The adulteress (11 page)

So we talked until I realized that time was flying and I said I must go. I wished to be back before Jessie returned.

I sat up beside him as we drove back, and listening to the ringing of the horses' hooves on the road and sitting close to him so that his velvet jacket often touched my arm I realized that I was enjoying this with a different kind of emotion from any I had known before.

We arranged that on the day after tomorrow we should go into the town and collect the will. Then there would be the problem of getting it signed. I should have to think about that.

"Don't despair," he said. "I could slip into the house with my valet. It wouldn't be safe to ask any of the servants at Eversleigh. Who knows, they might be one of Jessie's spies?"

We laughed together. The whole affair seemed a tremendous joke. He talked about the conspiracy in a hollow voice, building up such a story of intrigue suggesting the most villainous motives for Jessie and the estate manager, whom he called her paramour, that we were quite hilarious, making the most wild suggestions in mock serious tones.

All too soon we arrived back at Eversleigh.

"The day after tomorrow then we escape into the town to collect the papers," whispered Gerard.

I agreed that we should.

"I shall see you then . . . unless you should stroll towards Enderby ... or I should happen to be near Eversleigh way tomorrow."

I hesitated. "I have to see my uncle. Let us make it the day after tomorrow. We must be careful."

He put his fingers to his lips. "Take care," he whispered. "The enemy may be on our trail."

Then we were laughing again and I felt quite ridiculously happy in a way which I didn't remember feeling before.

I was behaving in a way very unlike my usual custom, and with a stranger. I should have been wary then, but I had not yet begun to know myself.

I did not see him next day. After we parted that strange mood of exultation left me and the matter of my uncle's will no longer seemed the joke it had as we drove back from the town. It was just a sordid matter of an old man being besotted about a younger woman and so dependent on her that he had to bribe her to stay with him.

I began to feel I had been rather indiscreet to have told so much to someone I hardly knew. But when I was with him I felt that I knew him very well. I felt a closeness ... an intimacy.

Looking back I realize how unsophisticated I must have been not to realize what was happening.

However, perhaps I did feel faintly uneasy, for the next day I did not stroll down to Enderby, and if he came near Evers-leigh I did not see him, for I did not go beyond the closed-in gardens.

I saw my uncle during the morning with Jessie present nibbling her sweetmeats and looking, I thought, even more pleased with herself than usual. During that morning session we had a caller. It was Amos Carew, and he came up to my uncle's bedroom while I was there so I had an opportunity to study him.

He had bright dark eyes and a very curly beard and lots of dark curly hair. A hairy man. That was how I would describe him to Gerard when we next met. I smiled inwardly at the prospect.

My uncle clearly thought highly of Amos Carew.

"Here you are, Amos. This is my . . . well, we haven't quite worked out the relationship, but her mother is, I think, my nearest relation and so we call each other niece and uncle. That is a title which fits a lot of relationships even when it is not entirely accurate."

"Well, I'm pleased to meet you, madam," said Amos Carew. He took my hand and squeezed it in a manner which was decidedly painful. I thought he was going to crack my bones.

"I have heard of you," I said, "so it is a pleasure to meet you."

He laughed. Amos Carew laughed a great deal, I soon noticed. He had a variety of laughs—overhearty, deprecating, just amused. It could be due to nervousness, but no. I didn't think he would ever be nervous. Cautious perhaps . . .

"His lordship likes me to pop in now and then to give him an account of things."

"Yes, of course," I said. "I am sure the estate is of great interest to him."

"Well, it's hard for his lordship." The little laugh followed the words. Sympathetic this time, I thought. "Cooped up, you might say," he went on. "And he was always a one for the outdoor life, wasn't that so, your lordship?"

"Ah yes, I liked being out. Walking . . . fishing . . ."

"What you would call an all-round sportsman, eh, pet?" Jessie looked at Amos and a significant glance passed between them. Amos laughed again. This time appreciation for a sportsman coupled with sympathy for his present plight.

"I would like you to show my . . . er . . . niece something of the estate sometimes, Amos."

"Gladly, my lord."

"Well, you must take her on the rounds. Would you like that, Zipporah?"

"Very much," I said.

"You'll get some notion of the size of it. I think you'll find it a good deal bigger than your Clavering." He turned to Amos. "My niece's husband should have come with her," he went on, "but was prevented by an unfortunate accident. Next time . . . he'll be with her."

"That will be right and proper, my lord."

"Yes."

I listened to them talking about the estate. Uncle Carl seemed intent on taking it all in and now and then would throw a glance at me. I also listened with interest because Jean-Louis often talked to me about the difficulties at Clavering so I understood what they were talking about.

When Amos Carew said he must go Jessie conducted him to the door. I was watching them in a mirror and I saw her whisper something to him.

There's some sort of conspiracy going on, I thought. Then I laughed at myself. Gerard with his mock seriousness and his jokes had made me see something in this situation which was nothing more than a besotted man and a grasping woman, who, while she played the role of my uncle's mistress, was in fact conducting a love affair with his manager.

At dinner I thought Jessie seemed particularly pleased with herself and went off rather earlier than usual for her rendezvous with Amos.

I made my way to my uncle's room, for I felt I had much to tell him.

He was eagerly awaiting me; he looked very much alive and his brown eyes sparkled almost with mischief, I thought.

He took my hand as I bent over to kiss him.

"Sit down, my dear, and tell me what you have done and then ... I have something to tell you."

I immediately explained how I had gone into the town on the previous day and seen the younger Mr. Rosen, who was drawing up the will which I should collect tomorrow.

He nodded. "That is good. Then it must be signed and sent to Rosen. Ha, ha. Poor Jessie. She will get a shock, I fear. But it is the only way."

"But, uncle," I said, "she cannot expect to inherit a large family estate. I am sure she does not."

He laughed. "You don't know Jessie," he said fondly. "Jessie has large ideas. Poor Jess . . . but I've fooled her, I'm afraid. I . . . er . . . signed something . . . yesterday ... I had to make her happy."

"You signed something!"

He gave me a grin and touched his lips. I thought then that it was just possible he was not quite in possession of his senses.

He said: "You're here now. You've seen Rosen . . . Well, I thought it was safe to sign something ... for Jessie."

"You mean ... a will."

"Well, sort of. Not all drawn up, of course, but Jessie wouldn't know the difference. I've signed a paper dated yesterday that she should have everything . . . the house, the estate ... all except one or two little legacies which I would think about later."

I was astonished. I really thought I had wandered into a madhouse.

"Uncle Carl!" I cried in dismay.

"Now don't scold. I like to see her happy. That letter will satisfy her and stop her getting at me, and it'll become null and void when I sign my will because that will cancel anything else I have signed previously. That's something to tell Rosen."

I sat back in my chair gazing at him in wonder.

He looked at me almost pathetically and said: "I always liked a peaceful life and I've found out that you can get it with a few promises ... as long as you cover your tracks, you see. I've signed Jessie's paper. She's happy. I'm happy. We're all happy. She'll get a shock . . . but only when I'm not here to see it."

I was silent. It really was turning out to be a grotesque situation.

The next day Gerard d'Aubigne drove me into the town and I saw Mr. Rosen senior this time. He welcomed me warmly and tried to press a glass of wine on me but as I supposed I should be drinking cider at the inn later, I declined. He had drawn up the will, shaken his head gravely over what he called "the situation at the Court" and when I told him that Uncle Carl had already signed what he called "something" which was in favor of Jessie, he was horrified.

"We must get this will signed as soon as possible," he said. "Mind you, we should contest any letter that woman produced, but to get the will signed and sealed and put into security here is the safest way of dealing with the situation. In view of what you have told me I think I should return with you and my assistant can witness Lord Eversleigh's signature."

"I am sure he would be most distressed if you did. I know it sounds ridiculous, but if you came to the house the shock would be so great for him that I would fear the consequences. He is really deeply devoted to this woman and I am sure it is only some inborn sense of duty to his family which makes him refrain from leaving everything to her. He relies on her. It is incongruous and if I hadn't seen it for myself I should not have believed it. Lord Eversleigh trusts me to do this for him and I must do it in the way he wishes."

Mr. Rosen looked grave.

"How soon could you get him to sign the will and return it to me?"

"I was driven into town by a neighbor. If I could get him with one of his servants to Lord Eversleigh's room and the will was signed, then I could bring it back to you tomorrow."

"Could you do this?"

"I could try."

"Very well . . . though it is unorthodox. I don't like it at all. You say he has signed something for this woman. She must be quite unscrupulous. Lord Eversleigh could be in a dangerous situation."

"You mean that she ..." I was looking at him in horror and he said gravely: "I do not say that she would shorten his life. But considering the circumstances . . . with someone of that kind . . . not of very high morals, we must admit ... it could be dangerous." He looked at me quizzically. "It is a very strange case. I have from time to time heard rumors of what is going on at the Court. It was never so in the old days. Everything was in such perfect order. You as a member of the family know that. You understand that the will must be signed by two witnesses who are not beneficiaries. You are one, you know that, I am sure."

"Yes, Lord Eversleigh told me."

"As the daughter of Lady Clavering you are in the line of succession, as it were, and I understand it is Lord Eversleigh's desire that you should inherit the estate. That is natu-

ral . . . it is the only course. Your ancestors would rise in their graves if it should pass to that vulgar creature."

"It won't," I said. "I will get the will signed and returned to you tomorrow."

Mr. Rosen senior shook his head doubtfully. It was all very unethical in his view and I believe he was contemplating even then returning with me and making sure that the will was effectively dealt with.

However, I did impress on him that in view of Uncle Carl's trust in me I must try to do it as he wished. I left him and went back to the inn. There I told Gerard what had happened and he agreed with me that we should return immediately without waiting for refreshment. He would get his valet or one of his trusted servants and we would get the will signed before Jessie's return.

There was just time to do it if we made haste and were lucky.

It was very exciting driving back at full speed and exhilarating too as Gerard talked all the time of how best we could get the will signed quickly and back to the solicitor. It was wonderful the way in which he had made my problem his.

I had thought he dramatized the situation in order to amuse me but he was beginning to convince me that it could be something far removed from a joke: an unscrupulous woman and her lover with a doting old man in their grasp, who, although he was not senile, was really a little unbalanced surely and ready to pay too dearly for peace and comfort in his last days.

Gerard took a watch from his pocket. He said: "We could be back at Enderby just before half past three. I could get my man and we'd go straight to the Court. We'll sneak upstairs and get the will signed and witnessed, and then if you would trust me I would take it back to the solicitors immediately."

"I could take it tomorrow."

"Well, so we could. But in view of the people in that house ... I mean the kind of people they are . . . the will should be in the solicitor's hands and I don't like the idea of your having it in that house."

"Do you think they would come and murder me to get possession of it?"

"Gad!" he said. "That would be monstrous. I couldn't let that happen. I would never be happy again for the rest of my life."

I laughed. "You do make the most extravagant statements."

He was silent. Then he said: "Seriously, I am uneasy. Let's try it."

He whipped up the horses and we rattled along to Ender-by.

It all happened quickly from then on. It seemed to me a breathtaking mad sort of adventure—different from anything that had ever happened to me before. Gerard took charge and I couldn't help admiring the speed and efficiency with which he arranged everything.

"You are making a diplomatic incident of it," I said.

"I am, after all, a diplomat. But I assure you . . . this is the best and safest way to get this matter settled."

It was still a quarter of an hour to four o'clock when I took the two men to my uncle's bedroom. He expressed little surprise when I introduced them and explained why they had come. I produced the will and the necessary signatures were affixed. Gerard rolled the paper up and put it under his arm.

Uncle Carl patted my hand and said: "Clever girl!"

"And now," said Gerard, "it is for us to get this into town."

"We must go," I said, "quickly."

"Yes," said Uncle Carl, "before Jessie wakes up." He was smiling and his eyes danced with excitement. There was a certain mischief in him and for a fleeting moment I wondered whether he had conjured up the whole thing out of a fairly ordinary situation. In the moment I couldn't believe that even Jessie would hope for an instant that she could inherit Evers-leigh Court.

It seemed then that we were all playing a part in some sort of farce which the old man had contrived to make his dull life more exciting.

However, we must continue with it, so we took our leave and went silently down the stairs.

As we came into the hall there was a movement on the stairs. I turned sharply. Evalina was coming down.

"Oh?" she cried. "Have we visitors?"

"This is the housekeeper's daughter," I said to Gerard.

Evalina had run up to us and was smiling innocently at Gerard.

He bowed and turned away and I led them out of the house.

I saw them into the carriage and went back into the house. Evalina was still in the hall.

"I didn't know we had callers," she said. "I know who they are. They're from Enderby."

I went past her. She was looking at me curiously, as though she was waiting for an explanation. I was determined not to give her one. It was so impertinent for the housekeeper's daughter to interrogate me about callers.

I went to my room and to the window. I saw that Jessie was just returning to the house. Evalina would tell her about the callers. She might be suspicious because she was very shrewd. But by this time Gerard would be on his way to the solicitors.

At supper that night there was a faint atmosphere of suspicion which I detected immediately. Jessie ate with her usual gusto then she smiled at me ingratiatingly and said: "Evalina said them people from Enderby called today."

"Just being neighborly," I said.

"They never called before."

"Oh?"

"I reckon they heard you was here. They never called on Lordy before."

I lifted my shoulders.

Evalina said: "One of them was a fine-looking man."

"H'm," I murmured.

She was wary; she was watchful; I could see she was puzzled and did not like the idea of callers.

I escaped to my room immediately after the meal. I wondered whether Gerard had deposited the will with Messrs. Rosen, Stead and Rosen. If he had my mission was accomplished. It was a comfort to think that the documents would be safe at the solicitors and my responsibility was over.

But I couldn't rest. I had an eerie feeling that there was something rather sinister building up in this house, that Uncle Carl was aware of it in a way and that he encouraged it. Perhaps he found life dull, confined to his room as he was; perhaps he wanted dramatic things to happen.

I was getting fanciful, and I felt an irresistible desire to get out of the house. I put on my cloak and went out. My steps took me toward Enderby. I wanted to see Gerard, to make

sure that he had deposited the will at the solicitors. If I had his word for this I would sleep more easily.

I paused awhile at the haunted patch looking beyond the broken pales to that spot where he had seemed to rise up from the earth before I went on toward the house. There was definitely something eerie about it. It had such a repelling air that I almost turned and fled. The wind in the trees seemed to be moaning something. If I listened and let loose my imagination I could believe they were saying Go away. I had a feeling then that I should go away and I could go into town tomorrow morning and see Mr. Rosen. I could ascertain whether the will had been deposited with them and if it had been, plan to go home at once, my mission accomplished. Should I feel sorry for Uncle Carl in such a situation? I thought not. After all it was of his own making and he clearly wanted it as it was.