Farriers' Lane - Anne Perry [85]
“Mr. Livesey, have you any idea at all as to whether Mr. Stafford was aware of his wife’s relationship with Mr. Pryce, or even suspected it?”
“Ah.” Livesey’s face darkened and his expression was heavy with sadness and distaste. “That is a much harder question. And it would be natural for you to ask me if knowledge of such a thing would make him despairing enough to take his life. I cannot answer the first question; knowledge is sometimes a very subtle thing, Mr. Pitt, not a matter of yes or no.” He looked at Pitt carefully, as if weighing his perception. “There are many levels of awareness,” he went on, his diction precise, his choice of words exact. “It is unquestionable that he knew his wife was distinctly cool towards him. That part of their relationship was mutual. He retained a regard for her, a respect that had become habit over the years, but he was not enamored of her anymore—if he ever was.” He breathed in deeply. “He required that she behave with decorum and fulfill the role of a judge’s wife that society expected of her—and to the best of my knowledge, this she did.” The frown deepened in his heavy face. The subject obviously was unpleasant to him, and he spoke with feeling. “But he did not require, and indeed did not wish, that she should involve him in profound emotions, or give him a constant companionship.”
His eyes did not leave Pitt’s face, and Pitt did not move. “Like many marriages which have been most suitable, and not unpleasant over the years, there was no sense of passion in it, no possessiveness of one another. Had she behaved in-discreetly he would have been angry with her. Had she openly flouted all the rules of society and become a scandal, he would have put her away, either by sending her to the country or, if she had proved utterly willful, as a last resort, and if she had justified such an extreme step, by divorcing her. That would have been an embarrassment which he would have sought to avoid.”
He shrugged his heavy shoulders. “But that did not happen. Had he simply been aware that she was”—his lip curled—“giving her favors to another man, he would have looked the other way and affected not to be aware. Indeed, he may have endeavored to do so to such a degree that it touched no more than the periphery of his consciousness. It is not an uncommon arrangement, especially among those who have been married for some time, and grown”—he searched for a word that was not too indelicate—“a little used to one another.”
“Then it is unlikely, in your judgment, sir, that he would have been thrown into despair by the discovery that his wife was having an affaire with Mr. Pryce?” Pitt asked.
“It is inconceivable,” Livesey replied with candor, his eyes wide.
“If he really was … complacent in the matter,” Pitt pressed, “why would Mrs. Stafford do something so extreme as to murder him?”
A weary and bitter humor flashed across Livesey’s face and was gone. “Presumably her passion for Mr. Pryce is frantic,” he answered, “and not satisfied by a mere affaire. With Stafford dead, she would be a widow of considerable means, and free to marry Pryce. I imagine in your work, Inspector, you have come across many relationships which began as infatuation, and have ended in sordidness and eventually crime? Unfortunately it is a tale that I have witnessed far more often than I care to, usually selfish, a little shabby, and deeply tragic. It afflicts all ages and classes, I regret to say.”
Pitt could not argue. “Yes,” he agreed reluctantly. “Yes, I have.”
“Possibly Pryce was losing some of the heat of his desire,” Livesey continued. “And she feared losing him to a younger woman. Who knows?” He lifted his shoulders a fraction. “The whole matter is dark, and totally tragic. Were poor Stafford not dead, I would have considered it so improbable I should have dismissed the possibility. But he is dead, and we must face the logical conclusions. I regret I cannot say anything more helpful—or less stark in its outcome.”
“You have been most helpful, sir.” Pitt rose to his feet. “I shall enquire into the nature