Eden lost her smile. “She was a woman alone, and that house is well off the road. You can’t imagine the number of drunken fishermen who would show up there at three on a Saturday morning, wanting to put their boats in the river at Mrs. Farrington’s dock. And of course there were all those stupid stories about the sapphire necklace that was supposed to be hidden on the property somewhere. Mrs. Farrington had a lot to deal with.”
Braddon Granville was looking at her with interest. “I see,” he said, then smiled when Eden lowered her head, her face turning red. “Unfortunately, I didn’t get to know her until after you had left.”
When he reached into his desk and pulled out a set of keys, Eden felt her heart leap. There was the little silver angel that she’d seen in Mrs. Farrington’s hands so often.
He held the keys for several moments, seeming to be reluctant to pass them on. “If I didn’t have clients coming down from Virginia today, I’d drive you out to the house myself, just to make sure it’s safe.”
“Have things in Arundel changed that much?” She wasn’t serious in her question. As far as she’d seen, very little had changed.
“You remember the cabin near the old house?”
Cabin? she thought, then smiled. “The washhouse?”
He smiled back. “Yes, the washhouse. You sound like one of the old-timers around here.” All the buildings around the plantations kept the names of their original uses, no matter what had been done to them. “After Alester Farrington died—” He looked up when Eden drew in her breath.
“What happened to Mrs. Farrington after I left? I had to leave because…” She didn’t finish her sentence. She didn’t want to disparage Mrs. Farrington’s son.
“Yes, I was told why you left. I think your daughter is a few years older than mine. Cammie is twenty-four.”
“Melissa is twenty-seven and about to have a baby in a few months.”
“Grandkids are wonderful.”
“I’m looking forward to my first one. But what happened to Mrs. Farrington and her son?”
He looked down at his desk for a few moments. “It was all rather unpleasant. There was an incident in town. A child…”
Eden’s mouth hardened.
“The child wasn’t hurt, just scared. She had some scratches on her, and her clothes had been torn, but she was okay. She said she escaped from an old shack by pulling a board off the wall. She identified the man who took her from the street by his photograph.”
“Alester Farrington?”
“Yes. The police went after him, but when they got to Farrington Manor, they found out that he’d fallen off the pier at the back of the
house, hit his head, and drowned.” Mr. Granville lowered his voice. “I can tell you that there wasn’t much investigation into that accident.”
“No, there shouldn’t have been,” Eden said. She knew in her heart that Mrs. Farrington had stopped her son from ever hurting another child.
“She lived alone out there for years after that. Waiting to die, my grandfather said. She wouldn’t see anyone. She hired someone to bring her groceries, but that was all. I used to go check on her every other week, but I can’t say that we ever became friends. She was my client only because my father had retired.” He smiled. “She said I wasn’t nearly as handsome as my grandfather was.”
“Yes, she’d say that.” Eden wanted to change the subject or she’d start crying. “You said on the phone that the house is in good shape. What about the furniture? I’m afraid that what little furniture I own I left in New York with my daughter and her husband.”
“Ah, the things we do for our children. The house is fully furnished, but I know that the son sold off the best pieces.” He was still holding the keys, turning them around in his hands. “You wouldn’t like to stay in town until this afternoon, would you? I could go out to the house with you then.”
“No,” she said, then leaned forward and took the keys out of his hands. Eden knew without a doubt that she was going to start crying as soon as she saw the place, and she didn’t want anyone to see her. “What about tomorrow?” she asked. “I’ll get groceries today and make some soup. How does homemade soup and some fresh bread sound?”
“Great,” he said, smiling, and Eden smiled back. She gathered her things and stood up. “Tell me, Mr. Granville, is your daughter for or against your dating? I couldn’t tell by her expression.”
“Very much for it. She says that I’m a helpless man without a wife, so she wants to marry me off.”
He looked at Eden so hard, with so much intention, that she blushed.
“Well, ah…” she said nervously. “Uh, I’ll…come tomorrow at six. I’ll probably have a hundred questions to ask you by then.”
“Great,” he said, standing and walking her to the door. “I look forward to it.”
Eden thought that he wanted to say more, but there was someone waiting to see him, so he had to let them into his office. She gave a quick glance at the unsmiling Camden, then hurried from the office. She didn’t want to give the young woman time to ask her any more questions.