The heavy oak door of the master study clicked shut, locking out the curious household staff.
Richard stood behind his dark mahogany desk, looking between Clara, Miss Benedict, and young Lily.
Lily walked over to the bookshelf, pulled a hidden key from behind a book, and handed it to her father.
She explained that Miss Benedict had trusted her with the key two nights ago when she fell ill.
Richard asked where the matching box was hidden right now.
Clara swallowed hard and kept her hands firmly tucked behind her blue apron pockets.
Richard noticed Clara's nervous body language and demanded that she empty her pockets immediately on the desk.
Clara hesitated for a moment before slowly pulling out a small, carved wooden box bound in tarnished brass.
She claimed she had just found it in the hallway and was bringing it directly to Richard's desk.
Lily called her a thief and said Clara had stolen it while Miss Benedict was scrubbing the foyer floors.
Richard took the wooden box from Clara's trembling hands and set it down in front of him.
He inserted the tiny silver key into the brass lock and turned it carefully until it clicked open.
Inside the box lay a yellowed envelope, a hospital record sheet, and a heavy gold wedding band.
Richard picked up the gold band and felt a cold knot form tight in his stomach.
The ring had an inscription on the inside that matched the ring he had worn since his own wedding day.
He picked up the hospital document and read the name printed at the top of the page.
The document showed that Eleanor had given birth to twins on that dark night ten years ago.
Richard dropped the paper onto the mahogany desk and looked up in complete horror and confusion.
He whispered to himself that he had only ever been told about one single baby girl.
Miss Benedict closed her eyes tightly as tears ran down the deep wrinkles of her aging face.
She confessed that the truth had been kept from him by people he trusted with his entire fortune.
Richard demanded to know who took the second child and why Miss Benedict had remained silent for so long.
Miss Benedict pointed a shaking finger directly at Clara, whose face was completely white with fear.
She revealed that Clara's mother had been the head nurse working at the clinic that night.