The Unaccomplished Lady Eleanor (39 page)

‘
Please do come in
monsieur,
m
adam
e
,
’
invited Eleanor, gesturing to the
pair
to be seated on the sofa alongside
Derek
Lovell. 
‘
Lady Madeleine is bursting to speak with you.
’

‘
Hogy vagy
,
’
gushed Madam
e
Aminieux, holdin
g out her plump arms as she waddl
e
d towards Madeleine
.  Madeleine shrank back as the woman then proceeded to bend down and
embrace her
. 

‘
Ah,
’
sighed M.
Aminieux, clutching both hands to his rounded chest,
‘
she has been looking forward to this for so long.
I
t is
a great shame
that ther
e are so few Hungaria
n
s
here.  She is never having the chance to be speaking her own language.
’
 

‘
T
hat is
indeed a pity, M.
Aminieux,
’
agreed Eleanor. 
‘
And what a treat for us all to witness Lady Madeleine speaking her mother tongue.
’

Madam
e
Aminieux released her hold of a breathless Madeleine. 
‘
Ah,
milyen csinos v
égre
találkozni veled
,
’
she sighed,

Madeleine
gawped imploringly at Derek
Lovell. 

‘
I do believe, Lady Madeleine, that you are in shock,
’
remarked Eleanor concernedly. 
‘
Perhaps a sip of this brandy
,
w
hich Mr Lovell very kindly pou
red for James earlier
,
will help soothe your nerves.
’
  She handed the glass to Madeleine who, casting another terrified look at Lovell, reluctantly accepted it from her.

A
ll at once, Derek
Lovell thrust to his feet. 
‘
I
do believe Lady Eleanor,
’
he declared, walking over to Madeleine and swiping the glass from her tiny hand,
‘
that Lady Madeleine is not in the habit of drinking brandy.  Perhaps you would prefer a sherry, ma’am?
’
he suggested. 

A wave of relief washed over Madeleine’s
beautiful
face.  
‘
Er yes.  T
hank yo
u, Mr Lovell. 
That would be
most kind.
’

‘
Oh, indeed it would, Mr Lovell,
’
replied Eleanor,
swooping the glass from hi
s hand as he
passed by her. 
‘
However it would be a great pity to waste this measure
–
unless
,
of course
, the
re is another reason why Lady Madeleine does
not wish to consume the brandy.
’
  She fixed Madeleine with a quizzical look.

The Hungarian shifted uncomfortably in her seat. 
‘
I have no idea-
’

‘
Oh, well
,
in that case,
’
broke in Eleanor
,
‘
please do allow me to demonstrate.
 
Ed!
’

N
o sooner
had she called his name
, than the door opened again and in marched Ed Maguire, carrying a small cage
containing
a large black rat. 

Madeleine
gasped in horror, screwing up her nose in
disgust
. 
Madam
e
Aminieux produced a handkerchief, which she pressed over her nose and mouth.  

Eleanor
greeted the boy and his companion with
a
charming smile. 
‘
Good evening, Ed. 
Would you
please carry out your instructions.
’
She handed
the boy the brandy glass.

Ed placed the cage on the
low
table around which the group were seated, Lovell having now resumed his position alongside the Aminieuxs on the sofa.  They all watched in stunned silence as
he opened
the cage door, retrieve
d
a small bowl from inside, fill
ed
the bowl with the brandy
from the glass, then replaced it in
the cage and close
d
the door.  He nodded to Eleanor to indicate the completion of his instructions before crouching down at the side of the table and observing the animal as it sniffed about its alcoholic offering. 

It was Derek Lovell who broke the bewildered silence
.  He cleared his
throat
before remarking
in a
quivering
voice, ‘
Lady Eleanor
,
you appear to have gone quite queer in your attic.  I think perhaps
Lord Prestonville
and I
should escort
you to your room.  What do you say, Prestonville?
’

James fixed him with cold, narrowed eyes f
or a few seconds before stating,
‘
I agree
that Lady Eleanor is acting
strangely,
Lovell,
however
,
she is perfectly correct in pointing out that none of us have yet had the pleasure of hearing Lady Madeleine converse in her mother tongue
’
.  He turned his cool gaze to Madeleine. 
‘
I wonder if you would no
w be so kind as to oblige us
, Lady Madeleine.
’

Madeleine shifted uneasily. 
‘
Well, I am not really fluent in Hungarian
. 
That is, I mean I hav
e never –
’

‘
Never
been to Hungary, madam?
’
interjected Eleanor, with raised brows.

Monsieur Aminieux gasped loudly, while Madam
e
Aminieux assumed the countenance of one on the verge of disappointed tears.  James’s already raised eyebrows meanw
hile, climb
ed even higher up his forehead
,
while Derek Lovell looked as though he were about to murder Eleanor. 

‘
Indeed,
’
continued Eleanor,
‘
I have a couple of people here who will tell us exactly where you have been.  Do come in gentlemen,
’
she shouted. 

The door opened
again
and in came Dick and Sam grinning
broadly.  They hovered about
the threshold, twisting their hats in their hands.  Upon setting eyes on the pair, Derek Lovell’s previous wrathful countenance
seamlessly melted into
one of pure terror.

‘
What the devil!
’
he declared,
gawp
ing
open-mouthed at the two
men. 

Eleanor smiled serenely. 
‘
I believe you are already acquainted with Richard and Samue
l, Mr Lovell.  I considered it
the least I could
do
to invite them to join us this evening. 
I
t
rather slipped my mind to advise
you of their visit yesterday
in which th
ese two patient moneylenders were kind enough to inform me of the horrifying scale of your gambling debts – debts which you have accumulated over several years in your home town of Newcastle.
’

‘
Newcastle?
’
echo
ed James. 
‘
But I thought you said you’d only just-
’

‘
Arrived back from overseas,
’
continued
Eleanor. 
‘
Well
I can reliably inform you, sir
,
that Mr Lovell has not spent any time overseas recently.  Indeed he has had little time for travel given how occupied he
has been both with the
accumulation of his debts and … one other th
ing.  Hmm … what was it again? 
Oh yes …
his recent marriage.
’

James’s brows
now shot to his hairline
. 
‘
Marriage?
’
he repeated, gazing perplexedly at Lovell.
‘
But you never mentioned you were-
’

‘
That is because,
’
clarified Eleanor,
‘
you were not supposed to know.
Indeed
,
it would have completely ruined the happy couple’s plans if you had discovered that Lady Madeleine here was the wife of your old friend.
’

This time James was at a complete loss for words as his mouth hung open.

Everyone’s attention
,
however
,
then
switch
ed to the
nois
e emanating from the rat’s cage. They all watched in horror as the animal convulsed for a few seconds before dropping down dead.  A stunned,
appalled silence ensued before E
leanor, attempting to regain her composure, turned to James
.
 
‘
That
,
sir, was the fate intended for you this evening.  Courtesy of the rat poison added to your drink by your good friend, Mr Lovell.
’

‘
Phwoah!
’
scoffed Lovell, leaping to his feet.
‘
T
hat is complete and utter nonsense.
Do you honestly think I’d
be stupid enough to commit a murder
right here in front of an audience?
’

‘
Oh,
I do not, sir,
’
declared Eleanor
.
‘
Even you are too clever to make such an obvious
faux-pas
, Mr Lovell. 
Which
is why you
added poison to the decanter. 
This means, of course, that your own drink – which I note you have not yet touched – is also poisoned.  A fact which you’d hope would have eliminated you from suspicion once James was dead.
’

‘
Poppycock!
’
cried Lovell. 

‘
Is it?
’
enquired Eleanor beatifically. 
‘
Then perhaps you would like to take a sip in front of us all now.
’

Lovell marched directly to
a
pot plant
and tipped the contents of his glass into it. 
‘
Y
ou are all about in your head, Lady Eleanor,
’
he declared stiffly.  
‘
Why-
’

‘
Oh do
be quiet, you
idiot,
’
snapped Madeleine
,
in a
broad
northern accent.   
‘
You can’t talk your way out of this one, Lovell.  I told you we should have got rid of her as well,
’
she said
,
indicating her head to Eleanor. 
‘
Far too clever by half that one.  Even
me
dressing
up as that
damned
stupid ghost didn’t scare her away.  I told you the poison idea was far too risky
,
but would you listen?  Oh no!
And now
we’ve both been found out
.  Can’t believe I was stupid enough to marry such a fool.
’