Perhaps Alice did.â
âWhen?â demanded Greg. âHer day has been pretty well accounted for. She spent the morning shopping in Naivasha, the afternoon in her room, had tea with you on the verandah, and went out shooting with you immediately afterwards â in order to avoid, I gather, what looked like being an embarrassing tête-à -tête with young Ken Brandon. And as it was just after you got back that she went across to the Markhams with a message for Lisa, there doesnât seem to be any point during the day when she could have carried a cushion out to the knoll. Now, can you remember what you yourself did on Tuesday, Em? In detail?â
âI think so,â said Em, frowning. âLet me see â I had breakfast in bed and didnât get up until just before Eden left. I asked him to fetch the clock and to ring up the Airport and check the time that Victoria would be arriving, and we discussed the purchase of Jimmyâs Land-Rover. After Eden had gone I saw the cook and told Kamau what I wanted in the way of vegetables, and then Alice and I made out a list of things we wanted from the stores in Naivasha. As soon as she had gone I started on the milk records, and then Lisa came over to see Eden, but Zacharia told her heâd left. She said she wouldnât disturb me, and left a note asking if weâd give her a lift next time either of us went into Nairobi. I heard the dogs barking and went to see who it was, but she was already half-way across the garden by then, so I didnât stop her.â
Greg said: âDo the dogs always bark when anyone comes to the house?â
âIf theyâre around. But they stop at once if itâs anyone they know.â
âWhat time was it when Lisa came over?â
âAbout twenty to eleven I should say: Alice had just left. Then at eleven Gilly came over on business and stayed for half an hour, and heâd only just gone when the Brandons dropped in. We had coffee, and Hector went off to see Kamau about some fodder weâre selling him, while Mabel and I talked.â
âWhat about?â
The question was asked so casually that Em had started to answer it before she realized where it would lead her: âSheâd seen Aliceâs car in Naivasha and knew she wouldnât be here, and she wanted to see me alone because she was worried aboutâââ
She stopped abruptly, her face flushing in the unbecoming and mottled manner of the old, while her lips folded into a tight hard line.
Eden gave a short and mirthless laugh, and finished the sentence for her. âAbout Ken. You neednât worry, Gran darling. Itâs no secret. What did she want you to do. Ship Alice home, or slip some arsenic in her soup?â
âEden!â Once again Emâs voice was sharp and commanding, and this time it was edged with anger.
âIâm sorry,â said Eden impatiently. âI quite see that under the present circumstances that was a bloody silly remark to make. But you must admit that Mabelâs been making a complete cake of herself over her precious Ken. It wasnât Aliceâs fault that her kid had a hopeless crush on her. Heaven knows she did everything she could to choke him off! But it wasnât at all easy for her, what with Ken threatening suicide and generally behaving like an amateur actor getting his teeth into Hamlet. She ought to have let me deal with him.â
âShe was quite right not to,â said Em tartly. âShe took the very sensible view that it was really only like measles or teething â something that everyone gets when young, though some children get it worse than others. Heâd have got over it soon enough. But if youâd taken a hand and lectured him, weâd have had a first class BrandonâDeBrett feud on our hands, and we neither of us wanted that. Hector and Mabel are good friends of mine, and good neighbours; but Ken is their Achilles
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