years ago. Lila is lovely. Miss Silver, I’ve got to make you understand about Lila. She’s lovely and she’s sweet, but she just can’t stand up for herself. She can no more say no when Lady Dryden says yes than she can fly up to the moon. She is afraid of people when they are angry and she can’t stand up to them—she just does what they want her to do.’
Miss Silver’s needles clicked. She remarked that Lady Dryden had a commanding manner.
Ray nodded emphatically.
‘She takes a lot of standing up to. Lila can’t do it. You’ve got to understand that—she can’t.’
Miss Silver coughed.
‘There has been some special instance in which she has failed to do so?’
Ray nodded again.
‘Lila and I went down to stay with a great-aunt. She is an old pet. I’ve been there a lot, but it was Lila’s first visit. Bill Waring is a nephew of her husband’s—on the other side of the family, you know. I’ve known him always, but he hadn’t seen Lila before. He just fell down flat, and they got engaged. That was about four months ago.’ She paused, and added, “Lady Dryden wasn’t at all pleased.’
Miss Silver looked across the pale pink vest she was knitting for her niece Ethel Burkett’s little Josephine.
‘Was Mr. Waring not in a position to marry?’
Ray’s colour came up brightly.
‘They wouldn’t have had a great deal. But he is in a very good firm, and they think a lot of him. He has had one or two things patented. That is what he went out to America about.’
Miss Silver observed,
‘A most interesting country. Is Mr. Waring out there now?’
‘No, he has just come back. I wanted Lila to go and meet him, but she wouldn’t. I had to do it. I had to tell him that Lila was going to marry Sir Herbert Whitall in a week’s time.’
Miss Silver said, ‘Dear me!’
She gazed mildly at Ray, and drew her own conclusions from the colour in her cheeks and the brightness of her eyes. A very definite and touching interest in Mr. Waring. Warm feelings and a generous heart. A candid nature, ill adapted to concealment of any kind. She said,
‘Pray continue.’
‘He had had an accident—he had been in hospital—Lila didn’t get his letters. Lady Dryden always said it wasn’t an engagement. She never meant to let Lila marry him. Sir Herbert was a very good match—lots of money, and a beautiful old place which he has bought and done up. I was away—I’m just between jobs at the moment. There wasn’t anyone to stiffen Lila up, and before she knew where she was Lady Dryden had her trying on her wedding-dress and about three hundred people asked to the wedding.’
The needles clicked rather sharply.
‘And Sir Herbert Whitall was satisfied?’
Ray looked at her with a kind of stern anger in her face.
‘He liked it. He was that kind of man—if he could get something away from somebody else he would think a lot more of it. He collected things—ivories—frightfully old and rare. He wasn’t in love with Lila. He just wanted to collect her, and if he could snatch her away from Bill, that made it more exciting.’
‘He knew of her engagement?’
‘It wasn’t given out, but he knew all right.’
‘Miss Fortescue, you are speaking of Sir Herbert Whitall in the past tense. Has anything happened to him?’
Ray’s hands took hold of one another. She had taken off her gloves. The knuckles stood up white.
‘Yes—yes—that’s why I’ve come to you. They were all down at Vineyards, Sir Herbert, and Lady Dryden and Lila. And Bill went down to get Lila away. He went down yesterday. I tried to stop him, but he would go. I did try to stop him. And he rang me up in the middle of the night to say that Herbert Whitall had been murdered. He was stabbed with an ivory dagger. And they think Lila did it—or Bill.’ Her voice caught in an anguished gasp and went on again—‘Or Bill.’
CHAPTER XVIII
Well, she had burned her boats, and she didn’t care. Miss Silver must be blind, deaf, and
Miss Silver’s needles clicked. She remarked that Lady Dryden had a commanding manner.
Ray nodded emphatically.
‘She takes a lot of standing up to. Lila can’t do it. You’ve got to understand that—she can’t.’
Miss Silver coughed.
‘There has been some special instance in which she has failed to do so?’
Ray nodded again.
‘Lila and I went down to stay with a great-aunt. She is an old pet. I’ve been there a lot, but it was Lila’s first visit. Bill Waring is a nephew of her husband’s—on the other side of the family, you know. I’ve known him always, but he hadn’t seen Lila before. He just fell down flat, and they got engaged. That was about four months ago.’ She paused, and added, “Lady Dryden wasn’t at all pleased.’
Miss Silver looked across the pale pink vest she was knitting for her niece Ethel Burkett’s little Josephine.
‘Was Mr. Waring not in a position to marry?’
Ray’s colour came up brightly.
‘They wouldn’t have had a great deal. But he is in a very good firm, and they think a lot of him. He has had one or two things patented. That is what he went out to America about.’
Miss Silver observed,
‘A most interesting country. Is Mr. Waring out there now?’
‘No, he has just come back. I wanted Lila to go and meet him, but she wouldn’t. I had to do it. I had to tell him that Lila was going to marry Sir Herbert Whitall in a week’s time.’
Miss Silver said, ‘Dear me!’
She gazed mildly at Ray, and drew her own conclusions from the colour in her cheeks and the brightness of her eyes. A very definite and touching interest in Mr. Waring. Warm feelings and a generous heart. A candid nature, ill adapted to concealment of any kind. She said,
‘Pray continue.’
‘He had had an accident—he had been in hospital—Lila didn’t get his letters. Lady Dryden always said it wasn’t an engagement. She never meant to let Lila marry him. Sir Herbert was a very good match—lots of money, and a beautiful old place which he has bought and done up. I was away—I’m just between jobs at the moment. There wasn’t anyone to stiffen Lila up, and before she knew where she was Lady Dryden had her trying on her wedding-dress and about three hundred people asked to the wedding.’
The needles clicked rather sharply.
‘And Sir Herbert Whitall was satisfied?’
Ray looked at her with a kind of stern anger in her face.
‘He liked it. He was that kind of man—if he could get something away from somebody else he would think a lot more of it. He collected things—ivories—frightfully old and rare. He wasn’t in love with Lila. He just wanted to collect her, and if he could snatch her away from Bill, that made it more exciting.’
‘He knew of her engagement?’
‘It wasn’t given out, but he knew all right.’
‘Miss Fortescue, you are speaking of Sir Herbert Whitall in the past tense. Has anything happened to him?’
Ray’s hands took hold of one another. She had taken off her gloves. The knuckles stood up white.
‘Yes—yes—that’s why I’ve come to you. They were all down at Vineyards, Sir Herbert, and Lady Dryden and Lila. And Bill went down to get Lila away. He went down yesterday. I tried to stop him, but he would go. I did try to stop him. And he rang me up in the middle of the night to say that Herbert Whitall had been murdered. He was stabbed with an ivory dagger. And they think Lila did it—or Bill.’ Her voice caught in an anguished gasp and went on again—‘Or Bill.’
CHAPTER XVIII
Well, she had burned her boats, and she didn’t care. Miss Silver must be blind, deaf, and
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