The Cater Street Hangman - Anne Perry [102]
She had entirely forgotten them, but it seemed an obvious escape from the truth, and he had offered it to her.
“Yes,” she lied. “I am concerned that he will hurt her. She is not of his social position, and he will tire of her presently; then she will find her reputation damaged, and have nothing to show for it but a deep hurt to her feelings.”
“You believe that because his social position is higher than hers he will not consider marrying her?” he asked.
It seemed a foolish question. She was a little annoyed with him for having asked.
“Of course he won’t!” she said tartly. “Men of his situation either marry for family reasons, or for money. Emily has neither.”
“Do you admire that?”
She turned round sharply. “Of course not! It is weak, contemptible. But that is the way it is.” Then she saw the smile on his face, and something else. Could it conceivably be hope? She felt her skin flame. It was ridiculous! She drew a deep breath and tried hard to control herself.
He was still staring at her, but there was self-mockery in his face now. Very gently he helped her out of her embarrassment.
“I think you worry about Emily too much,” he observed. “She is far more practical than you credit. Ashworth may imagine he is calling the pace, but I think it will be Emily who will decide whether he marries her or not. A wife like Emily could be an advantage to a man in his position. She is far cleverer than he is, for a start, and wise enough to hide it sufficiently so that he may suspect it, but never be sure enough for it to make him feel in any way less superior. She will be right, but she will convince him that it was his idea.”
“You make her sound extremely—conniving.”
“She is.” He smiled. “She is in every way opposite from you. Where you charge headlong, Emily will outflank and come up behind.”
“And you make me sound stupid!”
His smile broadened into a grin. “Not at all. You could not win Ashworth, but then you also have the sense not to want him!”
She relaxed in spite of herself. “Indeed I do not. What have you come for, Mr. Pitt? Surely not to talk about Ashworth and Emily again? Are you really no nearer the hangman?”
“I’m not sure,” he said honestly. “Once or twice I’ve thought we were almost onto him, but then we were proved wrong. If only we knew why! If we just knew why he did it, why those girls? Why not any of a hundred others? Was it no more than chance?”
“But surely—” she faltered, “if it were no more than that—how will you ever find him? He could be anyone at all!”
“I know.” He held out no false hope, no comfort, and for that she both praised and blamed him. She wanted comfort, and yet she wanted honesty as well. It seemed she could not have both.
“Is there no connecting link, no person they all knew who might have . . . ?”
“We are still looking. That is why I’ve come today. I would like to speak to Dora, if I may, and also to Mrs. Dunphy. I’ve heard that Dora was friendly with the Hiltons’ maid, more friendly than she has told us. Possibly she denied it out of fear. A lot of people hide information because they feel murder is scandalous, and even to know anything somehow rubs the scandal onto them. Guilt by association.” His mouth turned down at the corners.
“And Mrs. Dunphy? She might have held something back; she hates scandal.”
“I’m sure. All good servants do, even more than their masters, if such a thing were possible. But actually I only want her confirmation. It might serve to prevent Dora from being evasive again. Dora might lie to me, but if she is anything like most housemaids, she will not dare lie to the cook.”
Charlotte smiled. It was perfectly true.
Then another thought occurred to her. Was that all he wanted to ask? And even if it was, would Dora or Mrs. Dunphy accidentally betray the anguish in the house at the moment? It was a fallacy of self-preservation, of dignity, to suppose that the servants did not know the private quarrels and tears above the stairs. They had eyes and ears, and curiosity. Someone would have overheard. Gossip would be discreet, even sympathetic,