Mauveine Roy Baldwin

Despite her nervousness about telling
Julian everything concerning her inheritance of Orsbrick Hall and the sightings
of the strange woman in the purple shawl, she felt relieved that his reaction
was not disbelief but a serious and practical reflection on the whole matter
and a desire to help her further solve the mystery and get Orsbrick Hall back
into shape. Julian suggests a pleasant pub by the canal to have lunch which he
had not been to for many years. But when they arrive, Victoria is amazed to learn
that her pub visit had not only already been anticipated but more startling who
she discovers there when she walks in.

Next morning, back in the Adelphi Hotel,
without telling Abby who had already let slip she had arranged a lunchtime
‘business meeting’ with Lynton, Victoria quietly decides over breakfast to meet
Julian and take him to Orsbrick Hall, anticipating his historic knowledge of
old buildings would be very useful. Picking him up from Liverpool, she remains
nervous of revisiting her old childhood haunts and worried about the woman in
the purple shawl. But once they arrive, the house and contents are not at all
what she assumed and unexplainable events force her to finally come clean with
Julian and reveal secrets of her past she had not anticipated doing as well as
raising more questions, this time about Julian.

Recovering from seeing the strange
appearance of the woman again in the purple shawl, sat in the back of their hired
SUV, Victoria treats Abby and herself to some tea and cake in a nearby café to
calm down. Abby suggests a family visit to her brother in Wigan to take
Victoria’s mind off the event and they head off there for the rest of the day.
But when Victoria offers to buy dinner and heads to the chip shop another
strange happening occurs which instead of frightening her, gives Victoria a
start to possible answers to how the woman may be connected. However, on
driving back to Liverpool they are both distracted – by unexpected
communications from the men they didn’t expect to hear from again.

Still in Liverpool, Victoria and Abby agree
to hire a car and drive immediately to Parbold to search out the elderly lady,
identified by solicitor Lynton Grey, who holds the conditions for Victoria’s
potential inheritance of Orsbrick Hall. But along the way, the strange woman in
the purple shawl appears again and not where Victoria, inside her remotest
dreams, could have remotely envisaged. Unexpected revelations from Abby
persuade Victoria to keep calm and they continue to Appleby Lodge to find the
mysterious Eveline West, who reveals not only her true identity but the most
astonishing secrets and tales of the McKenzie family which Victoria cannot
believe possible. She now has to make the most important decision of her life.

Chapter Four finds Victoria and Abby in
Liverpool, searching for the legal office of Green and Burgess so Victoria can
ascertain the facts about her unexpected inheritance of Orsbrick Hall. Finally,
she meets solicitor Lynton Grey but the more she learns the greater the mystery
of her benefactor deepens. Along the way unexpected circumstances give rise to renewed
male interest for both Victoria and Abby, but another irritating situation
arises. Who is the strange woman in the purple shawl following Victoria around?

This chapter brings the story onwards in
Victoria’s life to when she finally settles in Rotterdam in her new apartment
which she shares with her best friend, Abby, a former fashion designer and
artist. Working as a senior polymer scientist at the Ahrendolie refinery, a
serious and unsettling plant incident upends her life and forces a likely
career move. But whilst she and Abby decide on a long holiday to recharge and
think about their futures, she receives notification of an inheritance
requiring a trip back to Liverpool and the revisiting of past childhood
memories she wanted to permanently escape from.