The Sins of the Father - By Jeffrey Archer Page 0,15

cut a dashing figure in his army uniform. The square jaw and the determined looked showed Emma that he'd been proud to serve his country. Her gaze moved on to a more recent photo of Harry singing in the St Bede's school choir, just before his voice broke, and next to that, propped against the wall, was an envelope displaying Harry's unmistakable hand. She assumed it was the last letter he had written to his mother before he died. She wondered if Maisie would allow her to read it. She stood up and walked across to the mantelpiece, and was surprised to find that the envelope hadn't been opened.

'I was so sorry to hear you had to leave Oxford,' Maisie ventured, when she saw Emma staring at the envelope.

'Given the choice of continuing with my degree or having Harry's child, there was no contest,' said Emma, her eyes still fixed on the letter.

'And Sir Walter tells me that your brother Giles joined the Wessex regiment, but has sadly been - '

'I see you had a letter from Harry,' interrupted Emma, unable to contain herself.

'No, it's not from Harry,' said Maisie. 'It's from a Lieutenant Thomas Bradshaw who served with him on the SS Devonian.'

'What does Lieutenant Bradshaw have to say?' asked Emma, aware that the envelope hadn't been opened.

'I've no idea,' said Maisie. 'A Dr Wallace delivered it to me, and said it was a letter of condolence. I didn't feel I needed any more reminders of Harry's death, so I never opened it.'

'But isn't it possible that it might throw some light on what happened on the Devonian?'

'I doubt it,' Maisie replied, 'after all, they'd only known each other for a few days.'

'Would you like me to read the letter to you, Mrs Clifton?' Emma asked, aware that Maisie might be embarrassed by having to admit she couldn't read.

'No, thank you, my dear,' Maisie replied. 'After all, it's not going to bring Harry back, is it?'

'I agree,' said Emma, 'but perhaps you would allow me to read it for my own peace of mind,' she said.

'With the Germans targeting the docks at night,' said Maisie, 'I hope Barrington's hasn't been too badly affected.'

'We've escaped a direct hit,' said Emma, reluctantly accepting that she wasn't going to be allowed to read the letter. 'Mind you, I doubt even the Germans would dare to drop a bomb on Gramps.'

Maisie laughed, and for a moment Emma considered snatching the envelope from the mantelpiece and ripping it open before Maisie could stop her. But Harry would never have approved of that. If Maisie were to leave the room, even for a moment, Emma would use the steaming kettle to unseal the envelope, check the signature and make sure it was back in its place before she returned.

But it was almost as if Maisie could read her thoughts, because she remained by the mantelpiece and didn't budge.

'Gramps tells me congratulations are in order,' said Emma, still refusing to give up.

Maisie blushed, and began to chat about her new appointment at the Grand Hotel. Emma's eyes remained on the envelope. She carefully checked the M, the C, the S, the H and the L in the address, knowing that she would have to keep the image of those letters in her mind's eye, like a photograph, until she returned to the Manor House. When Maisie handed little Sebastian back to her, explaining that sadly she had to get back to work, Emma reluctantly stood up, but not before she had given the envelope one last look.

On the way back to the Manor House, Emma tried to keep the image of the handwriting in her mind, thankful that Sebastian had fallen into a deep sleep. As soon as the car came to a halt on the gravel outside the front steps, Hudson opened the back door to allow Emma to get out and carry her son into the house. She took him straight up to the nursery, where Nanny Barrington was waiting for them. To Nanny's surprise, Emma kissed him on the forehead and left without a word.

Once she was in her own room, Emma unlocked the centre drawer of her writing desk and pulled out a stack of letters that Harry had written to her over the years.

The first thing she checked was the capital H of Harry's signature, so plain and bold, just like the H in Still House Lane on Maisie's unopened envelope. This gave her confidence to carry on with the quest.