Stephen replied. He took a cigarette from the box on the table, and lit it. "Interesting problem, isn't it?" he drawled.
----
Chapter Six
His words were followed by a rather stunned silence. He smoked for a moment, looking round in malicious amusement at the various countenances turned towards him. It was impossible to read the thoughts behind them; they looked shut-in, suddenly guarded, even a little furtive. He said cordially: "Really, no one would know which was the actor amongst us! we're damned good, all of us."
Maud looked at him, expressionless, but said nothing. Edgar Mottisfont said angrily: "A remark - a remark in the worst of bad taste!"
"Herriard," Mathilda said succinctly.
Joseph came in with Paula. She looked pale, exchanged a glance with her brother, and asked him curtly for a cigarette. He put his hand in his pocket, withdrew it again, and nodded to the box on the table. Joseph had gone over to his wife, and had taken her hand in both of his. "My dear, we are bereaved indeed," he said, with a solemn depth of tone which made Mathilda feel an insane desire to giggle.
"Stephen says that Nathaniel has been murdered," Maud said calmly. "It seems very strange."
The inadequacy of this comment, although typical of Maud, momentarily robbed Joseph of the power to display deeper emotions. He looked disconcerted, and said that he could see that the shock had numbed her. The rest of the company perceived that whatever feelings of grief or of horror might inhabit Joseph's inmost soul he would not for long be able to resist the opportunity thus afforded him to seize the centre of a tragic stage. Already he was seeing himself, Mathilda thought, as the chief mourner, the brave mainstay of a stricken household.
Attention swerved away from him to Valerie. Fright had enlarged the pupils of her lovely eyes; her mouth drooped; she said in a soft wail: "I wish I hadn't come! I want to go home!"
"But you can't go home," Stephen replied. "You'll be wanted by the police, like the rest of us."
Tears spangled her lashes. "Oh, Stephen, don't let them! I don't know anything! I can't be of any use, and I know Mummy would not like me to be here!"
"Nobody could possibly suspect you!" Roydon said, looking noble, and glaring at Stephen.
"My poor child!" Joseph said, creditably, everyone felt, in face of so much folly. "You must be brave, my dear, and calm. We must all be brave. Nat would have wished it.
A certain pensiveness descended upon the company, as each member of it pondered this pronouncement. Mathilda felt that Joseph would soon succeed in making them forget the real Nathaniel, and accept instead the figment of his rose-coloured imagination. She said: "What do we do now?"
"We have already sent for the doctor," Joseph said, with a glance of fellowship thrown in his nephew's direction. "There is nothing that we can do."
"We can have dinner," said Paula, brusquely putting into words the unworthy thought in more than one mind.
There was an outcry. Valerie said that it made her sick to think of eating; Mottisfont remarked that it was hardly the time to think of dinner.
"How much longer do you want to wait?" asked Stephen. "It's already past nine."
Mottisfont found Stephen so annoying that he could hardly keep his animosity out of his voice. Stephen made him feel a fool, and some evil genius always prompted him to follow up one ineptitude with another. He now said: "Surely none of us means to have dinner tonight!"
"Why not tonight, if we mean to eat tomorrow?" Stephen enquired. "When will it be decent for us to eat again?"
"You make a mock of everything!"
Joseph stepped forward, laying one hand on Stephen's shoulder, the other on Mottisfont's. "Oh, my dear people, hush!" he said gently. "Don't let us forget - don't let us allow our nerves to get the better of us!"
"I will ring the bell," said Maud, doing so.
"Have you sent for the police?" Paula asked her brother.
"We won't talk of that, dear child," said Joseph,
----
Chapter Six
His words were followed by a rather stunned silence. He smoked for a moment, looking round in malicious amusement at the various countenances turned towards him. It was impossible to read the thoughts behind them; they looked shut-in, suddenly guarded, even a little furtive. He said cordially: "Really, no one would know which was the actor amongst us! we're damned good, all of us."
Maud looked at him, expressionless, but said nothing. Edgar Mottisfont said angrily: "A remark - a remark in the worst of bad taste!"
"Herriard," Mathilda said succinctly.
Joseph came in with Paula. She looked pale, exchanged a glance with her brother, and asked him curtly for a cigarette. He put his hand in his pocket, withdrew it again, and nodded to the box on the table. Joseph had gone over to his wife, and had taken her hand in both of his. "My dear, we are bereaved indeed," he said, with a solemn depth of tone which made Mathilda feel an insane desire to giggle.
"Stephen says that Nathaniel has been murdered," Maud said calmly. "It seems very strange."
The inadequacy of this comment, although typical of Maud, momentarily robbed Joseph of the power to display deeper emotions. He looked disconcerted, and said that he could see that the shock had numbed her. The rest of the company perceived that whatever feelings of grief or of horror might inhabit Joseph's inmost soul he would not for long be able to resist the opportunity thus afforded him to seize the centre of a tragic stage. Already he was seeing himself, Mathilda thought, as the chief mourner, the brave mainstay of a stricken household.
Attention swerved away from him to Valerie. Fright had enlarged the pupils of her lovely eyes; her mouth drooped; she said in a soft wail: "I wish I hadn't come! I want to go home!"
"But you can't go home," Stephen replied. "You'll be wanted by the police, like the rest of us."
Tears spangled her lashes. "Oh, Stephen, don't let them! I don't know anything! I can't be of any use, and I know Mummy would not like me to be here!"
"Nobody could possibly suspect you!" Roydon said, looking noble, and glaring at Stephen.
"My poor child!" Joseph said, creditably, everyone felt, in face of so much folly. "You must be brave, my dear, and calm. We must all be brave. Nat would have wished it.
A certain pensiveness descended upon the company, as each member of it pondered this pronouncement. Mathilda felt that Joseph would soon succeed in making them forget the real Nathaniel, and accept instead the figment of his rose-coloured imagination. She said: "What do we do now?"
"We have already sent for the doctor," Joseph said, with a glance of fellowship thrown in his nephew's direction. "There is nothing that we can do."
"We can have dinner," said Paula, brusquely putting into words the unworthy thought in more than one mind.
There was an outcry. Valerie said that it made her sick to think of eating; Mottisfont remarked that it was hardly the time to think of dinner.
"How much longer do you want to wait?" asked Stephen. "It's already past nine."
Mottisfont found Stephen so annoying that he could hardly keep his animosity out of his voice. Stephen made him feel a fool, and some evil genius always prompted him to follow up one ineptitude with another. He now said: "Surely none of us means to have dinner tonight!"
"Why not tonight, if we mean to eat tomorrow?" Stephen enquired. "When will it be decent for us to eat again?"
"You make a mock of everything!"
Joseph stepped forward, laying one hand on Stephen's shoulder, the other on Mottisfont's. "Oh, my dear people, hush!" he said gently. "Don't let us forget - don't let us allow our nerves to get the better of us!"
"I will ring the bell," said Maud, doing so.
"Have you sent for the police?" Paula asked her brother.
"We won't talk of that, dear child," said Joseph,
Similar Books
