Annabel gazed at her.
“It’s all too horrid! Lucius has known Hubert for simply years. I can’t believe he would do anything like that. And as to anyone wanting to get Arthur Hughes into trouble-” She stopped suddenly. “Miss Silver, you didn’t mean anything worse than that! You didn’t mean that you thought anyone might have planned to have Arthur shot!”
She had a feeling that she was being looked through and through as Miss Silver said,
“Will you tell me why you should have the thought of that?”
Annabel found herself without the ability to keep anything back. She said,
“Lucius told me about Miss Paine and the men she watched in that picture gallery. She told you one of them was looking in her direction, and that she could read what he was saying. I have a cousin who is deaf and can lip-read, so I know it can be done. Lucius said she told you this man said that the plan was to shoot the messenger who went for the necklace. If-if that was what was meant, then-then someone in this house- No, it’s too dreadful!”
Miss Silver said with gravity,
“The person who used the snuff may not have known that the plan to steal the necklace included the murder of the messenger. There could have been merely a knowledge that the necklace was to be stolen, and either a desire to protect Mr. Garratt or a wish to discredit Mr. Hughes. Do you know of anyone who could have had such a motive?”
Annabel said in a rather distracted way,
“I don’t know. It’s all too difficult. Arthur wasn’t much liked. There wasn’t anything you could put your finger on, but he just didn’t fit in. Lucius didn’t mean to keep him on. He was making a nuisance of himself about Moira for one thing.”
“Did Mrs. Herne encourage him?”
Annabel made an odd but quite expressive gesture. Her hand came out palm upwards and empty. Yet there was a suggestion that she had something to offer.
“Oh, I don’t know. She does something to these boys. It doesn’t look like encouragement, but they go in off the deep end. Arthur Hughes had gone in off the deep end. I don’t think Moira had any use for him, but he couldn’t see it, and Lucius was getting annoyed. But all that is a long way off anyone wanting to get him into trouble.”
“Had he an idea that he had been badly treated?”
“By Moira? I don’t know. I daresay he had. You know, you are making me speak about her, and I didn’t mean to. I ought not to, because I don’t like her-I never have and I never shall.”
“And why do you not like her, Mrs. Scott?”
Annabel’s colour rose brightly.
“Because she doesn’t care for anything or anyone except herself-because she’s got a lump of ice instead of a heart-because she makes Lucius unhappy! There-you’ve made me say it!”
Miss Silver said,
“Pray do not distress yourself.”
Annabel looked back at her ruefully.
“I didn’t mean to say it, you know. Right up to the last moment before I came and knocked on your door I had made up my mind that whatever happened I wouldn’t breathe a word about Moira.”
“Half confidences are not very helpful.”
“No, they’re not, are they? I suppose it’s in for a penny in for a pound, and I don’t say it won’t be a relief to say what I really think, so here goes! She has been nothing but a trouble since she came into the family. When she married, I did think she would be off Lucius’ hands. He didn’t like Olly Herne. He was one of these ranting, bragging young men with a superiority complex if I’m to wrap it up, or plain swollen head if I’m leaving out the frills. He was a racing motorist, a perfect dare-devil in a car, and Moira fell for him. All Lucius could do was to tie up the money he had settled on her. Well, he crashed over a precipice.”
“During a race?”
“No, as a matter of fact he was off on his own. He and Moira had had a row, and he had left her planted and dashed off. It was rather frightful for her, because they had run out of money and she had to borrow to get home. The car was burnt out, so anything Olly had with him was lost. Moira turned up perfectly cool and said she didn’t want to talk about any of it. Lucius thinks that in a way it was a relief. Anyhow she never speaks of him, and she hasn’t got a photograph or anything. It might mean she cared more than we think, or it might mean that she just wanted to shut the door on Olly and not be bothered with him any more.”
It was plain to Miss Silver that the latter view was the one to which Mrs. Scott inclined.
Annabel threw out her hands and said,
“There! I’m being thoroughly catty, and I’ve enjoyed it! You know, I wouldn’t mind how many husbands she didn’t care about, or how many young men she played fast and loose with, if she had just one spark of feeling for Lucius.”
Miss Silver coughed mildly.
“Has Mr. Bellingdon any very deep feeling for her?”
Annabel looked startled.
“I don’t suppose he has-in fact I know he hasn’t. But he would have had if she had given him a chance, and she didn’t. Of course the whole thing started wrong-his coming home and finding her there like that. I don’t know how Lily dared. He must have been furious, and Lucius in a fury is something I shouldn’t like to have happen to me!”
Miss Silver’s busy needles stopped. She laid down her hands upon the pale blue shawl and said,
“My dear Mrs. Scott, you interest me extremely. Just why should Mr. Bellingdon have been furious?”
“Because Lily simply hadn’t any right to go behind his back and adopt a baby whilst he was over in the States on business. And I really don’t know how she dared!”
“Mrs. Herne is an adopted daughter?”
Annabel’s eyes widened.
“You didn’t know?”
“I had no idea.” She picked up her knitting again. “But surely-I did not think that an adoption could take place without the husband’s consent.”
“No, Lily couldn’t do it legally, but she had taken the child and she made a great play about Lucius being away so much and how lonely her life was, and in the end he gave in. If Moira had been different, he would have got fond of her-I’m sure he would. But it wasn’t a good start.”
Miss Silver said, “No.”
Chapter 15
SALLY FOSTER and David Moray arrived at Merefields next day in time for lunch. They travelled down together, David having discovered more or less by accident that Sally was to be a fellow guest.
“And why you didn’t tell me before, I can’t imagine.”
Sally smiled brightly.
“We can’t all have a lot of imagination. I daresay you do very well without it.”
He frowned.
“As if an artist could get on at all without imagination! I would have you know that I’ve as much as I want and a bit over!”
She laughed.
“Isn’t that nice, darling! No, consider that retracted-it just slipped out. I’m not to call you darling and you don’t like it and it means nothing. And we’re back where we were before I said it.” He went on frowning.
“And still I don’t know why you didn’t tell me you were going to Merefields. I told you I was going there as soon as I knew, and you never said a word.”
“Because I didn’t know. Moira only asked me yesterday.”
“Then why didn’t you tell me yesterday?”
“Perhaps I wanted it to burst on you as a lovely surprise.”
He said angrily, “We might actually have gone by different trains if I hadn’t happened to come down the stairs just as you were telling Mrs. Mount that you were going into the country near Ledlington, and that you didn’t want any letters forwarded because you would be back on Sunday night!”