Виктория Холт - The Black Opal

“Poor Adeline,” he said.

“Mrs. Marline was very angry and Adeline was terrified of her. Miss Carson comforted her and then she fainted. I suppose a great deal was clear to some of them. I was in a sort of mist. I knew certain things without realizing their significance.”

“It’s no use going back over it,” said Lucian.

“It’s finished. Nothing we can do can alter anything.”

“I know. And I didn’t mean to talk of it. It was all because of the opals and thinking they were unlucky … and it was just after that when Mrs. Marline died.”

“I told you everything pointed to Dr. Marline. It’s horrible and it’s all in the past. Tell me what happened to James.”

“Well, he hadn’t begun to search when I left. He will go soon, I believe. He would have gone long ago if it hadn’t been for the sundowner.”

“Would you like a liqueur to drink to James’s success?”

I declined and we sat there talking, though I could not forget the tragedy at Commonwood House. There was something else I wanted to know about. That was Lucian’s marriage, but I sensed his unwillingness to talk of it.

I was a little puzzled about him. There were moments when he seemed genuinely delighted to see me, and others when he seemed to find the encounter slightly disconcerting. Had that been when we talked of the happenings at Commonwood House?

I mentioned Gertie’s coming wedding.

He said: “You will obviously be here for some time. I get to London occasionally. Perhaps we could meet again. Give me your address. I suppose you will be there for a little time yet.”

“I am rather vague at the moment about what I shall do.

Gertie’s people are most hospitable, but obviously I can’t encroach on them for ever. I think they are certain to want me to stay until the wedding. However, I shall see. “

I wrote out my address and he carefully put it away in his wallet.

He ordered a fly and took me to the station. As the train moved slowly out of the station, he stood, hat in hand, looking after me rather wistfully, I imagined.

I sat back in my seat, thinking about this strange day. The derelict house, the shocking revelations, and my thoughts then turned to Lucian. Of course, he had known great tragedy. He seemed like a man with a secret. I wondered if that were so.

“The house in Brier Road doesn’t please Aunt Bee,” said Gertie.

“I think it is because the nursery is too small. It will only accommodate two infants and she is looking for at least ten. How was your visit?

Was it a success? “

I hesitated.

“So it wasn’t,” she said.

“It’s often a mistake to expect to find old acquaintances just as you left them. I know you vow eternal friendship when you part, but naturally you forget … and there’s nothing left really. Dear old Aunt Bee is going house-hunting with a vengeance.”

I could not stop thinking of that visit. Would it have been better if I had not gone? I was not sure. The revelation had been upsetting, but I should not have wanted to remain in ignorance, and it had certainly been exciting meeting Lucian.

I had been very fond of him in the past; he had been one of my heroes.

But I had always had an exaggerated fondness in those days for people who showed me any kindness. That was because Nanny Gilroy had always and Estella sometimes-impressed on me that I was of no importance.

I wondered if I should see him again. He had taken my address and seemed eager to, but when one was no longer at hand, people forgot such lightly given invitations.

When I thought back to the time when we had been together, I could not get out of my mind that, though in a way he had been pleased to see me, my visit had upset him in some way. I guessed it was something to do with what had happened at Commonwood. It had recalled things which were best forgotten.

Lawrence Emmerson was asked to dinner. Aunt Beatrice was a little transparent. Her delight in Gertie’s engagement was so obvious and it was clear too that she would like to see me happily settled. Dr. Emmerson was a good friend and, as she saw it, interested in me. He was perhaps a little old, but in every other way he was highly suitable and everyone could not be expected to do as well as Gertie had.

I hoped Dr. Emmerson was not aware of her thoughts.

We did not have much chance to talk together at the dinner-party, but he did ask me to lunch with him a few days later, and, as soon as we were seated, he said: “Some thing has upset you.”

I realized, of course, that he was referring to what I had discovered at Easentree and I was surprised that the effect on me was noticeable.

I told him about my visit.

He knew of the murder, although he had been abroad when it had taken place.

“The Captain’s sister was the victim,” he said, ‘and I had known your father for some years, often working on the same ship. I was naturally interested because of the family connection. It seemed a straightforward case. “

“I can’t think it was. Dr. Marline could never have committed murder.”

“You knew him well, of course. It is always difficult to believe these things of people we know. According to the evidence, there did not seem to be a doubt.”

“No … there must have been something … Miss Carson too.”

He shrugged his shoulders.

“It seems to have disturbed you. It’s a long time ago and …”

“The thought of his being hanged … nice, kind, Dr. Marline. It upset me.”

“Try to stop thinking of it. It’s over.”

“But I knew these people so well. My life was with them … in that house.”

“I think it was very wise of your father to act as he did. If you had heard the evidence, you would understand that there could be no doubt, however hard it is to accept it now. There was really no shadow of doubt.”

“It made a great impression on me. I was there in the house in those last months before … before … And I knew something was happening, but I wasn’t sure what. I was groping in the dark.”

“There are emotions and passions which a child could not possibly understand. It is all over. You must not be upset about it.”

“I have never really been able to forget Commonwood. It has always come back to me in flashes … and I would be back there. It was vivid and disturbing.”

“It was a disturbing situation and you were an innocent child right in the midst of it. It was not such an unusual situation, really. Unhappy marriage … invalid wife becoming more and more difficult to live with attractive governess. It was the classic setting for this sort of thing. My sister calls it the stock situation. She is interested in criminology. She has written a book about criminals and what makes the most ordinary people commit murder. You must meet her.

In fact, I have been meaning to ask you to dinner one evening. I shall ask your friend Gertie and the Hysons too. I have been their guest and owe them hospitality. “

“I am sure they will be delighted.”

“Dorothy was asking me only yesterday when I was going to invite you.

She’s looking forward to meeting you. “

The outcome was dinner at Lawrence’s house in Chelsea. It was one of those terrace houses on four floors, not far from the river.

Dorothy greeted me with interest.

“I’ve heard such a lot about you from Lawrence,” she said.

“That surely included the dramatic rescue at Suez,” I replied.

“Oh yes. What excitement!”

She was small and rather frail-looking, which was mis leading. I discovered her to be one of the most energetic people I had ever known. She was very interested in every thing that was going on, and it soon became clear that her brother was at the centre of that interest. She was very talkative and in a short time I knew that she had looked after their invalid mother for several years. There had been just the three of them the father having died when she was sixteen. She herself was some eight years older than Lawrence.

They had lived in the country and Lawrence had had a small place in London because of his profession, but when their mother died they had settled in London and Dorothy had given all her attention to her brother.

“I was a country girl,” she said.

“I do love the country.” She lifted her shoulders.

“It is necessary for Lawrence to be in London, so here we are, but we do have a little place in Surrey. I call it the cottage. It is not very far out, which makes it convenient for Lawrence to be there and within call of London. It is only a short journey on the train. Sometimes we get down for weekends. We have friends to stay. It’s a respite from Town and Lawrence works so hard.

I’ve got Tess here. She’s a marvel. She was with us in my mother’s day. We’ve got a couple down there. There’s a cottage in the grounds.

Well, grounds is a bit grand. Better say at the end of the garden. It works out very well. “

“You seem to have everything very cleverly arranged,” I said.

“It’s my job. You see, Lawrence’s work occupies him completely. His sort of work is so demanding. He needs relaxation. I just see that he gets it.”

“He’s lucky.”

She looked a little wistful.

“One day I expect he’ll settle down.

He’ll make a good husband. “

“He told me you are very interested in criminology.”

“Oh yes. In an amateur’s way, of course.”

“He said you had written a book.”

“About criminals through the ages. I’m particularly interested in those who have led quite normal lives and suddenly commit murder.”

“He may have told you about my connection with the Marline family.”

“Oh yes, Lawrence tells me most things. That case created a lot of attention at the time, but the outcome was clear right from the start.”

“Lawrence said you called it a stock situation.”

“It was. That dreadful woman. Well, by all accounts she was dreadful.

No one seemed to have a good word to say for her even the nurse, who was so much against the governess. More against her than against the doctor. It was absorbing while it was going on, but, as I say, there have been many others like it. “

“Which made it ” stock”,” I said.

“Yes. Then I knew that Lawrence’s friend Captain Sin clair was connected with the Marlines. He and Lawrence were often on the same ship, and I suppose that gave an added interest. What a charming man he was! I met him once.” She put her hand over mine.

“It was terrible for you. The connection, of course, made it doubly interesting to me.

I shouldn’t have taken so much notice otherwise, I suppose, for it was really a case of the classic murder. “

“I was brought up there and I just cannot believe that Dr. Marline was a murderer.”

She smiled at me.

“People often feel like that. Murderers are not necessarily the ordinary criminal. Something happens … and it is more than they can endure. If you saw the evidence you would realize …” She hesitated.

“I’ve just remembered.

I kept cuttings from the papers to show Lawrence when he came home.

I’ll find them for you sometime. “

She looked guiltily in the direction of the Hysons, her other guests.

I could see that she was wondering if she had neglected them.

After dinner, when we were drinking coffee in the drawing-room, Lawrence said to me: “You seem to get on well with Dorothy.”

“I like her very much.”

“I’m glad. She’s always looked after me.”

“Yes, she has been telling me about it. You two seem to have everything satisfactorily planned.”

“That’s Dorothy. She’s a great manager. It makes life comfortable. I can see she likes you. She takes strong likes and dislikes.”

She came over to us and Lawrence went to talk to the Hysons and Gertie. I heard them speaking of Australia.

Dorothy said to me: “Now that we have met, you must come again. It would be rather nice if you could have a weekend with us at the cottage.”

“I should very much enjoy that.”

“Do you think your friends would mind?”

“Oh no, no. As a matter of fact, I sometimes feel that I’m encroaching on their hospitality. You see, I’m there because I’m Gertie’s friend.

I sometimes think I ought to be making other arrangements. “

“You are not planning to go back to Australia yet?”

“No, not yet. But I think perhaps I have been letting things drift. I feel rather uncertain. When my father died …”