“He’ll be well gilded now. Rosie knows what she’s about.”
“I don’t think he was all that concerned with the gildings.”
“Everybody likes them. They make the wheels go smoothly round.”
“Do they?”
She looked at me sharply. “If you let them,” she said. “I know about Paul, of course.”
“What do you know?”
“That he is after you … and I don’t think you feel much like saying No to him either. But let me tell you this: I’ll never let him go. He married me. Look what he got out of it. He’s got to remember that.”
“He doesn’t forget that he’s married to you.”
“He’d better not. I shall never let him go. You’d better understand that.”
“I do understand it.”
“The best thing you can do is go up to Rosie. She’s fond of you. She’ll help you find a husband and then you won’t have need of someone else’s.”
“There is no need for you to talk in this strain. I understand the position perfectly. I am not looking for a husband, and if I went to London to stay with Jago and Rosie for a visit it would not be with such a hunt in mind.”
“I like your way of talking. Dignity, I suppose you call it. I suppose that is what he likes. Lady of the Manor and so on. Well, it’s not to be, because I’ll never let him go. He’s got the house and he has to take me with it. And that’s how it’s going to stay.”
I said: “Why don’t you try living amicably together?”
“What? With him hating the bargain all the time and trying to wriggle out of it?”
“If you look upon it as a bargain, you’ll never live serenely together.”
“Life’s what it is, Caroline. You take what you want and you pay for it. It’s no use niggling about the price when it’s all signed and settled.”
“I don’t think that is quite the way to look on marriage.”
“And if you go on like this it seems to me you’ll never have an opportunity of looking at it at all.”
“That is very probable,” I said, “and entirely my own affair.”
“Well,” she said, good-natured suddenly, “I didn’t come here to quarrel with you. I know it’s not your fault … or anybody’s fault. It just is. I came to talk to you about something else. As we said, I like to know what’s going on around me. Well, I thought I’d do a little tour of investigation. That’s what I’ve been doing.”
“Where?”
“In Scotland. I went to Edinburgh. I stayed with someone we used to know before we came south. Her father was a friend of my father’s. She married and went to live up in Edinburgh. I thought I’d look her up.”
“What made you do that suddenly?”
“It was something Rosie said. Rosie always had her ears open, I imagine. She’s like me in a way. That’s why we got on. We talked a lot together. I reckon she’s had a life of it. She mentioned this after we’d seen him.”
“Seen him?”
“Jamie McGill. I wanted to get some honey for her to take back to London with her and I said to her, ‘You won’t be able to buy anything like you can get from this man. He’s a magician with the bees and has conferences with them. He’s a little loose in the top storey.’ “
“I wish you wouldn’t talk about him like that. Sometimes I think he’s cleverer than any of us. He’s learned how to be contented and that’s about the wisest thing anyone can do.”
“Well, don’t you want to hear?”
“Of course.”
“I took her along. She was interested in the bees and in him and we stopped and talked awhile. When he left she asked what his name was, and when I told her she said, ‘McGill. I’m sure there was a McGill case.’ Well, as you can imagine, I was all ears. I said to her, ‘There’s always been a bit of a mystery about Jamie McGill. He won’t talk and he got a little fussed when I asked him a few simple questions … just the ordinary sort of ones you might ask anybody.’ Rosie said, ‘Well, I can’t be sure, but there was a case and I’m certain the name was McGill. There wasn’t a lot about it in the London papers because it happened in Scotland.’”
“I think it must have been something to do with his brother,” I said. “He did mention a brother to me once.”
“Yes … that’s right. Rosie remembered that this McGill had been involved in a murder case. She wasn’t sure what happened, but he got off. Then she remembered that it was because he got off that there was this bit of a stir about it. It was a verdict we don’t have here. ‘Not proven.’ That was why it was written about and Rosie remembered. Well, I felt ever so interested … but Rosie didn’t remember anything more.”
“Do you mean to tell me,” I said incredulously, “that you travelled up to Scotland to discover the secrets of Jamie McGill?”
She nodded, her eyes shining with mischief. “Though I’d have gone in any case if I’d known what a lovely little drama I was making here.”
“I believe you like stirring up trouble.”
She was thoughtful. “I’m not sure. I like to know … I always did. I like to find out what people are hiding.”
“And did you find out about poor Jamie McGill?”
“Yes. I talked to people who remembered, and you’re able to get some of the papers which came out years back. I stayed with my friend in Edinburgh and she took me about the town … showing me the ropes. As I said we found quite a number of people who remembered. It wasn’t all that long ago … only ten years or so. People remember these things.”
“Well, what did you discover?”
“It was Donald McGill. I thought it might be Jamie.”
“That,” I said coldly, “was what you hoped to discover.”
“But it was Donald. His brother didn’t come into it at all. There was no mention of him. Donald had murdered his wife.”
“I thought you said it was not proven?”
“I mean he was on trial for murder, but they couldn’t prove him guilty. She was found at the bottom of a staircase in their home. They had been on bad terms and there she was … dead. She had a blow on her head, but they couldn’t tell whether she had got it in falling or if it had been delivered before she was pushed down. That was why they had to decide and they couldn’t, so there was this verdict, ‘Not Proven.’ “
“Congratulations on your discovery,” I said.
“Well, at least you know about the man you employ.”
“But this was his brother.”
“It’s something he doesn’t want to come out.”
“I can quite understand why not. If anything like that happens in your family, I daresay you want to get away from it.”
“I had to know.”
“Well, now you are satisfied.”
“Yes, I’m satisfied now.”
“I hope you won’t go round talking about this. If Jamie wants to keep his secrets he should be allowed to.”
“I don’t suppose I shall say anything, and in any case it is only his brother. Now if he were the murderer …”
“You mean the suspected murderer. It was not proven as I have to keep reminding you.”
“If it had been Jamie that would have been different.”
“A great disappointment for you!”
“I’m still interested in him. I think there is something very odd about him.”
“I should leave him in peace if I were you.”
She looked at me, smiling. “You’re of much greater interest to me, Caroline. When I think of you … coming here, getting the estate and everything … and then getting your own back on Jeremy Brandon … and then falling in love with my husband … I must say there is never a dull moment with you, Caroline.”
“I am astonished that my life is so interesting to you. One thing I ask you. Please don’t upset Jamie by letting him know you have discovered his secret. Remember it is his.”