Page 144 of One More Christmas at the Castle
‘Are you all right, Dido?’ asked Henry a few minutes later. ‘You suddenly went quite white and dashed off.’
‘I … had a shock, but I hope no one else noticed,’ I said. ‘It was that Roman ring Sophie was wearing – Charlotte’s mother had an identical one and, what’s more, it went missing that last time I stayed with them! I was so miserable about Xan that it sort of got pushed to the back of my mind at the time, but later I thought Charlotte’s mum might have suspected me of taking it, because they never invited me to stay again.’
‘I’m not sure I’ve got the hang of this,’ Henry said. ‘Charlotte’s mother lost a ring like Sophie’s when you were staying with her that last time?’
‘Yes, she said she’d left it in the downstairs cloakroom, but it wasn’t there later and was never found. But I’m sure now it happened on the same day that I bumped into Sophie coming out of the side door of the house. I said she had a strange expression on her face then, didn’t I? And I’ve just seen its twin now, when she noticed me staring at the ring!’
Henry was frowning. ‘So … you suspect it’s the same ring and she took it?’
‘Well, it does all sort of fit together, and then Sophie denied ever going into the house, or seeing me that day, which puzzled me.’
‘But surely, if shehadtaken it, she wouldn’t wear it now, when you might see and recognize it?’ he suggested reasonably.
‘I think, after all this time, she might have forgotten exactly what it was she’d taken, until she saw me looking at it. I mean, she’s not the brightest bunny in the box, is she? And I don’tsuppose she’d everseenCharlotte’s mum wearing it, because she and a friend only came over to play tennis, or swim in their pool, with Xan and Gerry.’
‘I can see you’re quite sure in your own mind that she took it.’
‘Yes, I am,’ I said, positively. ‘It’s the design of the stone, too, because I remember Charlotte’s mum telling us all about it one evening, and how unusual it was. And she treasured it. It was a family piece and she thought it was lucky.’
Henry accepted this. ‘I wonder if it was a one-off moment when she gave into temptation, or if Sophie’s a habitual picker-upper of valuable trifles.’
‘I don’t know,’ I said, startled. ‘Why do you say that?’
‘Because I was thinking about the way Mrs Powys’s earrings went missing – and how Sophie suddenly came in and found them in a place both I and Xan had already searched.’
‘That was … odd,’ I agreed slowly. ‘And you said her grandfather seemed to be arguing with her in the morning room only minutes before that, so perhaps he suspected she’d taken them.’
‘If so, she might be a kleptomaniac and not able to help herself,’ Henry said charitably. ‘But if she is and he knows it, he really shouldn’t have brought her with him!’
I sighed. ‘I could be wrong – we mightbothbe wrong – and there could be two rings with stones like that, though actually, it wasn’t just the stone I remembered, but the gold setting, too, like twisted rope.’
‘What are you going to do about it?’ he asked.
‘Nothing right now, till dinner’s over. You’d better go and clear while I bring the dessert,’ I said more briskly, though I still felt as wobbly as my castle jelly.
‘I think after that, I’ll email Charlotte, who’ll be at her parents’ house by now, and see if they still have a photograph and description of the ring she could scan and send back to me. Iexpect it was insured at the time, though I think old Roman rings aren’t as valuable as you might imagine.’
‘No, but it sounds as if it had great sentimental value to Charlotte’s mum,’ he said. ‘Good idea – let’s not say anything about it until you hear back.’
Charlotte had been wrapping presents and quickly pinged me back photos and a description of the ring, including hallmark and maker’s mark. She wrote:
They were still in Mum’s insurance file in the cabinet. Why do you want to know? Have you spotted one that might be it somewhere? Mum would think it was the best Christmas present ever to have it back again! Stop being so mysterious!
I wrote back:
I’ll explain as soon as I can – don’t say anything to your mum yet, in case I’m wrong.
But looking at the photographs and the description, I was very sure in my own mind I was right.
Nancy, Dom and Xan helped Henry clear away, then joined the others when he carried the coffee tray to the sitting room, though Nancy lingered a little.
‘Are you all right, Dido?’
‘Fine,’ I said. ‘Just preoccupied with everything I still need to do tonight to be ready for tomorrow.’
She seemed satisfied with this, but Henry knew me betterand when he came back he demanded to know what Charlotte had said.
He whistled when he saw what she’d sent me, then got me to forward them to him, so he could print them out in the library later.
