03 - Murder at Sedgwick Court Page 8

  ‘He works too hard,’ she said to Rose, ‘but he won’t be told.’

  They made their way to the formal gardens, which looked rather bleak in winter, there being a dearth of flowers in bloom to brighten the landscape. Only the marigolds seemed to be thriving, shining bright orangey-yellow in the thin winter sunshine. How wonderful it would be to see the gardens in the spring and summer, Rose thought, when they would be at their best. She wondered whether she would be invited, if Lavinia had her way.

  To Rose’s relief, Vera appeared on good form, chattering happily about Theo’s work in the village and her own charitable work.

  At length, Vera declared: ‘I daresay I took what Lavinia said last night too much to heart. She does love to shock and say things are black when they are quite obviously white. I can’t think where she got that ridiculous idea that Theo was in love with Emmeline, or she with him come to that.’

  Rose decided to say nothing. If Vera had resolved to bury her head in the sand, then who was she to make a fuss? Far better that than Vera try and put the cat among the pigeons as she had done the previous evening. While a part of her thought that the adoption of such an approach should at least make for an agreeable and peaceful evening, another part of her wished that Vera would confront Theo in private to determine his feelings for Emmeline, and to persuade him to rein in his caddish behaviour.

  Poor Vera, Rose thought, as they wandered rather aimlessly around the gardens. They happened to be talking about the latest church bazaar that Vera had become involved with and the poor quality of the clothes donated, when they rather unexpectedly came across Jemima and Felix sitting on a stone bench overlooking the rose garden. Due to the positioning of the bench and the fact that the two were seated facing away from them, the two women were placed in the rather uncomfortable position of being able to observe Felix and Jemima while themselves being unobserved.

  If they were tempted to make their presence known, then the intimate manner in which Felix and Jemima were sitting together, hands clasped tightly and talking earnestly and quietly to one another, rather deterred them from doing so. The most discreet and appropriate course of action seemed to be to change course, and this is what the two women did, but not before they had caught a few words of Felix and Jemima’s conversation.

  ‘I’ll be absolutely miserable in London without you, Jem. If only I didn’t have to make my own way in life. I daresay I can make a reasonable living in the legal profession if I put my mind to it, but it will be a few years before I can support a wife. Will you wait for me, do you suppose? Is it too much for me to ask of you? Tell me it isn’t?’

  ‘I’ll wait, Felix, although Scotland is so very far from London. We’ll write of course, but we’ll hardly see one another.’

  ‘Oh, I don’t think I can bear it,’ groaned Felix, putting his head in his hands. ‘I say,’ he looked up suddenly, ‘couldn’t you get a positon in London? It would be too horrid and beastly for words if I never saw you. I’m afraid that it might take me years and years to make a go of it in the law. Of course, I’ll try, really I will – ’

  ‘What if, ’Jemima interrupted, speaking slowly, ‘we didn’t have to wait? What if I could get my hands on some money now, what then?’

  Vera and Rose did not hear any more of their conversation, or indeed how Felix had answered Jemima’s question. The scene they had just witnessed made Rose think of Cedric and the many intimate words that they had exchanged. How she wished that he was walking beside her now and that they could escape to some secluded part of the grounds to exchange confidences.

  ‘Poor things. They seem very much in love, don’t they?’ Vera said, obviously moved by their plight.

  Rose wondered whether it made her think of her dwindling relationship with Theo. She could not imagine that he had ever spoken to Vera so tenderly, particularly given the way he had snubbed her company this morning. Perhaps Vera was thinking the same thoughts, certainly she appeared on the verge of tears.

  ‘Let’s walk on to the lake,’ suggested Rose hurriedly.

  She thought it unlikely that they would encounter anyone there other than the odd gardener or estate servant. In this however, she was to be sadly mistaken.

  As soon as she heard the first sounds of laughter, Rose knew they should turn back. Vera, however, thought otherwise and quickened her stride.

  ‘Vera, no …’ But Rose’s words trailed off into silence.

  The effect of her words seemed only to encourage Vera onward. For there was now a grim, determined look on the woman’s face that indicated she would not be swayed. Indeed, if anything, she increased her pace so that Rose was now running to keep up with her. For a moment Rose wondered whether to shout out some form of a warning, to give the others sufficient time to disappear, or at the very least, stand apart. But she had hesitated for too long and now it was too late. For Vera had turned the corner so that the hedge that had obscured her vison was now behind her and the inevitable scene, the one that she had both most feared and obdurately refused to believe was possible, was now playing out before her eyes.

  Rose turned the corner and saw the scene as if through Vera’s eyes. The man was Theo Harrison, but not the staid country doctor that she knew. He might resemble him physically but there the similarity ended. This man seemed relaxed and younger, and was playfully chasing Emmeline Montacute beside the lake, he laughing, she giggling and shrieking hysterically, as if it were all the most marvellous game. And for them it was, because even as the two women looked on, Emmeline stopped running and turned and Theo catching up with her, pulled her towards him until they collapsed into each other’s arms.

  Rose tore her eyes away from Theo and Emmeline and looked at Vera, who was trembling and staring in disbelief. For a moment, Rose did not know whether Vera was going to faint or march over and confront her fiancé. But in the end she did neither. For the doctor and the heiress, with eyes only for each other, and thus totally oblivious to the presence of the interlopers, had walked on. Vera, after staring at their retreating backs a moment, clenched her hands and, ignoring Rose completely, turned on her heel and ran back to the house, every now and then stumbling blindly, but nevertheless persistently carrying on.

  Chapter Nine

  ‘Careful, Vera, you’ll break that glass if you’re not careful,’ Lavinia said, ‘they are rather precious, you know. They’ve been in the family for generations, haven’t they, Ceddie? By the way, is your headache better, Vera? You must be awfully hungry missing luncheon. I did ask cook to send up a tray, but when it came back, she said it had been barely touched.’

  ‘I’m afraid I wasn’t very hungry. I feel better now, though,’ answered Vera, staring forlornly at a bit of the carpet. They were standing in the drawing room having cocktails before dinner. It was the first time that she had come down from her room since the incident at the lake and, although Rose was relieved to see her, Vera had barely spoken a word, and seemed unnaturally calm given the circumstances. Lavinia, having done her hostess duties as she perceived them, seemed unconcerned and taking Rose by the elbow steered her to another part of the room out of earshot.

  ‘Really, Rose, Vera is being very silly. If Theo were my fiancé, I wouldn’t put up with such behaviour.’

  Rose blushed and was glad that, with the exception of Cedric, she had told no one about the scene at the lake.

  ‘He’s making a fool of her,’ Lavinia carried on. ‘If I were Vera I wouldn’t stand for it. I’d take him aside and tell him what’s what. But knowing Vera she won’t do that. She’ll just look at him with those sad, doleful eyes and be a martyr, or else things will get too much for her and she’ll cause a scene which will be very embarrassing for all of us. And Theo won’t think any the better of her for it. She’ll drive him away.’

  Unlike Lavinia, Rose felt more sympathetic towards Vera and her plight. As she stood regarding her she was aware of a tangible tension in the room, which seemed to emanate from the woman like a perfume. Vera had moved and was now
standing at the very edge of the room, on the periphery between the drawing room and the hall as if she were in two minds whether to come back in or turn around and walk back to her room or out of the house. She was staring fixedly at Emmeline and clutching at the top of an occasional table positioned just inside the door, having abandoned the wine glass which stood discarded on the table. Her hands were clenched, Rose noticed, and her knuckles had gone quite white.

  How highly strung she is, Rose thought. It won’t take much to send her over the edge. She’s like a spring that is waiting to unravel, and instinctively she moved towards her and took Vera’s hand before she could do damage to the table top with her fingernails.

  For a moment, Vera just stared at her, a blank expression on her face as if she did not know where she was, or what she was doing. Perhaps she saw in Rose a kindred spirit, or a compassionate one at least, for the next moment she was venting the emotions and feelings that she had been keeping bottled up inside her all day.

  ‘Look at her! You have to applaud her, don’t you? The way she manages to keep them all enthralled. Why, they’re hanging on her every word. Even that strange fish, Felix, is rather taken with her I fancy. And look how much she is enjoying all the attention. I think that’s the worst of it, don’t you? You’d think she’d be used to it by now, wouldn’t you? Instead she behaves like a child let loose in a sweetshop. Men must flock to her wherever she goes. Beauty and wealth, what a very winning combination. Do you ever feel how unfair it all is for women like us, Rose? How can we possibly compete with the likes of Emmeline Montacute?’

  ‘Vera …’

  ‘And she has Theo quite bewitched. Just look at the way he is looking at her. Oh, it’s enough to make one sick, it really is. Before she arrived, Theo and I were quite content you know, in a quiet, unassuming sort of a way. She doesn’t care that he and I are engaged to be married and have been for simply ages. She doesn’t care that he’s mine. That doesn’t bother her at all. Perhaps it amuses her, to take a man away from another woman. And it is not as if she will want anything to come of it. She won’t want to marry a country doctor, or even a fashionable doctor, come to that. Oh, if only Theo were not so very weak. I-I don’t think I can bear much more of this.’ Vera snatched her hand away from Rose’s and stifled a sob by putting her handkerchief to her mouth.

  Rose looked around quickly. All the while Vera had been talking, her voice had been rising and becoming shriller. However, standing apart from the others as they were, no one else appeared to have noticed. Or at least if they had, they were pretending not to have done. How wretched Vera looked. Her unhappiness was making her ill. It can’t go on like this, Rose thought, Vera becoming more miserable by the hour. She felt annoyed with Theo Harrison for putting his fiancée in this position. How could he behave so inconsiderately? Could the doctor really be so mesmerised by Emmeline Montacute that he was oblivious to the distress he was causing to the woman to whom he was engaged? The sooner Cedric spoke to Theo the better, and Rose made a mental note to remind him after dinner.

  ‘Theo is behaving very badly,’ she said aloud to Vera. ‘He must realise how unhappy he is making you. But if you are so very miserable, must you bear it? Why don’t you think up some excuse and leave? If you hate it all so very much, why stay?’

  ‘Must he? I don’t know. I don’t believe he realises and even if he did, I don’t think he cares. And we don’t discuss such things, he and I. It’s all rather awkward, you see, and then again I can’t seem to get a moment alone with him. She’s always there. It’s as if he’s forgotten I am here, as if I’ve faded into the background and he can’t see me. Perhaps I have become invisible to him. Do you think so? I couldn’t bear it if I had. Oh, I know that the sensible thing would be to leave, but I just can’t do it, I tell you, I can’t. And while I’m still here, there’s a possibility that he’ll come to his senses, isn’t there?’

  Vera turned away to stare at Theo and Emmeline. Her timing was unfortunate in that she caught them at that moment being particularly flirtatious towards each other. Emmeline had her hand on Theo’s arm as if she were trying to draw him towards her, and she must have spoken to him very quietly for he bent his head towards her as if trying to catch her words. She giggled suddenly and Theo grinned. Vera flinched as if she had been struck. She spat out her next words through clenched teeth, saying them with such hatred and fury, that they sent a shiver down Rose’s spine.

  ‘How can they? I hate them, I tell you I hate them! I wish they were dead!’

  Looking around desperately, Rose noticed that Lavinia too was bristling around the edges, for the count also appeared a little taken by Emmeline. Unlike Vera, Lavinia was not content to remain on the edges, but instead did her best to infiltrate the little group of Emmeline, Theo, the count and Felix, and to some success. The count immediately switched his attention to include her and soon her laughter filled the air to rival Emmeline’s. And all the while Vera looked on and sought refuge in her glass rather than following Lavinia’s example and joining in.

  Once dinner was over, Lavinia had given the signal for the ladies to depart the dining room and leave the men to their port and cigars before they joined the women in the drawing room for coffee. Cedric had always enjoyed this time after dinner. It was an opportunity for the men to relax and talk more easily and freely among themselves, and on subjects of little interest to the women. This weekend, however, was different and he sighed, for he had found that the present company of men, consisting only of the three of them as it did, was not inclined to linger in the dining room.

  For one thing the count seemed disinterested in male company and conversation, and Harrison too, who had in the past enjoyed this tradition of male camaraderie, appeared eager now to re-join the ladies as soon as was politely possible. As a consequence, the business of cigars and port was unusually rushed and, after a short while, the port was carried into the drawing room.

  Tonight, though, Cedric was keen to prolong the ritual in so far as the doctor was concerned. Breaking with tradition he suggested to Count Fernand, who looked distinctly bored at the prospect of staying behind, that he re-join the ladies. It was Cedric’s intention that he and the doctor would follow shortly. As Theo Harrison looked at him quizzically, Cedric played over in his mind what he wanted to say and the approach to take. It seemed to him that he was obliged to adopt the role of the older man, even though in reality Theo was probably some eight or ten years his senior. He sighed. The whole business was going to be damned embarrassing and awkward for both of them, but he supposed he was resigned to that.

  Cedric rose from his seat and began pacing the room so that he would not be obliged to look the other man in the eye. He also felt that by standing while the other man was seated gave him the upper hand.

  ‘Look here, Harrison,’ Cedric began, without preamble, as soon as they were alone. ‘I daresay you’ll think it none of my business and all that, and I feel dashed embarrassed raising it, but anyone can see you’re infatuated with Emmeline Montacute, and that it’s making Vera damned miserable.’

  ‘Now, look – ’, began Theo angrily, going a deep shade of crimson.

  ‘I appreciate that under normal circumstances it would be none of my business what you get up to,’ Cedric interrupted hurriedly, having anticipated that the doctor would make attempts to protest. ‘But while you’re staying in my house I’ll ask that you refrain from making Vera upset. I will not have my guests made miserable.’ He glanced at the ceiling a moment, before carrying on quickly in case he lost his nerve. ‘And besides, Vera is an old friend,’ he paused, ‘as of course are you.’ He sighed. ‘Dash it all, can’t you see how it’s putting everyone on edge? For goodness sake, Harrison, think what you’re doing. Is Emmeline Montacute really worth losing your head over?’

  ‘I suppose you think I should concede defeat now and throw in the towel,’ Harrison answered, bitterly. ‘I would have thought you of all people, in love with a shop girl as you are, might appreciate how
it is to love outside your station.’

  ‘I do,’ replied Cedric coldly, resenting the way in which the doctor had referred to Rose. ‘But I’m not engaged to marry someone else. I’m not saying that nothing can come of it, of course I’m not, but what I am saying is that you must consider Vera in all this. If you feel so strongly about Emmeline then you owe it to Vera to tell her and break off your engagement.’

  Theo glared at the table, and clutched the bottle of port with one hand, his face white with barely concealed fury.

  ‘Are you aware that Vera saw the two of you down by the lake this morning?’ continued Cedric more gently. ‘How do you think that made her feel? Why do you think she’s kept herself shut up in her room all day?’

  ‘She s-saw us? Oh, my God!’

  It was as if the doctor had received a sharp slap across the face. For his expression immediately changed, and now a look of anguish crossed his features. Almost trembling, he buried his head in his hands.

  ‘I thought she was going for a walk in the gardens, not by the lake.’ Theo groaned and then raised his head. ‘Oh, you’re right, of course you’re right. I’ve behaved like a cad, I know. I didn’t mean to hurt Vera, but I couldn’t help myself. I can’t explain what I feel for Emmeline. I don’t even understand it. All I know is that I have never felt this way about a woman before, and I doubt that I ever will again.’

  Cedric felt a touch of compassion. ‘You need to resolve the situation one way or the other, old chap,’ he said more kindly than he’d spoken before, coming over and laying his hand briefly on the other man’s shoulder. ‘Otherwise I’m afraid I’ll have to ask you to leave.’

  Having anticipated that Theo would be annoyed with him after his interference in what was after all essentially a private matter, and fearing that Vera might be tempted to make a scene, Cedric had entered the drawing room with a topic of conversation in mind that was likely to engage his audience without leading to ructions.