The Mirror Crack'd - Agatha Christie [65]
‘But she really wanted children,’ said Dermot Craddock. ‘That was real enough, wasn’t it? It wasn’t just a publicity stunt.’
‘Oh, perhaps. Yes, I think that was true. She wanted children. But she didn’t want us! Not really. It was just a glorious bit of play-acting. “My family.” “So lovely to have a family of my own.” And Izzy let her do it. He ought to have known better.’
‘Izzy was Isidore Wright?’
‘Yes, her third husband or her fourth, I forget which. He was a wonderful man really. He understood her, I think, and he was worried sometimes about us. He was kind to us, but he didn’t pretend to be a father. He didn’t feel like a father. He only cared really about his own writing. I’ve read some of his things since. They’re sordid and rather cruel, but they’re powerful. I think people will call him a great writer one day.’
‘And this went on until when?’
Margot Bence’s smile curved suddenly. ‘Until she got sick of that particular bit of play-acting. No, that’s not quite true…She found she was going to have a child of her own.’
She laughed with sudden bitterness. ‘Then we’d had it! We weren’t wanted any more. We’d done very well as little stopgaps, but she didn’t care a damn about us really, not a damn. Oh, she pensioned us off very prettily. With a home and a foster-mother and money for our education and a nice little sum to start us off in the world. Nobody can say that she didn’t behave correctly and handsomely. But she’d never wanted us — all she wanted was a child of her own.’
‘You can’t blame her for that,’ said Dermot gently.
‘I don’t blame her for wanting a child of her own, no! But what about us? She took us away from our own parents, from the place where we belonged. My mother sold me for a mess of pottage, if you like, but she didn’t sell me for advantage to herself. She sold me because she was a damn’ silly woman who thought I’d get “advantages” and “education” and have a wonderful life. She thought she was doing the best for me. Best for me? If she only knew.’
‘You’re still very bitter, I see.’
‘No, I’m not bitter now. I’ve got over that. I’m bitter because I’m remembering, because I’ve gone back to those days. We were all pretty bitter.’
‘All of you?’
‘Well, not Rod. Rod never cared about anything. Besides he was rather small. But Angus felt like I did, only I think he was more revengeful. He said that when he was grown up he would go and kill that baby she was going to have.’
‘You knew about the baby?’
‘Oh, of course I knew. And everyone knows what happened. She went crazy with rapture about having it and then when it was born it was an idiot! Serve her right. Idiot or no idiot, she didn’t want us back again.’
‘You hate her very much.’
‘Why shouldn’t I hate her? She did the worst thing to me that anyone can do to anyone else. Let them believe that they’re loved and wanted and then show them that it’s all a sham.’
‘What happened to your two — I’ll call them brothers, for the sake of convenience.’
‘Oh, we all drifted apart later. Rod’s farming somewhere in the Middle West. He’s got a happy nature, and always had. Angus? I don’t know. I lost sight of him.’
‘Did he continue to feel regretful?’
‘I shouldn’t think so,’ said Margot. ‘It’s not the sort of thing you can go on feeling. The last time I saw him, he said he was going on the stage. I don’t know whether he did.’
‘You’ve remembered, though,’ said Dermot.
‘Yes. I’ve remembered,’ said Margot Bence.
‘Was Marina Gregg surprised to see you on that day or did she make the arrangements for your photography on purpose to please you?’
‘She?’ The girl smiled scornfully. ‘She knew nothing about the arrangements. I was curious to see her, so I did a bit of lobbying to get the job. As I say I’ve got some influence with studio people. I wanted to see what she looked like nowadays.’ She stroked the surface of the table. ‘She didn’t even recognize me. What do you think of that? I was with her for four years. From five years old to nine and she didn’t recognize me.’
‘Children change,’ said Dermot Craddock, ‘they