The Riddle at Gipsy's Mile (An Angela Marchmont Mystery 4) by Clara Benson Page B

whom nobody has ever heard of. He ’ s forty-one years older than she and practically ga-ga. The Lord only knows how they got him to totter down the aisle without one or more of his limbs falling off. She — well, you can imagine what sort of a woman she is. I expect she wears an inventory of his possessions next to her heart at all times. I shan ’ t say that in my piece, of course. I shall merely write about how the crowd cheered when the bride made her fi r st blushing appearance with dewy cheek and eye, and all that rot. Then I suppose I shall put something about her fashionable bridal gown in rich white broché , cut daringly short at the front with pearl and diamanté embroidery about the dé colletage . ’
    Angela stared at him in surprise.
    ‘ Was she wearing all that? ’ she said. ‘ How could you tell, from this distance? ’
    ‘ Oh, I found out the name of her dressmakers, and asked them yesterday, ’ he said.
    ‘ I wonder you bothered turning up at all. ’
    ‘ Well, you never know w hat might happen, ’ said Freddy. ‘ The bride might jilt the groom in favour of the vicar, or the bride ’ s mother and the groom ’ s sister might turn up in the same frock and have an unseemly tussle in the street. I should hate to miss that. However, it looks a s though all has gone according to plan. Pity — I was half-hoping the old dodderer would drop dead just before the vows were exchanged. Can ’ t you just imagine the to-do? ’
    ‘ You are a very bad boy, Freddy, ’ said Angela.
    ‘ It ’ s probably my mother ’ s fault, ’ he said. ‘ Anyway, what are you doing here, vaunting your fame with brazen face by strolling through the centre of Mayfair in broad daylight? ’
    ‘ As a matter of fact, I was going to buy a hat. ’
    Freddy gave a disapproving click of the tongue.
    ‘ The life of the idle rich, ’ he said. ‘ One day people like you will be put up against a wall and shot, or thrown to the wolves, or something. At least, that ’ s what Mr. Rowbotham seemed to be saying. ’
    ‘ But I need a new hat, ’ said Angela.
    ‘ You already have a hat. You ’ re wea ring it. ’
    ‘ This old thing? ’ said Angela. ‘ Why, I should hardly call this a hat in the strict sense of the word. Besides, one can never have too many hats. ’
    ‘ That is a particularly frivolous attitude. You ought to do something improving such as visiting a m useum or helping in a charitable institution. ’
    ‘ Is this the influence of your Labour Party friend? ’
    ‘ Good Lord, no! ’ said Freddy. ‘ The whole thing was frightfully dull and earnest. And trades unionists wear the most utterly ghastly clothes, because nice on es would be awfully wasteful and they ’ re not supposed to have fun, you see. Why, you ought to have seen the get-up my friend St. John was wearing. His tailoring was wholly beyond redemption. I felt quite sorry for him. ’
    ‘ And you say I have a frivolous atti tude, ’ said Angela.
    Freddy grinned complacently. Angela regarded him searchingly.
    ‘ I do believe you ’ re rather enjoying your new job, ’ she said.
    ‘“ Enjoy” is a strong word, ’ he said. ‘ I don ’ t enjoy any work. But I will admit it hasn ’ t been quite as horrid as I was expecting. I am starting to understand what Mother sees in it. ’
    ‘ Well, I hope you will stick more closely to the facts than she does. I don ’ t know where she got half the things she put in that story about me. ’
    ‘ Oh, that, ’ said Freddy. ‘ Yes, it was r ather a work of fiction, wasn ’ t it? It was your own fault, you know. If you won ’ t give up the goods then people will be inclined to invent things about you. ’
    ‘ But I don ’ t like talking about myself, ’ said Angela.
    ‘ Don ’ t you see, though? That ’ s why everybody is so wild to know all about you. They think you must be hiding some terribly exciting secrets. ’
    ‘ I ’ m not. I just don ’ t particularly want the whole world to know