Page 75 of The Paris Agent
There was nothing we could do from the prison cell. No way to raise the alarm, no way for her to check on her little boy’s welfare. All I could do for her was to hold her while she rode the wave of panic and frustration. And later, when I tried to talk about the five months I’d spent in solitary confinement but the words just kept sticking in my throat, she held me too.
All we had was that we were together. Regardless of how dire our situation was, I knew we were blessed to have that.
C?H?A?P?T?E?R24
CHARLOTTE
Liverpool
July, 1970
A few strange days have passed since my conversation with Aunt Kathleen. I’m trying to find the courage to ask Dad about Josie Miller again. This time, I plan on asking him straight—were you really in love with her?Could you have fathered a child with her? But before the opportunity arises, Theo calls, and he does not sound like his normal self.
“I’m sorry to ask this,” he says, his voice high and a little strained. “Perhaps you could come to my flat? There’s something I need to show you.”
“There’s something I should talk to you about, too,” I say, although I’m still not sure if I should tell him about Aunt Kathleen’s suspicions about Dad’s relationship with Josie. I don’t want to get his hopes up that we might have stumbled upon his motherandhis father in one fell swoop. I make the trip over to Manchester right away and find Theo a ball of chaotic energy. He tells me to take a seat at his little dining room table, and he bustles about the kitchen, making cups of coffee and chatting nervously about the cricket game he watched with his friends the previous night.
“Theo,” I interrupt him after a while. “What’s going on?”
“The birth certificate came,” he says, suddenly incredulous. “Wefoundher.”
Jocelyn Nina Miller was born in London in 1920, and at that point at least, was the only child of Tobias Andrew Miller and Drusilla Rose Miller,néeSallow. Drusilla and Andrew had married two years before.
“So...these people might be your grandparents?”
Theo chews his thumbnail anxiously.
“I went to the library and looked in the phone books. I can’t find Tobias or Drusilla Miller anywhere.”
“I’m sorry...”
“Wait—it’s just....” He gnaws at his lip then cracks his knuckles. “Your dad told you Jocelyn’s parents had an especially unhappy divorce, right?”
“Right.”
“Well, I can’t find a Drusilla Miller anywhere. But Drusilla is such an unusual name and Sallow isincrediblyrare and I did find a Dr. Drusilla Sallow.”
“Dad said Jocelyn’s mother was a doctor!” I gasp. “She must be using her maiden name again?”
“It makes sense, doesn’t it?”
“Where is this Drusilla Sallow?”
“That’s the thing, Charlotte,” Theo says urgently, then he jabs his forefinger against the table. “She’s righthere.”
“Here?” I look around blankly.
“In Manchester! Her listed address is only a few miles from here.” I gasp again, and he runs his hands through his hair then says bleakly, “But it’s probably not her. Right? I mean, it could be. But it’s probably not. What are the chances that my grandmother would be living just a few miles away from me?”
“I really don’t know.”
“I just keep thinking if I drive past, I might catch a glimpse of her.”
“What good would that do you? Are you hoping she looks like you?”
“No, I’m more thinking that ifthisDr. Drusilla Sallow is much younger than Jocelyn’s mother would be, I can rule her out.” He looks at me pleadingly, then, as if he’s asking for my permission, he asks, “Would it be so bad to just drive past her house?”
“It wouldn’t bebad,” I say carefully. “I’m just not sure it would do you any good.”
