Lili realised too late she’d said too much.
‘Did you overhear something at the party? Were people talking about me?’
Lili sighed. They’d had this conversation once already, after the little gathering for staff in the conservatory. Lili had denied there had been any talk to spare Abigail’s feelings.
Abigail eyed her. ‘So, someonewastalking about me.’
Lili breathed a sigh. ‘Look, it was nothing.’
‘I bet whoever it was said I’m ingratiating myself with the family.’
Lili bit her bottom lip and looked away.
‘Okay, yeah, well, I’m not. I just do their accounts and I get on with Carys and Lord Somerville.’
‘And Oliver,’ Lili said in a small voice.
Abigail laughed at that. ‘So, what’s the betting next they’ll be saying I’m after Oliver?’
Lili chewed on a fingernail, avoiding eye contact.
Abigail stared at her. ‘Really? Someone said that?’
‘As I said, it’s just jealousy.’
‘But I’m not after Oliver.’
‘That’s as maybe, but I’ve seen the way he looks at you. Perhaps he … likes you.’
‘He’s got a funny way of showing it,’ Abigail said. ‘Besides, he hasn’t got time for a relationship.’ She knew he worked tirelessly for his father at the Hall, knowing it would all be his responsibility one day. She wondered what he would have done with his life if he wasn’t shackled to a stupid, old English tradition that saw stately homes handed down the male line. It was quite ludicrous, in this day and age, that Carys should not inherit or at least share the responsibility of the Hall, but it was not to be. Abigail sighed. ‘The Hall is his wife and mistress.’ For some reason, she heard a note of disappointment in her own voice. She quickly added,‘Not that I’m interested.’
‘Of course not.’ Lili eyed her.
This time it was Abigail who looked away, embarrassed. Trying to change the subject, she asked, ‘What else did you overhear?’
Lili eyed her friend.
Abigail folded her arms. ‘There’s something else, isn’t there? You might as well tell me.’
‘All right.’ Lili thought she might as well tell her everything she’d overheard. ‘It’s not about you, though.’
‘Who?’
Lili walked over and perched on the desk. ‘It’s about Oliver.’
Abigail leaned forward in her seat.
‘It was the strangest thing ...’ Now that she thought about it, Lili wondered if there might be a grain of truth to the rumour. ‘I overheard these two, who I think are kitchen staff, pointing out that Oliver looks nothing like his father and sister.’
Abigail sat back in her seat and sighed.
Lili looked at her. ‘You’ve heard the rumour?’
‘That Lady Somerville had an affair. Is that what you were going to say?’
‘Yes. But there’s more. They talked about primogeniture and how the estate could not be passed to an illegitimate son.’
Abigail nodded, ‘Or rather, presumably, if the child is not related to Lord Somerville.’