Crocodile on the Sandbank - Elizabeth Peters [111]
“I have a faint inkling of the truth,” I said, in a stifled voice. “I hate to contemplate it; for if I am right…. Emerson, you and I have behaved like fools. If I had known what you knew about Lucas’s movements; and if you had known what I am about to tell you—”
“Speak, then. That is the trouble with women, even the best of them,” Emerson added. “They will indulge in vain cries of ‘if only’ and ‘had I but known.’ “
“The criticism is justified,” I said; my pride was thoroughly leveled by the magnitude of the disaster. “Listen, then, while I narrate Evelyn’s story.”
He listened. Only his eyes moved, so intent was he on what I had to say.
“Yes,” he said, when I finished. “The clue is there, somewhere. A vast amount of money may be an inducement to violence. But how? I cannot see it, even now. Is it possible that his lordship lied to you about the old man’s death? If he still lives, and contemplates restoring Evelyn as his heiress—”
“No, he is dead; one of my acquaintances in Cairo knew of it.”
Emerson struck his fist against the floor.
“The conclusion is inescapable, Peabody; in some way we do not comprehend, Evelyn must have control of the fortune his lordship so ardently desires. He has done everything a man could do to induce her to become his wife. I believed his sole motive was passionate love of his cousin. But in this day and age an English girl cannot be forced into marriage, and a forced marriage is the only kind that could come out of this night’s work. Nothing the wretch could do now would induce Evelyn to marry him of her own free will. No; it is the lady’s money that is being sought, not the lady’s person. If we only knew how—”
“I believe I do know,” I interrupted. “I told you that before the late Lord Ellesmere died he gathered all Evelyn’s belongings and sent them to her. Lucas told me—good heavens, he actually boasted of it—that he was in full control at Ellesmere Castle while the old gentleman lay ill. If Ellesmere had softened toward Evelyn and wished to restore her to favor, Lucas would make certain he did not reach his lawyers in order to make a new will. But he might write a new will—a holograph will, I believe it is called. Knowing Lucas as he did, the poor old man saw only one way to ensure that such a document would survive. He could send it to Evelyn—packed in with her other Possessions. He hoped to escape arousing Lucas’s suspicions that way.”
“By Gad, Peabody, I think you’ve got it!” Emerson exclaimed.
“I think so too. Lucas has tried every possible means of getting to those boxes of Evelyn’s, or of having them destroyed unopened. He must have missed them in Rome; and when they arrived in Egypt they went into the safekeeping of Baring, who is the most powerful man in the government. He was a friend of Father’s, and he knows of Lucas’s unsavory reputation; from such a man Lucas had no chance of extracting the precious boxes. Alas; for if he had—”
“Evelyn would not now be in danger,” Emerson’s quick wits supplied the conclusion. “He may not be certain that such a will exists, but he must have reason to suspect that it does. If he could destroy it he would be safe. Failing that, he pursued Evelyn. As her husband he would have control of her fortune in any case, and he would have a good excuse to take charge of her baggage. But the marriage plan failed as well; thanks to our strenuous efforts, his lordship has now only one means left of gaining his ends…. Peabody, you must not blame yourself. How could you possibly have suspected this?”
“I don’t blame myself,” I said,wiping away the tears that were stealing down my face. “As you say, I could not have suspected. It is the most farfetched scheme I have ever encountered; only a frivolous, amoral man, who had been reading too many wild romances, would think of such a thing. And vain regret is useless. I will not indulge in it. I will get out of here and go after Evelyn, and I will kill his lordship if he has harmed her.”
I rose