she knew, but she wanted to hear it from him. If Marcus was blackmailing him, maybe he’d wanted more than a cash payout. Aldermere House had been saved by Letty’s money – Hugh’s grandfather had been almost bankrupt before Letty’s fame and fortune came along. She’d never married so all her money had gone into the estate, even before she died and left everything to Hugh – the last of the Davenports.

‘Oh, I don’t know,’ Hugh said, with what sounded like forced casualness to her. ‘Marcus had been asking for years. And this place, Aldermere, it is Letty, in so many ways. I’ve had it to myself for years; I suppose I decided it was time to share it with the fans. And with the new movie coming up, the publicity never hurts. Bring Dahlia Lively to life for a new generation of readers, and make sure those royalties never dry up.’

It was perfectly reasonable and reasoned. It made perfect sense. So why was Rosalind so certain he was lying? Because I know him. And I know what he sounds like when he lies, because usually he’s lying to his wife about me.

If he could pretend nothing was wrong, so could she. She ran a fingertip across the shelves, and moved along the rows of books and keepsakes, clocking each one as she went, just in case.

‘They’re saying that Marcus was killed because he was blackmailing people, you know.’ She kept her voice as light and inconsequential as she could, but her gaze was trained hard on him, so she saw the way his jaw tightened, his shoulders stiffened. ‘Clementine was his accomplice, I assume.’

‘Are they? I hadn’t heard that. Have you been sweet-talking Larch to get extra information? I saw you two talking last night.’ Hugh raised an eyebrow. ‘I suppose I should be grateful you weren’t giving up all my secrets to him.’ He laughed, but there was no humour behind it.

She couldn’t spill Hugh’s secrets, Rosalind realised, because she didn’t know them. Not all of them, anyway. Not the ones that mattered right now.

‘You were watching me, were you?’ She forced a smile. ‘Nice to know I still have your attention.’

‘Always. You know that.’ He stepped towards her, his arms going around her waist automatically. Hers responded in kind, but she couldn’t settle into the embrace. Her mind was too busy working, even as her gaze darted across the shelves behind him.

There was something missing.

She blinked, and refocused.