“And never see you … or rarely!”
“There isn’t anything for us, Jake.”
“Nonsense. You love me. I love you.”
“It’s too late. Someone once said that life was a matter of being in a certain place when the time was right. The time was wrong for us.”
“My dear Jessica, we have to make it right.”
I shook my head. “It is impossible. I couldn’t hurt Edward. He relies on me. He has suffered. I can’t just use people like that.”
“He would understand.”
“Yes, he would understand. But understanding doesn’t make the hurt less. He would understand too well. I will never leave him.”
“And what of me? What of us?”
“We are two strong and healthy people. We have to live our own lives in the best possible way.”
“You are condemning us to a life of emptiness.”
“You have your daughter. She is an interesting girl. You could find great joy in her, and if she gives you her affection she can be fiercely loyal.”
“As she is to Jonathan. Who else?”
I shrugged my shoulders and he went on: “To you? To the people who did so much for her? I agree she is interesting. I should be happy to have her affection … if she deigned to give it. But it is not a daughter I crave for. It is you… my own love, my Jessica.”
“I can’t see a way out then. Perhaps in time it will be easier to bear.”
“I don’t intend to stand aside and let life use me.”
“What will you do?”
“I’ll find a way.”
“You frighten me a little when you talk like that. I think you could be rather ruthless.”
“I am sure you are right,” he said.
“There is no way… except by telling Edward, and I will never do that.”
“If he knew he would understand. It is unnatural for you to be condemned to such a life.”
“He is my first duty.”
“Your duty is stronger than your love?”
“In this case it has to be.”
He shook his head. “I will find a way,” he repeated.
Tamarisk came into the room.
“Are you talking about me?” she demanded.
“You always imagine people are talking about you. Do you think you are such a fascinating subject?”
“Yes,” she said and we all laughed.
When it was time to leave Jake said he would come back with us.
“That is not necessary,” I said. “I want to call in at one of the shops and we have not far to go.”
He stood at the door waving to us. I was deep in thought remembering his words. He had looked so determined when he had said he would find a way. What could he do? There was only one way: To go to Edward and ask him to release me.
I knew I could never be completely happy again if I did that. Edward would haunt me all the days of my life.
We had turned out of Blore Street when I saw a young woman, some yards ahead of us, hurriedly start to cross the road.
In a second Tamarisk was after her. The woman disappeared round a corner. Tamarisk followed.
What was she doing? I started to run. I did not want her to be alone in the streets of London. She knew her way to Albemarle Street, of course, but how inconsiderate of her to run off suddenly without a word.
I turned the corner. The woman was going into a building. Tamarisk went after her.
I ran as fast as I could.
Then I recognized the building. It was Frinton’s Club, that place of ill omen where Jonathan had lost five hundred pounds on his visit.
“Tamarisk!” I shouted. “Where are you going?”
I pushed open the door and went in. There was a hall carpeted in glowing red. The walls were plain white. A man was seated at a desk, staring after Tamarisk’s flying figure.
“Where are you … ?” he was beginning when he saw me … I ignored him. My eyes were on Tamarisk who was disappearing through a door which led from the hall. I followed.
There were people in the room—two men and several women. I stared in bewildered amazement. One of those women was our one-time parlourmaid, Prue Parker. But what a different Prue Parker! Her face was delicately painted and she was smartly dressed in a light navy coat trimmed with fur; her gloves were a delicate grey which matched her shoes. I realized that she was the woman whom Tamarisk had been following.
That was not all. The girl beside her was not unknown to me. On the other occasion when I had seen her she had been pretending to be blind. Yes, there with Prue Parker was the girl who had led me to that empty house.
But the greatest shock of all was the sight of the man who had risen from his chair and was staring at us as though he could not believe his eyes.
It was Peter Lansdon.
There was a silence, which seemed to go on for a long time. It was as though neither of us could believe what we saw and were trying to come to understanding in our bewildered minds.
He spoke first. “Jessica?” he murmured.
I did not answer. I looked from him to those two women.
“How … how did you get in here?” he stammered.
“We walked in,” I said.
“It’s no place for you.”
“No. I daresay not.”
“There are explanations I must give you.”
“Indeed … yes.”
He came towards me, quite calm now. Everyone else in the room was silent.
“I’ll take you and Tamarisk home,” he said.
Tamarisk cried: “I want to take her back.” She pointed at Prue. “She lied. She was the one … not Jonathan.”
“Yes, yes,” said Peter soothingly. “I’ve discovered everything. I’ll take you back and tell you all about it. Come along, both of you.”
I was summing up the situation. He was involved in this. He knew the blind girl; he knew Prue; he knew these clubs. They were not ordinary clubs, after all. Strange things went on in them. What had I stumbled on?
He took Tamarisk and me by our arms.
Tamarisk was shouting: “You’ve got to tell them. You’ve got to tell Grandpa Frenshaw. It wasn’t Jonathan. It was Prue. She ought to come back with us. She ought to confess.”
“Leave it to me,” said Peter. “I’ll explain everything. Jonathan shall be cleared.”
That satisfied Tamarisk.
I was silent, bewildered and incredulous.
We came out into the street.
He said: “I found the girl. I was trying to help her. She planned the whole thing … to compromise Jonathan. She had blackmail in mind of course.”
“It’s all right now,” said Tamarisk. “I wish Jonathan were here. When can we go home and tell him, and tell them all. I found her. Wasn’t it clever of me? I recognized her by the way she walked … because she looked different, didn’t she? But I knew her.”
We came to the house. Tamarisk ran in at once to tell David and Claudine what had happened.
They listened in a somewhat bewildered fashion while Peter explained calmly that he had discovered Prue Parker and confronted her. She admitted she was trying to compromise Jonathan so that she could extract money from him. Then she became frightened and had run away. Peter said he believed he was going to save her from a shameful existence. He had already found a post for her in a respectable household and had arranged to meet her at the club where she worked to tell her of her good fortune. He was there for this purpose when we burst in on them.
“I saw her,” repeated Tamarisk. “I recognized her, Jessica, didn’t I?”
“You were very sharp, Tamarisk.”
After they had marvelled at the story Claudine said she and David had to call on the Mattons, who particularly wanted to meet Tamarisk. “Will you come with us, Jessica?” asked Claudine.
I said I would prefer to stay at home.
So they went off and as soon as they had gone Peter came to my room.