Snobbery With Violence - M. C. Beaton [59]
“I’ll think of something,” said Rose desperately.
Kerridge was taking a break from interviews by walking with Harry in the grounds. Somehow he felt comfortable in the company of the captain, subconsciously sensing a misfit like himself.
“What makes you think the servants are not involved?” asked Harry.
“Because I think Lord Hedley knows something he’s not telling us. I think he’s guilty about something. His voice is becoming hoarse and he doesn’t look well. When I first met him, he looked like our king on a good day.
“You see, the way I look at it is this. You people, you society people, lead very empty lives. Everything is given over to pleasure, and you slave at it. You don’t like the up-and-coming rich from the middle classes, so you invent silly things to keep them at bay. I was served a nice bit of fish last night. ‘Where’s the fish knife?’ I asked. That butler Curzon looks down his nose at me and says, ‘We do not allow fish knives here.’ So I’m supposed to eat my fish with a fork in one hand and a bit of bread in the other.
“The one deadly sin is ‘Thou Shalt Not Get Found Out.’ They are releasing the full post-mortem report to me. It should be arriving by messenger tomorrow.”
“I admit Hedley does not look well,” said Harry. “But he does not look particularly guilty either.”
“Who does? Once a murderer’s photograph is published, everyone says, ‘Oh, look at those killer eyes,’ forgetting that before that, they considered him a decent chap.”
“Is there any chance of you letting me know what’s in that report?”
“I’ll think about it. What about you and Lady Rose?”
“What about her?”
“Very attractive girl,” said Kerridge with a sly look.
“I admit she is attractive,” said Harry, “but she is the most unfeminine girl I have ever come across.”
“I wouldn’t say that. You’re dragging that bad leg of yours a bit. Let’s go back.”
Harry’s idea that Rose was unfeminine was to receive what he considered shocking confirmation. Two hours before the dinner gong, he received a note asking him to meet her in the library.
As he made his way there, he felt amused. Perhaps Rose had formed a tendre for him. He would let her down gently.
He found Rose in the library accompanied by Becket and Daisy. He put the little pang of disappointment down to indigestion.
“How can I help you?” he asked.
“I asked Daisy and Becket to attend because it is a delicate subject. I need information.”
“Go ahead.”
Rose had armoured herself in full fashion. She was wearing a thin pale-green silk afternoon dress, with a trimming of dark green velvet. The boned bodice was trimmed with fine lace over green velvet. It had full sleeves and fitting inner sleeves. The wide belt round her small waist was decorated with tiny velvet bows.
Little green velvet shoes peeped out from below her gown as she drew forward a chair to sit down.
“Pray be seated, Captain,” she said. Daisy stood behind Rose’s chair and Becket behind Harry’s.
“I think we should all sit down,” said Rose. “There is no need for ceremony.”
Becket helped Daisy into a chair and then sat down himself.
“I was wondering about sexual diseases,” said Rose.
Harry stared at her, wondering whether he had heard her properly. “Did you say sexual diseases?”
“Yes.”
“Why?” asked Harry nervously.
“It is just an idea,” said Rose. “You see, Daisy tells me that gentlemen have been known to have intimate relations with virgins in the hope of being cured of, say, syphilis.”
“Where is this leading?”
“Mary hinted that she had someone interested in her, that she had been spoken for. Now it would never have crossed my mind before that any unmarried young lady would fall from grace. But if a man had one of these terrible diseases, he might be very persuasive, promise her anything. Then, if she found out the truth, she might want to take her own life.”
“I fear your new-found knowledge of the nastier aspects of the world is making you jump to mad conclusions,” said Harry.
“Not quite. Margaret Bryce-Cuddlestone spent a night with Lord Hedley. Today she sent for the