Page 69 of Mirrors of the Past

‘Don’t worry about it. It’s a big family,’ said Sybill. ‘Took us a while to work our people out, didn’t it?’ She looked at Coren and something unspoken passed between them, which was gone in an instant.

‘Yes. It took way too long. Can we have a look? Maybe we can help.’

‘Sure.’ Tegan pushed the album and her phone over to them. ‘The article it relates to is linked there too if you want to read that first. We know the Wheal Mount girls, the bride and groom, the best man, but we don’t know his name. We know Viola and Laurie—’ there was a pause, which, unless you were aware of the situation, you wouldn’t know exactly how weighted it was — ‘and that’s about it. Oh, the maid of honour — I think that’s Elsie’s sister. Dunno which one though.’

‘Thank you!’ Sybill and Coren bent over the phone, read the article, clicked back onto the photo and flicked through the album pages, punctuated by agreeable noises and nods.

‘Okay, so this might help,’ said Sybill, eventually. She pointed at the wedding photos. ‘Marigold and Biscuit — Elsie and Louis’ daughter, and Elsie’s dog. Huge scandal, not surprised the magazine didn’t expand on the relationship. Why tarnish Miss Viola Arthur from New York with an English scandal? Fabian, Elsie’s best friend — went to Paris and fell in love with a wonderful man by all accounts. Edward, Albert and Evie — Lily Valentine’s children. Isolde, she’s the maid of honour. That’s Medora, Clem, Enyon and Arthur. Elsie’s other brothers and sisters. And Drew, Louis’ brother. How does all that sound?’

Ryan was stunned and looked at Sybill. ‘That sounds great, but how on earth did you know all of that?’

Sybill half smiled. ‘When you’ve been involved with the Pencradoc family as long as we have, you learn a few things along the way. Is there anyone else you need us to identify?’

‘These two from the witches’ picture,’ said Tegan.

‘Easy. Holly and Pearl. And those chaps at the end of the album are Noel, Ernie and Sam. Holly and Pearl’s husbands, and Viola’s brother.’

‘Wow. Thank you,’ Tegan replied. ‘It all — makes sense — now.’

‘Splendid. Happy to help.’ Sybill sat back in her chair. ‘So — where does your friend live?’ she asked Tegan. ‘Is she local? Or is he local?’

‘Quite local,’ Tegan replied vaguely. ‘I mean nothing is set in concrete yet. I’m waiting for her to confirm it’s all okay.’ She retrieved her phone and waved it around, as if she was indeed waiting for a call. Ryan bit his lip and dipped his head, frightened he would start laughing quite inappropriately.

‘I see. And Ryan — are you staying in the car park tonight?’ asked Sybill. ‘I mean, with your van being here and all that? And . . .’ She nodded towards his empty glasses. Gosh, there were three in front of him now . . . ‘You’re obviously not driving.’

‘No. Not driving tonight,’ he said. ‘Heading home in the morning.’

Coren chipped in. ‘You could always stay at Pencradoc. We’ve got the Retreat rooms free. There aren’t any sessions booked in this weekend.’

‘No, thanks,’ Ryan said hurriedly. ‘The van is fine. Absolutely fine.’

‘Hmm.’ Sybill studied him and he felt his neck growing uncomfortably warm beneath his t-shirt. ‘Has anyone told you, actually, that you look a bit like Laurie Teague, Ryan? The likeness is quite astonishing when you see those photos. I didn’t realise before.’

‘Not something we’ve — I’ve — noticed,’ he said, glancing at Tegan as she dropped her head and looked extremely interested in whatever was on her phone at that precise moment in time.

‘Okay. Well, maybe it is best if you don’t stay at Pencradoc tonight,’ said Sybill. ‘Either of you. I know it can sometimes be intense if you’re living the job.’

‘Exactly,’ said Ryan.

‘Very true,’ added Tegan.

Ryan was just about to breathe a sigh of relief that he didn’t have to explain himself away any more tonight, when Sybill threw her curveball in. ‘Oh, I’ve been in touch with Ianthe Shelley and on Monday I’m going to book your tickets to London — the pair of you — to go and see how Elsie’s wedding dress is getting on. I’ll book them for after the Halloween event, so you can go up closer to Christmas. You can check out where Elsie used to live if you want. There’s not much of it left now, but it might give you more of a sense of her as well, along with the church she got married in and all the rest.’

‘Should be nice near Christmas,’ said Coren. ‘Get you in the festive mood for our work. I might ask you to try to nab some ideas from the Hyde Park Winter Wonderland.’ He grinned, then looked at Sybill. ‘Think our budget’ll stretch to any of that?’

‘Absolutely not!’ said Sybill, smiling back at him.

They began to talk about other things relating to Pencradoc and Wheal Mount, and joking with one another about various things.

But Ryan didn’t hear half of it — all he was hung up on was the phrase: “On Monday I’m going to book your tickets to London — the pair of you.”

And, when he cast a quick glance at Tegan to see if she had picked that up as well, he could tell by the look on her face, and the slightly slack jaw and the trepidation in her eyes that, yes, she had heard that too.

It looked as if they were going to be in each other’s enforced company in London near Christmas.

But, strangely, the thought of that didn’t bother him half so much as it would have done a few weeks ago. Tegan was actually turning into someone he thought he might like to spend a bit of time with. He glanced at her again and this time she caught his eye. Her expression changed and the trepidation left her face, and a smile took the place of that anxious look she’d had . . .

And he chanced a smile back at her and her smile grew wider, and he thought that she might not be as bothered as she would have been a few weeks earlier either.

And that felt pretty good.