Best Kept Secret

Fenwick. The bride wore a gown designed by Mr
Norman—”’
    ‘At least spare me that,’ said Harry.
    Emma skipped a couple of paragraphs. ‘“Four hundred guests attended the ceremony, which was held at the Church of St Margaret’s, Westminster. The service was conducted by the
Right Reverend George Hastings, Bishop of Ripon. Afterwards, a reception was held on the terrace of the House of Commons. Among the guests were Her Royal Highness Princess Margaret, The Earl
Mountbatten of Burma, The Right Hon. Clement Attlee, Leader of the Opposition, and The Right Hon. Mr William Morrison, speaker of the House of Commons. The list of guests who attended the wedding
makes interesting reading, but far more fascinating are the names of those who were absent, either because they did not receive an invitation, or because they did not wish to attend. Not one member
of the Barrington family other than Sir Giles himself was on the guest list. The absence of his two sisters, Mrs Emma Clifton and Miss Grace Barrington, as well as his brother-in-law, Harry
Clifton, the popular author, remains something of a mystery, especially as it was announced some weeks ago that he would be Sir Giles’s best man.” ’
    ‘So who was the best man?’ asked Harry.
    ‘Dr Algernon Deakins of Balliol College, Oxford.’
    ‘Dear Deakins,’ said Harry. ‘An excellent choice. He certainly would have been on time, and there would have been no chance of him mislaying the ring. Is there anything
else?’
    ‘I’m afraid so. “What makes this even more of a mystery is that six years ago, when the case of Barrington v. Clifton was before the House of Lords and a vote was taken to
decide who should inherit the Barrington title and estates, Sir Giles and Mr Clifton seemed to be in accord when the Lord Chancellor gave judgment in favour of Sir Giles. The happy
couple,”’ continued Emma, ‘“will spend their honeymoon at Sir Giles’s villa in Tuscany.”
    ‘That’s a bit rich,’ said Emma, looking up. ‘The villa was left to Grace and me to dispose of as we saw fit.’
    ‘Behave yourself, Emma,’ said Harry. ‘You saw fit to let Giles have the villa in exchange for us being allowed to move into the Manor House until the courts decide on the
validity of the will. Is that it?’
    ‘No, the really juicy bit is still to come. “However, it now looks as if a major rift has divided the family following the death of Sir Giles’s mother, Lady Elizabeth
Barrington. In her recently published will, she left the bulk of her estate to her two daughters, Emma and Grace, while bequeathing nothing to her only son. Sir Giles has issued proceedings to
contest the will, and the case will be heard in the High Court next month.” That’s it. What about
The Times
?’
    ‘Far more sober. Just the facts, no speculation. But Billy Collins tells me there’s a photograph of Cleopatra on the front pages of the
Mail
and the
Express
, and
the
Mirror
’s headline is “Battle of the Cats”.’
    ‘How can it have come to this?’ said Emma. ‘What I’ll never understand is how Giles could have allowed that woman to stop his own family attending the wedding.’
    ‘I can’t understand it either,’ said Harry, ‘but then I never understood how the Prince of Wales could give up the throne for an American divorcee. I suspect your mother
was right. Giles is simply besotted with the woman.’
    ‘If my mother had wanted me to give you up,’ said Emma, ‘I would have defied her.’ She gave him a warm smile. ‘So I have some sympathy with my brother.’

    For the next fortnight, photographs of Sir Giles and Lady Barrington on their honeymoon in Tuscany appeared in most of the national papers.
    Harry’s fourth novel,
Mightier than the Sword
, was published on the day the Barringtons returned from Italy. The following morning the same photograph appeared on every front page
except
The Times.
    When the happy couple stepped off the train at Waterloo, they had to pass a W.H. Smith bookshop on the way to their car. There was only one novel displayed in vast numbers in the window. A week
later,
Mightier than the Sword
made it on to the bestseller list, and it remained there right up until the opening day of the trial.
    All Harry had to say was that no one understood how to promote a book better than Billy Collins.

13
    T HE ONE THING Giles and Emma were able to agree on was that it would be wiser for the case to be heard in a closed court with a