Trent stood up and gazed across the valley to the sunlit white peaks beyond. ‘I have visited Norway before, but never had such an interesting time. And now, before I return to the haunts of men, let me say again that I shall forget at once all that has happened today. Don’t think it was merely a vulgar curiosity that brought me here. There was once a supreme artist whose gifts made me her debtor and servant. Anything that happened to her touched me; I had a sort of right to go seeking what it really was that had happened.’
She stood before him in her coarse and stained clothes, her hands clasped behind her, with a face and attitude of perfect dignity. ‘Very well; you stand on your right and I on mine – to arrange my own life, since I am alone in it. I will spend it here, where it began. My soul was born here before it went out to have adventures, and it has crept home again for comfort. Believe me, it is not only that as you say, I am safe from discovery here. That counts for very much; but also I felt I must go and live out my life in my own place, this faraway lonely valley, where everything is humble and unspoilt, and the hills and the fjords are as God made them before there were any men. It is all my own, own land!
‘And now,’ she ended suddenly, ‘we understand one another, and we can part friends.’ She extended her hand, saying, ‘I do not know your name.’
‘Why should you?’ he asked. He bent over the hand, then went quickly from her. At the beginning of the descent he glanced back once; she waved to him.
Half-way down the rugged track he stopped. Far above a wonderful voice was singing to the glory of the Norse land.
Ja, herligt er mit Fodeland
Der ewig trodser Tidens Tand,
sang the voice.
Trent looked out upon the wild landscape. ‘Her fatherland!’ he soliloquised. ‘Well, well! They say the strictest parents have the most devoted children.’
Works by E.C. Bentley
Published by House of Stratus
Trent’s Last Case ISBN 075511583X and 0755103270
When a scheming American capitalist is found dead in the garden of his English country house, two immediate matters confound amateur detective Philip Trent: why is the dead man not wearing his false teeth and why is his young widow seemingly relieved at his death? The newly widowed Mabel Manderson – ‘the lady in black’ – has a disarming effect on the refreshingly fallible and imaginative Trent, in this classic detective story that twists and turns as a result of the irresistible combination of ingenious deductions and misplaced assumptions.
‘One of the three best detective stories ever written’ – Agatha Christie
‘It is the one detective story of the present century which I am certain will go down to posterity as a classic. It is a masterpiece’ – Dorothy L Sayers
Trent’s Own Case ISBN 0755103289
The murder of a sadistic philanthropist sparks off an elaborate investigation led by artist and amateur criminologist Philip Trent, who had been painting the portrait of the man who was murdered. Two subsequent murders and the disappearance of an actress provide subsidiary mysteries in this inventive tale, which sees Trent in an elaborate maze created by ingenious criminal schemes
Elephant’s Work ISBN 0755103238
When fed up and thoroughly peeved Chuny causes the train to crash, little does she know that her rage has sparked off a staggering chain of events involving an amnesiac who, in his quest to find a wanted criminal in order to resolve a case of mistaken identity, meets the formidable General de la Costa, learns a great deal about diamonds and becomes embroiled in an extraordinary affair involving the Bishop of Glasminster’s mitre. This classic ‘shocker’ was written at the suggestion of Bentley’s friend, John Buchan (The Thirty-Nine Steps).
Complete Clerihews ISBN 075510322X
In 1905, Edmund Clerihew Bentley published a volume of nonsense verse consisting of a series of four-liners designed to poke fun at distinguished personalities. Illustrated by Bentley’s lifelong friend, eminent critic and author G K Chesterton, they were known as ‘clerihews’ and became as popular as the limerick form. In Complete Clerihews the entire collection is presented, with original illustrations. The assortment of over 100 participants includes: Karl Marx, Jane Austen, Mussolini and Henry VIII.
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Trent Intervenes and Other Stories Page 23