Buckingham Palace Gardens - Anne Perry [68]
“What makes you say that, Hamilton?” Cahoon asked curiously, his expression innocent in a way Elsa knew was false. What was he looking for? Hamilton was drunk, his face crumpled with pain, and Liliane was obviously frightened for him. Why? What had happened in Africa? Something that was still an open wound, a danger even now? No. It must simply be that Liliane’s brother had died in Africa. Elsa wished she could stop Cahoon’s cruel probing into the matter. But Cahoon had never shrunk from cruelty if he thought it served his purpose. He had often told her that you could not build anything worthwhile if you were afraid to destroy what was taking up its place.
Everyone must have been aware of the emotion in the room, but Taunton and his sister, and probably the Princess of Wales, were unaware of the woman who had been murdered in the cupboard, and that one of the men who were guests here had to be responsible: the husband of one of these women. And did that woman know, or even guess?
“What makes you think that, Hamilton?” Cahoon repeated.
Hamilton blinked as if he had forgotten the question, but there was fear in his eyes, and disgust.
“Oh, of course,” Cahoon said, seeming to remember something at last. “You’re thinking of that awful murder. The poor woman who was slashed to death in Cape Town. Throat cut, and…and other things. I heard about it. That was appalling. You were there then too, weren’t you, Julius?”
They all turned to look at Julius.
“Yes,” he said simply. He seemed about to add something, then changed his mind, as if it were true, but pointless to express.
“It can happen anywhere,” Liliane said a trifle too loudly. “Even in Africa they never had anything worse than the Whitechapel murderer, right here in London.”
Hamilton shuddered violently.
“Another brandy?” the Prince of Wales offered. He looked embarrassed and unhappy, but was trying to mask it.
“No,” Liliane answered too rapidly. “Thank you, sir.”
The Prince looked at Hamilton, then sighed and turned to Cahoon. “Perhaps it is a man’s country, at least to begin with. I envy you the chance to be in at the very foundation of such a world-changing enterprise. It seems comparatively tame to remain here at home. One cannot build real happiness in life totally upon safety.”
“We can do without one adventurer more or less, sir,” Cahoon replied. “We have only one future king.”
Julius smiled. Hamilton shivered again, his hands clenched. Simnel looked at Julius, the emotion in his face unreadable. Lady Parr regarded Cahoon with open admiration.
Elsa wished the evening were over, but knew they had at least two more hours, more probably three, before anyone could retire. No one could leave before the Prince and Princess of Wales.
IT WAS NEARLY midnight when Alexandra invited Elsa to accompany her to one of the galleries that held some of her favorite pictures. Elsa had no interest in pictures at the moment, but apart from the fact that one did not refuse a princess, she was grateful for the escape. They excused themselves and rose.
Elsa walked beside the Princess through magnificent rooms, walls covered with the great masterpieces of Europe throughout the centuries. It was a visual history of the dreams, the life, and the characters of half a millennium of Western civilization. In spite of herself, Elsa was drawn into it.
“A somewhat unusual evening,” Alexandra observed with a smile, catching Elsa’s eye for a moment as they stood before a dark, moody Rembrandt, all gold light and flesh tones against an umber background. Next to it was a cool Vermeer, morning light on blues and grays, and clarity so sharp one could see the grain in the stones of the floor.
“I’m sorry,” Elsa apologized. “We are all at odds with one another.” She could not give the real reason. “They care so much about the project.”
“Of course they do,” Alexandra agreed. “There is very much to win, or lose. But I imagine it is the other unfortunate event that is really disturbing them and, I think, awakening old fears connected to the new ones.”
Elsa stared at her,