“Perhaps she was very fond of Sir Edward and the shock of his death was too much for her.”
“Quite the reverse, I should have said. They weren’t exactly what you’d call a Darby and Joan. Oh dear me, no. There was differences between them … right up to the end, I can tell you. I heard them arguing something shocking. She was in tears. He was laying down the law. I couldn’t quite catch …”
I thought that was a pity, and so clearly did Maria.
“He died about the time of that shocking affair, didn’t he? I mean the killing in the farmhouse.”
“Oh yes … the murder. He was on his deathbed then. I don’t think he knew much about that, though. He was too far gone. Well, you wouldn’t go to a man on his deathbed and say, ” Your son’s been murdered and by the boy you brought into the house. ” I mean to say, nobody would tell him that. He didn’t know anything about it. Passed away soon after.”
“It’s a very strange case, don’t you think, Maria?”
“Well, murder’s murder whichever way you look at it.”
“I mean it was a very mysterious affair.”
“Jealousy, that’s what it was. He was jealous of Cosmo. Some said he was sweet on the present ladyship. Well, you’ve got to admit she’s a handsome body.”
“Very handsome. You told me that Sir Tristan was fond of her before his brother died.”
She winked and nodded.
“A funny business. But then love is a funny thing. She seemed all right with Cosmo. Well, she would be, wouldn’t she? But I reckoned it was all pretence. I could see there was something between her and Tristan. You feel it, you know. That’s if you know anything about such things.”
“I heard someone say she was very ill and went away for a few weeks and when she came back she was her old self.”
“I think that was just before the murder … just before. I noticed
she was beginning to look a bit… well, if she’d been married, I would have said she might have been expecting …”
“And when she came back … ?”
“Well, then it happened. It must have been a week or so after, as far as my memory takes me.”
“And then she married Tristan.”
“Well, it was some months after. They couldn’t rush into it quite as fast as that. It was fast enough, though.”
“Do you think she was relieved because she could have Tristan and the title and everything?”
Maria frowned. I thought: I’m going too far. I must be careful. Lucas warned me of this.
“Oh, I couldn’t say that. Mind you, I believe there was something between her and Tristan, so I suppose she’d rather have had him. Cosmo was one for throwing his weight about. He was the great Cosmo. He’d be Sir Cosmo one day … only he didn’t live long enough for that. The tenant farmers didn’t like him much. They liked Tristan better… so she wasn’t the only one. It was a quiet wedding. It had to be, didn’t it? Her ladyship was chuffed when they married, though. She thought such a lot of Mirabel. She’d wanted her for a daughter-in-law. You should have seen her and the Major together. Well, she’d always had a soft spot for him, hadn’t she?”
“Yes, I believe you said she had.”
“I knew that. Her ladyship’s mother was supposed to be her best friend but there was a bit of jealousy there. It was over the Major .. only he wasn’t a major then. I didn’t hear what he was … but he was always a bit of a charmer. Her ladyship was Jessie Arkwright then.
She used to talk to me while I brushed her hair. She was sweet on him just like her friend was. “
“You mean the schoolfriend who married him?”
Maria nodded.
“There was a time when I thought it would be Jessie who married him. But old Arkwright put his foot down, thought the charming young man was after Jessie’s fortune. I thought it was the schoolfriend he really wanted, but of course, like a lot of them, he had his eyes on old Arkwright’s money. Well, Jessie had had a lot of her own way, but where his money was concerned, old Arkwright had his own ideas. Jessie was not going to throw herself away on an adventurer who was after his money, he said. If she did marry him, there’d be no money. Poor Jessie was heartbroken, but she married Sir Edward, became Lady Perrivale and came down here. And the Major married the schoolfriend. That’s how it was. And then all those years later, when his wife was dead and he had a daughter herself married with a little girl, and he wrote renewing his friendship with her ladyship. She was over the moon with joy and wanted him to come down here. Seashell Cottage was found for them… and ever since, she’s looked on Mirabel as her daughter.”
“She wasn’t jealous because the Major had married her friend?”
“She’d got over that. The friend was dead and the Major was here.
She’s pleased to have Mirabel now as her daughter-in-law . and the Major’s always in and out. “
“And young Lady Perrivale’s fond of her?”
“Oh yes … well, it’s nice for the old lady. I remember how upset she was when Mirabel went away … that was before the marriage. She was really worried. I remember seeing a letter from young Lady Perrivale to her.
“Darling Aunt Jessie …” She had called her Aunt Jessie when she first came down and it never changed. I can see that letter now. She was staying at a place called . what was it? Oh, I remember. Malton House in a place called Bayswater in London. I remembered Malton because I was born close by. It’s near York. That’s why it stuck in my mind. When she came back, her ladyship made such a fuss of her. And then soon after that there was the murder . “
“It must have been a terrible shock for Lady Perrivale to lose her son like that.”
“Oh, it was … and Sir Edward dying at the same time. It was enough to finish her off. We were all surprised that she came through as well as she did. But it did something to her … her mind started wandering then, and there was all that prowling about at night.”
She went on to talk about the difficulties she had with Lady Perrivale and gave examples of her strange conduct, to stress the change in her after the tragedy.
While we were talking the Major arrived.
“Oh, hello. Major,” said Maria.
“Her ladyship’s fast asleep. Been prowling in the night again, I’m afraid.”
“Oh dear, dear. Nice to see you. Miss Cranleigh. You haven’t been over to see me lately. I must speak to Kate about that. I’ve told her to bring you any time you’re passing. You’re almost certain to find me in the garden.”
“Thank you. Major. I should like that.”
“Maria takes such good care of Lady Perrivale. What we should do without Maria, I do not know.”
“I don’t know what I’d do without her ladyship,” said Maria.
“We’ve been together so many years.”
I said that I would go as I guessed that when Lady Perrivale awoke she would be delighted to see the Major and would not want another guest to spoil her teteatete with him.
He said politely that he was sure she would be most disappointed to miss me.
“Oh, I can easily look in tomorrow.”
He took my hand and said: “Now, don’t forget. I shall expect to see you soon.”
When I went downstairs it was to find a message awaiting me.
It was from Carleton. It told me briefly that Lucas’s operation was to take place on the following Wednesday. It was then Friday.
A Visit to London
I had made up my mind that I was going to London. I wanted to be there when Lucas had his operation. I wanted to see him before it took place, so that I could assure him that I should be thinking of him all the time; and that I was praying that the operation would be successful.