that walks in this gallery. I’m sure I never heard of that. Do you think it goes about pierced by an arrow? I wouldn’t be at all surprised. And the superstition about the well at midnight–’
‘There’s a superstition about the well?’ Judith asked.
‘Yes. Didn’t you hear? And I’m quite sure that I wouldn’t care – But here are the men. I had a notion they wouldn’t linger very long.’
‘A very good dinner,’ General Strickland said to Appleby. The two men were sitting in a corner of the gallery apart. ‘A very good dinner, indeed.’
‘It might have been a shade more lively, I thought.’
‘Lively? I don’t believe in dinners being lively. Not with a Margaux like that. Chatter spoils one’s concentration, if you ask me.’
‘Margaux, was it? Judith said it tasted rather like cowslip wine.’
‘My dear boy, she was perfectly right. She always is. That’s the precise description for the bouquet of Margaux. Ever been to the Château?’ Strickland paused to sniff at his brandy. ‘I must tell you, one day, of the week I spent there in ‘17. Absolutely amazing. Not that the place is anything much to look at. Not a patch on Gore. Built by some fellow called Lacolonilla about a hundred years ago, and might be round the corner from my own house in Regent’s Park… How does Gore strike you, by the way?’
‘It’s an impressive place – particularly to tumble into out of the snow. And perhaps a shade oppressive, as well.’
‘Never struck me that way. But then I’ve known it, you see, man and boy… Bit of a cloud over it at the moment, eh?’
‘So I feel. But Judith and I are unbidden guests, you know. I told her, earlier this evening, that curiosity isn’t on.’
‘And she said that, with you, it’s never off?’
‘Well, as a matter of fact, she did.’ Appleby paused to light a cigar. ‘But, Strickland – do you know? – I’m not sure I wouldn’t like any gossip there is. I’ve a notion there’s something…well, building up. Any idea what I mean?’
General Strickland looked about him cautiously. But the two men were unobserved – except by the ancestral Darien-Gore portraits on the walls.
‘That fellow Charles Trevor seems deucedly uneasy,’ he said. ‘And what’s he doing here, anyway? Knows his spoons and forks, and all that. In fact, he was at school with Jasper. But not our sort. Not our sort, at all.’
‘I suppose not.’ Appleby was amused by this obscure social judgement. ‘But I imagine he’s more our sort than poor Mr Jolly.’
‘Well, that’s different. Very decent, unassuming chap, no doubt. Some sort of counter-jumper or motor-salesman, eh? Jasper didn’t want to bother the servants with him.’
‘So I’ve gathered – if it was Jasper. I rather think it may have been Robert. There’s a faint conflict of evidence on the point.’
‘Well, it comes to the same thing, my dear boy. The brothers are tremendously thick. And, since Robert and Prunella came to live here–’
‘Why did they come?’
‘Ah – that’s telling.’
‘I know.’
‘Appleby, you really feel there’s something…well, happening in this place?’
‘Happening, or going to happen. Don’t you?’
‘That could be stopped?’
‘Well, not by me. I just don’t know enough.’ Appleby paused to look into his brandy glass. ‘Were you going to tell me about Robert?’
‘My dear chap, I don’t know. Nobody does – or wants to, I should hope. It looked damnably ugly for a time. And then it ended on what you might call a minor note.’
‘Ended? What ended?’
‘Robert’s career, I suppose one has to say. He left the army. And the thing dropped.’
‘The thing? What thing?’
‘God knows, something there turned out not to be sufficient evidence about, I imagine.’ General Strickland broke off, and again looked about him. This time, it was at the line of portraits silent on the wall. ‘A poor show of some sort. Hard on a decent family, eh? Not much
‘There’s a superstition about the well?’ Judith asked.
‘Yes. Didn’t you hear? And I’m quite sure that I wouldn’t care – But here are the men. I had a notion they wouldn’t linger very long.’
‘A very good dinner,’ General Strickland said to Appleby. The two men were sitting in a corner of the gallery apart. ‘A very good dinner, indeed.’
‘It might have been a shade more lively, I thought.’
‘Lively? I don’t believe in dinners being lively. Not with a Margaux like that. Chatter spoils one’s concentration, if you ask me.’
‘Margaux, was it? Judith said it tasted rather like cowslip wine.’
‘My dear boy, she was perfectly right. She always is. That’s the precise description for the bouquet of Margaux. Ever been to the Château?’ Strickland paused to sniff at his brandy. ‘I must tell you, one day, of the week I spent there in ‘17. Absolutely amazing. Not that the place is anything much to look at. Not a patch on Gore. Built by some fellow called Lacolonilla about a hundred years ago, and might be round the corner from my own house in Regent’s Park… How does Gore strike you, by the way?’
‘It’s an impressive place – particularly to tumble into out of the snow. And perhaps a shade oppressive, as well.’
‘Never struck me that way. But then I’ve known it, you see, man and boy… Bit of a cloud over it at the moment, eh?’
‘So I feel. But Judith and I are unbidden guests, you know. I told her, earlier this evening, that curiosity isn’t on.’
‘And she said that, with you, it’s never off?’
‘Well, as a matter of fact, she did.’ Appleby paused to light a cigar. ‘But, Strickland – do you know? – I’m not sure I wouldn’t like any gossip there is. I’ve a notion there’s something…well, building up. Any idea what I mean?’
General Strickland looked about him cautiously. But the two men were unobserved – except by the ancestral Darien-Gore portraits on the walls.
‘That fellow Charles Trevor seems deucedly uneasy,’ he said. ‘And what’s he doing here, anyway? Knows his spoons and forks, and all that. In fact, he was at school with Jasper. But not our sort. Not our sort, at all.’
‘I suppose not.’ Appleby was amused by this obscure social judgement. ‘But I imagine he’s more our sort than poor Mr Jolly.’
‘Well, that’s different. Very decent, unassuming chap, no doubt. Some sort of counter-jumper or motor-salesman, eh? Jasper didn’t want to bother the servants with him.’
‘So I’ve gathered – if it was Jasper. I rather think it may have been Robert. There’s a faint conflict of evidence on the point.’
‘Well, it comes to the same thing, my dear boy. The brothers are tremendously thick. And, since Robert and Prunella came to live here–’
‘Why did they come?’
‘Ah – that’s telling.’
‘I know.’
‘Appleby, you really feel there’s something…well, happening in this place?’
‘Happening, or going to happen. Don’t you?’
‘That could be stopped?’
‘Well, not by me. I just don’t know enough.’ Appleby paused to look into his brandy glass. ‘Were you going to tell me about Robert?’
‘My dear chap, I don’t know. Nobody does – or wants to, I should hope. It looked damnably ugly for a time. And then it ended on what you might call a minor note.’
‘Ended? What ended?’
‘Robert’s career, I suppose one has to say. He left the army. And the thing dropped.’
‘The thing? What thing?’
‘God knows, something there turned out not to be sufficient evidence about, I imagine.’ General Strickland broke off, and again looked about him. This time, it was at the line of portraits silent on the wall. ‘A poor show of some sort. Hard on a decent family, eh? Not much
Similar Books
Viscous Circle
Piers Anthony
Shadow Hawk
Jill Shalvis
The Last Collection
Seymour Blicker
A New Toy
Brenda Stokes Lee
djinn wars 01 - chosen
Christine Pope
The Seventh Day
Joy Dettman
The Disenchanted Widow
Christina McKenna
Rout of the Dem-Shyr (The Ascendant Series)
Raine Thomas
A Bond of Brothers
R. E. Butler
Not First Love
Jennifer Lawrence