‘Aldermere has a way of drawing people in,’ Rosalind murmured softly, her gaze on Hugh rather than Libby.

‘She had birth certificates,’ Hugh said, confusion in his voice. ‘Hers and her father’s. And the DNA test …’

‘Getting samples for my DNA was easy,’ Libby said, with a shrug. ‘We were living together, remember? She could have taken hair from my hairbrush. Or nail clippings after we did manicures together one night. And the certificates were simple enough to amend or fake. They wouldn’t have stood up in court, but just to convince you?’ Hugh looked embarrassed at being tricked so easily.

‘I told her she had to stop,’ Libby went on. ‘That she had to back away from the family, or tell them it was all a lie. She said that she would, and I believed her. Until she texted me from here on Friday night, scared about what Marcus had got her involved in, and I realised she hadn’t given up at all. That’s when I knew I had to be here this weekend too.’

‘Why were you shocked to see her here on Saturday morning if you already knew she was here?’ Posy asked. ‘That was what surprised you when we arrived, right? Not the fountain, but your cousin.’

‘Because I’d told her to get out. As soon as she told me what Marcus was up to with the blackmail, and when she admitted that she’d told him she was Lettice’s granddaughter … I told her to get as far away from Aldermere as she could and leave things to me.’ Libby gave a small shrug. ‘She was my little cousin. I was used to looking out for her. I figured I could fix everything – tell Marcus it was all a lie, get him to drop it.’

‘But she didn’t leave,’ Rosalind said. ‘Why?’

‘She was stubborn. And she was scared. When I spoke to her that lunchtime, she told me she’d found another way. That she’d sent notes to the three of you, and together you’d catch Marcus and set everything right.’ There were tears glistening on Libby’s cheeks. ‘It was all just another Dahlia Lively adventure to her, I think. And she was gone before I could convince her otherwise.’

‘Were you ever planning on telling the family the truth?’ Caro asked. All these lies and subterfuges were making her head hurt – or maybe that was the residual head injury.

Libby thought for a long moment before replying. ‘I don’t know. If I’d known what would happen, how far things would go … if I could have saved Clemmie’s life I’d have spoken up in an instant. I’ll always regret not speaking up to stop this sooner. But … you asked why I lied to you at the folly …’

‘You thought you could walk away and start over. Right?’ Posy guessed.