were some hints about there being a black sheep in the past.â
âOne is always at the mercy of the older generation for that sort of information,â said Dawn largely. âI mean, they only tell you what they want you to know, donât they? Parents are the same all over.â She took a sip of her coffee. âMe, I got an aunt to spill the beans about my grandfather. Drink,â she said lugubriously.
Janet, who heard about Dawnâs grandfatherâs overfondness for alcohol every time her friend was offered a glass of wine, reverted to her husbandâs family. âThat was why I was so surprised, remember, when we got that call out of the blue from the nursing home.â
âPerhaps the Wakefields didnât want to tell you about someone in the family being born on the wrong side of the blanket,â suggested Dawn. âDonât they call it the bar sinister or something?â
Janet Wakefield hesitated before she spoke. âI know there was some big trouble a long time ago about something called the Kemberland Trustâ¦But what exactly it was all about I just donât know. Money, anyway.â
âTrusts always mean money,â declared the worldly-wise Dawn. âAnd money means trouble.â
âIt did,â said Janet slowly, taking a long sip of her coffee before she spoke again. âNot that I know any of the details except that I was told that there was a great row about itâ¦lawyers and that sort of thing.â
âFamilies,â exclaimed Dawn. âTheyâre always the same. So is money,â she added more thoughtfully.
âBut on the other hand I was told that Billâs parentsâ share of the money from that trust made a big difference to Billâs mother, Eleanor, that is. Put Bill through school and that sort of thing. Gave him a good start in life, all right.â
âAnd therefore made a difference to you and Bill, too,â concluded Dawn ineluctably, looking round the nicely appointed kitchen at The Old Post Office.
âWell, yes, in a way,â admitted Janet honestly. Her home was her pride and joy, the furniture carefully chosen and much polished, the soft furnishings colour-coordinated in a way advocated by the best magazines. âI must say it gave Bill a good start in life, his having had a good education. It put him through university and that sort of thing.â
The lacuna in the conversation which followed was due to the desire of both women to not mention that quite a lot of Bill and Janetâs present income was presently being spent by the couple on infertility treatment. That the trust money would give any child of Bill and Janâs marriage a good start, too, should one come along, was not mentioned by either of them. So far, though, no baby had appeared and the fact, appreciated but unspoken, hung between both of them like a cloud.
âJoe Short was going to look up some old boy near Kinnisport whoâd been at the funeral and told him heâd known his grandmother really well a long time ago,â volunteered Janet, breaking the silence and adding lightly, âjust in case he was his grandfather.â
âThat would be a real turn-up for the books,â said Dawn, who had never placed a bet in her life.
âWishful thinking, if you ask me,â said Janet robustly. âI think the poor fellow â Joe, I mean â is a bit short of relations these days and wouldnât mind a few more seeing as heâs lost both his parents, too.â
âWell, heâs got you two now, hasnât he?â
âI hadnât thought of that,â said Janet slowly. âPerhaps I ought to ask him round. Iâll have to think about it. More coffee?â
âPlease.â Dawn pushed her mug forward and then cocked her head to one side, listening hard. âIsnât that your phone I can hear ringing somewhere?â
Janet slid off her chair and went into another