Chapter 125: Confidants, Part 4

Richard

The intercom buzzes. “Charlotte Conners is on her way up, Mr Haswell.”

“Thanks, Francis. Send her right in.”

Five minutes later, there’s a tap at the door….

“Come in.”

…. and the young woman I briefly met a few weeks ago enters my office.

She’s wearing standard ‘office dress’: a neatly ironed white blouse, regulation knee-length black skirt, and her hair, which I last saw long and loose, is tightly pinned to her head….

But what I mainly notice is her likeness to my Elizabeth….

Ye gods, you look even more like her now I get a good look at you….

…. It can't be a coincidence...

…. Surely there’s no Conners in Elizabeth’s family?

The resemblance to my wife is distracting, but I pull myself back to the real world, remembering my manners.

Standing to greet her, I proffer my hand. “Good afternoon, Charlotte. Good to meet you properly at last. Do take a seat.”