‘And did the mistress support it?’
‘If silence indicates consent.’
‘It often does not,’ said Mrs Frost.
‘No, Mrs Frost, that is true,’ said Ainger. ‘And looking back, I am not sure that it did. That is why I debate the matter. I do not render less, because less is given. I do not see myself in that light.’
‘You can hold your tongue if you want to,’ said Halliday.
Ainger looked at him and just inclined his head.
‘There is no need for you all to sit in silence,’ he said, presently.
‘Everything is not to be referred to yourself,’ said Halliday.
‘This is,’ said Madge. ‘It is the hush of suspense. Suppose he does not tell us!’
‘There is no need to suppose it.’
‘None at all,’ said Ainger, cordially. ‘You need not meet trouble half-way.’
‘Trouble is too much of a word,’ said Halliday. ‘It is a trifling thing.’
‘Not to me,’ said Ainger. ‘It concerns those near to me and above me, a two-fold claim.’
‘Is the truth in any way derogatory?’ said Kate.
‘Not to my mind, Kate, with my knowledge. It rather moves a pitying smile.’
‘So it does,’ said Mrs Frost, with her eyes on his face.
‘Yes, Mrs Frost, I do not suppress it,’ said Ainger, illustrating the words. ‘It is the attitude that meets the case.’
‘So it is the master himself,’ said Kate.
‘Well, what else is there in Ainger’s horizon?’ said Halliday.
‘It is the chief thing, Halliday. I endorse it. He is the figure.’
‘Is it anything to do with his action?’ said Kate.
‘It throws light on it,’ said Ainger.
‘Wasn’t it what was thought?’
‘It was and it was not. That expresses it.’
‘Did someone else give him the tablets?’ said Madge.
‘That is not a line to pursue in this house. It refutes itself.’
‘Did he fail to judge the amount?’ said Kate.
‘I may say that he used his judgement, Kate.’
‘Did he take too little on purpose?’ said Mrs Frost.
Ainger inclined his head.
‘You have said it, Mrs Frost. He took what brought oblivion and gave the impression.’
‘What was that?’ said Madge.
‘That he wished to terminate his span on Earth,’ said Ainger, lowering his tone and his eyes.
‘What was his reason?’ said Kate.
‘There were reasons when you were near to him. They remain in their place.’
‘How did the truth come to light?’
‘The usual trivial thing. In this case the number of tablets remaining. They were found by one of the children.’
‘And we are to waste our pity!’ said Halliday. ‘I give it to other people and give him something else. A sorry course.’
‘The essence of sadness and helplessness, Halliday. The man of calibre at bay! It moves the heart like a child’s trouble.’
‘Well, he is. your child. Or was it your younger brother? When I have seen him, he has been something else.’
‘You are right that it is complex, Halliday.’
‘What does the mistress feel on the occasion?’ said Kate.
‘She takes the view to be expected, but violates nothing. And Mr Clare applied his touch in his own way.’
‘So the master had to appear in a sorry light.’
‘Strange to say, Kate, he did not do so. It was because he did not feel it. Nothing else was needed to prove him himself.’
‘Why did they want you all that time?’ said Halliday. ‘What could you do for them?’
‘They did not want me so much as assume my presence. I found it was taken for granted. And I could do nothing for them, Halliday. It was not the occasion. But something passed between us. I felt it going from me to them. My presence was not superfluous.’
‘You were a long time outside the door,’ said Simon.
‘And where were you?’ said Ainger, turning on him.
‘I came to see if I could help. But you were not doing anything.’
‘You are wrong. I was doing my duty, odd though that may seem to you.’
‘It may seem odd to him,’ said Mrs Frost.
‘Well, it will be a long time before his duty lies along that line.’
‘Mine has not done so yet,’ said Mrs Frost.
‘It might be said of all of us,’ said Kate. ‘But there are circumstances.’
‘The master will approve,’ said Ainger, on a satisfied note, ‘when I make use of easy reference. Indeed it has come to pass. It spares him words; it saves the shamefaced touch, and that I could not bear for him.’
‘You are birds of a feather,’ said Halliday.
‘Well, closeness tends to resemblance. I have heard it said. But when the gulf narrows, I establish it. The master may be trusted to me. I hold his position dearer than he does himself.’
‘Does Mr Clare know of your methods?’ said Madge.
‘Ah, there is not much that escapes that old gentleman. He and I have exchanged a look on the occasion. It would not be complete without one.’
The bell rang, and Ainger sped from the room with a startled look, as though fearing the meaning of the summons.
Chapter 12
‘Will you have some more coffee, Cassius?’ said Flavia.
Her husband made no reply.
‘Will you have some more coffee?’
Cassius indicated the full cup at his elbow and looked before him.
‘What do you see that we do not?’ said Mr Clare.
His son turned his eyes on him.
‘We see what we see,’ he said in a moment. ‘Some of us nothing; some of us more; some of us much.’
‘And to which class do you belong?’
Cassius turned on his father a smile of some kindness.
‘To which do you? We all see ourselves in some way.’
‘Only one class would be needed,’ said Flavia. ‘We should all choose the same. If this talk has anything in it.’
Cassius transferred the smile to her, and kept it on her for a moment. If the talk had not anything in it, the smile had. It carried tolerance, amusement, perception.
Ainger bent towards his master’s plate in concerned inquiry.
‘I have not touched that,’ said the latter, in an incidental tone. ‘It need not be wasted.’
‘No, sir,’ said Ainger, in neutral acceptance of this thrift, as he removed the plate.
‘Are you not having anything to eat, Cassius?’ said Flavia.
‘You can see I am not. I saw you notice it some time ago. It was not worth your while to speak of it.’
‘That would have ensured your having nothing.’
‘It has been proved, my boy,’ said Mr Clare.
Cassius vaguely drummed his hands on the table.
‘Would you like some fresh toast?’ said his wife.
Her husband turned his head from side to side.
‘What are you doing today?’
‘Doing?’ said Cassius, with a faint frown. ‘How do you mean? In what way am I making myself useful?’
‘In what way are you to pass your time?’
‘Time passes of itself,’ said Cassius, in a deeper tone. ‘It does not need our dealings with it.’
‘But it has them,’ said his father. We use it for all we do. How are you using it today? That is your wife’s meaning.’
‘Bailiff; tenants; gardener,’ said Cassius, just enunciating the words.
‘And they are wearing you out?’
‘I suppose they do their part towards it day by day.’
‘If I may interpolate, sir,’ said Ainger, ‘they may not be available this morning. The flower show in the village will engross their attention.’
‘They will come to me if I want them.’
‘Yes, certainly, sir.’
‘It is not a public holiday.’