'Good heavens, of course she'd have let you go! You're a free agent, aren't you?'
'For the past year I haven't thought so.'
'Ah,' said Dame Beatrice, 'here comes the coffee. Speaking of the past year, my dear Rosamund, you will like to know what has happened to Romilly. He has been arrested and has been brought before the Bench and remanded in custody for a fortnight. After that, he will again appear in court, when it will be decided whether or not he is to be sent for trial.'
'Romilly?'
'Romilly.'
'Do they really think he killed Hubert?'
'It turns out not to be Hubert, but Willoughby.'
'Willoughby is dead?'
'Yes. His was the body which Romilly and Mrs Judith saw at Dancing Ledge. How well did you know Willoughby?'
'Pretty well, in a way. He was my grandfather's secretary, you know.'
'Yes, I did know that. Did you like him?'
'Oh, yes, I suppose so. At least, I didn't dislike him. But, of course, I didn't have a great deal to do with him. I was away at school a lot of the time between the ages of nine and eighteen, and in the summer holidays I was sent away to the seaside, and at Christmas time Willoughby was given a fortnight's leave of absence, and grandfather and I usually went to London.'
'That leaves the Easter vacations. Did you see much of him then?'
'No. Grandfather used to take me to Rome or Santiago. He was very devout.'
'Did the Reverend Hubert ever come to see his brother?'
'Not that I can remember, but I believe they kept in touch.'
'So you have never seen Hubert?'
'If ever I did, I was so young that I don't remember it. Oh, I forgot. Of course I saw him at grandfather's funeral.'
'So if you had been called upon to identify the body, you would not have made the mistake which Romilly seems to have done?'
'No, of course not. I should have known it was Willoughby. After all, it was only just over a year since I had seen him.'
'Quite so. Well, now, Laura and I are staying here for two nights. I propose that you do the same, and then we can all travel back to the Stone House together.'
'But it's three hundred and fifty miles! When Romilly kidnapped me, we stayed a night on the way.'
'Yes, we will spend a night in Birmingham. I have friends there. They are related to Laura through her husband. They will find us an hotel. Laura will telephone them forthwith.'
'Sure,' said Laura. 'I expect they will put us up in their own house, though.'
'But I don't want to go back to the Stone House. I'm not safe there,' protested Rosamund urgently. 'It's much too near Galliard Hall.'
'Well, I can hardly ask Mrs Menzies to take you in again at Moy, after you left her house without even the ceremony of a leave-taking,' Dame Beatrice pointed out in mild tones. 'You would not expect me to do that, I'm certain.'
'I shall stay in Carlisle. I like it here.'
'I thought you had spent all your money,' said Laura brusquely.
'I have only to telephone grandfather's lawyers. My allowance is already overdue.'
'Very well. You are of age and I have no jurisdiction in the matter,' said Dame Beatrice, 'so you must do as you please. You had better make sure of your standing with the management of the hotel, though, had you not, before you decide to stay? I fear they may expect to be paid before your allowance comes through.'
'Couldn't you advance me a few pounds to be going on with?'
'I could, but I do not propose to do so. If you are determined to be independent, you must not begin by living on borrowed money.'
'No, I suppose not. I see you intend to force me to come to the Stone House with you.'
'Not at all. On the other hand, I am under no obligation to support your intention of remaining here.'
'I thought you were my friends.'
'Be that as it may,' said Laura, 'it wasn't very friendly on your part to cut your stick and vanish the moment you heard that we were coming to Moy. Oh, well, I'll go and telephone Gavin's brother in Birmingham.'
She went out, humming a tune. Dame Beatrice, who still had faith in many of Freud's theories, recognised it as the Esther and Abi Ofarim number, Darling, go home. It ended, she remembered, What's that you said?-The Will's to be read... I must go weep for my poor old man. She had realised, from the beginning, that Laura, always prone to strong and uninhibited emotions, had disliked Rosamund, but this expression of cynicism was sufficiently remarkable to be worthy of notice. As soon as Laura was out of the room, Rosamund said:
'It's Laura I'm afraid of. That's why I ran away from Moy, and that's why I didn't want to go back with you to the Stone House. Do you realise that I've almost worn out my shoes walking all those miles to escape from her? That shows you how scared I am of her. I have bad dreams about her every night-dreadful dreams.'
'These remarks,' said Dame Beatrice calmly, 'are on a par with your impersonation of Ophelia, are they not? As such, they do not impress me. To quote the classic Campbell of Kilmhor, I would just counsel you to be candid. Whatever you have to fear, it can scarcely be Laura, and so long as Romilly is in custody you have nothing to fear from him, either. Why do you not tell me what is really in your mind?'
'I am quite safe from Romilly until after the end of May, so I don't mind about him any longer, but Laura hates me. I suppose it's because you take an interest in me, isn't it? I suppose she's jealous. Oh, well, I can understand it, I suppose, but it doesn't make things easier.'
'My interest in you is purely professional. Go along now, and make sure of your room for tonight, and then I should lie down and rest those blistered feet, if I were you.'
'Do you think Romilly killed Willoughby?'
'I think it is just as likely as that any other member of the family killed him, not less and not more.'
They don't hang people now, though, do they?-so, even if Romilly is convicted, he'll still be alive and I shall still be in danger.'
'I have a plan for dealing with the situation,' said Dame Beatrice. 'Go and get some rest.' She sent for the hotel manager when Rosamund had gone to her room.
'You recognised the young woman who booked in this morning?' she asked. The manager hesitated a moment before he replied. Then he said:
'Oh, yes, I recognised the young lady, madam, but I was under a misapprehension. This young lady was certainly here under Mr Felix Lestrange's protection, but she is not the young lady I thought you had in mind.'
Dame Beatrice nodded. Felix Napoleon's reputation had rested on solid evidence, she thought. His wild oats, self-sown, had produced another crop, even though, in his dotage, it must have been a thin one.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
BASSE DANSE-CONFRONTATION
The prince discovered to Claudio that he loved my niece, your daughter, and meant to acknowledge it this night in a dance.'
Much Ado About Nothing.
(1)
Dame Beatrice had left Rosamund little choice, and so was not at all surprised when the girl indicated that she was ready and willing to return to the Stone House. In the car she sat in front, next to George, and the journey was uneventful. They were accommodated, that night, in the Birmingham, or, to be exact, the Solihull house belonging to Laura's husband's brother. The household consisted of the man and wife and their daughter, aged sixteen. This child went to a day school, and her homework occupied her for most of the evening. She had done well in her ordinary level examinations and was now halfway through the first of the two years she would spend in studying for her advanced work.
There was high tea at six, followed by supper at ten, and between these meals the girl went up to her room to study and Rosamund elected to rest. The others chatted, looked at a television programme and played a rubber of bridge. After supper, to which the two girls were called down, the schoolgirl, Kirstie, requested Laura to go up and say goodnight to her, for, although they saw little of one another, there was a strong
bond of sympathy between aunt and niece.
At half-past eleven the bedtime nightcaps were drunk and, Rosamund having retired soon after Kirstie, the older members went to bed. Laura followed Dame Beatrice to her room.
'Kirstie seems a bit browned-off,' she observed. 'Rosamund doesn't appear to have left her much time for work this evening. She seems to have been unburdening herself to the kid. Wish I'd known. I'd have gone along and broken up the party.'
'Unburdening herself? Dear me! To what extent?'
'According to Kirstie, to some considerable extent. She has told her the whole history of the toy trumpet, the radio set, the cat, the monkey and the baby doll. Kirstie, who's a sensible, level-headed kid, as befits Gavin's niece, dismissed the revelations as a lot of boloney, but what do you think?'
'That Rosamund, lacking the stimulus of being the misunderstood and persecuted heroine, is seeking compensation.'
'I thought you liked her, and felt sorry for her.'
'I feel sorry for anybody who is under sentence of death. As for liking her, well, as you know, I like very few people, and poor Rosamund has never been among them.'
'Well, you could have fooled me. In fact, you jolly well did. I thought you disapproved of my disapproval of her.'
'I have overwhelming faith in your intuition.'
'Well, be that as it may-and there's no need to pull my leg-what do we do, if anything, about these disclosures? Kirstie, far from being sworn to secrecy, was told that it had been great fun leading us up the garden and that she could jolly well tell us so. When did you begin to rumble Rosamund?'
'First, when it was clear that she had the run of Galliard Hall. Secondly, when she refused to allow me to see her room there.'
'Well, Romilly thought it was dreadfully untidy, you told me.'
'I think the real reason was that she had plenty of ordinary clothes locked away there, as well as her fancy costumes.'
'Wouldn't Romilly and Judith have known that?'
'Judith did know it. She mentioned the matter to me. At first I think they must have believed she was playing into their hands by her eccentric behaviour in the matter of dress. Later, of course, it was borne in upon Romilly that for him to inherit the fortune outright would be infinitely preferable to administering it on Rosamund's behalf if she were found incapable of managing her own affairs. At that stage I was called in for the purpose of certifying that she was of sound mind. Rosamund, whose intelligence is not to be gainsaid, had realised that this was the plan and that, if it succeeded, her life was in danger once she attained her twenty-fifth birthday. I will now confront her with what she has told Kirstie, and see how she reacts, but I shall not do this until we are back at the Stone House.'
They left immediately after breakfast, reached Salisbury at lunch-time, visited the Cathedral, which Rosamund had not seen before, and then made uneventful progress to Ringwood and Brockenhurst, and, from there, to the village of Wandles Parva and so home.
'Did you finish giving me your reasons for thinking that Rosamund isn't the sweet, persecuted innocent she pretends to be?' asked Laura, late that night, after Rosamund had gone to bed.
'Not quite. I was unfavourably impressed by her unnecessary histrionics.'
'Oh, you mean when she took Ophelia on her. Yes, that was rather on the lines of gilding the lily, wasn't it. Anything else?'
'It is understandable that she confessed to your niece the very things which she denied when I talked to her.'
'Yes. What do you make of that?'
'That she was play-acting again. There are matters on which I should like more information. I may get it when I question her tomorrow.'
'What sort of things do you want to know?'
'Details of her life with Felix Napoleon and what was her relationship with Willoughby Lestrange.'
'You think Romilly may have killed Willoughby not only because he was in a position to expose him as an imposter, but because Willoughby would champion Rosamund and see that she came to no harm? Well, that's quite possible, I suppose, isn't it?'
'Decidedly possible, but not, I fancy, very probable. If that were the case, one would be justified in wondering why Willoughby had not come to the girl's rescue long ago, and removed her from Romilly's jurisdiction.'
'Well, I suppose it was difficult, if Romilly had made himself her guardian.'
'We have no proof that such was the case, you know. On the contrary, Rosamund appears to have gone with him willingly.'
'But we've always kept in mind the possibility that Romilly may have kidnapped her after Felix Napoleon's death.'
'Yes,' said Dame Beatrice doubtfully. 'Is it really so simple a matter to run off with an heiress without her consent? After all, it isn't as though Rosamund had been alone in a private house. She was staying-living, in fact-at an hotel. There was plenty of assistance at hand. An abduction, as such, was surely out of the question.'
'She may have been tricked into going off with Romilly, I suppose, without realising what she was letting herself in for.'
'Tomorrow I shall ask her to tell me all about it.'
'Do you want me to sit in on the interview and take notes?'
'I think it might answer my purpose better if you were not present. The antipathy between you and Rosamund is mutual, if I am any judge, and she is likely to speak more freely in your absence.'
'Just as you say. When do you want to have her to yourself?'
'Immediately after breakfast. At the conclusion of the meal I shall send you on some errand which will ensure your absence for at least a couple of hours. That should give me all the time I need.'
'But you do still think she is in danger from Romilly?'
'I am sure she is, and from that hazard I shall protect her.'
'She's an odd bod. Do you think she will tell you the truth about herself?'
'I know enough of it, I think, to be able to decide whether she is telling the truth or not.'
Laura, according to plan, was despatched to Bournemouth with a shopping list, and left the Stone House in her own little car at half-past ten. Rosamund was still at breakfast, and poured herself a last cup of coffee as Dame Beatrice came back into the pleasant morning-room after having seen Laura off.
'It's going to be a nice day, Dame Beatrice,' she said. 'Couldn't we go for a drive into the Forest?'
'I think I am a little tired of the car,' Dame Beatrice responded. 'I seem to have used it so much during the past week.'
'Oh, yes, I'm sorry. Of course, at your age, you must get worn out rather easily. I don't stop to think. Well, do you suppose George could take me on my own? I had such a dreadfully boring time in Scotland.'
'It is better, perhaps, to be bored than dead, although not much, I suppose. Would you like to return to Galliard Hall?'
'Return there? But I thought...'
'Romilly is no longer there, of course.'
'No, but Judith is.'
'Did you know Judith before Romilly took you to live there?'
'No, of course I didn't. How could I? I didn't know Romilly himself until after grandfather died.'
Dame Beatrice picked up the newspaper which was delivered from Brokenhurst each morning by a boy on a bicycle.
'Dear me! The Ides of March!' she observed, placing a thin yellow forefinger on the date at the top of the front page. Rosamund was unimpressed.
'Is it?' she said. 'Less than a month until Easter. Do you have Easter eggs?'
'No, it is not a custom I observe.'
'Why do you want me to go back to Galliard Hall?'
'I do not want you to go back to Galliard Hall. I asked whether you would like to return. I gather that you would not, neither have you chosen to remain in Scotland.'
'I don't want to stay here, either. It's Laura. I tell you I'm scared of her. I know she doesn't like me. Do you think I could go and stay with Binnie?'
'That is hardly for me to decide. It would depend on Mr Humphrey's vie
ws, would it not?'
'They're rather poor. I could pay them well.'
'Why not write to them?'
'I don't know their address.'
'I have it, but, before you put your suggestion to them, we had better find out what the legal position is.'
'The legal position? Oh, you mean consult grandfather's lawyers. Yes, I could do that, I suppose. They are the people who pay me my allowance.'
'I do not know whether that constitutes them your guardians under the terms of your grandfather's Will. Technically, of course, you are of age, but doubtless conditions will have been laid down for their guidance. That can be discussed later. As you will have guessed, I have sent Laura out on an errand, which will take her the rest of the morning to execute, so that you and I may have plenty of time for a chat.'
'What about?'
'Laura's niece told her of the conversation you had in her parents' house in Solihull.'
'Yes, I'm sorry about that. I'm afraid I interrupted her school work.'
'That is not my concern. Why did you confess to her that Romilly's story of your having thrown various articles into the sea was a true one?'
'Oh, that? I thought it might interest her.'
'It did. Where did you obtain the monkey?'
'Oh, I didn't, of course, or the cat or the baby doll.'
'How old were you when Willoughby became Felix Napoleon's secretary?'
'How old? I don't remember. I suppose I was about fifteen. We weren't living in Carlisle then. Grandfather never stayed long in one hotel. He said the staff got used to you, and the service became unsatisfactory and they thought they wouldn't get as much in tips as they did from people coming and going.'
'How old were you when Felix Napoleon adopted you?'
'I was ten when my father died.'
'Did you ever meet Hubert, Willoughby's brother?'
'Oh, yes. I told you. He conducted grandfather's funeral service and came back to the hotel to hear the Will read.'
'Did you know that he went to Italy?'
'Italy? No, I had no idea of that. To live, do you mean? But he's a clergyman.'
'He went out to take charge of an English church.'
'Oh, so that's why he didn't come to Galliard Hall.'
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