Linksfield

10. Changes

The real Herbert Carey who had walked into our lives with the event of a simple lost dog, was shown to a chair in the study, and there he sat awkwardly, legs crossed, warm smile, his leg shaking, his hands clutching the drink Frank had fetched for him. I glanced at Monty, wondering when he was going to mention what I'd been dying to say but he didn't, instead he engaged Herbert in idle small talk for a while, discussing the weather, the dog, the house— anything but what he should've been discussing. And as for Herbert, he seemed deeply interested in the house itself and now it was obvious why. I watched as his eyes fixed on the photo frame of Edward Montgomery and you didn't need to be a mind reader to know that Herbert knew him. He knew this house, he knew its location, he knew the father. Herbert had known all along.

It was strange watching the two men converse, each knowing the other but both too shy to come forward and admit it. They were alike in many ways I observed as I watched them talk. They moved their hands theatrically in the same manner when they spoke and they ran their fingers through their equally thick locks when they appeared nervous. They may not have been raised together but you would've thought they'd have spent their whole lives beside one another.

"I think you both need to say what's on your mind," I finally said. It burst out of me. Monty certainly was never going to bring it up. I had no choice!

And it was then that the whole truth came spilling out. Monty revealed he knew Herbert was his brother, announcing how he'd discovered it and how we'd encountered Ellis Stevens on our little dangerous adventure though we hadn't quite discovered where the real Herbert was. And Herbert was deeply apologetic, telling Monty how he'd known their father only to some minor level, how he'd been raised by an adopted family, how he'd kept in touch with his father through brief visits and letters. But since the death, Herbert had wondered what to do and had been reluctant to come to Linksfield and admit the truth, unkeen for Monty and Rosamund's world to be turned upside down.

Herbert had been living in America. Had his own life and work over there—and a family too—wife, children, nice house. He visited England every year and when he did, he walked to Linksfield, hiding in the shadows, taking the dog of his adopted father for a walk, venturing to the house of the brother he so longed to meet. He admitted to Monty he'd been reluctant to visit in case of shattering his whole world. But now Herbert breathed a sigh of relief. Everyone knew and he could talk about his life at last and he could recognise the brother and sister he'd never spoken to and repair some of the damage been caused by years of lies.

When Herbert left the house after several hours of deep discussion, Linksfield was silent. He had refused a bed for the night and instead trundled back to his hotel in the city, I suspected to let the news sink in but he gave Monty the hotel telephone number and soon another meeting was arranged between newly acquainted half-brothers. Everything had now changed— the master had a real-life brother and the news of another Montgomery son was soon to reach town—it was unlikely to be kept secret once people put two and two together. Life at Linksfield would be different therein.

And with all the dramatic news to take in, Monty was understandably overwhelmed, retiring to his bed for two days, only speaking briefly to his mother and Rosamund about what had occurred. Rosamund was excited by the changes, but the mother, hurt by the lies of her husband, was so out of sorts that she also confined herself to her room, ill, tired and alone. The next few days in the house were eerily silent.

Monty had been so full of life and had been happy to have finally met Herbert. He hadn't even had to have the anxiety-inducing meeting with the solicitor (though the solicitor was called and told the whole story.) Despite his initial positivity at the developments in his life, he descended into one of his black moods, no longer the wounded survivor with sympathy and love from a new family member but a startled lamb, wrapped in his bed covers and afraid of something that was unexplainable.