Chapter 30

His next stop was a jeweller’s shop, where he pulled a flat, velvet-lined case from his pocket. The jeweller was as flattering as the dressmaker had been; ready to bend over backwards to please his Grace. He spilled the hated necklace on to the table in front of him. ‘I have recently remarried and wish to present the family emeralds to my wife.’

The jeweller remarked that they were most fine which, of course, Authur knew.

‘A new setting, I think. A new wife should not have to wear the hand downs of the old. I would like to start fresh.’ Not that that was ever possible, with the weight of tradition heavy on his shoulders. Perhaps a change in the necklace would remind him of something other than his mother, or Lucille, whenever he had to look at them.

The jeweller made hurried notes, wincing only a little at

the proposed timeline. ‘Will there be anything else, your Grace?’

‘No. I think… Wait.’The image of his new wife standing in the hall as his signet rolled across the floor popped int