As the trap drove up, a young woman appeared on the porch and ran down to greet us. I knew her at once and felt a rush of emotion. Adeline!
She stood still, looking at us. She had aged very little with the years. Her wide, innocent eyes had retained their youth. She must be thirty, but she looked no more than seventeen.
She skipped towards us as a child might. Indeed, I believed Adeline had remained a child at heart. She seemed happy and serene.
A man came out of the stables and took the trap. He touched his forelock to us.
“Thank you, Thomas,” said Kitty. And then: “Adeline. Well, you two know each other.”
Adeline had run to me. She stood there, smiling shyly. I took both her hands and kissed her.
“Adeline,” I said.
“I am so pleased to see you.”
“It’s Carmel,” she said and laughed.
“Yes,” said Kitty.
“Carmel is going to stay with us for a few days.
Won’t that be nice? “
Adeline nodded, and we went into the house.
The hall was spacious and there was an oak chest on which stood a bowl of flowers, arranged, I guessed, by Kitty. A man came into the hall and I knew at once that he was Jefferson Craig. He stooped a little and walked with some difficulty, but the eyes that met mine were among the most alert I had ever seen. They were brown under bushy grey brows and his hair was thick and almost white. He was an old man, but he certainly had a great presence.
He said: “I am so glad you have come to see us. Kitty has been talking of you ever since she came back from your meeting, so you are not exactly a stranger to me. I look forward to getting to know you better.”
“Thank you, and I do not think of you as a stranger either … for I have heard a great deal about you.”
“I shall take her to her room, Jefferson,” said Kitty.
“We’ll get together for lunch. How’s that?”
“Excellent. I’m looking forward to it.”
“So … be with you shortly.”
He nodded and went back to the room which I presumed was his study.
Adeline had slipped her arm through mine.
“Kitty,” she said, “I want to show Carmel her room first.”
“Go ahead, then,” said Kitty.
With the delight of a child, Adeline took my hand. She whispered:
“It’s next to mine.”
“That’s very nice,” I replied.
She was leading me on ahead of the others. Kitty was smiling. Life must have been very good for Adeline since she had gone to Kitty.
There was no doubt of her happiness. I thought how different it had been for her at Commonwood, when all the time she had been terrified of encounters with her mother.
Adeline turned and said to Kitty: “I want to take her through mine first. Kitty.”
“Well,” retorted Kitty, “I don’t suppose she will mind the extra journey.”
I could see that Adeline had not grown up at all. She was still the child she had been all those years ago.
She opened a door and went in, standing aside for me to follow. It was a bright room and I noticed immediately the door which opened on to the balcony. There was a single bed with a blue carpet, a dressing-table and a mirror. On the wall hung many pictures. They were all colourful scenes of happy family life. It was a young girl’s room and it was clear from the manner in which she was watching me that she expected me to exclaim in admiration at it.
“It is lovely,” I said, and I thought how different it was from her room in Commonwood House, with its lofty ceiling and heavy furniture.
This was light and full of colour. Adeline must be very happy now.
She beckoned me to the window.
“Come,” she said, and I followed her on to the balcony. There was a pleasant view of the garden. I looked over the railing. Below was a stone patio with tubs of flowering plants.
Then she took my arm and, glowing with pride, showed me that the balcony extended to the next room, which was to be mine.
She went to it and beckoned to me.
“Carmel,” she said, ‘this is your room. You see, we have the same balcony. If you leave your door open and I do the same with mine, we can call on each other this way. “
“That’s very convenient,” I said.
We had stepped into my room. It was very like Adeline’s, but there were only two pictures on the wall.
The door opened and Kitty came in with Edwina.
Kitty said: “We are going to leave Carmel to hang up her clothes and wash her hands. Then we shall have lunch.” She smiled at me.
“Is everything all right, Carmel?”
I assured her that it was, and she went on: “We shall be in the garden when you are ready.”
“I’ll bring Carmel down,” said Adeline.
“I can see you are going to have a guardian angel,” commented Kitty.
“I’ll be your guardian angel, Carmel,” cried Adeline.
“Thank you,” I replied.
They left me. There was a basin and ewer in a small alcove and I washed. Then I unpacked and hung up the few things I had brought with me.
I was feeling a little apprehensive, wondering what their reaction would be when they heard what I had to tell them. I was eagerly waiting for an opportunity to do so. It would not be possible, of course, in the presence of Edwina or Adeline.
I suddenly felt as though I were being watched. It was an uncanny feeling.
I swung round. Adeline was standing at the door to the balcony.
“Hello, Carmel,” she said, as though we had not seen each other for some time.
“I shall take you down,” she said.
“I’m not quite ready yet.”
She came into the room and sat on the edge of the bed.
“Where have you been?” she asked.
“In Australia.”
She wrinkled her brows and repeated: “Australia?”
“It’s on the other side of the world.”
“Why?”
“Why is it there or why was I there?”
“You,” she said.
“Well, I was taken there a long time ago.”
“When we went.”
“Yes, about that time.”
“It was horrible. I hated it.” Her face suddenly distorted in fury.
“Then I came to Kitty.” In half a second, she had changed from hatred to sheer joy.
“It’s very good now,” I said.
“I am so glad you came to Kitty, Adeline. That must have been wonderful.”
She nodded. Then she said: “Why did you come here?”
“I met Kitty and she asked me.”
She nodded again, as though she were satisfied about something which had troubled her.
“Shall we go down?” I suggested.
“I am ready now.”
Kitty and Jefferson Craig were in the garden. Edwina was with them. We sat and talked for a time about the journey and my friends in London and Australia. I was getting impatient. I think Kitty was aware of this, for she smiled at me, as though to say there would be plenty of opportunity to talk later.
We had an enjoyable lunch. There was a maid, Annie, who waited at table and I discovered that the cook-housekeeper had been in Jefferson’s employ for many years. So they lived comfortably, but not ostentatiously.
It was not until after the meal that the opportunity came to talk to Kitty and Jefferson. Edwina had taken Adeline off somewhere and the three of us sat under the oak tree, looking across the lawn to the house. That was the moment, and I lost no time in telling them about Lucian’s confession.
Jefferson was very interested.
“Poor young man!” he said.
“What a dilemma! And he has carried the burden of guilt for a long time. One can see exactly how it happened.
He jolted the table, the pills were scattered over the floor, the fearsome Mrs. Marline would be wheeled in at any moment when she would discover him in her bedroom. He falls into a panic. His one aim is to get the pills back and escape. Well, I would say it is just possible, but highly improbable that he was responsible for the woman’s death.”