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Back The Whistling Save as PDF
Chapters (52)
  1. COVER
  2. About the Author
  3. DEDICATION
  4. EPIGRAPH
  5. Part One
  6. 1
  7. 2
  8. 3
  9. 4
  10. 5
  11. 6
  12. 7
  13. 8
  14. 9
  15. 10
  16. 11
  17. 12
  18. 13
  19. 14
  20. 15
  21. 16
  22. 17
  23. 18
  24. 19
  25. 20
  26. Part Two
  27. 21
  28. 22
  29. 23
  30. 24
  31. 25
  32. 26
  33. 27
  34. 28
  35. 29
  36. 30
  37. 31
  38. 32
  39. 33
  40. 34
  41. 35
  42. Part Three
  43. 36
  44. 37
  45. 38
  46. 39
  47. 40
  48. 41
  49. 42
  50. 43
  51. Acknowledgements
  52. THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING

I made my way to the drawing room and the elegant desk of walnut. A pen and inkstand lay in dust beside a sheaf of notepaper. I sat in the chair and opened compartments and pulled out drawers.

I soon found the bundle of letters and began to go through them. Most were personal but I came finally to a thick envelope embossed with the Edinburgh school of which Miss Gillies had spoken. I emptied the contents to check that the correspondence was there and came across another letter that instantly caught my attention.

Dear Evangeline,

As I reach the end of my life, I have come to regret some of the decisions that I have made. It saddens me that it has taken me too many years to come to this understanding. What occurred between yourself and Violet is long in the past and I do not want to go into the next life without making amends.

I made the decision some years ago, after what happened between yourself and your sister, to change my will and testament in favour of Violet. I now believe it unlikely that Violet will bear an heir and I have changed my will again, as follows: Iskar and the estate shall be passed to William when he comes of age, and in the event of his death, to Mary. It will be William’s responsibility to care for his mother. Violet is to inherit Gulls Cry and be given sufficient monies to ensure her comfortable living. The full details are clearly stated in the will and testament.

Violet has been appraised of these changes. It is my greatest desire now that you and your sister will also leave the past behind and use what time you have left to make friends of each other.

Ernest William Patrick Gillies

Shock pinned me to the chair. So William had been due to inherit Iskar and with his death it passed to Mary.

It was impossible to imagine Miss Gillies at Gulls Cry and the decay was evidence of that. I did not believe that Miss Gillies intended her father’s wishes to be fulfilled. Of course, if Mary were confined to an asylum from which she did not return, the question became redundant. I thought about the shine of antipathy Miss Gillies could not hide when she regarded her niece. With Evangeline dead, was Miss Gillies the only witness to this change of will?

I collected the correspondence from the school and returned the letter concerning the change of will to the other papers. Mice moved behind the wainscotting, scratching and scuttling, and I was keen to be gone. With William dead and Mary in an asylum, only Miss Gillies would be left to rule her beloved Iskar and I recalled her words that day in the morning room: I love it as well as I might a husband.

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