‘I don’t know what you are talking about.’
‘I am sure you do. For some reason the combination of a corrida and a bull stuck in my mind. Then – then I suddenly remembered that at that same party Stella’s daughter went into a sulk because there was no Red Bull among the drinks on offer.’
‘What’s that got to do with anything?’
‘Red Bull again, see? The champagne was for you, the Red Bull for Moon, correct? A bit later several other things clicked into place-’
Antonia paused as her husband, looking extremely smart in a dark blue blazer and very dark grey trousers, sauntered into the room. She felt herself relaxing. She had no doubt that Hugh would be equal to knocking Morland out should the latter decide to turn nasty at some point in the proceedings.
Major Payne gave an amiable nod in the direction of their visitor and mimed to Antonia, as though to say, Carry on, carry on, don’t mind me, it’s your pigeon. He then stood beside the cocktail cabinet in a posture that brought to mind a fielder in a cricket match alert for the ball. She saw him glance at Morland’s hands. Was Hugh considering the possibility of their visitor launching a sudden attack?
‘When I was at your sister’s – you were at the zoo at the time – Julia received a phone call. The call came from the Corrida Hotel. Apparently,’ Antonia said, ‘there was something wrong with your card. A sum that needed to be paid. The Corrida Hotel again, you see? And then Julia mentioned the fact that you were moving out – that you had bought a Regency house in Chelsea. You’d told her you and Moon were going to live together?’
‘These are private matters. Julia had no business to talk about it to you,’ Morland said stiffly.
‘You had hinted that you intended to adopt Moon. Julia thought Moon might be your biological daughter. I suspect you encouraged the notion. It made any apparent closeness acceptable. What more natural than a father and daughter sharing a house together after the mother’s tragic death?’ Antonia paused, but he remained silent. ‘Julia said something else, which also fitted in with the theory that had started forming in my mind. She told me that Stella had commented on the fact that – that-’
Payne cleared his throat. ‘Care for a drink, Morland? Or is it too early?’
‘No, nothing.’ Morland glared at Antonia. ‘What had Stella been commenting on?’
‘She-’ Antonia bit her lip. She didn’t quite know how to put it. Why was sex always such a ticklish subject? Why was she such a prude? But there was no way round it. Sex after all was at the very heart of this affair.
‘Stella was a bit concerned about your lack of ardour. She found your attitude towards her a little too “decent”, a little too “gentlemanly”.’ How idiotic this sounded! ‘She feared she might be abandoned at the altar. I found myself wondering about the true nature of your relationship with her. You left Melisande for Stella. You asked Stella and her daughter to move in with you. You were planning to marry Stella. You were at great pains to convey the impression that you were smitten with her-’
‘I was smitten with her.’
‘I am inclined to doubt that,’ said Antonia. ‘So, I asked myself, why would you want to play the impetuous lover if you didn’t really care about Stella? Why were you so keen on marrying her? I puzzled about the urgency in particular. The only explanation that presented itself was that it wasn’t Stella you were after, but her daughter.’ Antonia’s eyes were once more on Morland’s hands. ‘You were mad about Stella’s daughter.’
‘You are a raving lunatic,’ said Morland.
‘Her fifteen-year-old daughter.’
‘You told me she was sixteen and a half, Morland. With hindsight, I believe you felt uncomfortable revealing her real age to me,’ said Major Payne. ‘That can be interpreted as guilty conscience, you know.’
‘You wanted to marry the mother, so that you could have permanent easy access to the underage daughter,’ Antonia went on relentlessly. ‘A difficult, troubled, somewhat delinquent girl. You had already started an affair with her – while making everybody believe that you disliked each other… I assume your trysts were held at various hotels?’
‘You had no business to pry into my affairs. It’s scandalous that you should have eavesdropped on Julia’s telephone conversations. It’s an absolute outrage. I have a good mind to report you to the police.’
Antonia shrugged. ‘There was only one telephone conversation and I didn’t eavesdrop. I just happened to be there when Julia answered the call.’
‘You – you actually set a trap for me. Who do you think you are? Haven’t you got anything better to do? You went to the Corrida Hotel and paid my bill. They told me it was my sister, but it was your name – Antonia Darcy – that was on their computer. You introduced yourself as my sister! You had the gall to impersonate my sister. Don’t you know that that’s a criminal offence punishable by law?’
‘I expected a reaction from you, which I have now got.’
‘You don’t have a scrap of evidence,’ said Morland. ‘It’s all a theory. Nothing but a wild hypothesis. Parlour games. Red Bull and champagne!’ Morland laughed but it wasn’t a particularly convincing performance. ‘Complete and utter bull!’
‘I spoke to a chambermaid at the Corrida Hotel. She told me you arrived with a dark-haired girl wearing a long black coat that didn’t look too clean. You booked a room-’
‘Those foreign girls would do anything for money! They’d say exactly what you want them to say! How much did you give her? I am sure you bribed her. Lies, all lies! Moon was not-’ He broke off.
‘She wasn’t wearing the chinel?’ Antonia gave a little smile.
‘Watch out, Morland. You keep giving yourself away, you know,’ Major Payne said.
‘As a matter of fact, you were captured on camera. You and Moon. There are security cameras in the hotel lounge. The manager let me see the recordings,’ Antonia went on bluffing boldly. ‘The police saw them too.’
‘The police? You mean you’ve contrived to get the police involved in this nonsense? You don’t honestly expect me to believe the hotel manager allowed you any access to their security cameras? I think you are the greatest liar who ever lived. D’you often play games with people’s lives?’ His hand went up to his chest. Antonia hoped he wouldn’t have a heart attack and die in their drawing room. ‘Even if it is as you say and we were caught on camera, what proof is there that any “impropriety” ever took place? It’s not as though we’ve been caught in flagrante, is it?’
He was no fool, Antonia thought. There was another pause.
‘I am planning to adopt Moon,’ Morland said in a thoughtful voice. He sounded almost calm now. ‘Poor girl, she’s got no one in the world. I was very much in love with Stella. I adored Stella. I was devastated when she died. I propose to take good care of Moon. I feel it’s my duty.’
So that was going to be his line. A good lawyer, if it ever came to that, would be able to get him off without any particular difficulty, Antonia reflected.
‘I needed to talk to her in private. She can be difficult, she doesn’t really like me, so I thought a change of location might be conducive to a constructive discussion about the future, hence the hotel,’ Morland went on. ‘Moon’s never been anywhere near the Villa Byzantine. That handkerchief was not hers. She has nothing to do with any of this lunacy… I don’t know what I’m doing here. I really don’t. Wasting my time. I’m going. I’ve had enough.’ Somewhat shakily Morland rose to his feet.
Antonia said, ‘Stella’s death was a direct consequence of your affair with Moon.’
‘There are very strict libel laws in this country, Miss Darcy, as I’m sure you are aware,’ he said with a ghastly smile.
‘Stella died minutes after she tumbled to the fact that you and her daughter were having an affair. There were letters. Stella found them. She read them.’