The Silk Vendetta

Blackmail

Katie and I returned to London, my father accompanying us because he did not want us to travel alone. I knew that he was relieved because we were going for he had been deeply affected by the Comte’s pursuit—particularly after he had appeared in Paris.

“You enjoyed your visit?” he asked me tentatively.

I replied that it had been one of the most interesting periods of my life, at which he was silent.

It was wonderful to see Grand’mere again. I noticed her studying me intently, and at the earliest moment she found an opportunity of speaking to me alone.

She said: “You look different… younger. I saw the change in you the moment you arrived.”

I told her that I had seen Rene in the graveyard. ”I went there to look for my mother’s grave,” I explained.

“So you saw your father’s brother. Did he speak to you?”

“Yes. He was quite friendly. He was at Heloise’s grave. He knew who I was. He had heard that I was at my father’s vineyards and he recognized me. He said I was very like my mother.”

She nodded emotionally. “I wonder what he thought to see you there. I don’t suppose he told the old man. There would have been trouble if he had.”

”He really seemed more interested in my scarf than in me.”

“Your scarf?”

“Yes. I dropped it and he picked it up and saw that it was made of Sallon Silk. Then he talked about Philip. He thought he had discovered it. He was really taken aback when I told him it was Charles.”

“That family thought of little else but silk. They must have been really put out when someone other than themselves discovered the Sallon method. But something else happened?”

“Do you remember the chateau there?”

“Carsonne. Of course. Everyone knows the chateau and the de la Tours.”

“I met Gaston de la Tour.”

“The present Comte!”

I nodded. “Oh,” she said blankly.

I told her about the encounter with the dogs and our being invited to the vendange and how Katie and his son had got on so well together.

“Well, that was interesting,” she said, watching me intently.

”I met him in Paris.”

“You mean he followed you to Paris.”

“No. He was there when we were.”

“And you saw something of him.”

I nodded.

“I see. So that is it.”

“What do you mean, Grand’mere … that is it?”

“I mean he is responsible … for the change in you.”

“I do not know that there is any change.”

“You may take it from me that there is. Oh, Lenore, this is the last thing I wanted to happen. I’ve worried a lot about you. Since Philip’s death you have been lonely.”

”Lonely! With you and Katie and the Countess and Cassie?”

“I mean missing your husband.”

“I miss him, of course.”

“And this Gaston de la Tour … he seems to have made an impression on you.”

“He is quite an impressive person.”

“You are bemused by his title and his possessions … his power. …”

”I suppose they are very much a part of him.”

”You saw a great deal of him?”

”We were together every day in Paris. He took me to so many places and he is so knowledgeable about art, history and architecture that he made me see things differently.”

“Oh, Lenore … don’t you see … ?”

“Look, Grand’mere, you are worrying unnecessarily. I came back to London, didn’t I? I could have stayed in Paris. He was there.”

“I know that he is attractive and that he has a way with women. His attitude towards them is quite lighthearted. He is not good for you, Lenore. I know the family well. They have lorded it over the neighbourhood for generations. They thought they had rights to any woman they fancied. That was how they lived in the old days and Carsonne has not moved with the times.”

“I understand that, Grand’mere. I was aware of it all the time, but I did enjoy meeting him. He was so … alive … so amusing … and different from any man I have ever known. As you say, I have been a little dull perhaps since Philip died. I enjoyed our meetings but I never lost sight of what our friendship meant to him and what his ultimate aim was. I was as determined that he should not reach it as he was determined to. It needs two people to come to a decision like that, Grand’mere, and we were not in agreement on it. I know what is in your mind so I will assure you that I am still a chaste widow.”

“There would be heartbreak with that one. I am sorry you met him.”

“Don’t be, Grand’mere. It was an experience … and I am none the worse for it.”

She sighed with relief. “Thank God you are home.”

”Katie admired him,” I told her.’ ‘He was charming to her.”

“But of course he would be. He saw his way through her to you. Mon Dieu, I should have been worried if I had known it had gone so far.”

“I was always aware of the sort of man he is.”

“But I can see that you were not unaffected.”

“Well frankly, it would have been difficult not to be. When I was there I heard about Rene’s daughter, Heloise. She killed herself because of an unfaithful lover. It is generally believed that the Comte was the man in the case. He would take a delight in seducing a St. Allengere. That feud has been going on for a long time. That sort of thing is so senseless. I believe my grandfather is not the saint he makes himself out to be.”

“You are right. A bigger hypocrite was never born.”

“So I gathered. Passions run high in your native land, Grand’mere. Knowing all this I am not likely to want to get involved, am I?”

“That’s true enough. I often think of how pleased I was when you and Philip were married. Such a good man he was. I thought you were settled for life. I was so content.”

”But one never knows what is going to happen, Grand’mere.”

“Alas, that is true. To think that it went wrong … Then I wanted you and that Drake Aldringham … Now there was a man one could trust. I never cease to regret that went wrong.”

“You can’t make life work out just as you want it to.” She nodded. I asked her about the business and what had been happening during my absence; and I began to think of Drake. His image had dimmed considerably since my meeting with Gaston de la Tour.

Cassie was delighted to see us back. She told me how much she had missed Katie and me.

“Sometimes I wish we were all together as we were in the beginning,” she said. “The Paris salon has split us up.”

“You should go over to Paris, Cassie. You would enjoy it.”

She shook her head. ”I’m better here.”

It was true she was invaluable to the London salon. She had become an excellent business woman; she was determined to make the best of life, to forget her disabilities and concentrate on her assets. She and Grand’mere had become very close and worked well together.

After she had shown me what was going on in the workroom—her special domain for she had an aversion to dealing with clients—she told me how worried she was about Julia.

“She is drinking more heavily than ever. People are talking about it. They are saying that Drake made the biggest mistake of his life. He married her to further his career and she is turning out to be an impediment. I visit her. Drake isn’t there much. Julia is unhappy. I think she cares for him quite a lot … but he can’t return her affection. He stays away and is in that country place most of the time. I don’t think it is helping his career. I have seen them together now and then … and I think he has come near to hating her.”

“How very sad.”

“You must come and see her sometimes. She probably knows that you are back and will be hurt if you don’t.”

“But I don’t think she wants to see me.”

“She does. She is always talking about you.”

“I’ll come one day then.”

So I went with Cassie to Julia’s house which was now Drake’s London headquarters.

When we were ushered into the drawing room I was amazed to see the change in Julia. She had grown very fat; her colour was deeper and tinged with purple; her eyes were a little glazed.

I was greeted effusively.

“Lenore… recently come from Paris! You look it, my dear, doesn’t she, Cassie? So elegant! How do you keep so thin”? I’m overflowing everywhere… even my maid sees that it is useless to force myself into my corsets. There comes a time when you give up trying to look what you are not. Have some sherry. Cassie, ring the bell. Tell them to bring some of those wine biscuits.”

Cassie obeyed and Julia poured out the sherry—an ample one for herself, I noticed.

“Well, this is fun!” she said, lifting her glass. “Like old times. Do you remember … at The Silk House. Quite a lot has happened since then. Poor Philip gone… and you a widow, Lenore. Did you ever think of marrying again?” Was there something sour in her look? Was she implying that she remembered how it was once between Drake and me?

“I’ve remained a widow,” I said.

“Poor Lenore! It must be from choice.”

I did not answer. She refilled her glass and drank quickly.

“Being a political wife is not all that much fun, you know,” she said. “I sometimes think I should have been like you, Lenore, and remained a widow.” She shrugged her shoulders. “Well, as long as one knows how to enjoy oneself.”

Cassie looked uneasy and I was wondering how soon we could take our leave when Drake came in.

Julia was suddenly alert; she set down her glass; and I wondered whether she had arranged our meeting for a time when he would be there. She was watching Drake intently. He could not hide his surprise … and pleasure … at seeing me.

“Why, Lenore,” he said, advancing and taking my hands.

“It is nice to see you, Drake,” I said.

“I heard you were in Paris.”

“I have not been back so very long.”

”Have a glass of sherry, darling,” said Julia.

“No thank you.”

She pouted. “I suppose you think I have had too much.”

“I did not mention the fact.”

“No, but you looked it. When you marry, Lenore, make sure you don’t get a critical husband. They are such a bore.”

Drake did not answer. He turned to me. “I hope all is going well with the Paris branch.”

“Very well indeed. The Countess is a wonderful business woman.”

“I suppose you all are. Cassie tells us things are working out well.”

There was silence.

“You should have gone in for that line of business, Drake, instead of politics,” said Julia. ”It might not have kept you away from home so much … if that is what keeps you away.”

The colour in her face had deepened. I wondered how much she had drunk before we arrived. She turned to us. “He is so rarely at home … only flying visits when it is essential for him to be in Town. He longs to be back in the country, don’t you, Drake? All that nursing of the silly old constituency. It’s not very grateful, is it? Last time he scraped in with a minute majority.”

Drake tried to infuse a note of conventionality into the conversation.

“That is how elections go,” he said.

“Of course he was hoping for a government post. But you never know where you are in politics. The party is out and you are out. No one with any sense goes into it.”

Drake laughed apologetically. “I daresay you are right,” he said.

”I think it is an exciting profession,” I said. ”Of course there is a great deal of luck needed, and so much depends on what party is in power, but guiding the way the country goes must be fascinating.”

“More sherry?” asked Julia.

Cassie and I declined and she helped herself to another glassful.

Drake frowned and said: “Julia, do you think you ought?”

She laughed. “Do I think I ought, he says! That’s because you two are here. He doesn’t care how much I drink. He’s hoping I’ll drink myself to death.”

Suddenly she began to cry. It was most embarrassing. I knew she was intoxicated. Drake went to her and laid a hand on her shoulder. “Julia is not very well,” he said. He took out a handkerchief and wiped her eyes and then gently took the glass from her.

She clung to him passionately.

Cassie rose and said, “Well, we’ll be going. We’ll see you soon, Julia.”

Julia nodded.

Drake came with us to the door. He took my hand and said: “Lenore, I must see you. Could we meet in the park … where we used to … near the ducks?”

I nodded.

As we left the house Cassie said: “That was most unfortunate. She is in a sad way. You can see how she is drinking. She is very unhappy really. She loves Drake passionately … and he doesn’t love her. He is very good really. He tries to pretend but it shows, doesn’t it? She’s not usually as bad as that. I think it was because you were there. She’s always been jealous of you, Lenore. I often feel that if Drake could fall in love with her, it might save her.”

“He is her husband.”

“That doesn’t make any difference. He has never really loved her. He married her to help his career, people say.”

“I don’t think that was quite the case.”

“At one time we thought he was in love with you.”

I did not answer.

“But he married Julia. I think it was because she was rich. It is a mistake to marry for that reason. He soon found that out.”

“I think perhaps you misjudge him. One can never really know why people do certain things.”

”You’re right, of course, and I am so desperately sorry for them both. He must have thought it was going to be so different when he married her… and so did she. It’s all gone wrong for them.”

I was certainly depressed by what I had seen that morning.

I was uneasy as I prepared for my rendez-vous with Drake. It seemed so strange to be meeting him in the park where we had met so many times in the past. He was waiting for me on the seat where we used to sit.

When I reached him he took both my hands and looked searchingly into my face.

“It is so good of you to come, Lenore,” he said.

“It is like old times,” I replied.

He sighed. “How I wish I could go back. I’d do it all so differently.”

“That’s what we all feel at some time.”

“I had to talk to you. I had to tell you what was really happening. Life is quite intolerable at times … and when I think how it might have been … Lenore, I wonder how I can go on.”

“You have your career,” I said.

“Thank God. I am kept busy, but working here is difficult. I am in Swaddingham as much as I can be, but I am baulked at every turn.”

“Poor Drake! I am so sorry.”

“It is wonderful that you are back in London. I’ve missed you so much. Lenore, if only things had gone differently. Please don’t go away again.”

I said: “I daresay I shall be here for a while.”

”You understand… about Julia. I realized very quickly that there was not to be a child. She tricked me. God forgive me, I hate her for it. I try not to. She is pathetic sometimes. You saw something of what she was like when you were with her, but you have no idea how violent she can be. And partly it is my fault. She has an obsession for me. If I could only return her feeling… if only I could convince her… but I can’t, Lenore. It’s all so false. I can’t pretend to that extent. She knows I never loved her. She knows I married her because I was tricked. She hates herself for tricking me. Poor Julia, I want to help her. I want to cure her of this drinking … but it is beyond me and sometimes I show the repulsion I feel. I think of you constantly. Always I say, If only … I must see you sometimes, Lenore. Please, let us meet.”

“In the circumstances, Drake, I think it would be unwise for us to meet,” I said.

“I was sure you felt something for me. I wanted to ask you to marry me. I hesitated. I thought a great deal about your first husband. I know you cared for him. I was always saying to myself, I must wait… wait until the time is ripe … wait until she has completely broken away from the past. But I waited too long … and this has happened.”

I felt numb. It was a fact that had he asked me I should have said Yes. I was sure that I loved him then; he was a part of my past: the gallant man who had rescued me from the mausoleum, who had come again into my life to take me away from that lost past with Philip, just as he had from the fear of that dark place. I would have gone to him gratefully. I believed that I should have been happy with him … in a quiet, safe way … the way Grand’mere wished for me. We would have raised a family in that delightful country house; there would have been visits to London. I should have kept my interest in the salon. Yes, I could see that it could have been a happy way of life.

But I had been disturbed. Should I have been completely happy? I kept seeing the ironic, amused and sardonic eyes of the Comte—the daik, rather saturnine good looks, the magnetic charm, the exciting personality. I could never now settle into the quiet way of life without thinking of him and what my conventional upbringing had forced me to miss.

His coming into my life had changed everything. I was foolish to think of him. He was as forbidden to me as Drake was.

I said: ”It is all in the past, Drake. No good comes of thinking of what might have been.”

“I could find it more tolerable if I knew that you loved me. If I had asked you, would you have married me?”

I nodded.

“Lenore, that has made me very happy.”

“We should not talk of these things.”

“What you have said makes me feel that I can tolerate life here in London the more easily … thinking of you. We must meet again here.”

“I can’t believe that would be a wise thing to do.”

“We could meet… by chance … by the pond. If I could just see you from time to time …”

I shook my head.

“Please,” he said. “It would help me so much.”

”We should not make a habit of it.”

His face lightened. “I want to talk to you about so many things … politics … the constituency … I’ve often looked up at the gallery and imagined you were there. You would have come to see me at the House, wouldn’t you? You would have done so much to help me. Julia, I think, hates my work. I feel so much better now that you are back.”

He seemed so vulnerable, which was strange for Drake. From the moment he had visited The Silk House he had seemed the strong one. Julia was ruining her life with drink. I was sorry for her but I could see that Drake was almost as helpless.

Surely there could be no harm in an occasional meeting in the park?

My father had gone back to France and I turned once more to work which had been such a solace to me on other occasions. There was plenty to occupy me. I tried not to think of the Comte.

Grand’mere was right about him. To him I was just another woman whom it pleased him to pursue for a time. I imagined that since the hunt had not been productive he had decided to turn his attention elsewhere. I was depressed hoping that he would come to London and prove to Grand’mere that she had misjudged him.

Drake was a more immediate concern. He called at the salon. There was a certain recklessness about him. Grand’mere was very fond of him, but she did not wish me to be caught up with a man who had a wife. That would be even more undesirable than my friendship with the Comte.

I had told Drake several times that we should not see each other, but he was so sad when I did. “To see you … to talk to you … I cannot explain what it means to me. Sometimes I am afraid of what I will do if I don’t break away.”

“You have always been so calm,” I told him. “So very able to deal with any situation.”

“I have never been faced with such a situation before and to realize I have brought it on myself does not make it any more acceptable. There are times when I can hardly trust myself not to do her some injury.”

“For Heaven’s sake, don’t talk like that.”

“I can understand how some people are goaded too far. I want you to know my feelings, Lenore. These meetings with you do so much for me. I must see you.”

I was really afraid for him. I was very fond of him. I did see in him all the sterling qualities Grand’mere had pointed out to me. After all, he was in this position because of his honourable nature. He had married Julia because he had thought it was the only right thing to do. How could he have guessed that she had tricked him.

I was desperately sorry for him—and in a way for Julia too. I knew from Cassie what the situation was for when she was in a state of intoxication, Julia could be very frank.

I could see it all so clearly: Julia passionately in love with a husband who hated her. I think she had loved Drake … idolized him … from the time he had come to The Silk House as a handsome boy, head of the school, the hero, looked up to by Charles who had considered it such an honour when Drake consented to spend his holidays with him. I remembered her wrath against me when he had gone. Julia had wanted Drake from the moment she had set eyes on him. She had contrived to get him— but in trapping him, she had lost him.

Poor Julia! I could imagine those tormented nights when he was in the house … sleeping in another room. She had told Cassie how she paced her room, railing against his indifference, turning to the bottle which was always beside her wherever she was. She told me of the quarrels between them, how she was always upbraiding him because he did not care for her enough, how he would not indulge in quarrels. “Escape! He always wants to escape,” Julia had cried. “He always wants to get away from me but I will never let him do that. He is mine for as long as we live. If I can’t have him, no one else shall.”

T thought a great deal about them. It stopped my thinking solely of the Comte and wondering what he was doing now. I imagined he had returned to Carsonne. I wondered if he ever thought of me. Perhaps new and then as the frigid woman who had refused to be seduced … and on whom he had wasted too much time.

And so I continued to see Drake. It was unavoidable. When I went out he would be waiting for me. It was no use remonstrating with him. I could see how much he needed companionship. We talked of the state of the government and what Salisbury was doing and what Gladstone would have done, but somehow we always got back to Julia.

There was a little tea shop just off Piccadilly conveniently near. It was a pleasant place with tables in alcoves where one could talk in peace. They sold delicious maids-of-honour and madeleines. Katie considered it a special treat to be brought there to tea.

One day we went there. We sat and talked. I wanted to hear how things were going. I was always trying to make him forget his unsatisfactory marriage which I hoped he would do by his complete absorption in politics.

He brightened considerably when he discussed his aims and achievements. He confided in me his concern about the health of Gladstone which was fast failing.

“Rosebery is not his equal,” he said. “But then, who is?”

“Gladstone could not always hold the party together, and he is now an old man.”

“There are many people jostling for power … ready to do anything however discreditable to take a step up the ladder.”

“But you are not like that, Drake.”

“Perhaps that is a lack in me.”

“Never,” I assured him.

“Oh, Lenore, how different it might have been. When I think of that I feel mad with rage. So easily it could have happened and somehow it slipped away from me.”

“There’s no going back, Drake.”

“I have loved you ever since I brought you out of that mausoleum. You were so small and frightened. Then I didn’t see you for years … but I felt the same when I did. Why did she have to be there? If I were free, you would marry me.”

I was silent.

“You would, wouldn’t you, Lenore?” he said earnestly. “You do love me?”

It was almost as though the Comte were sitting opposite me, laughing. Do you feel excited with him? Do you feel that sense of adventure? Do you feel that you want to be with him more than anyone else on earth? That is how you feel about me, Madame Sallonger. Do you feel the same for this man? Tell the truth now.

I said: “I’m so fond of you, Drake. I love you, but being in love is different, isn’t it?”

He looked at me steadily. “You mean you are fond of me but not in love with me?”

”I was in love with Philip and I thought it would be forever. And, Drake, it is unwise to talk in this way.”

“I could make you happy, Lenore, if…”

“It cannot be,” I said.

He was silent and so was I. I wished I could rid my mind of the image of that dark sceptical face. But I felt I never would forget it and it was going to make all the difference to my feelings for anyone else.

He put his hand across the table and held mine.

Then I heard my own name. “Lenore! How wonderful to see you!”

Charles was standing by our table. Embarrassed, I hastily removed my hand.

“Lenore… and my respected brother-in-law! How are you, Lenore? You look well.”

I was blushing, for being so discovered by him.

He was not alone. There was a woman with him and her face was vaguely familiar.

“This,” he said, “is Signorina de’ Pucci.”

She smiled and bowed her head. She was outstandingly beautiful; her almost coal black hair was visible under the jaunty white straw hat with its black and white ribbons; her costume was black with white stripes, and the frilly silk blouse she wore was white. She was a very elegant woman.

“This is Madame Lenore of the Lenore Salon of which, dear Signorina, you will be aware if you spend much time in London. Lenore is a very clever business woman; and this is my brother-in-law, Drake Aldringham.”

She said she was charmed. She had a faint accent which like everything else about her was charming. Her name was familiar as was her face… although it was many years since I had seen her.

I said: “I remember now. You had an accident and came to The Silk House.”

Her face lit up. “So you remember.”

“It was hardly the sort of thing one forgets.”

“You were the new bride. Oh, I recall it so well… such a charming couple. And your husband … ?” She looked at Drake in puzzlement.

“Yes,” I said, “Philip Sallonger. He died soon after.”

“Oh … how sad.”

Charles was giving me that speculative look which I remembered so well.

“We have just had tea,” he said. “Those maids-of-honour are delicious. I was determined to introduce Signorina de’ Pucci to them while she is in London.”

I said: ”It all comes back to me so vividly. You left us suddenly.”

“I did not think it was sudden. My brother sent for me … and I went.”

“I was furious, wasn’t I, Lenore?” said Charles.

“Yes, you were.”

“But why?” she asked. “Why should you be furious?”

“Because you had left us. I wanted us to get more and more acquainted. We were making good progress.”

“Has Julia met the Signorina?” I asked.

Charles shook his head. “She will, though. She will be interested. We all remember your visit so well.”

“I trust there were no ill effects from the injury?”

“Injury?” she murmured.

“Didn’t you hurt your ankle in the carriage upset?”

“Yes … so I did. It soon healed.” She smiled charmingly at Drake. “I do not know what would have become of me but for these good friends.”

“We were glad to do what we could,” said Charles. “By great good fortune I ran into the Signorina close to the house. We stared at each other. I’m afraid I was rather rude.”

“No … no,” she protested.

“I was so delighted,” said Charles.

“And how long will you be in England this time?” I asked.

“It depends on my brother. He does much business. He is in your Midlands. When he comes I go back with him.”

“I remember your maid … Maria. Is she still with you?”

“Maria is with me.”

“Well, I hope you enjoy your stay.”

“I shall see that she does,” promised Charles. “Well… I did enjoy seeing you both.” He looked from one to the other of us significantly. ”I daresay we shall see you again. I am taking the Signorina to see Julia now. Au revoir.”

I watched them go. Then I said: ”That was most unfortunate. I mean … Charles’s seeing us together here.”

Drake lifted his shoulders. I thought then that he was so desperately immersed in his own unfortunate situation that he refused to see the danger. But I did not like the manner in which Charles had looked at us; nor did I like the implication of his words.

I told Drake what had happened, how the Italian had had her accident outside The Silk House and had stayed there for a few days, and how she had left to join her brother and there were only letters of thanks sent from a London hotel, so that she had completely disappeared from our lives.

“It was soon after that that Philip died,” I said. “I forgot all about the incident. In fact at first I could not recall who she was, although she seemed familiar.”

“It’s interesting that Charles should have met her…just by chance.”

“It seems to me that almost everything happens just by chance.”

After I was back in the salon I could not help thinking about that meeting in the tea shop, and I felt rather uneasy because Charles had discovered Drake and me there together, and of the construction which I was afraid a man of his nature might put upon it.

It was Cassie who told me about Charles and Madalenna de’ Pucci.

“She is staying in a hotel with her maid while she is waiting for her brother to join her.”

“Yes. She mentioned that when I met her.” I had told Cassie about seeing her in the tea shop where Drake and I had decided to have some tea.

Cassie looked a little subdued. She knew about my friendship with Drake. In fact she knew a good deal. Cassie was inclined to live vicariously. She was very interested in what happened to other people. She was kindly and deeply understanding and I had always thought that this was due to her interest in people. She knew them so well that she understood their motives and that made her sympathetic towards them.

“Charles,” she told me, “is very taken with her. Of course she is very beautiful … exceptionally so and I suppose being foreign makes her look more so. It is very sad about Charles and Helen.” Helen was his wife. “He has never been a faithful husband. I think she has long accepted that. But in this case he seems to be deeply involved.”

I said: “He was attracted to her when she came to the house before. I remember how angry he was when she went away without letting him know where.”

“It is very distressing. When I think of that marriage … and Julia and Drake … I come to the conclusion that one is often better off single.”

“It makes life less complicated,” I agreed. “One is on an even keel. There are lots of ups and downs in most relationships.”

“I should hate to be Helen with an unfaithful husband … or Julia to love so intensely and be rejected. It was different with you and Philip. That was wonderful but he died.”

I nodded.

“I’m sorry,” went on Cassie. “I should not have mentioned it and reminded you. Oh dear, you ought to have married Drake. It is clear that he loves you. It was what your grandmother wanted.”

“Things don’t always turn out as people want them to.”

“I do wish Julia could be happy. But I don’t think she ever will be. I am afraid she is getting worse. She is drinking all the time … far more than we see. She was lying down when I last called and I went to her bedroom. I was sure she was intoxicated. I went to the wardrobe to get her a wrap and I saw several bottles there. She drinks in secret as well as in front of everybody. How did she get like that, Lenore? Was it unhappiness?”

”Her first husband was a great drinker. She may have learned the habit from him. I expect she found it to her liking and now it seems to be a solace. She is ruining her health and her life and her chance of happiness.”

“It is a tragedy. I often think of those days when she was coming out. Do you remember how excited she was? Then the Countess came … and how frightened she grew. Poor Julia. She used to eat too much then and now it is drink. She was so sure of herself at one moment and so unsure the next. And how awful it was for her during that first season when she didn’t come up to expectations!”

”I remember it well.”

“Then she married that old man and he left her rich. I think if she had found someone younger before she got the feeling that she was not as attractive as some girls … she might have been different. I feel a sort of protectiveness towards Julia.”

“I think you do towards us all.”

“I do want you to come with me when I go to see her. Do, Lenore. I am sure she wants to see you, too.”

”I am not sure of that.”

“But she does. She is always talking about you. Do understand, Lenore, she is very unhappy.”

I did go to see her. She made me very welcome. She looked much brighter. I wondered if she realized what harm she was doing to herself and was trying to reform.

She was excited. She was going to give a party. It was the fashion now to engage a pianist to give a performance. She thought that would be a wonderful idea. A number of Drake’s colleagues would be invited. “A piano performance and then a buffet supper afterwards,” she cried. “Don’t you think that would be a good idea?”

Cassie was so glad to see her interested that she was enthusiastic.

“You will come,” she said to me, and I agreed to go.

Grand’mere was rather subdued these days. She knew that I was meeting Drake and this worried her. She was very anxious. I believed she was thinking I had been celibate too long. I was young and I had tasted the joys of married life briefly. Grand’mere would like to see me respectably married to a good man. I think that was her great desire. Drake would have been ideal in her eyes if he had not been married already.

I sensed then that she had a fear that I might be carried away by my emotions. I wanted to explain to her that my feelings for Drake had never been such as to drive me into reckless action. I was fond of him in an enduring and steady way. I knew how differently one could feel about people … now.

Cassie and I went to the party. Cassie was pleased for she said this was exactly what Julia should be doing. “It gives her an interest,” she said. “It is exactly what she needs.”

Julia and Drake, side by side, received us. I was a little dismayed to see that Julia was unnaturally flushed and there was a purplish tinge in her cheeks; her eyes were bright with excitement.

“Dear Cassie! And Lenore! You look lovely. So elegant, doesn’t she, Drake?”

Drake smiled at me sadly.

I said I was looking forward to the evening and hearing the pianist. Then we passed on while they greeted other guests.

As we moved away I saw Charles. Madalenna de’ Pucci was with him. She looked arrestingly beautiful in a gown of red velvet which accentuated her dark Italianate looks.

Charles greeted us effusively.

“How nice to see you here. I am sure Julia is delighted to have you.” He smiled slyly. “Drake, too. Quite a gathering, isn’t it? Some of our most famous … or should I say notorious politicians are here. All for Drake’s benefit.” He turned to his companion. ”My dear, this is a section of English society. Those who make the rules and those who obey them. I must say Drake looks very pleased with himself… and the company.”

Again he was giving me that significant look. I was more than a little afraid of Charles.

He stayed with us, which made me uncomfortable. He had a proprietorial air as regards Madalenna, but the manner in which he kept glancing at me disturbed me.

In due course Julia came over to us.

“It’s fun, isn’t it? I’ve got a man coming to take pictures. I want it done soon … at the beginning … before people start to droop. After that we’ll have Signore Pontelli to play for us, and when that is over the buffet and dancing. It’s been fun arranging it all with the caterers.”

“You’ve done wonderfully,” I told her.

She smiled at me warmly. “I’m so glad you think so.”

“I was just saying how pleased Drake must be.”

“I hope so … oh, I do hope so. Oh look, there’s the man for the pictures. I’ll go and get him. Stay where you are. I’ll get one or two more and you can be in one group.”

So I was with Charles and Madalenna when the pictures were taken. There was a good deal of fuss while we were placed in position; the photographer told us to smile and we stood there with our lips drawn back affecting great pleasure while he hummed and hawed and the grins froze on our faces.

At length it was over.

The pianist arrived and played with great efficiency and expression—mostly Chopin—and he deserved more attention from the audience than he received.

When it was over he was quietly applauded and the musician played for dancing and after a while we went into supper. I was with Cassie and Drake joined us with a political friend. An interesting conversation ensued while we ate cold salmon washed down with champagne. I enjoyed the talk until I saw Julia at a table watching us intently. I noticed that whenever I looked her way she had a glass in her hand.

After supper there was dancing. Julia had cleverly turned one of the rooms into a ballroom; it looked very elegant with potted plants brought into the house for this evening. There was a small orchestra to play for the dancing.

I knew that Drake would seize the opportunity to dance with me. There was a recklessness about him which I thought was alien to his nature. I think he had had so much to endure that he was becoming indifferent to convention. He must have known that Julia was jealous of his feeling for me. I was sure that in one of her drunken rages she had made that clear. There were times when I thought he did not care—in fact that he was trying to bring their marriage to some sort of climax.

The dance was the waltz which had originally shocked people when it had first come into fashion. They thought it was rather bold.

Drake swept me round the floor.

“It is wonderful that you are here,” he said.

“Julia has arranged a very successful occasion.”

“It is successful … now. What do you think about Jameson’s views?”

He was referring to our suppertime conversation.

“Interesting,” I said.

”I think he is leaning towards Salisbury.”

“But he is one of your Liberals.”

”There are a lot of waverers.”

We were silent for a while, then he said: “This is bliss … holding you like this.”

“Drake,” I begged, “please be careful.”

“There are times when I can’t be … when I don’t seem to care. Something has to happen soon. Why don’t we go away together?”

“You can’t mean that.”

“I don’t know. I think a lot about it. I plan … and sometimes it seems the only way.”

“Think of your career.”

“We could go right away … start afresh.”

“No. It would be wrong. Besides …” He looked so wretched that I could not tell him I was not sure if he were free and asked me to marry him that I would. I was so sorry for him. I was so fond of him. I did not want to hurt him more than he had been already by telling him that I was not in love with him.

He said: “I feel so frustrated at times. Julia is … intolerable. It becomes more difficult every day. Sometimes I feel I would do anything … just anything to end it all. Now that you are here it is even harder to bear.”

”Perhaps I should go to Paris for a while. That could be easily arranged.”

“No … no.” He held me closer. “Don’t go.”

I was aware that Julia was watching. She was not dancing. She was standing with her hands gripping one of the chairs as though to support her. The inevitable glass was in her hand and I noticed that she was swaying dangerously and some of the champagne had slopped over onto her dress.

Then suddenly she cried out: “Listen everyone. I have something to say.”

She stood on the chair. I thought she was going to topple over at any moment. There was a stunned silence. The music stopped. She pointed at Drake. ”That,” she said, ”is my husband, Drake Aldringham, an ambitious politician.” Her words were slurred and to my horror I realized that she was completely intoxicated. “He doesn’t want me. That’s the one he wants … that one he is dancing with … holding her tightly … whispering to her … telling her what a terrible time he has with me. He wants her, the dressmaker, Lenore the bastard. No, he doesn’t want me. I’m only his wife. She is his mistress. She’s taken him away from me.”

There was a deep silence. I could feel the furtive glances which were coming our way.

Drake went to her and said in a voice of disgust: “Julia, you are drunk.”

She began to laugh wildly. She would have fallen if Drake had not caught her. Then she slid gently from his arms and lay prone on the floor, her eyes wide, staring at nothing.

I saw Charles making his way towards her.

“Better get her upstairs,” he said and it seemed to me that he could not quite hide his amusement.

Cassie was beside me. “We ought to go home,” she said.

And so … the party was over.

I cannot think clearly even now what happened after Julia’s outburst. I felt stunned. I was aware of people about me, avoiding looking at me.

Cassie was strong and practical in a crisis. She had taken my arm and I found myself outside the house. The carriage was to have come for us much later so there was no conveyance to take us home.

Cassie said: “Let’s walk.”

So we walked through the streets, she holding my arm, saying nothing. I was glad of that.

As we entered the house Grand’mere came down to see what had happened and we went into her room to talk about it. She listened horrified.

“Poor Julia!” said Cassie. “She was quite unaware of what she was doing … what she was saying.”

“It must have been in her mind,” I said. “How could she make such false accusations before all those people!”

“They will all know that she was drunk.”

“That was obvious. But what she said! People will believe the worst.”

“My dear child,” said Grand’mere, “try to be calm. We’ll find some way out of this. Perhaps you could go away. You could go back to Paris.” She stopped, frowning. I knew what she was thinking; go back where I might possibly fall into the hands of the Comte. I could sense her weighing up the situation and deciding that in spite of the scandal and the difficult times ahead I was safer here.

“That would seem like running away,” I said.

She nodded. “I’ll tell you what. I’m going to make us a nice soothing drink. We’ll take it and get a good night’s sleep. We’ll all feel better in the morning.”

In spite of the drink I could not sleep. I did doze a little at dawn only to wake with a feeling of deep depression as the memory of that disastrous night came flooding back to me.

Could I leave? I wondered. I wished the Countess were here. With her worldly wisdom she would have summed up the position more clearly than the rest of us could. Suppose the Comte was still in Paris. He would think I had come back to be near him. He would continue his pursuit. I wondered whether I should find it irresistible.

I felt that I wanted to look at the situation more clearly than I had on the previous night. Of one thing I was certain: those who had been present would already be telling their friends of that scene last night. For a woman to accuse her husband of adultery with someone there, had surely never happened before. Those who had witnessed this scene would want to take advantage of having been eye witnesses.

I wondered what would happen now. Would credence be given to the story that I was Drake’s mistress? I was sure it would.

Perhaps I should get away after all.

I thought of being in Paris … of the possibility of seeing him, putting all this unpleasantness behind me. They would be sure I was running away—and so I should be!

A day passed. We were very busy. Far from custom falling off, there were many who could not curb their curiosity and came on the pretext of buying something. I stayed out of sight.

Two days later to my amazement Julia came to the salon.

Cassie came to tell me that she wanted to see me.

”I can’t see her,” I said. ”I think it better that I should not.”

“She is very distressed,” said Cassie. “She’s crying. She must see you, she says. She can’t rest until she does.”

I hesitated but Cassie was looking at me pleadingly. Cassie had become very motherly over the years and she seemed to feel that her mission in life was to protect us all.

“Do see her,” begged Cassie. “I hate these quarrels in families.”

So I agreed.

Julia came in. She was rather pale and the receding colour made the tiny veins in her cheeks more visible. She looked older and pathetic.

We regarded each other in silence for a moment, then she burst out: “Oh, Lenore, I am so terribly sorry. I didn’t know what I was doing… what I was saying. I don’t remember much about it. I was standing on a chair … and I don’t know how I got up there.”

“You shouted a terrible accusation about Drake and me.”

“I didn’t mean to.”

“How could you think such things?” 1 demanded. “They must have been in your mind.”

“I’m so unhappy, Lenore. I think I’ve always been jealous of you. Drake liked you from the first… better than he ever liked me.”

“He’s married to you, Julia.”

”I know, but that doesn’t mean everything, does it? He doesn’t love me. Sometimes I’m frantic. I was afraid that he’d marry you. That’s why I tried to stop it… like I did when we were at Swaddingham and I forced my maid to pretend she was the ghost up in that gallery … the ghost that appears to warn them about marrying …”

I was puzzled then I remembered.

“Oh Julia,” I said, “how could you be so … so foolish. Your implications are untrue.”

“I’m so sorry, Lenore.”

”The harm is done now. What are people thinking? They are believing you, of course.”

“I will tell them all that I did not know what I was saying. Sometimes I think Drake hates me. It maddens me … makes me frantic.” I could see that she was beginning to get hysterical again and I had to calm her.

“All right, Julia,” I said. “Let’s try to forget it.”

“Do you mean that?”

“Yes, I do. Let me tell you that I am not and never have been Drake’s mistress.”

“But he was on the point of marrying you once.”

“He did not ask me to, Julia. Forget it. He has married you.”

“Yes,” she said. “He did that, didn’t he?” She was smiling a little slyly remembering I supposed how she had tricked him.

In spite of everything I was sorry for her. She was a poor hysterical woman. She might be rich but life had not gone very well for her. She had been obsessed with Drake from the moment she had seen him and would clearly use any means, however dishonest, to get him.

“Do let’s try to forget it,” she said with a smile.

I thought: With London society aware of it? What harm was this going to do to Drake’s career? A politician with an unstable wife could not hope for advancement. Perhaps even now the damage done was irrevocable.

I had not seen Drake since the outburst and I did not really want to. I feared what he might have to say for I believed he would be more eager to get away from Julia than ever. His career was in jeopardy. It might, even now, be impossible to save it.

But Julia was here before me. She was truly contrite. I was sure her remorse was genuine. It was true that she had been intoxicated and had not realized what she had said. What was the use of railing against her? I must try hard to remember that when she had drunk too much she did not know what she was saying. She was pitiful.

“I am going to try to give up drinking,” she said. “I am sure I can if I try hard enough. It helps me, you see, Lenore. It helps me to forget. I wanted so much to help Drake, and then I did what I did the other night. It was seeing you dancing with him … and he looked so happy. I said to myself: Why is he not like that with me, and before I knew what I was doing …”

“Please, Julia, do understand that he is just a good friend of mine. He married you. …”

“Yes, he married me. So we are friends again, aren’t we, Lenore?”

Cassie was looking at me pleadingly.

“Yes,” I said, “we are friends.”

Before the week was out a tragedy occurred which sent our little scandal to the back of people’s minds.

Charles’s house was burned down.

He had been alone in the upper part of the house. The servants were all in the basement. Charles had had a guest to dinner and had ordered that he was not to be disturbed. The guest must have departed for there was no sign of her. Charles had had a lucky escape. His valet, who had had the night off, had returned earlier than expected. Fortunately he had smelt the smoke coming from Charles’s room. When he opened the door the flames shot out. He called to Charles, and there was no answer but he was convinced that Charles was in that room. Wrapping a damp towel about his face he investigated. Charles was sprawled across the bed, presumably overcome by fumes. He was unconscious but the valet, a very resourceful man, dragged him to safety. He gave Charles artificial respiration and by doing so saved his life.

Charles had indeed been fortunate. He could so easily have died in the fire and would certainly have done so but for the prompt action of his valet.

Julia cast aside her depression and became quite energetic. Charles’s wife, Helen, was away in the north of England. There was no need for her to be disturbed, said Julia. Charles should come and live with her until something could be sorted out.

Katie was too observant not to have noticed that something was wrong.

“What did Aunt Julia do?” she asked. I pretended to look puzzled.

”It was something,” she went on. ”People’s mouths go straight when they talk about it as though they think it was wrong and are rather pleased about it.”

“Oh … she is not very well.”

“She seems well. She has such red cheeks. They are purple too.”

I said to her on impulse: ”How would you like to go to Paris?”

”When are we going?”

“I didn’t say that I would. I wondered if you would like to go and stay with the Countess.”

“And leave you here?” She was dismayed.

“I…I thought you might like it.”

“Why can’t you come?”

“Well, there are things to keep me here and I thought you might like to go.”

“I could see Raoul and the Comte. I’d like that but I’d want you to be there, too. Besides, the Comte wouldn’t come to see me, would he? He comes to see you.”

I was surprised at how much she knew. Children are far more aware than one sometimes realizes. I wondered how much she knew about the Comte’s pursuit of me and my involvement with Julia and Drake.

Grand’mere came in. “Grand’mere,” said Katie, “Mama thinks I might go to Paris.”

Grand’mere looked at me and I said hastily: “I thought Katie might like to go there for a while and stay with the Countess.”

“Without you?” asked Grand’mere.

“Somehow I feel I ought to be here.”

Grand’mere nodded.

“I wouldn’t want to go without Mama,” said Katie.

“I think you should both stay here for a while,” added Grand’mere.

Afterwards she said: “You wouldn’t want the child to go without you.”

“It was just that I was thinking she might see more than we realize. She is aware that something is happening. She might have heard scraps of gossip. Children do. I thought it might be a good idea for her to get away for a while.”

Grand’mere shook her head slowly. “No … no, better that you should be together.”

I was disturbed when Charles came to see me. He looked very jaunty in spite of his recent experience.

It was afternoon. Cassie had gone to the park with Katie. Grand’mere was resting and I was alone, working on some accounts. Since the scandal I did not dare to meet people.

One of the maids came in to say that Mr. Sallonger had called to see me.

I was on the point of telling her to say that I was out when he appeared at the door. That was typical of Charles. Anticipating my desire not to see him, he was determined to flout it.

“Lenore, how marvellous to see you!”

He came forward. The maid shut the door and we were alone.

“Well,” he said, “congratulate me. Did you realize I have been snatched from the jaws of death?”

I said: “Congratulations.”

“Jedder is a good fellow. It would have been kingdom come for me but for him.”

“You must be very grateful.”

“Oh, I am. I have no desire to slip off this mortal coil just yet. And Lenore, as always, you look enchanting. I’ve brought something for you.”

He produced a picture.

“A memento of a memorable night,” he said.

It was the photograph which had been taken at Julia’s party. It was very clear and we were all recognizable: Charles, Cassie, Madalenna, two other men and myself.

“Very good, do you not think so?”

I wanted no memento of that night. It was one which I was trying hard to forget.

“It is very clear of us all,” I said.

I put it into a drawer. I could not bear to look at it.

“I thought you might like to have it,” he said mockingly.

“It is a night I prefer to forget.”

“Oh, you are thinking of Julia’s outburst.” He laughed. ”Poor Julia! Very far gone, I’m afraid. I was, too, on that night of the fire, you know. It must run in the family. I was entertaining a lady diner a deux… and I don’t remember a thing. Well, Julia certainly let herself go. She’s being a good sister to me now. Do you know, there is very little left. My Chippendale bureau is gone … burned to a cinder… also some of my Hepplewhite pieces. I really had some good stuff in that house.”

“I thought you might have gone down to The Silk House for a while.”

“Oh, there is too much to do in London.”

“And is Helen coming back?”

“There doesn’t seem to be any reason for her to hurry. We get along because we don’t see very much of one another. It’s a good recipe for marriage.”

“You are quite cynical.”

“Realism. That’s what I call it. Julia is playing the Good Samaritan and Drake has no objections so I might as well stay at their place till I find a new nest in London. But I haven’t come to talk about all that.”

I raised my eyebrows, and he smiled at me coming towards the table at which I was standing. I had not sat down nor had I invited him to do so since he had come in.

“What did I come to talk about? you are asking. Well, I will tell you. I came to talk about us.”

“Us?”

“Yes … you and myself.”

“What have you to say about us?”

“That we should be better friends. I’m a little jealous… of Drake. You seem to be so fond of him … and really you shouldn’t be. After all, he is Julia’s husband and it’s in the family … more or less. I get really angry when I think about you and Drake, and how you are leaving me out in the cold.”

“You are talking nonsense.”

“I don’t think that would be the general opinion after …”

“I don’t think there is anything to say.”

“There is a great deal to say. I am rather obsessed with you, Lenore. I can’t get you out of my mind. You flout me. You are so virtuous … on the surface. Such an innocent child, weren’t you when you captured Philip. But tell me, why did Philip kill himself?”

“I am not sure that he did.”

“Oh, come now. Do you think I murdered him? Out of jealousy perhaps, because he had the prize I coveted. No, my dear, that is not so. I believe he discovered something about you. He had a rather austere outlook on life, did Philip. He was the knight in shining armour. Anything less than perfection would have shocked him deeply. What did he discover about you, Lenore?”

“You are being ridiculous.”

“Such a dark horse you can be. Just think of it. Illegitimate daughter of the house of St. Allengere. Papa turns up just in time to help with the business. The little waif who marries one of the Sallonger heirs. Very romantic—melodramatic, in fact, particularly when the husband commits suicide. You’d think that would be enough but oh no, not for Lenore. She has to fascinate poor Julia’s husband. Ambitious politician. Then there is the problem for the poor man. All the world well lost for love?”

“I do not want to listen to any more.”

”I am afraid you will have to. Did you know I am not a very nice man?”

“That is one thing on which we can agree.”

He caught my arm. “But people who are not so nice can be attractive, you know.”

“You, however, are not so to me.”

“Be careful. I should warn you that I can also be a vindictive fellow. Remember the mausoleum?”

”I shall never forget it.”

“And how kind and noble Drake rescued you, and not content with that he had to show his knightly qualities by throwing me in the lake. I don’t forget that either. There are old scores to settle there.”

“Charles, I wish you would go.”

I wrenched my arm free, but he came close to me so that his face was almost touching mine. His eyes were mocking, lustful. I felt very much afraid of him.

“But I wish to stay.”

I said: “Has the most beautiful Madalenna departed?”

“She is with us still.”

“I thought you were pursuing her.”

“My appetite is voracious. Madalenna is luscious, beautiful but oddly enough I still hanker after you.”

“Then stop it, for you are wasting your time.”

“No… . no. It is going to be time well spent.”

“Listen to me, Charles, after this I never want to see you again.”

“I shall make you change your mind.”

“I am able to make my own decisions.”

“Lenore, I’ve had enough of this banter. I am serious. If you continue to flout me, it will be the worse for you … and for Drake Aldringham. What if Julia decided to divorce him and cite you as the lady in the case?”

I went cold with fear. I knew that he was not talking idly.

I said quickly: “It would be obviously false.”

“Would it? Meetings in the park. Julia’s outburst before so many. This could mean the end of Drake as a politician, and would betray you as a somewhat wanton lady.”

“Julia has already done a lot of harm.”

“He could be saved … so could you … if you would be sensible.”

“How?”

He leered at me. “You know the answer to that question. By my friendship, of course.”

“By which you mean …”

“Suppose you became my very dear friend.”

I laughed. “You’re crazy, I think.”

He shrugged his shoulders.

“It’s a sort of blackmail,” I said.

“Often an effective weapon.”

“You are so melodramatic.”

“Rather intriguing, eh?”

“Far from it. Rather absurd and quite meaningless.”

“My very dear sister-in-law, with the rather disreputable origins, the clever girl who in spite of being brought into the Sallonger fold as an underling, her grandmother one of our workers, somehow managed to entrap one of the Sallonger heirs into marriage.”

“How dare you tell such lies!”

”Lies? Did you not marry my brother? Was he not one of the heirs to our father’s estate? Were you not raised from a menial position in the household to become one of us?”

“I did not trap Philip into marriage.”

“With your wiles and your pretty ways you did. He was always your slave. You saw he was a better proposition than I. Poor Charles was scorned. Then he dies and in mysterious circumstances. Suicide they say. But was it? Be careful, Lenore. You are not in a very secure position. I have great influence with Julia. I might decide to advise her on a divorce. She would listen to me. I am her adviser now.”

“She would not do it. She has already harmed Drake considerably and I believe she is contrite about that.”

“Contrite? Perhaps for a while. Then she will be ragingly jealous. It depends on the bottle. I have seen her in the many moods it inspires. Maudlin, sentimental, becoming jealous … venomously so. It would not be difficult for me. Pity, for they say that, given a chance, Drake could become a brilliant politician. A divorce would finish him. And you, too, my dear. Think of your position. Old scandals revived. The woman whose husband killed himself a few weeks after marriage. That would not sound very pleasant, would it, in a court of law?”

“You would not do this.”

Would I not? I think you have a great deal to learn about me. It would be the story of the mausoleum all over again. You flouted me then. If it had not been for Drake how long would you have remained in that cold dank place with the remains of long dead Sallongers?”

“Nothing on Earth would induce me to become, as you call it, your dear friend.”

“We shall see, Lenore my darling. We shall see.”

“Will you go now?”

He bowed his head. “But,” he said, “I shall be back. I think when you consider this matter and all it entails you may change your mind.”

“I never shall,” I told him.

“Au revoir, sweet Lenore,” he said.

When he had gone I felt shaken and exhausted. I had always known he was a dangerous man; but I had not until that moment realized how dangerous.

I did not tell anyone of that interview with Charles. I could not bring myself to talk of it. I was in a state of great anxiety. One thing I knew was that Charles was not talking idly. He had always had a special feeling for me which fluctuated between desire and dislike. He wanted to humiliate me, to hurt me; he had sought opportunities, as in the case of the mausoleum; but this was a more serious matter.

I should have loved to take my troubles to Grand’mere but I did not want to worry her. I had brought her a great deal of anxiety through my relationships both with the Comte and with Drake. She took these things too much to heart. I could not burden her with this new and frightening development.

Then I had a letter from Drake.

“I must see you,” he wrote, “but after Julia’s outburst it would be unwise for us to be seen together. I have an idea. My old nanny has a house in Kensington. I have always visited her over the years. Could we meet there? She would be very discreet and do anything for me. She has always been like a mother to me. She is Miss Brownlee of 12 Parsons Road. Do come there. Could it be tomorrow afternoon. I shall go there then. Say two thirty. I must talk to you, Lenore. Please come.”

I could not ignore the plea and I did feel that I had a great deal to say to Drake. I also realized how unwise it would be for us to be seen together particularly after Charles’s threats.

I did not say where I was going. I took a cab. The journey was quicker than I had anticipated, and I arrived at the house quite ten minutes early. There were very few people about. A cab did just draw up as I was getting out of mine. That was all. The house was small with discreet lace curtains and a highly polished knocker.

It was opened by a pleasant-faced woman of about sixty with rosy cheeks, white hair and bright blue eyes. She smiled at me warmly. “You must be Mrs. Sallonger,” she said.

I said that I was. “And you are Miss Brownlee.”

“That’s right. Master Drake has told me you were coming. He will be here shortly. He is always punctual. Come into my little parlour.”

The parlour was a cluttered little room with windows which looked out onto the street, but the view was discreetly hidden by the lace curtains. There was a settee, several chairs, and in the fireplace a bunch of roses. A big ormolu clock stood on the mantelshelf in between two large vases with angels clinging to them as though supporting them. In one corner of the room was a what-not with innumerable little ornaments on it and in another a corner cupboard with glass doors displaying more ornaments.

Miss Brownlee bade me sit down.

She said: “It’s a pretty little house, isn’t it? I’m proud of it. He bought it for me … you know, Master Drake.”

“Oh, did he?”

She smiled. “My wonderful boy. Of all my children, he was the best.”

“I know you were his nurse.”

”Nanny Brownlee … that was me. I had some little cherubs in my time, but there wasn’t one that could touch Drake. I used to say to him, ‘You’re going to forget all about me when you go to school and get your grand friends.’ ‘I never will, Nanny Brownlee,’ he said. And he was right, God bless him. Always he remembered … birthdays … Christmas … and then when I’d done with working he bought me this little house. And he comes to see me. He’ll talk to me too… . Tell me his troubles. I want to see him Prime Minister one day. If they had any sense they’d make him one right away.”

“It is clear that he has an ardent supporter in you.”

“Well, I know him. He’ll be here soon. Right on time. I taught him that. I said, ‘You must be punctual, Master Drake. It’s bad manners to be late. Like saying you don’t want to come much and what could be ruder than that.’ He remembered. He always remembered. I like to think I helped to make him the man he is today.” She looked at me quizzically, her bright blue eyes penetrating and alert. I wondered how much she knew about my relationship with Drake. A good deal, I imagined, for he would have confided in her.

“He’s very sad just now, and has been for a long time. It was a terrible thing that happened to him. I pray that it will all come right and he’ll get what he deserves … and that’s the best.”

The doorbell rang. She glanced triumphantly at the clock.

“Right on time,” she said. “I knew it.”

She left me sitting there while she went to the door. I heard her say: “She’s here.”

She brought him into the little room.

“Lenore,” he said, “so you came.”

I smiled at him. He looked tired and drawn.

Miss Brownlee said: “Well, I’m going to leave you two to have a talk. A nice cup of tea say just before four? How will that be?”

“Thank you, Nanny,” said Drake.

She looked at him with such love and pride that I was deeply touched.

When the door shut Drake turned to me. “I had to do it this way,” he said. “I felt that in view of everything we could not meet where we might be seen.”

“I understand. I was glad to meet Miss Brownlee. She is so devoted to you.”

“She has always been like a mother to me. I suppose I felt closer to her than to anyone for years. The other night … It was monstrous. …”

“I know.”

“You understand what I have to endure?”

I nodded.

“She is unpredictable, Lenore. There is no escape from her. I spend as much time at Swaddingham as I can but she will come there. Ever since that night I have been thinking. Something must be done. What a fool I was to get myself into this.”

“You did what you thought was right. You felt you had to marry her.”

“She tricked me, Lenore.”

“I know. I know.”

“It was when I thought that your father was your lover… . How stupid I was! I can’t tell you how I felt. I was hurt and humiliated and enraged. I should never have doubted you but it seemed to fit and she did it so subtly. And then I was weak. I didn’t care what happened. I stayed that night in her house. You know the rest.”

“It’s no use going over it, Drake. It’s past and we are in this situation.”

“She pretended to care for me and she is trying to ruin me.”

“She is a jealous woman and when she is drinking she is capable of anything. That night was an example of that. We have to be careful, Drake.”

He nodded. “I have thought and thought. I have come to the conclusion that I have to make an end of it. I am going to leave her.”

”There would be scandal.”

“There already has been.”

“You could perhaps live that down.”

“Do you think so?”

“Perhaps. If you are discreet. If you and I do not meet. I could go to Paris for a long time. Things would settle down.”

“That’s the last thing I want. I shall give up politics. I can see that I shall have to do that eventually … even if I remained with Julia. She will not be accepted and she grows worse.”

“Perhaps she will reform. I think she might if she thought you cared for her.”

“I don’t,” he said. “And I can’t pretend.”

“Some scandals can be lived down. Think of Lord Melbourne.”

“He is always cited on these occasions, but I think he had special qualities. He was a natural survivor. I don’t want to live this down. I’m ready to give it up. Lenore, let’s go away together.”

“No, Drake, that isn’t the way.”

“There was a time when I thought you loved me.”

“I do love you, Drake. You are my very dear friend.”

“You mean you do not love me enough.”

“I mean that I do not love you in the way I should have to. People who give up all for each other have to love in a very special way. I am so fond of you. I have always admired you, but…”

“You’ve changed, Lenore. There is someone else.”

I was silent.

“I felt it was so,” he said. “I understand.”

“No, no, you don’t. It is true that I did meet someone. He just had a strange effect on me.”

“You are in love with him.”

I shook my head. “I don’t know. It would be foolish of me if I were. No, I am not in love with him. But I feel stimulated and excited to be with him and I think of him a great deal. Perhaps it is ridiculous. I daresay it is. He is not serious. But it is just that if I could feel like that about another person, I shouldn’t think of being in love with someone else.”

Drake looked puzzled.

“I can’t explain further,” I went on. “It was just an … encounter, but it made a deep impression on me. No, there was no real relationship between us. He would have had one … and then passed on. He is that sort of man. I could not accept that and yet… I am being frank with you, Drake. I think of him still and that makes me feel that you should not make any sacrifices for someone as unsure as I am.”

”I have always felt that you and I were meant for each other.”

“I have felt that, too, at times. Grand’mere thinks it. She was terribly upset when you married Julia.”

”She is a very wise woman.”

“Her thoughts are all for me. Your Miss Brownlee reminds me of her. She loves you very dearly.”

“I know.”

“And you have looked after her. She is so grateful.”

“It is I who should be grateful to her.”

“Drake,” I said, “what are you going to do? Julia may well bring divorce proceedings against you.”

“I should welcome them/’

“Charles has suggested that he may persuade her to do so and … cite me.”

He gripped my hand.

“It would be our way out,” he said. “I would welcome any way to end this. Sometimes I think I could be capable of anything.”

“Please, Drake, don’t talk like that. Think what this would mean. It would be the end of your career.”

“But I have already decided to give that up.”

“You think that now but what would you feel in five or ten years’ time? Politics are in your blood. That is your life, Drake. You would always feel that you have missed something.”

”I could be happy if you were with me. You would forget that man. I would forget politics. We could be happy together. I know it.”

“Let us not be rash, Drake. Perhaps something will happen.”

So we talked and talked round the subject and always we came back to the same point. My uncertainty … Drake’s determination that he could not go on and something was going to happen, for if it did not he would soon have to make it.

I was on the point of telling him all about Charles and stopped myself in time. I did not want to add to his anxieties and I did not know what action he would take. All those years ago he had thrown Charles in the lake and so had started festering this resentment against us both. I did not want more trouble so I remained silent.

In due course Miss Brownlee came in with the tea in a big brown tea pot with scones and fairy cakes.

“He always did like my scones,” she told me, “didn’t you, Drake? And fairy cakes were a special treat. Do you remember?”

He assured her that he did. And there in that little room with this woman whose love for him was so evident, I thought what a good man he was and what a tragedy it was that he should be caught up in such a situation. Perhaps if I had married him we should have been very happy together.

We left separately. That seemed wise. Drake had ordered a cab to come and take me home. I left him there. It would return for him later.

I said goodbye to Nanny Brownlee and she assured me that she would be pleased to see me at any time; and I went out to the cab.

A man was walking slowly past the house as I was driven off. I did not think there was anything unusual about that at the time.

I was in a perpetual state of anxiety and the attempt to appear normal was a strain. My main thought was for Katie. She was becoming very knowledgeable and was particularly observant. Sometimes I found her watching me intently. I guessed she knew something was afoot. She was very fond of Drake, but she was fond of many; she had had a great admiration for the Comte. Katie was ready to love anyone in the belief that their intentions were what hers would be. In spite of being fatherless she had been surrounded by love all her life and she could not imagine anything different. I could not bear to think of her being brought face to face with unpleasant realities—particularly those in which her mother could be involved.

We went to the park to feed the ducks—a regular occupation of hers and on this particular day, as we were by the water, Charles appeared. I think he must have followed us.

He swept off his hat. “Good morning, Lenore. Good morning, Katie.”

“Good morning, Uncle Charles,” cried Katie beaming at him. “We are going to feed the ducks.”

“Such angels of mercy,” said Charles casting his eyes up to the skies.

Katie thought that was very funny.

”Some of them are rather greedy,” she said.

“A common failing in most living creatures,” commented Charles.

”There is one who is especially greedy. He tries to get everything … everyone else’s share as well as his own. I try to stop him. It’s great fun.”

“I must stay to watch the fun,” said Charles.

“I am sure you will find it rather boring,” I said.

”By no means. I find such good deeds inspiring. Casting your bread upon the waters.”

“It’s only stale bread,” put in Katie, adding: “That’s in the Bible.”

“I was hoping you would think it was original.”

“Stale bread and crusts,” said Katie.

“But very acceptable to those greedy creatures obviously.”

“Would you like some, Uncle Charles? But don’t let that greedy one get it.”

“I am going to leave the feeding to you, dear Katie. I know that in this matter of feeding the ducks you have the wisdom of Solomon.”

Katie thought his conversation very funny.

“I have an idea,” he went on. “Your mother and I will sit on that seat and watch justice being meted out.”

He drew me back to the seat and I had no alternative but to sit down beside him.

“An enchanting child, your daughter,” he said.

I was silent.

“She is very bright,” he added. “I wonder what she will make of this horrid scandal when it breaks upon the world.”

With an almost uncanny precision he had interpreted exactly what was in my mind.

“But of course,” he went on soothingly, “she will never hear of it for you are going to be sensible.”

“Charles, I wish you would go.”

“But I am enjoying this so much. Katie is a charmer. I am proud of my little niece. It would really hurt me to have her thrust into a welter of unpleasantness.”

“But nevertheless you would take a delight in it if it came to pass.”

“But it need not—though you have to make up your mind quickly. I have spoken to Julia. She is wavering at the moment. She fluctuates according to her liquid intake. But now that I have the evidence, I think she will need little persuasion.”

“What evidence?”

“Of the little love nest.”

”What are you talking about? “

“Number 12 Parsons Road.”

I was numb with shock.

”I see my revelations have upset you. I have had you watched, dear Lenore. For some time I have been doing this and now vigilance has borne fruit. You and Drake were seen to arrive separately at Number 12 Parsons Road and after a sojourn of about two and a half hours you were seen to depart separately and in a most discreet manner. It is all recorded.”

I felt sick with horror. I remembered now the man who had alighted from his cab just as I had from mine. He must have followed me to Parsons Road, and he had stood about waiting while I was there. He would have seen Drake arrive and have witnessed our departure. I could imagine the construction which Charles intended should be put on this.

He was watching me closely. “There is an easy way out,” he said.

“You are absolutely wrong.”

He raised his shoulders. “You are not going to deny that you were there together.”

“You who are so knowledgeable must be aware that it is the home of Drake Aldringham’s nurse.”

”Old nurses can be very accommodating and are well known for indulging their charges’ whims.”

“Are they?”

“Oh yes … particularly when the charges are such little angels as Drake must have been.”

Katie ran to me. “There’s no more bread,” she said.

”We must go home,” I told her.

“So soon, Mama?”

“Yes, we must. I have certain things to do.”

“I shall escort you,” said Charles.

Katie prattled all the way home and Charles responded in a lighthearted manner. But I sensed that was no reflection of his mood. He was deadly serious.

I was very quiet. In fact I was overcome by apprehension.

What could I do? I did not want to worry Grand’mere. Already she was very uneasy; even though she did not know how far this matter had gone.

It occurred to me that if I could see Julia I might make her understand that in harming Drake and me she was hurting herself. If she were in a reasonable mood, if she really loved Drake—as I thought she did—surely she would not want to lose him.

I chose an afternoon. Perhaps she would be resting, but it was a quiet time of the day and I wanted as few people to know of our meeting as possible. She might refuse to see me but if she did I might get a chance to talk to her and if she were in a mellow mood perhaps I could make some progress. I might hint at Charles’s motives. So much would depend on how I found her.

I felt great trepidation as I rang the bell and I was ushered in by a parlourmaid. Mrs. Aldringham, I was told, was in her room. The maid would see if she were sleeping or if she could receive me.

After a few moments I was taken to Julia’s bedroom. She was sitting on a chair by the window and she smiled when she saw me.

“Do come in, Lenore.”

“I hope you are not resting.”

She shook her head. “I was going to lie down … but it doesn’t matter.”

She was in a peignoir of her favourite violet which matched the colour in her cheeks. She may have been drinking but she was by no means drunk.

I saw the inevitable decanter and a used glass on the table near her bed.

“I’m glad you came,” she said. “I wanted to talk to you. I have been so worried about you … and Drake.”

“Julia, there is nothing to be worried about. Drake and I are good friends … that’s all.”

She shook her head. “He thinks a lot of you, I know.”

“He’s married to you, Julia. If only you …”

“Yes,” she said, “what?”

My eyes had strayed to the decanter.

“I know what you mean,” she cried. “Stop drinking. I try. I do … for a time and then I have to go back to it. I can’t help it. I just have to.”

“If only you could. …”

“Do you think that would make any difference?”

“I think it would make all the difference.”

“How can it when he is in love with you?”

“You’re his wife, Julia. That’s important.”

“No. It was always you … even when we were children it was you he liked.”

“But he married you. It was what you wanted. You ought to be happy. If you would only try … stop drinking … do all you could to help him in his career instead of. .

She began to cry. “I know. It was a terrible thing I did. He will never forgive me. You won’t either.”

“I do understand your distress, Julia, but if you would only be reasonable … try to understand him… . He’s ambitious. He could go far. Everyone seems to think so … and all this is spoiling his chances.”

“Charles says I should divorce him.”

”If you did that you would lose him.”

“I know.”

“Surely that’s the last thing you want.”

She hesitated. “I don’t know. Sometimes I get angry and it all seems different. I hate him then. I want to hurt him … as I’ve been hurt. Charles says I should be happier if I did.”

“It’s for you to decide what you want… not Charles.”

“Charles has always influenced me. I’ve admired Charles. Philip was so gentle. But Charles was the man of the world. He married Helen. They are not even good friends but he doesn’t care in the least. He’s quite happy with the arrangement. He is blatantly unfaithful to her and yet he seems to enjoy life. I wish I were like Charles … not caring.”

”You wouldn’t want to be like that.”

“Oh, I should. I couldn’t care then whether Drake loved me or not … I’d be like Charles. I’d take lovers. He doesn’t care in the least. He’s having a love affair with that Italian woman now.”

“Do you mean Madalenna de’ Pucci?”

“Yes, that’s her. He sees a great deal of her. She’s always in and out of this house. And she’s in his rooms. I believe he has given her a key so that she can come in when she pleases.”

“Really … but it’s your house.”

“It’s Charles’s home when he’s living here. Oh, he’s deeply involved with her. Charles is so sophisticated. He’d never get hurt like this. I wish I were like him.”

“You must not let him influence you, Julia. Your life is in your own hands.”

“Sometimes I think Charles is right. Then sometimes I don’t. Sometimes I think I don’t care. I just want to hurt Drake as he has hurt me … and then at others it all seems different.”

I said: “You would ruin his career and your life at the same time.”

“I know … I know. I say I mustn’t and then I say I will. I’m wretched so everyone else shall be too.”

“Oh, Julia, I wish you’d drink less and be like you used to be.”

“It’s so comforting. You’re miserable and then you feel you don’t care … and after you feel quite merry and that nothing matters. But sometimes you feel so wretched you could end it all… not only for yourself but for everyone else.”

“Julia, it’s not too late… .”

“Isn’t it?” she asked eagerly. “Isn’t it?”

“Really, Julia, it isn’t.”

”I’ll talk to Charles tonight. I’ll tell him I’m going to try. I’ll be a good wife to Drake. I’ll help him. That’s what I always wanted to do. Yes, I’ll tell Charles tonight. I’ll tell him I’ve made up my mind. I’m going to be different. I’m not going to drink … so much. I’ll wean myself from it. You can’t do it quickly … not when you’re as involved as I am with it. Yes, I shall talk to him tonight.”

“Always remember, Julia, I want to be your friend.”

“Oh, I know. I know, Lenore.” She was near to tears. “I’m going to be different. I’m going to tell Charles tonight that I won’t do what he suggests. I’m going to try and be a better wife to Drake. I’m going to make him love me. …”

I rose to go. I went to her and kissed her. I said: “Don’t get up. I’ll let myself out.”

As I came into the street I told myself that the meeting had not been in vain.

But by the next morning Julia was dead.

The days which followed are like a grotesque nightmare in my memory. I kept telling myself that I must wake up and find that I was dreaming.

The cause of Julia’s death was established. She was found in Charles’s sitting room. He had had his own little suite of rooms in the house since the fire; they comprised a bedroom, a dressing room and a sitting room, and although they were part of the main house and were situated at the end of the first floor corridor, there was a back staircase which led only to them. Because of this they were especially private. Julia had given them to Charles so that he could feel a little apart until he was able to make arrangements as to where he would live.

The valet—who had saved him at the time of the fire—had told Julia that Charles had said he would be home round about seven o’clock.

Julia had gone to his sitting room as she wished to talk to him without delay. There she intended to wait for him. She must have seen the decanter and found it irresistible. Julia’s passion for drink had killed her. Her death had been instantaneous. When Charles had come in, he had found her dead. It seemed that she had drunk poisoned sherry which must have been meant for Charles.

When I heard the news I was overcome with shock. I had to get away from everyone to think clearly what this could mean. Someone had tried to poison Charles and Julia had died instead.

Grand’mere came to talk to me alone.

“My dear child,” she said, “what does all this mean?”

“They meant to kill Charles,” I whispered. “They did not mean to kill Julia.”

“Why should anyone want to kill Charles?”

“He must have had many enemies. He is not a good man. He is wicked…mischievous… . He likes to make trouble.”

Grand’mere was looking at me intently. “Tell me everything, Lenore,” she begged. “Don’t keep me in the dark.”

So I told her how he had pursued me, how he had had me followed to Parsons Road, how he had tried to persuade Julia to divorce Drake and cite me as the reason.

“Mon Dieu,” she murmured. “Oh … mon Dieu.”

“Grand’mere, you don’t think… I wouldn’t know how … even if…I have never been in his rooms.”

“There will be an inquest,” she said. “Questions will be asked. You saw her the day she died. You must have been one of the last to see her alive.”

“I talked to her, told her how unwise she would be to divorce Drake. She said she was going to talk to Charles. That must have been why she was in his rooms.”

“When this sort of thing happens there are many questions, there is much probing.”

“Grand’mere,” I said. “I am frightened. I am thinking of Katie.”

“Katie must go to Paris.”

“I can’t go, Grand’mere. It would look like running away. I suppose I might not be allowed to go. Perhaps you could take her.”

Grand’mere shook her head. “My place is here with you. Cassie could take her … and the two governesses with her. That’s the best way. It is wise with something like this to take one step at a time … and make sure that it is the right one. Our first plan then is to get Katie away.”

I knew she was right.

Cassie was greatly upset. She had been fond of Julia and was completely stunned by what had happened.

“I keep thinking of her when we were little,” she said. “All the little things she did. That this should happen! I’m glad Mama is not alive to see it.”

I wondered how Lady Sallonger would have taken the news. Calmly, I should imagine. She had never allowed herself to be much affected by others and Julia would have ceased to play a part in her ladyship’s life.

“Cassie,” I said, “we have to do something quickly.”

I had to explain certain things to her. She was horrified to learn of the part Charles had played but she was not greatly surprised. She knew her brother. In their childhood he had taken a delight in teasing his sisters and had often reduced them to tears. There was—and always had been—a sadistic streak in Charles.

Cassie had grown quite worldly wise when she had left The Silk House. She saw at once the need to get Katie out of London and would make her preparations to leave at once.

Katie was full of questions. “Why can’t you come with us, Mama?”

“I have things to do here. I can come later.”

”Why don’t we wait for you?”

“It’s better for you to go now. You’ll have Aunt Cassie and Mademoiselle and Miss …”

“I’d rather you came, Mama.”

“I know, but it isn’t quite convenient yet.”

“Then …”

But I silenced her with a kiss and said: “You know how you love Paris … and it won’t be long.”

“Shall we go to Grandpapa’s vineyard?”

“I expect so … one day.”

“Will he be in Paris?”

“I don’t know.”

“I hope I go to the vineyard. I want to see Raoul.”

She prattled on and there was a certain speculation in her eyes. I could see that it would have been very difficult to keep the news from her.

I had to attend the inquest. It was an ordeal. Drake was looking pale and strained and the fact that Julia was the wife of a politician who was becoming known to the public meant that there was full press coverage.

Some searching questions were asked of Drake. He knew of no reason why anyone should wish to kill his brother-in-law. He knew very little of him really. His rooms in the house were tantamount to a separate apartment and as they were both busy men they saw little of each other. He was so calm and dignified that I could see he was making a good impression.

I was asked about my last meeting with Julia and why I had gone to see her on that day. I said we had been brought up together and saw each other frequently. Had we discussed her brother and why anyone should seek to kill him? I said he had been mentioned and she had told me that he was out and she looked forward to having a chat with him when he came home that evening.

I was relieved when it was over.

Charles was the main witness for he had been the one to find her. He explained quietly and with great sadness how he had been living in the house of his sister and brother-in-law since a fire had destroyed his home. He had been out all the afternoon and when he had returned it was to find her dead in his room.

In due course a verdict was reached. It was: Murder by a person or persons unknown.

Now the investigation would begin in earnest.