The Falcon at the Portal - Elizabeth Peters [104]
Concealing my amusement at his formality, I assured him I would never harbor such suspicions.
“Not that I’ve had the opportunity,” he said with a rueful smile. “I care for her very much, Mrs. Emerson. Her beauty would attract any man, but it was not until I had learned to know her and appreciate her unique qualities of mind and spirit, that my feelings developed as they have. If I believed she reciprocated them, I would ask the Professor’s permission to pay my addresses.”
“You think she does not?”
“She thinks of me as a friend, I believe. That is an honor I cherish for its own sake. She knows how I feel. I told her that I stood ready to be of service to her at any time and in any way, and that I would ask nothing of her except her good opinion. I hope for more, of course. I will never abandon hope, but rest assured I will not press my attentions upon her.”
“In Nefret’s case that would be a serious mistake,” I said. “Your feelings and your behavior do you credit, Geoffrey.”
Nefret soon joined us. Observing her warm but unselfconscious greeting, I concluded he (and I) had been correct in our assessment of her feelings for him.
As I had suspected, it was concern for Jack Reynolds that had prompted Geoffrey’s visit.
“I don’t know what to do,” he confessed, brushing back a lock of fair hair that had fallen over his brow. “It is natural he should grieve for Maude—they were very close—but I had hoped he’d show signs of improvement by now. Instead he is sinking deeper into depression and despair. Mr. Fisher talks of starting work in earnest next week, and Mr. Reisner will be back before the end of the month, and he will expect us to have accomplished a great deal, and—and if Jack goes on at this rate, he won’t be fit for work of any kind, much less the exacting schedule Mr. Reisner demands of his people.”
“Mr. Reisner is not a monster,” I said. “He will understand that Jack needs time to recover from his loss.”
“How much time, though? Hard work is the best medicine for grief; I’m sure you are of that opinion, Mrs. Emerson, and I would have expected Jack to feel the same. This isn’t like him. He’s always been so strong. I can’t help wondering …”
He broke off. “If there is something else tormenting him?” I prompted. “Some deeper, darker sentiment than simple grief?”
Geoffrey stared at me with respectful amazement. “How did you know?”
“Aunt Amelia knows everything,” Nefret said. “You cannot shock or surprise her, so stop beating about the bush. You’ve been with Jack almost constantly. He must have dropped some hint.”
“It is so unreasonable, so unfair—“
“He isn’t satisfied that Maude’s death was an accident,” Nefret said. “That isn’t unreasonable. We’re not satisfied either. Does Jack have any particular suspicions?”
The young man’s shoulders slumped. “Yes. That’s really why I came. I felt I must warn Ramses—”
“What about?” The query came, not from one of us, but from Ramses himself, who had apparently materialized out of thin air, in that uncanny way of his. I deduced he had been in the work area washing pottery fragments, for his shirtsleeves were rolled above the elbows.
“I didn’t know you were here, Godwin,” he went on, taking a chair. “Haven’t seen you since the funeral. Warn me about what?”
“Don’t pretend you were not listening to the conversation,” I said, pouring tea.
“I couldn’t help overhearing some of it. What is Jack saying about me?” He took the cup from my hand and settled back, crossing one leg over the other.
“He’s beside himself,” Geoffrey muttered. “He’s not responsible.”
“You mean he’s drunk most of the time,” Ramses corrected. “In vino veritas—what he takes to be veritas, anyhow. Does he still believe I cold-bloodedly seduced his sister and … And then what?”
“And murdered her!” As soon as the words left his mouth Geoffrey looked as if he wanted to take them back. Ramses’s affectation of callousness had angered him (as it may have been designed to do). Turning impulsively to me, he exclaimed, “Mrs. Emerson, forgive me! I didn’t intend to blurt it out that way. Jack is insane