The India Fan (25 page)

He said, hank you for telling me.He turned to me. his is true, I suppose?

f course it true,cried Polly. re you calling me a liar?

o, Madam, but I thought a little corroboration might be in order.

ow wee in this bother and it all along of your sister. So don you start accusing Drusilla of nothing, because I won have that, either.

ou are quite right,he said, nd I am indebted to you. It is an unpleasant situation and I want to do all I can to help.

,said Polly, slightly mollified. t about time, too.

es. Once more you are right. Do you think I might have a little talk with Miss Delany?

hat for her to say.

es, certainly,I said.

I was trembling slightly. Polly revelations had staggered me, but I was glad that he knew, and that I was not the one who had betrayed Lavinia.

Polly said, ell, Il take myself off.She looked at me. ill you be all right?

es, Polly, thank you.

The door shut on us.

redoubtable lady,he said. o now I have the truth. I think you should tell me more about this. You see, I am deeply involved through my sister. It happened in France, did it?

es.

Frenchman?

I nodded.

ou knew him?

saw him once or twice.

see. And my foolish sister asked for your help.

anine Fletcher was a girl at school. She had an aunt.

o you lied about going to Lindenstein. I knew you hadn been there, of course.

es. You tried to trap me. And you had some idea of what really happened.

hen I saw the child

nd you thought that I

t seemed hard to believe.

et you did.

He did not answer. Then he said, his girl Janine what do you think happened?

don know.

ou came along just after. Why?

was trying to talk to her.

bout Lavinia. Was she blackmailing Lavinia?

I was silent. I did not want to betray her, but of course Polly had already done that.

He was serious now. y God!he said. ut she wasn here. She was at Framling. It must have been someone else.

ou mean

id that woman have other girls there in the same position?

here were some.

hat a mess! It is a pity you were seen there. I am glad I know. I shall keep in touch. I shall be in London. Il give you the address of my place in town. Get a message to me if anything develops.

He looked really anxious. I imagined he was thinking of the scandal if anything came out about Lavinia staying at the nursing home and for what reason. That would be headline news. I only rated a mention and a short paragraph. Lavinia reputation would be in ruins. I could see that her brother was prepared to prevent that at all costs.

I felt a certain relief. I had great confidence in his powers to help. He would be strong and resourceful. Of course, he was only concerned about protecting his sister, but in doing so he would look after me at the same time.

He said he would go now. He took my hands and smiled at me; it was almost like an apology for his behaviour in the past. I was glad that at last he knew the truth and I had not been the one to tell him.

There was no news of the caseust brief references. The police were pursuing their enquiries. There was no more visits from them.

Fabian called at the house. Eff let him in. She was not at all displeased.

ff a rare one for a title,Polly explained. oul hear her going on to Second Floor about Sir Fabian calling. She thinks it good for the house. He looks the part too. I hope he behaving right.

h yes,I assured her.

on you put up with any old truck from him.

o, I won.

He wanted to talk to me about the child, he told me. Those two women had looked after her from birth, had they? I told him they had.

I knew by his attitude that he had a respect for Polly. I think he quite enjoyed her manner of dealing with him, although what she had to impart had been unpalatable. He had seemed faintly amused to contemplate the rector daughter having stepped out of line; it was not quite so amusing for his own sister.

t a little girl, isn it?

es. You should meet your niece. Apart from that one encounter on the green you have not seen her.

want to meet her. And those two have looked after her, fed her clothed her

hey have also loved her,I said.

oor child! What would she have done without them and you?

avinia would have had to make some arrangements, but none could have been so good for Fleur as Polly and her sister.

want to make sure that they are compensated for what they have done.

ou mean money?

did mean that. They cannot be wealthy enough to take care of other people children. It must be a costly business.

hey are, as they would say, comfortably off. They let rooms and Eff is a good businesswoman. Polly, too. They work hard and enjoy the fruits of their labours. They might be offended if they thought you believed they were in need of money.

ut they have taken the child!

hey did that for me, because

ecause they made the same mistake as I did. You see, I was not such a villain after all if Polly who is so close to you Well, perhaps that sort of thing can happen to anyone.

erhaps.

e all have our unguarded moments.He was smiling at me quizzically. Then he said briskly, shall find a way of recompensing these good women. Will you talk to them for me? I am afraid I should never be allowed to state my case. They might listen to you.

I said I would speak to them

They were both rather indignant when I told them.

ho does he think he is?demanded Polly. e don want his money. Wee had Fleur since she was a baby. She ours If you took money from a man like that you have him dictating telling you what you got to do. No, wee not having that.

Eff conceded, t was good of Sir Fabian to suggest it.She always made the most of the irwhen talking to Second Floor 32 and fell into the habit with us.

ook, Polly,I said, oue all right now but suppose things didn go so well. You have to think of Fleur and there will be school and all that.

wouldn want her going to one of them foreign places. A lot of good it did to that Lavinia.

But Eff was more practical. I think Polly emotions dulled her perception to some extent. She had marked Fabian out as a smooth seducer and she had made up her mind that he had designs on me. She was very wary of him.

However, when Fabian suggested that he should set up an account for them on which they could draw at any time they needed money for Fleur, they at length agreed.

ot that wel touch it,said Polly.

ut it nice to know it there,added the practical Eff.

During the following week I saw a good deal of him. I had to admit that he was a help and that he comforted me. The fact that he was there and knew the truth took a great weight off my mind.

No one else from the police came to see me. There was little in the papers about the case. It was good to know that if any crisis arose Fabian would be there.

I grew to know a little more of him. He used to visit the house and Eff, with a certain pride, would serve tea in the parlour. I think she was rather proud to show it off. When he was coming, fresh antimacassars were put on the velvet chairs and there was an extra polish on the brass; the ornaments on the what-not were carefully dusted. e don want that Sir Fabian to think we don know what what.I was secretly amused at the thought of his examining the little bits of china on the what-not and assessing the brightness of the brass of the candlesticks. But I liked to see Eff pleasure in entertaining the titled gentleman and Polly suspicions of him, which were an indication of her love and concern for me.

He seemed to change a little. He met Fleur, who took quite a liking to him, which surprised me, for he found it difficult to communicate with her and appeared to make no attempt to do so.

ay hello, Sir Fabian,Eff urged; and Fleur did with a halting charm. She put her hands on his knees and gazed up at him with a sort of wonder. It was very amusing. I thought there was a look of the Framlings about Fleur. She had failed to inherit Lavinia tawny hair, but I thought she would be a beauty like her mother.

pleasant-looking child,was Fabian comment.

he seemed to sense that she was related to you,I told him.

urely not?

ho knows? You are her uncle.

Effie brought in tea, which I took alone with Fabian. I guessed Polly was hovering. As she would say, she wouldn trust him and he might get up to some anky panky.

We talked of Lavinia coming marriage, which would be very soon now. Lavinia would have heard of Janine death, as it had been reported in the papers. I wondered what she was thinking. If I knew her, she would be mightily relieved on one hand, but on the other she must be wondering what could come out about Janine. I wondered if it occurred to her that if Janine was blackmailing her she might be doing the same to other people. Surely she must be suffering some anxiety.

Fabian would have to return for the wedding.

think,he told me, ou would be expected to attend.

am not sure whether that is necessary. She will have heard about Janine. I wonder how she is feeling.

he doesn let much worry her, but even she must be having some uneasy moments. Thank God she was in Framling when the woman was killed and there can be no question of accusations being brought against her.

o you think she will tell Dougal?

o, I do not.

o you think she should?

t is a matter for her to decide.

houldn he know?

can see you are a stickler for morality.

ren you?

am for good common sense.

nd morality does not always fit in with that?

would not say that. Each situation has to be judged on its own. You cannot generalize about such matters.

o you think it is right or even wise for a woman who has a child to marry and not mention that child to her husband?

f the woman in question was a virtuous one she would not have had the child in the first place, so you must not expect exemplary conduct from her afterwards. It is a matter for Lavinia to decide.

nd Dougal isn he being deceived?

es. But perhaps he would prefer not to know.

o you really think so? Would you in similar circumstances?

find it exceedingly difficult to put myself in Dougal place. I am not Dougal. I am myself. Dougal is a good, worthy man. I am sure he has lived an exemplary life. I cannot say the same for myself. Therefore I take a different view from the one he would take. I believe that it is better to get through life as easily as one can and if ignorance is more soothing than knowledge, let remain in the dark.

hat a strange philosophy!

am afraid you disapprove of me.

am sure there are very few things you are afraid of and my approval or disapproval is not one of them.

would always welcome your good opinion.

I laughed. I was feeling much easier with him. I looked forward to his visits and I was continually warning myself not to become too interested in him. I had had one warning with Dougal. He had seemed the perfect gentleman; Fabian was not that, but I found him, if anything, more interesting. The subjects raised by Dougal had fascinated me, but it was Fabian himself who attracted me.

I was on dangerous ground. Polly knew it; that was why she was watchful.

It was evening. Fleur was in bed, and I was sitting with Polly and Eff by the kitchen fire. Eff had just commented on how well it was drawing these days, when there was a knock on the door.

Eff rose in dismay. She never liked anyone to catch her using the kitchen as a living room.

ne of the tenants,she said. irst Floor Back, bet you anything.

She composed herself, putting on the special dignity she reserved for tenants, and went to the door.

Polly followed her with me in the wake.

It was not First Floor Back but one of the others, and she was clutching a newspaper.

thought you might not have heard the latest,she was saying excitedly. t the Janine Fletcher case.

We all went into the parlour. Polly had seized the newspaper and spread it out on the table. We all gathered round. It was on the front page, Stop Press News.

tartling Developments in the Janine Fletcher Case. Police think they have solution.

That was all.

ell, well,said Eff. t was kind of you, Mrs. Tenby.

ell, I thought you want to know. And Miss Delany you be interested, seeing as how you knew the poor thing.

es,I agreed.

ow we have to wait and see what it all about,said Polly.

Eff, with the utmost dignity, was ushering Mrs. Tenby into the hall.

ell, thank you for letting us know.

When she had gone we sat in the kitchen asking ourselves what it could mean and we were later than usual going to bed.

I went in to see Fleur, as I always did every night. She was fast asleep, clutching the little doll Eff had bought for her and from which she refused to be parted. I bent and kissed her; she murmured something in her sleep. I felt a great relief because Fabian knew and that meant that her future was assured.

I lay awake for a long time, wondering what new development there had been and whether I should see Fabian next day.

We had the papers early and there it was for us to read. It was a further shock for me and I felt more deeply involved than I had before. Dramas tragedies take place frequently. One reads of them and sometimes they seem unreal because they happen to vague people whom we can only imagine; but when they concern someone we know, that is different.

What I read saddened me greatly, although it must have brought intense relief to Lavinia.

They had found the murderessot by any great detective work on the part of the police, but through the confession of the one who had killed Janine.

iller of Janine Fletcher confesses.

It was written in flowery prose.

n a little house on the outskirts of Wanstead near Epping Forest, Jack Everet Masters lay dying of self-inflicted wounds. Beside him was the body of his wife, Miriam Mary Masters. She had been dead some hours.