The strange countess
am under the impression that one of her servants was connected with
the Reddle family.
“For years,” Mr. Shaddles went on, “I have been satisfied in my mind
that William was married, and have been trying to find his wife. I saw
him soon after he was dead, and there was a gold wedding ring on his
little finger, which was not there when he was buried. I also believed
that the child was alive, and sought her out. I found that she was
working at an office in Leith, and brought her down to my own office
so that she should be under my eye, and eventually engaged the
cleverest detective I could find to protect her. I then discovered
that Lady Moron had some inkling of her identity, and I confess I
hesitated when her ladyship suggested that the girl should go to her
house as secretary. It was only after consultation with Mr. Dorn that
I agreed. I had notified my suspicions to the Home Office, and a
special service officer, Sergeant Braime, had been planted in her
household to make enquiries, and to discover if she had been foolish
enough to preserve the suicide’s letter.”
He paused.
“I think that is all.”
“An excellent story,” said Lady Moron, “and in confirmation----”
She took something from her bag and threw it on the floor.
Dorn stooped and picked up the key and the letter, gave one quick
glance at its contents, and handed it to the lawyer.
“And now I have something else to say.” There was a dreadful silence.
The pistol was in her hand, and the safety-catch had been lowered.
“Most people in my position would commit suicide. But it will be very
poor satisfaction to me to go out of the world and leave my enemies to
triumph. I have a son--of sorts.” She smiled across the room to
Selwyn, and he met her gaze steadily. “I should not care to leave him
behind. Nor this wretched shop-girl”--her eyes sought Lois Reddle’s,
and instantly her mother was by her side, her frail body interposed
between the woman and her vengeance. “That is all,” said her ladyship.
And then Selwyn saw a look of horror come into his mother’s face. She
was staring at the doorway. Little Mackenzie, a tray in his hand, had
not seen the new visitor and he put down the tray with a chuckle.
“It’s a curious thing----” he said.
And then he saw the woman with the pistol.
“Martha!”
“My God!” she moaned. “I thought you were dead!”
The room was very quiet.
“I’d have recognised you if I hadn’t heard your fine, deep voice,”
said the old man, blinking at her. “It’s Martha, my wife--you’ve met
her, Mr. Shaddles?”
“I thought you were dead!” she said again, and the pistol dropped from
her nerveless hand.
* * * * * * *
“The point is,” said the disconsolate Selwyn. “I am in a perfectly
painful position, old dear, I’m not Lord anybody; I suppose I’m a
Moron of sorts. I’m what you might term a naughty Moron. I’m really
not worried about the mater--she’s in the south of France, and she’s
jolly lucky she’s not in a hotter place! She’s been a perfectly
fearful mother to me, and I don’t suppose I shall ever see her again,
and I don’t jolly well want to! She’ll probably live to ninety--she’s
that kind of mother.”
“Don’t be silly, Selwyn. Of course it makes all the difference!” said
Lizzy. “If you’d asked me when you were a real lord and I was a
typist--I’m a typist still, for the matter of that--I simply couldn’t
have allowed you to ruin your career. As it is----”
They were walking along a quiet by-path of the park when suddenly
Lizzy caught him by the arm and swung him round.
“Not that way,” she said. “Here’s a path through the rhododendrons.
They’ll never think of coming round here, and there’s a perfectly
beautiful seat--and at this time of the morning there’s nobody about.
We can sit and talk----”
Michael saw the hasty retreat and smiled to himself.
“That’s the queerest aspect of the whole case.”
“Do you think so?” asked Lois, Countess of Moron. “I know lots of
things that are queerer. I had a bill this morning from Mr. Shaddles.
He has charged me one pound six shillings for the damage you did to
his Ford!”
“He never has?” said the admiring Michael. “What a man! He must have
spent ten thousand pounds on this case if he spent a penny. Most of
which,” he added, “went to me.”
“Do you feel repaid?” she asked.
He nodded.
“I shall when your ladyship has said ‘thank you.’”
“Haven’t I said that yet?” she demanded in feigned surprise. “And
please don’t say ‘ladyship’--you give me the creeps. Well, I’ll thank
you, now--no, not now.”
They paused at the end of a little path.
“Let us go down here,” she said. “I think I remember there’s a
shrubbery at the other end, and a garden seat, and it’s hardly likely
that at this time of day…”
THE END
TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES
The Hodder and Stoughton Limited (1926) edition was consulted for
many of the changes listed below.
Minor spelling inconsistencies (_e.g._ liftman/lift-man,
prison-gate/prison gate, Whitcomb/Whitcombe, etc.) have been
preserved.
Alterations to the text:
Abandon the use of drop-caps.
Add ToC.
[Chapter Seven]
Change (“Even you must _given_ me some credit for my frankness.”) to
_give_.
[Chapter Thirteen]
(“Lizzy came promptly at six, bringing with her a…) delete the
quotation mark.
[Chapter Eighteen]
“periods of national rejoicing but here, in this shadowy place” add
semicolon after _rejoicing_.
[Chapter Twenty]
(“I’ve got a wife and four children,” he whined “and there’s an…)
add comma after _whined_.
[Chapter Twenty-one]
“in order to get even either with Mr. _Chester_ Praye or the Countess”
to _Chesney_.
[Chapter Twenty-five]
(“I want to see the master of this house,” said Michael Dorn!) change
the exclamation mark to a period.
[Chapter Twenty-six]
“he could not see the top windows of the _buildings_” to _building_.
[Chapter Twenty-seven]
“Dr. Tappatt had no intention of sending _of_ the police” to _for_.
[Chapter Twenty-eight]
“_Tappett_ forced a smile.” to _Tappatt_.
[Chapter Twenty-nine]
“He scowled at her as _he_ came in, noted her coat and her hat” to
_she_.
[Chapter Thirty]
“The farm takes _it_ name from the wood.” to _its_.
“steady echo of footsteps, as though somebody was _passing_ the floor”
to _pacing_.
[Chapter Thirty-three]
“be sensible and recognise the _sacrifies_ I am making for you” to
_sacrifices_.
[Chapter Thirty-six]
(“_It_ a curious thing----” he said.) to _It’s_.
[End of text]