Page 137 of All I Want for Christmas

He tipped his head back and sighed. ‘Why are you asking me that? We’ve literally just said we don’t want to go back there.’

‘And I don’t want to!’ she agreed. ‘But it makes no sense; it’s contrary, in fact. Most people would far prefer to think their great-grandmother’s death had been a horrible accident; that it was not her actual choice to walk into the sea, leaving behind her baby, her longed-for child.’ She stared at him, remembering what Viggo had told her. ‘And yet, that’s what the Madsen Foundation would seem to prefer people think. A deliberate death instead of an accidental one.’

He made no move to reply, as if waiting for more. She could see his guard was up again.

‘Was it a double bluff?’ she asked. ‘Deflection strategy?’ If the marriage itself had been a cover-up for a crime, why not Lilja’s death? ‘Was an accident too open to speculation?’

There had to have been gossip in society circles about the state of the marriage: Casper in London, Lilja up there inHornbaek – strangers but for infrequent reunions. The birth might even have raised more questions than it answered...

‘Darcy—’

‘An accident was too open to speculation, so hustling public opinion into whispering about suicide shut down other wonderings instead – right? Lilja’s depression allowed the family to control the narrative.’

There was a pause.

‘Darcy, you know I have feelings for you,’ Max said in a steady voice. ‘But you’re mistaken if you think I’ll let you defame the Madsen name.’

‘I’m not defaming anyone. I’m actually trying to honour your great-grandmother’s memory.’

‘By sacrificing her husband’s?’

She caught her breath as she stared at him. ‘...Who said anything about her husband?’

She watched as Max turned away. She could see the tension in his shoulders. She could read his body now. ‘I’m only interested in revealing the facts of what happened,’ she said more quietly. ‘It’s not for me to judge.’

‘But Casper is obviously the villain in your story,’ he said after a moment. ‘You want to sacrifice his reputation—’

‘Is it worth saving?’ she cried. ‘Why would you defend him over her?Why, a hundred years later, is your family still putting his interests before hers?’

He turned back on his heel, angry now. ‘You wouldn’t understand.’

‘Wouldn’t I? He was a Madsen, as are you. Isn’t it the same reason now as then? You’re doing damage control, Max. You’re making sure I don’t get too close to the truth. A lot of people are about to get very rich when the company is listed, andthisis not the sort of scandal they want to get out.’

‘There’s no scandal. You’re overplaying this.’

‘No. I’m not,’ she said, shaking her head as she saw from his stricken look that she had hit upon a truth more terrible than she could have foreseen. ‘Because it strikes me that if Lilja’s death wasn’t an accident, and it wasn’t suicide, then there was only one other thing it could be.’

‘Darcy –’ A desperate note came into his voice. ‘Don’t—’

‘Lilja didn’t walk into the sea. She had too much to live for. I think Casper killed her and put her there.’ She felt her heart break as she watched his response to her words: no surprise; just defeat. ‘...But you already knew that.’

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Darcy lay in the dark, watching the figures revolve: reindeer and fir trees and snowflakes writ large on the walls of her bedroom. For the past few nights, she had fallen asleep to the gentle whir of the carousel, feeling her spirit soothed as the figures glided in serene silence. It was the only thing that made her feel better, even if it was inextricably linked with the man responsible for making her feel so bad.

There was a gentle knock on the door and Freja peered in, checking on her again. ‘Hungry?’ She was holding a bowl of ramen.

‘Not really. Sorry,’ Darcy said apologetically.

‘You have to eat something. You’ll get sick.’

‘I’ll eat tomorrow.’

‘You said that yesterday. And besides, tomorrow is the party and if you don’t get something inside you today, you’ll be a hot mess within five minutes of sipping a cocktail.’ She came further into the room and switched on the lights, drowning out the shadows playing on the walls.

‘Hey!’ Darcy protested.

‘Relax, I’ll turn them off again in a minute and you can go back to rotting in bed. Just eat something first.’

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