The Adultress (28 page)

“We lived there for some months. We were both interested in art treasures and Florence was the Mecca for people like us. It was he who told me about the houses near Eversleigh when I was wanting to buy one. The other one, Enderby, was occupied at the time so I bought Grasslands.”

“Was that very long ago?”

“Long before his illness.”

“Have you seen him since?”

“No. That doctor of his frowns on visitors. I have not seen him since his seizure. I used to call occasionally but it wasn’t easy for either of us. He was crippled and couldn’t leave the house and I was plagued with my rheumatism. I walk around with a stick but I don’t feel inclined to go far afield. The doctor says I should take a little exercise but not strain myself.”

“Do you know Dr. Cabel? He was a friend of my uncle long ago. I wonder if …”

“No, I never met him. He is retired from his profession now, I believe, and that is why he can give so much attention to Lord Eversleigh. I have a very good man myself. Dr. Forster.”

“Dr. Forster!” I cried. “I did meet him.”

“A very good man, I think. As a matter of fact I should like him to take a look at Lord Eversleigh.”

“Wouldn’t that be somewhat unethical?”

“I suppose so, since he has his own doctor. On the other hand … Dr. Cabel is retired and Dr. Forster is a comparatively young man. He might have more up-to-date knowledge.”

“I … should like that very much … but I don’t see how it can be suggested.”

“No, I suppose not. He has done me a lot of good. Special pills, you know, and he takes a real interest. He gives me confidence.”

“Lord Eversleigh is hardly conscious. I think he recognizes me but so far he has said little except my name.”

“Well, I suppose he is fortunate to be alive at all. So many people die after an affair like that. But I do have such confidence in Dr. Forster. He’s a good man, you know. I only discovered a few weeks ago that he runs a home for unwanted children.”

“Oh, does he? I didn’t know that. I only met him briefly. I think he did mention a hospital. I happened to be wandering past Enderby, where his brother lives. I had met them on another occasion and they asked me in and then the other day I saw them again and that was when I met Dr. Forster.”

“Yes, he puts a lot of work into this hospital of his. It’s a fine thing. He has a special feeling, they say, for children.”

“Has he any of his own?”

“I don’t think so. I believe he was married … something happened. The wife died or something … and after that he started this place. He spends some time there I believe because it’s not a large practice here.”

“That’s very interesting,” I said. “I thought he was an unusual man, although as I said our meeting was brief.”

Evalina had come back with Dickon: She looked flushed and I noticed that one of the buttons on her blouse was not done up. Dickon was as calm and self-possessed as ever. I guessed there had been some sort of amorous encounter, and as I felt a liking for Andrew Mather my disgust for the two of them was greater than ever.

“What did you think of the chest?” asked Andrew.

“Interesting,” said Dickon. “Very interesting. Crudely made rather … “I suppose that is because it is thirteenth century. I thought the chip-carved rondels were exciting. By the way that’s a lovely piece you have inside the chest. I wonder why you shut it away and keep it wrapped up? Are you afraid of someone stealing it?”

“What piece is that?” asked Andrew.

Evalina said: “Oh, it’s nothing really. It’s just one of those things you have in the chest.”

“I didn’t know there was anything there.”

“You’d know about this,” said Dickon. “It’s a treasure.”

Andrew looked puzzled and Dickon said, “I’ll go up and get it. I did want to ask you about it.”

“Oh, another time,” said Evalina. “I’m tired of all this talk about old things.”

Dickon smiled at her and went out of the room.

Evalina was frowning. She said rather crossly. “Oh, I do wish we could do something sensible.”

“What would you like to do?” asked Andrew fondly.

“Have a ball or banquet … something which I could
plan
.”

“We’ll have to see.”

I said: “I think I should be going.”

“It was good of you to call,” said Andrew.

“Yes, it was nice seeing you again. I remember the last time …” Her eyes were malicious, daring me to mention it. “It seems quite a long time ago.”

Dickon came back. He was holding a bronze statuette in his hands, which he held out to Andrew.

Andrew gasped. “Where did you find that?”

“It was in the chest.”

Andrew took it and turned it over and over in his hands. He murmured: “I’ll swear this is the one. I’ve seen it before. It was in Florence years ago. It’s a beautiful thing. It was said to have been done by a pupil of Michelangelo.”

“That,” said Dickon, “would account for the purity of the lines.”

“And it was in my chest! Impossible! How could it have got there? It belongs to Lord Eversleigh. … At least it did when I last saw it … if it’s the one. We both wanted it. He could bid higher than I … and it was his. But how … ? I don’t understand.”

Evalina sat on a stool and laid her head against her husband’s knee.

“I’d better confess,” she said. “Although I swore to my mother I wouldn’t tell. It’s hers. I’m keeping it for her.”

“Here?” said Andrew. “But this was one of the pieces Lord Eversleigh most prized.”

“I know,” said Evalina. “That was why he gave it to her. He wanted to give her something good … something valuable. I suppose he was thinking it was something she might sell after he died if she fell on hard times. I was holding it for her. She thought that if it was left at the Court and Lord Eversleigh died she wouldn’t be allowed to have it. I’m sorry. Have I done wrong?”

Andrew touched her hair caressingly. “Of course not, and I suppose there is something in that. She would have to prove that he’d given it to her.”

“How could she do that? She can’t very well say ‘I want it written down that you’ve given me this’ … or that. … He’s given her one or two things … and she’s asked me to mind them for her. I thought I’d wrap them up and keep them for her. There’s no harm in that, is there?”

“Of course there’s no harm. But this is a very valuable piece. I don’t suppose your mother realizes the value.”

“Oh, she said Lordy wouldn’t give her any old rubbish. Some of the things he gives her she leaves there and hopes for the best. It was just the things she thought were special.”

Andrew was turning the statue over and over in his hands.

“Exquisite,” he said. “Well, I suppose I should be honored to have it in my house for a little while.”

Evalina took it firmly from him.

“I think I’d better wrap it up and put it away,” she said. “I promised my mother I would take care of it.”

I sensed tension in the atmosphere. Evalina threw a glance at Dickon in which there was a certain dislike. She had not cared that he should find the hiding place of the bronze statue and then show it to her husband. Dickon’s expression was inscrutable.

I said I really must go and I thanked them for their hospitality.

Dickon said he would stay awhile. He wanted to talk about the chest and have a closer look at the bronze statue.

I left the house and rode slowly back to Eversleigh.

At supper that evening Dickon was rather more quiet than usual. At dusk I was taken once more to Uncle Carl’s room. It was the same ritual; the brief visit, the hovering Jessie and the doctor, the brief pressure of the hand, the murmuring of my name, and then all too soon the request to leave the room.

I wondered if I was ever going to speak to my uncle.

I retired early but not to sleep. I sat in the window for a long time looking out and thinking about the events of the day—the marriage of Evalina to Andrew Mather and Dickon’s discovery of the valuable statue which had belonged to my uncle and which Evalina had said he had given to her mother.

Had he? I wondered. How easy it would be for Jessie to help herself to valuable objects and hide them away somewhere!

Of course it was perfectly plausible that he had given them to her, and she might have been denied them if Uncle Carl died. What would happen then? I suppose Rosen, Stead and Rosen had some instructions. Would they come in and assess his possessions? Would they know if anything was missing? How could they? He was perfectly entitled to give his valuables away if he so wished. But it would be difficult for someone like a housekeeper to say some valuable object had been given to her if it were still in the house. He might very well have given her the statue—and other things besides—and she felt she had to get them out of the house while she had a chance.

It was an unusual situation and very difficult to assess. Something should be done, I was sure, but I did not know what. Perhaps I should go and see Rosen, Stead and Rosen. I wished there was someone whose advice I could ask.

I could only think of the Forsters. But I hardly knew them well enough and could scarcely put such a private matter before them when I had met them only twice.

My mother always said: “When in difficulties always wait. Sleep on a big decision. It’s often wisest.” My father would have been different. He would have been more impulsive.

My sleep was once more fitful. I could never settle to regular sleep in this house. I suppose it was because my mind was so uneasy.

I was awakened from a light doze because I thought I had heard a noise below. I sat up in bed. It was two o’clock. I was sure someone was out on the lawn.

I got out of bed and went to the window and was just in time to see a figure go into the house.

Two o’clock! Who could it be? I immediately thought of Amos Carew coming to visit Jessie. Old Jethro had said that he came some nights. On the other hand it might have been Dickon. I imagined that he could have been paying a late-night call on Evalina. It was the sort of situation which would amuse him. I could imagine his making love with Evalina in a room close by that in which her husband lay. It was a Boccaccio situation and one I was sure which Dickon—and perhaps Evalina—would find highly diverting. But she had not been very pleased with him when he had brought out the bronze figure, I was sure; and he knew it and metaphorically he snapped his fingers at her. The incident could have brought about a coolness between them.

There was so much that needed explaining. I went to my door and listened. Stealthy footsteps were coming up the stairs.

I waited pressed against the door. If it were Dickon and he were returning to his room, those steps would go on past my room, for he was at the end of this corridor.

I waited. There was silence. I heard the sound of a door opening and being quietly shut.

It seemed as though it was not Dickon.

I locked my door and returned to bed. It must have been Amos Carew visiting Jessie.

The next morning Jessie was hovering in the hall when I came down dressed for my morning walk.

“Hello,” she said. “Off out?”

“Yes.” I hesitated. “I wonder what good I’m doing here,” I went on. “Lord Eversleigh doesn’t know I’m here, I’m sure.”

“He knows it, all right. It’s just that he’s lost the power to say so. But I know what you mean. … We’re all so frustrated.”

“It goes on,” I said. “I suppose it has been like that for weeks.”

She nodded.

“I was wondering,” I said, “if there is anything that could be done.”

“We’re doing all we can.”

“Yes, I know, but there have been so many new ideas in the medical profession recently. Some of them have worked wonders.”

“That’s why I’m so glad we’ve got Dr. Cabel living here.”

“I’ve been thinking about that. He’s retired and he was an old friend and I am sure Uncle Carl likes to have him here … but since his day there may have been advances in medicine. I was wondering whether we could call in a new opinion.”

She was silent. She had turned slightly away from me. It seemed a long time before she spoke and when she did her voice was trembling a little.

“I’m sure I’ve thought of everything,” she said. “You can imagine what he means to me. Oh no, you can’t … nobody could. I know you think he is a meal ticket to me. He is, of course, but that’s not all. I’ve loved the old fellow … I still do. I can’t bear to think of him gone. … Oh, I know you’ll say … yes, where will you be, Jess Stirling, without him. Out on your ear, that’s where. Well, it’s not quite like that. I’ve looked after the future.”

Yes, I thought. Italian Renaissance statues tucked away for a rainy day!

“I’m fond of him. I’ve said to him: ‘Ought we to get another doctor?’ He doesn’t like it. He said, ‘Old Cabel is the best I’ve ever known.” Wouldn’t trust himself with any of these modern quacks. That was what he said … quacks.”

“When did he say this?” I asked quickly.

“Oh, it was before the seizure. When he was working up for it, you might say. I said then that we should get another doctor and he wouldn’t hear of it. Got quite worked up at the thought.”

“I see,” I said. “But he would hardly be aware, would he now? He doesn’t really know me. If we called in Dr. Forster …”

“Dr. Forster! You mean … the doctor here!”

“I was thinking of him. I met him at Enderby. They’re very nice people. I don’t see why we shouldn’t call him in. Two opinions are better than one.”

“I believe Dr. Cabel would go if we did. Doctors don’t like that. They like you to trust them.”

“I suppose it might be unethical.”

“Well … I don’t know. Don’t do anything yet, though. Perhaps I could sound them … both Lordy and Dr. Cabel.”

“You mean you would
ask
Lord Eversleigh? He would never understand.”

“Oh, I think he might. You’re worried, aren’t you? You think he shouldn’t go on like this. Dr. Cabel thinks it a bit of a miracle that he does.”

I said: “I wish I could see him more often. Those brief visits by candlelight …”

“I know.”

“At night,” I said, “when he is probably tired.”

“It was his wish that he sees people after dusk. He’s changed such a lot. It’s done something to his face. … It’s draws his mouth down one side. It’s made his hair come out. He’ll never take off that nightcap and he wears it so as to hide half his face. He was a very vain man … very fond of his own appearance. … He can’t bear the change in himself. I keep the mirror well out of his way.”