Daphne du Maurier - Rebecca

'Well,' he said, 'what time are we going to start in the morning?'

Colonel Julyan looked at Maxim. 'How early can you be ready?'

'Any time you say,' said Maxim.

'Nine o'clock?'

'Nine o'clock,' said Maxim.

'How do we know he won't do a bolt in the night?' said Favell. 'He's only to cut round to the garage and get his car.'

'Is my word enough for you?' said Maxim, turning to Colonel Julyan. And for the first time Colonel Julyan hesitated. I saw him glance at Frank. And a flush came over Maxim's face. I saw the little pulse beating on his forehead. 'Mrs Danvers,' he said slowly, 'when Mrs de Winter and I go to bed tonight will you come up yourself and lock the door on the outside? And call us yourself, at seven in the morning?'

'Yes, sir,' said Mrs Danvers. Still she kept her eyes on him, still her hands clutched at her dress.

'Very well, then,' said Colonel Julyan brusquely. 'I don't think there is anything else we need discuss, tonight. I shall be here sharp at nine in the morning. You will have room for me in your car, de Winter?'

'Yes,' said Maxim.

'And Favell will follow us in his?'

'Right on your tail, my dear fellow, right on your tail,' said Favell.

Colonel Julyan came up to me and took my hand. 'Good night,' he said. 'You know how I feel for you in all this, there's no need for me to tell you. Get your husband to bed early, if you can. It's going to be a long day.' He held my hand a minute and then he turned away. It was curious how he avoided my eye. He looked at my chin. Frank held the door for him as he went out.

Favell leant forward and filled his case with cigarettes from the box on the table.

'I suppose I'm not going to be asked to stop to dinner?' he said.

Nobody answered. He lit one of the cigarettes, and blew a cloud of smoke into the air. 'It means a quiet evening at the pub on the highroad then,' he said, 'and the barmaid has a squint. What a hell of a night I'm going to spend! Never mind, I'm looking forward to tomorrow. Good night, Danny old lady, don't forget to turn the key on Mr de Winter, will you?'

He came over to me and held out his hand.

Like a foolish child I put my hands behind my back. He laughed, and bowed.

'It's just too bad, isn't it?' he said. 'A nasty man like me coming and spoiling all your fun. Don't worry, it will be a great thrill for you when the yellow Press gets going with your life story, and you see the headlines "From Monte Carlo to Manderley. Experiences of murderer's girl-bride," written across the top. Better luck next time.'

He strolled across the room to the door, waving his hand to Maxim by the window. 'So long, old man,' he said, 'pleasant dreams. Make the most of your night behind that locked door.' He turned and laughed at me, and then he went out of the room. Mrs Danvers followed him. Maxim and I were alone. He went on standing by the window. He did not come to me. Jasper came trotting in from the hall. He had been shut outside all the evening. He came fussing up to me, biting the edge of my skirt.

'I'm coming with you in the morning,' I said to Maxim. 'I'm coming up to London with you in the car.'

He did not answer for a moment. He went on looking out of the window. Then 'Yes,' he said, his voice without expression. 'Yes, we must go on being together.'

Frank came back into the room. He stood in the entrance, his hand on the door. 'They've gone,' he said, 'Favell and Colonel Julyan, I watched them go.'

'All right, Frank,' said Maxim.

'Is there anything I can do?' said Frank, 'anything at all? Wire to anyone, arrange anything? I'll stay up all night if only there's anything I can do. I'll get that wire off to Baker of course.'

'Don't worry,' said Maxim, 'there's nothing for you to do — yet. There may be plenty — after tomorrow. We can go into all that when the time comes. Tonight we want to be together. You understand, don't you?'

'Yes,' said Frank. 'Yes, of course.'

He waited a moment, his hand on the door. 'Good night,' he said.

'Good night,' said Maxim.

When he had gone, and shut the door behind him, Maxim came over to me where I was standing by the fireplace. I held out my arms to him and he came to me like a child. I put my arms round him and held him. We did not say anything for a long time. I held him and comforted him as though he were Jasper. As though Jasper had hurt himself in some way and he had come to me to take his pain away.

'We can sit together,' he said, 'driving up in the car.'

'Yes,' I said.

'Julyan won't mind,' he said.

'No,' I said.

'We shall have tomorrow night too,' he said. 'They won't do anything at once, not for twenty-four hours perhaps.'

'No,' I said.

'They aren't so strict now,' he said. "They let one see people. And it all takes such a long time. If I can I shall try and get hold of Hastings. He's the best. Hastings or Birkett. Hastings used to know my father.'

'Yes,' I said.

'I shall have to tell him the truth,' he said. 'It makes it easier for them. They know where they are.'

'Yes,' I said.

The door opened and Frith came into the room. I pushed Maxim away, I stood up straight and conventional, patting my hair into place.

'Will you be changing, Madam, or shall I serve dinner at once?'

'No, Frith, we won't be changing, not tonight,' I said.

'Very good, Madam,' he said.

He left the door open. Robert came in and began drawing the curtains. He arranged the cushions, straightened the sofa, tidied the books and papers on the table. He took away the whisky and soda and the dirty ashtrays. I had seen him do these things as a ritual every evening I had spent at Manderley, but tonight they seemed to take on a special significance, as though the memory of them would last for ever and I would say, long after, in some other time, 'I remember this moment.'

Then Frith came in and told us that dinner was served.

I remember every detail of that evening. I remember the ice-cold consommé in the cups, and the fillets of sole, and the hot shoulder of lamb.

I remember the burnt sugar sweet, the sharp savoury that followed.

We had new candles in the silver candlesticks, they looked white and slim and very tall. The curtains had been drawn here too against the dull grey evening. It seemed strange to be sitting in the dining-room and not look out on to the lawns. It was like the beginning of autumn.

It was while we were drinking our coffee in the library that the telephone, rang. This time it was I who answered it. I heard Beatrice speaking at the other end. 'Is that you?' she said, 'I've been trying to get through all the evening. Twice it was engaged.'

'I'm so sorry,' I said, 'so very sorry.'

'We had the evening papers about two hours ago.' she said, 'and the verdict was a frightful shock to both Giles and myself. What does Maxim say about it?'

'I think it was a shock to everybody,' I said.

'But, my dear, the thing is preposterous. Why on earth should Rebecca have committed suicide? The most unlikely person in the world. There must have been a blunder somewhere.'

'I don't know,' I said.

'What does Maxim say? Where is he?' she said.

'People have been here,' I said — 'Colonel Julyan, and others. Maxim is very tired. We're going up to London tomorrow.'

'What on earth for?'

'Something to do with the verdict. I can't very well explain.'

'You ought to get it quashed,' she said. 'It's ridiculous, quite ridiculous. And so bad for Maxim, all this frightful publicity. It's going to reflect on him.'

'Yes,' I said.

'Surely Colonel Julyan can do something?' she said. 'He's a magistrate. What are magistrates for? Old Horridge from Lanyon must have been off his head. What was her motive supposed to be? It's the most idiotic thing I've ever heard in my life. Someone ought to get hold of Tabb. How can he tell whether those holes in the boat were made deliberately or not? Giles said of course it must have been the rocks.'