Keeping Bad Company Read Online Free PDF

finished our tea. Mr Griffiths turned to my brother.
    â€˜Tom, since it is such a very fine day, I’m sure you won’t object to taking yourself off for a walk for half an hour or so, while your sister and I enjoy a
gup
.’
    â€˜Gup?’ I said.
    He smiled.
    â€˜It’s what Indians say for gossip.
Gup
, or even
gupgup
. Expressive, don’t you think?’
    I glanced at Tom and saw from his face that Mr Griffiths’s more-or-less order to absent himself had come as a surprise to him. Still, since Mr Griffiths’s silver hairs made our being alone together respectable, he could hardly object. Tom gave me a look that told me, as plain as speaking, to behave and allowed himself to be shown out.
    â€˜May I?’
    Mr Griffiths was politely waiting for my permission to sit down. When I nodded he sat at the chair by his desk. His long-fingered hand wandered towards one of the pens as if it didn’t like being parted from it. I steeled myself for the likely lecture about what a fine young man my brother was and how it was my duty to go with him to India.
    â€˜You’re fortunate in your brother, Miss Lane. He’s as fine a young man as I’ve ever encountered.’
    I sighed mentally, staring down at my gloves. Just as I’d expected.
    â€˜And I hope you won’t resent the fact that he’s told me something about the remarkable life you’ve been leading.’
    No use saying that, yes, I did resent it. One of my gloves was developing a split in the seam.
    â€˜I’m afraid he’s worrying a lot about his evidence to the committee. He feels he’s being used as what one might call a witness against me,’ Mr Griffiths said. ‘I’ve told him that all he can do is speak the truth and trust me to deal with the consequences.’
    â€˜Tom will always speak the truth,’ I said, looking him in the face now.
    â€˜Yes. To quote our Bard, he is “as true as truth’s simplicity”. But then, is truth always simple, do you think?’
    He was looking at me as if he really wanted an answer. This interview was not going quite the way I’d expected.
    â€˜Yes, I think truth is simple,’ I said. ‘It’s what we do to hide it that makes things complicated.’
    He nodded, as if that had confirmed something.
    â€˜You see, Miss Lane, there are things I can’t talk about to Tom.’
    â€˜What kind of things?’
    â€˜Who killed Burton and how that jewel came to be on my desk. Any talk we had about that would be only speculation, and unfair to Tom. His best way out of this is by telling the truth of what he heard and saw, pure and simple. He’s all too ready to do battle on my behalf, and wreck his own future. I don’t want that. But you’re in no danger of having to give evidence to that committee, so I can talk to you.’
    He saw the look of surprise on my face and added courteously, ‘If you’ll permit it.’
    â€˜But what can I do?’
    I was mainly bowled over with relief that we weren’t talking about Tom’s plans for me.
    â€˜Share some thoughts with me. It’s clear from what your brother says that you have an original way of looking at things.’
    â€˜I’d like to help you if I could, but . . .’
    â€˜I’m not asking you to help clear my name. I don’t care one iota whether my name is cleared or not in the eyes of those rogues and fools who make up public opinion. It’s not a murder trial and the committee can’t hang me. But I do want to understand what happened.’
    He waited, looking at me in a deliberately droll way, like a spaniel waiting to be thrown a biscuit. He might have been trying to hide the seriousness of his request so it would be easier for me to refuse.
    â€˜But this all happened with people I don’t know, in a country I don’t know and, I suppose, months ago.’
    â€˜Yes, it’s more than six months