Libby took a moment to compose herself, before beginning. When she spoke, her voice was soft but clear – and full of sadness. ‘Clemmie … she was in love with the worlds Lettice Davenport created from the start. When we were kids, she always wanted to play Dahlia and Johnnie. Knowing that Grandma Joy knew Lettice, well, that made us feel pretty special, whenever there was a new Dahlia Lively on telly and people were talking about it. We grew up in a small village, and our connection with Lettice made us minor celebrities.’

‘I know how that feels,’ Caro murmured, raising a small smile from the others. But not from Hugh.

Rosalind poured the whisky and handed out the glasses, skipping Posy with an understanding smile.

Libby took a drink and continued. ‘When Dad died, and we found out who he really was – who I was – Clemmie became obsessed. She researched everything she could about the family, about this place, about Lettice herself. And then she wrote to Hugh.’

‘Did she tell you she was going to?’ Posy asked.

Libby swallowed, and shook her head. ‘We’d argued about it before. She wanted me to contact the family, tell them who I was. But I wasn’t interested. It wasn’t about money, for either of us, you understand. For Clemmie, it was a chance to be a part of something she’d loved from the outside. But I already had a family. I wasn’t interested in another one – one my father and I hadn’t been good enough for from the start.’

‘But Clementine went ahead and did it anyway,’ Caro guessed. ‘Pretending she was you.’

‘Yes. What I told you in the folly, about what she did, that was all true. I just didn’t know about it until later. And when I found out, I was so angry … but by then, she’d already met with Hugh. In fact I was the family emergency she had to run out on Hugh for in London. She was staying with me, you see, while she was working for Marcus. That morning, the DNA results she’d sent away for came back – turned out she’d already had them by email, which was why she was meeting Hugh. But they sent a letter, too, and as soon as I saw the name of the company on the envelope … I knew. So I opened it, and then I called her and told her to meet me.’

‘Was she sorry?’ Posy asked. ‘For lying to you? Stealing your life?’

‘She said she was.’ Libby’s voice sounded sceptical. ‘She said she planned to come clean, to introduce me to the family once they’d got used to the idea, as if that wouldn’t have made things even weirder. But I don’t know if I believed her. She was so caught up in it all … I think she started to believe it really was her who belonged here, not me.’