Dennis Wheatley - The Shadow of Tyburn Tree

The Russian shrugged and spread out his hands. "I am not well acquainted with your English ways; but I understand that to-day is the Feast of Fools, and that it is your national custom to play pranks upon each other, most of which are taken in good part."

" 'Tis true," the Colonel nodded, "although nowadays such prac­tices are mostly confined to the rude country folk who still dance round the Maypole and jump the November bonfires. Did you and my daughter seek then to make an April Fool of Sir Humphrey?"

"Alas, Sir; I fear we did," Vorontzoff admitted; and he then went on to give a brief account of his note and how he Had despatched one of his outriders with it to Goodwood.

When he had done the Colonel turned to Georgina. She was sitting hunched up in an elbow chair with her back to the light, a wisp of handkerchief pressed against her eyes. Her father touched her gently on the shoulder, and said: "Can you make an effort, m'dear, and tell us what happened on Humphrey's coming in to you?"

"There is little to tell," she replied, choking back a sob. "I was asleep when he burst in upon me. He was panting like a grampus from the strain he had put upon himself to get here by dawn. He blurted out the contents of the note he'd had and demanded from me the name of my lover. I told him I had none; and that to teach him a lesson for his ill suspicions of me, had made of him an April Fool. On that his anger suddenly mounted to a monstrous rage and he struck at me with his whip. Look! It caught me here on the neck and seemed to sear half-way through my back. I fainted from the pain and shock. When I regained my senses the room was still, but on sitting up I saw Humphrey lying there on the floor. I jumped out of bed and sought to bring him to by loosening his cravat and throwing a jug of water over him; but 'twas no good. Then the sight of his face sent me into hysterics and my screams brought you all running."

"So that was the way of it," the Colonel murmured. "I pity the poor fellow for having met such an end; but he was always of a hot temper and is not the first man to have died from a fit of rage."

Georgina heaved an inward sigh of relief. She recalled Roger saying that everything would depend on the unquestioning acceptance of her story, and it seemed that matters could not possibly have gone better.

Selwyn had been standing staring at the body. He now pointed to it and remarked. "There is a small wound upon his head; see, the skin is broken just above the left temple. 'Tis a vulnerable spot, and 'tis possible that while he might have recovered from a stroke the blow that made the wound may have been the actual cause of death."

Covering her face again with her hand and handkerchief, Georgina bit her lip. It seemed an ^terminable time before anyone said any­thing, and she had a sudden desperate fear that, after all, the truth was now about to come out. But, at last, her father replied, "He must have struck his head against something as he fell."

There was a discreet knock at the door, and on the Colonel's calling

"Come in," two footmen entered. At his directions they carried Sir Humphrey's body away to one of the spare bedrooms.

Chi the door closing behind them Vorontzoff suddenly stooped and picked up. the cut-glass scent-bottle which, having rolled just under the valance of the bed, had been hidden -until a moment before by the dead man's leg. With a sharp glance at Georgina he asked: "How did this bottle come to be on the floor, Madame?'

Her mouth seemed to go dry and she swallowed quickly, before replying with a shrug. "I do not know, Monsieur. He must have knocked it off the dressing-table—perhaps when he made to strike me with his whip."

"That accounts for the room being so heavy with your scent," remarked her father. "But you should go back to bed now, m'dear, and get some rest after this dreadful shock. I'll send Jenny up to you. Come, gentlemen; there is no more to be done here."

To her immense relief each of them made her a courtly bow and a moment later she was alone. Up till then, although she had been dab­bing at her eyes for appearance sake, she had been too wrought up to weep; but now the tears came and when Jenny arrived she found her mistress crying quietly.

Jenny was not only the soul of loyalty but an extremely kind-hearted and competent girl. She had maided Georgina ever since her first going to Court and had a deep affection for her. With soothing words and little comforting noises she sponged her mistress's face and brushed her hair, then she remade the bed and tucked her up in it. Having lit the fire she took another look at Georgina and, seeing that she was lying quite still with her eyes shut, went off to make a soothing tizane of lime-flowers.

On her return with the steaming brew she said: "Now drink this Milady; 'twill do you good." Then she pointed at two large white pills in the saucer and added. "I met with my Lord Edward Fitz-Deverel in the passage, and his Lordship says, his compliments to you Milady, and please to pleasure him by taking these, for they'll send you to sleep and prevent you having the headache."

"Thank you, Jenny," Georgina smiled a little wanly. "Mr. Brook tells me that Lord Edward is something of an expert upon strange drugs; so thank him for me please and tell him that I took his medicine gladly. Did you perchance see Mr. Brook when you were fetching this dish of tisane for me?"

"I did, indeed Milady," Jenny smiled back. "He took me aside to inquire for you, and I was please to tell you that he thinks it more discreet not to come to your boudoir to-day unless you send a message by me desiring him to wait upon you. I was to tell you, too, that he loves you dearly."

"I know it Jenny, and I love him with an equal fondness; but not a word of that except between us two."

Jenny bridled. "I'd liefer have my tongue cut out, and you should know better than to suggest otherwise. Take your pills now, and get to sleep. I'll stay and do some mending by the fire, so as to be here should you need me."

"Bless you, Jenny. You're a dear, and I'd be lost without you," Georgina murmured; then she swallowed the pills, finished the tisane and settled down in her big comfortable bed.

She began to think of Humphrey and cried a little at the remem­brance of their early days together. As the beautiful Georgina Thursby she had not only been the reigning toast of the town but a rich heiress to boot. Half a hundred suitors had striven to win her hand; old men and young ones, some with coronets, others with great fortunes, and some with nothing but good looks and a load of debts. Humphrey had been only one out of half-a-dozen that she had seriously con­sidered as a husband. Mentally he was an overgrown child, and the only topic upon which he could talk with fluency was horses; but he had been handsome in a fair, bold way, was well-made, easy to get on with and he owned Still waters. It was the last which had made her take him in preference to a good-looking young Earl.

To begin with, their marriage had been successful, as such eigh­teenth-century marriages went. She recalled the fun that they had had during their first winter's hunting together, when she had been so proud of him as the finest and most daring rider in the field. Then she remembered with nausea his bouts of drunkenness, and the way in which he seduced every maid that she took into the house. It was not his unfaithfulness that she had minded but his lack of taste, and the squalidness of his indulging in those casual amours in the attics under their own roof. But she knew that she too had been to blame. She had soon become impatient of his stupidity and began to amuse herself with more intelligent men.

And now it was all over. Poor, weak, stupid Humphrey was dead; and would never blow a hunting-horn till he got red in the face, any more. She thought of his hearty laugh and the tears came into her eyes again; then she suddenly realised that she was not in the least sorry about his death, but only that they had not been able to remain good friends. Her mind wandered to a dinner service of three hundred pieces with the Etheredge crest that she had ordered to be made in China soon after their marriage. The merchant in the City had said that he could promise delivery in from three to four years, so it might arrive at any time now.