by Clara Benson
‘Goodness me, I do believe you’ve gone native!’ he said maliciously.
‘Don’t be stupid,’ she retorted. He had the satisfaction of seeing that she looked slightly disconcerted, but before he could press the point she was gone.
The police came, and were persuaded, with all the force of the Duke’s personality and many mentions of the Chief Constable’s name, not to arrest Mr. Wray until he had had a good night’s sleep. Inspector Trubshaw was reluctant, but eventually agreed on condition that Cedric hand over the key to Mr. Wray’s room. Meanwhile, Bea called a doctor to come and examine the old clergyman.
‘He can’t possibly be right in the head,’ she said the next morning to her husband, once the party consisting of the police, Mr. Wray, and Mr. Jephson the solicitor had departed. It was early, and they were the first ones up. ‘I’m quite sure they’ll end up putting him in a hospital somewhere. Do you know, I’ve been thinking—I wonder whether it was the lightning bolt to his house that made him ill. They say electricity can do strange things to one. Do you think it might have affected his brain?’
‘I’ve no idea,’ said the Duke. ‘But I was right when I said it was a hint, wasn’t I?’
‘Not exactly,’ said Bea. ‘Still, I’m glad we could give the police something to do last night, since we wouldn’t let them arrest Mr. Wray. Do you think they’ll find Mrs. Dragusha?’
‘Freddy seems to think not,’ said Cedric. ‘I should have said he was talking his usual rot, but he did solve the murder and find the pearls, so perhaps he’s not quite the pure idiot we’ve always supposed.’
‘Oh, no, certainly not a pure idiot,’ said Bea. ‘In fact, I should say he had a lot of sense underneath it all, if he were only prepared to use it.’
‘Rather an eventful evening, wasn’t it? I must say you looked jolly nice in that frock of yours.’
‘Thank you. Mrs. Dragusha did a marvellous job. It’s only a pity I won’t be able to get her to make me anything else now she’s run off.’
‘Pfft! Plenty of other dressmakers,’ said Cedric. ‘You’ve got the raw material, old girl, and you really ought to make more of it.’
Bea, correctly interpreting this as a compliment, flushed slightly. Cedric went on:
‘Look here, why don’t we go away for a few days? It’s been a while since we went abroad, or did any of those fun things we used to do. What do you say to Deauville? Or we could even go to Paris, if you like.’
‘Paris!’ said the Duchess wistfully. ‘It’s years since we’ve been to Paris. Why, I don’t think we’ve been since you inherited Belsingham!’
‘Then it’s high time we went back,’ said Cedric. ‘Let’s go next week.’
‘I should love to,’ said Bea in surprise.
‘Well, then, that’s settled,’ said Cedric, and went away before he could talk himself out of it.
It was late morning before Freddy came downstairs, and he found the house in a bustle as everybody prepared to leave a day later than expected.
‘There you are,’ said Bea, when he rolled into the morning-room, yawning and rubbing his head. ‘I thought you’d never get up. Your mother has been looking for you since half past eight.’
‘Which is precisely why I didn’t get up,’ said Freddy. ‘I don’t suppose they’ve caught Mrs. Dragusha?’
‘No,’ said Bea. ‘There’s been no sighting of her anywhere. They think she must have had a motor-car waiting, in case she had to make a quick escape.’
‘Pity,’ said Freddy. ‘Still, at least she didn’t get the pearls.’
‘No, but it seems she’s got the jewels of half the county women in England. Cynthia’s been telephoning everyone she knows, and they all seem to have some story of valuables that were discovered to be fake on Mrs. Dragusha’s say-so. They all kept it quiet because they suspected each other and didn’t want scandal, but it’s quite extraordinary how she managed to trick so many people in such a short time.’
‘Well, she was bound to be found out sooner or later,’ said Freddy.
‘She was certainly very clever. She seems to have chosen people she knew either needed money or had a reputation for having been careless with their things in the past.’
‘I expect that’s my mother’s fault,’ said Freddy. ‘She puts all this sort of nonsense in her column, so anybody can find out about it.’
‘I must read it one day,’ said Bea. ‘We don’t take the lower London papers as a rule.’
‘The Clarion is a great and venerable organ of righteousness,’ he said with dignity.
‘Of course it is. And Lavinia is very excited at the prospect of appearing in it this week.’
‘In that case, let’s hope Mother writes something flattering about her, because it’s an even chance that she won’t. By the way, that reminds me, I have a question for you: do you like Daphne?’
‘Daphne?’ she said. ‘Yes, I believe I do. She’s much nicer than I expected. I should say she had both feet on the ground, which one can’t always say about young women—just look at Ro, for example. Why do you ask?’
‘Because Goose is in love with her.’
‘Is he?’ she said, staring.
‘Do you disapprove? Her people aren’t at all the thing, you know. The Warehams aren’t the only family to have one or two scandals in their past, but she’s a decent girl and suitably embarrassed by it. And anyway, it happened in India, so it can easily be forgotten.’
‘Oh,’ she said hesitantly after a moment. ‘Why, no, I don’t disapprove, exactly. She’s behaved perfectly charmingly and properly while she’s been here. Mrs. Philpott might leave a little to be desired, but Daphne can’t help that. I suppose she’s not exactly what we’d hoped for, but I have nothing against her if Goose really likes her.’
‘Then go and speak to her. She’s feeling awkward and unwelcome, and you might put her at her ease. She’s furious with me at the moment because of Iris, and she’s taking her anger out on Goose. But she’s going today, and you might make all the difference if you take some notice of her. She has no parents and only Lavinia for company most of the time. Go and make her feel welcome, at least for her last few hours here.’
‘Oh, the poor thing!’ said Bea. ‘I had no idea she was feeling so down. You’re right, of course. I’ve rather left everybody to their own devices this weekend, but what with one thing and another it simply couldn’t be helped. I shall speak to her as you suggest. I should hate her to go away thinking we were all horrid. Where is she now?’
‘In the small salon, talking to Dr. Bachmann—or she was a few minutes ago, at any rate.’
‘He’ll be telling her all about his telegram, I dare say,’ said Bea. ‘Apparently his friends at his old university have been trying to put together a case to exonerate him from the charge of plagiarism, and one of them thinks he’s found something that will do it, so Dr. Bachmann is feeling rather cheerful this morning. He was always an optimistic soul. I’ll go and talk to them both now.’
She went off, and shortly afterwards Kitty Fitzsimmons came in.
‘Hallo, Freddy,’ she said. ‘I’m feeling mournful today, because I won’t get my beautiful Dragusha dress after all.’ He commiserated with her, and she went on cheerfully, ‘How selfish that makes me sound! As though that were the worst of it.’
‘Isn’t it the worst of it?’
The dimple appeared.
‘No!’ she said. ‘The worst of it is that my maid gave notice quite unexpectedly this morning, and has left the house already without so much as a by-your-leave. It’s an urgent case of an aged cousin who needs nursing, apparently, but it’s most inconvenient for me.’
‘Poor you,’ he said. ‘I can’t do anything about your maid, but perhaps you might take the model Mrs. Dragusha left and have it made up by someone else. Although I shouldn’t have thought anybody would want to wear a Dragusha now that t
hey know what she really was.’
‘My dear boy, it’s clear you know nothing of fashion,’ said Kitty loftily. ‘Why, a Dragusha dress will carry more cachet than ever now! I shall take the model and see if I can’t have something done with it, although I doubt the finished dress will have quite the same shine.’
She spoke lightly, but she was looking out through the French window and seemed to be thinking of something else. Freddy followed her gaze and saw Ralph strolling through the garden with his hands behind his back, looking about him in evident enjoyment of the weather and the surroundings.
‘I believe I shall take a walk,’ Kitty murmured, not entirely to Freddy’s surprise, and went out into the garden, leaving the French window open. A minute or two later Freddy wandered out onto the terrace and surveyed the grounds. The view was all very fine, although he thanked his stars that he was not responsible for maintaining it. A little farther along the terrace, outside the doors to the small salon, he could see Bea, Daphne and Goose. Their voices drifted along to him. They seemed to be talking about horses.
‘—had no idea you liked to ride,’ Goose was saying. ‘Why, if you’d only said so then we might have gone out. I should never be off a horse myself if I had any choice in the matter—’
Freddy smiled to himself and went back into the morning-room, where he found Iris, seemingly looking for someone.
‘Have you seen Ralph?’ she said. ‘He’s meant to be taking me back to town, only I can’t find him anywhere.’
‘He’s in the garden,’ said Freddy. She went across to the French window and gazed out. By the fountain, Kitty was standing with Ralph, smilingly holding up a flower to her hair, and from the looks of it asking him what he thought. His reply could not be heard, but he was staring fixedly at the dimple in her cheek as though mesmerized.
‘Hmph,’ said Iris, not in the least discomposed. ‘She’s dreadfully obvious, isn’t she?’
‘Don’t you mind?’ said Freddy.
‘Not especially,’ she said. ‘It’s me he likes, not Kitty. She’s all take and no give, but he’s smart enough to know that I’m the one who’ll make something of him.’
‘Does he want anything made of him? I rather thought he was doing well enough alone.’
She made an expressive gesture.
‘Well enough, yes. But men never have direction, do they?’
‘Don’t they?’
‘Do you?’
‘Why—er—I’ve never thought about it.’
‘Exactly,’ she said, as though he had proved her point. ‘I could never have done anything with you.’
‘But I don’t want anything done with me. I’m happy as I am.’
‘I know,’ she said sadly. She tore her eyes away from Ralph and Kitty and looked at him, then came closer and put a hand to his cheek. ‘I shouldn’t have minded it, you know—all the silliness with other girls, I mean. I know it wouldn’t have meant anything. But you’re far too much your own man. You don’t need my help—or me, even, so what would there be for me to do? I need a purpose, and Ralph needs me. I’ll see to it that he becomes far more successful with me as his wife than he ever could on his own.’
‘Do you love him?’ said Freddy before he could stop himself.
‘Well enough,’ she said.
It was an unsatisfactory reply, and Freddy’s thoughts turned back to the kiss in the cupboard. He was almost sure it had not been a deliberate or calculated move on her part, but had sprung from pure impulse. Still, she had made her choice, and he could not even say it was the wrong one, for he knew his faults as well as anybody.
‘You’ll have to behave yourself once you’re married, you know,’ he said. ‘No more running around in secret passages or hiding in linen cupboards.’
‘Hardly. Just because I’m getting married doesn’t mean I can’t have fun,’ she said.
‘Fun? What kind of fun?’
‘Why, the respectable kind, of course. It wouldn’t do to be naughty, would it?’
‘Oh, no,’ he said.
The look she was giving him at that moment was not unlike the one she had directed at him in the chapel the day before, and it would have been so easy to kiss her again that very minute, but, perhaps fortunately, Cedric came in just then, looking for Goose. The two of them moved apart hurriedly, then Iris decided she had better go and rescue Ralph from Kitty and went outside, leaving Freddy to struggle with mixed feelings for a few minutes. True to his nature, however, he brightened up soon enough, and went back upstairs, whistling, to throw his things into his suitcase before his mother found him and started talking at him.
They stayed for lunch, then there was a great commotion as the guests prepared to depart. Freddy paid his respects to the Duke and Duchess, who seemed far less tired of him than they generally were at this stage of his visits, and far less keen to see him off the premises. Ro, too, was in a good mood for once, and thanked him for finding the pearls.
‘I should never have dreamed of suspecting Mrs. Dragusha,’ she said. ‘I only hope they find her soon. I hear she’s been stealing from half her clients. It’s only a pity she had to ruin everything—her dresses really are gorgeous.’
‘Yes, they are,’ said Freddy. ‘Still, she ought to have contented herself with taking the money for them instead of helping herself to everybody’s family heirlooms.’
‘I really am awfully pleased she didn’t get away with the pearls,’ said Ro. ‘Although Mother thinks she might have taken some of the silver instead, to make up for it. There are several knives and spoons missing, as well as a milk-jug.’
‘Are there?’ said Freddy. ‘Odd—that doesn’t sound like her sort of thing. Perhaps she didn’t want her trip to be completely wasted.’
But his mind had jumped involuntarily to Valentina Sangiacomo, who had left in a hurry that morning. She was not the sort to let slip any opportunity that might present itself, and he wondered whether she had taken her pick of the breakfast-things before she left.
‘You are going to wear the pearls to this bun-fight of yours next week, aren’t you?’ he said. ‘After my desperate struggle with an armed criminal to wrest them from her grasp I shall be most offended if you don’t.’
‘Of course I am,’ said Ro. ‘I shouldn’t dream of wearing anything else.’
‘I’ll take that to mean what you presumably intended it to mean, and not what it sounded like,’ he said, and she slapped him on the arm.
‘Ass,’ she said amiably. ‘Go home and reflect on your sins. And make sure you dress up nicely for the ball. I have lots of pretty friends who will want to dance with you, so you’d better be on your best behaviour.’
‘I’ll see what I can do,’ he promised.
‘There you are, darling,’ said Cynthia, breezing out. ‘Now, you have got everything, haven’t you? Let’s not delay—I have a rather important dinner to attend tonight, and the sooner we set off the better. If we leave it too late your grandfather will fall asleep in the car and you know how his snoring drowns out the conversation. Where is he, anyway?’ She looked around.
‘Bidding a sentimental farewell to Lavinia Philpott, I imagine,’ said Freddy.
Nugs was indeed found exercising all his notions of old-fashioned courtesy towards Mrs. Philpott, who was only too delighted to receive such flattering attentions. Daphne was standing a little way off, and Freddy went to make his own goodbyes to her.
‘You don’t hate me, do you?’ he said.
‘I should say the feeling’s closer to exasperation,’ she said, but there was half a smile on her face and her manner was not wholly unfriendly. Freddy looked across to where Goose was hovering. ‘He’s taking me to the ball next week,’ she said, before he could ask the question. ‘I don’t suppose it can do any harm.’
‘None at all,’ he said. ‘He’s a decent chap, and jolly good company.’
‘Yes, he is,’ she agreed.
‘I won’t listen out for wedding-bells just yet, though.’
‘Better not,’ she said, then sighed. ‘I expect Lavinia’s going to be unbearable about it.’
‘If you think Lavinia’s unbearable then you ought to try sitting in a car with my mother for three hours,’ said Freddy with feeling.
She laughed, then was serious again.
‘You’re not going to whisk Iris from under Ralph’s nose and marry her, are you? I shouldn’t like that.’
‘No,’ he said. ‘You needn’t worry—I’m not exactly the marrying sort.’
‘Not now, but you will be one day,’ she said. ‘Just you watch. It’ll creep up on you when you least expect it, and before you know it you’ll be spending your evenings in an armchair with your pipe and slippers, with children running round you and a pretty wife sitting in the other armchair, darning your socks.’
‘Good Lord, I hope not,’ said Freddy, horrified, and she laughed at his face.
‘You’d better go,’ she said. ‘I think your mother’s getting impatient.’
‘Goodness me, is that the time?’ said Lavinia. ‘We must go, Daphne. Goodbye, Lord Lucian, it’s been a pleasure.’
‘The pleasure is all mine,’ said Nugs, gallantly. He attempted a flowery bow and had to be assisted back into an upright position, then he and Freddy went to where the Wolseley and Cynthia were waiting. Freddy handed his mother into the car.
‘You took long enough to say goodbye,’ said Cynthia to Nugs. ‘Goodness knows what you found to say to the silly woman.’
‘Silly, do you call her?’ said Nugs, as he was established in possession of the back seat and the car drew away. ‘I rather like her. She’s very kind, and patient with it. Just the sort of woman to appeal to a man of my age, and with a nice, piercing voice, too, so one doesn’t have to keep asking her to repeat herself. I believe I shall invite her out to dinner when we get back to London. It’s about time I married again, don’t you think?’
‘What?’ said Cynthia, horrified. She turned around to see Nugs leering at her wickedly.