Red Money by Fergus Hume (the little red hen ebook .txt) 📖

It To Me,  And Would Make For The

Big House,  Although I Told Him Fair Not To Doubt His True Wife."

 

"How Did He Get The Letter?"

 

"That's Tellings," Said Mother Cockleshell With A Wink Of Her Lively

Eye.

 

"I've A Good Mind To Take You To The Police,  And Then You'd Be Forced

To Say What You Know," Said Miss Greeby Crossly,  For The Vague Hints

Irritated Her Not A Little.

 

The Old Woman Cackled In Evident Enjoyment. "Do That,  And The Pot Will

Boil Over,  Ma'am. I Wish To Help The Angel Rani Who Nursed Me When I Was

Sick,  And I Have Debts To Pay To Chaldea. Both I Do In My Own Witchly

Way."

 

"You Will Help Me To Learn The Truth?"

 

"Surely! Surely! My Gorgious One. And Now," Mother Cockleshell Gave A

Tug At The Donkey's Mouth,  "I Goes My Ways."

 

"But Where Can I Find You Again?"

 

"When The Time Comes The Mouth Will Open,  And Them As Thinks They're

High Will Find Themselves In The Dust. Aye,  And Maybe Lower,  If Six Feet

Of Good Earth Lies Atop,  And Them Burning In Lime,  Uncoffined And

Unblessed."

 

Miss Greeby Was Masculine And Fearless,  But There Was Something So Weird

About This Mystic Sentence,  Which Hinted At Capital Punishment,  That She

Shrank Back Nervously. Mother Cockleshell,  Delighted To See That She Had

Made An Impression,  Climbed On To The Gray Donkey And Made A Progress

Through The Camp. Passing By Chaldea's Caravan She Spat On It And

Chapter 14 (Miss Greeby, Detective) Pg 137

Muttered A Word Or So,  Which Did Not Indicate That She Wished A Blessing

To Rest On It. Chaldea Did Not Show Herself,  So The Deposed Queen Was

Accompanied To The Outskirts Of The Wood By The Elder Gypsies,  Mourning

Loudly. But When They Finally Halted To See The Last Of Mother

Cockleshell,  She Raised Her Hand And Spoke Authoritatively.

 

"I Go And I Come,  My Children. Forget Not,  Ye Romans,  That I Say So

Much. When The Seed Needs Rain It Falls. Sarishan,  Brothers And Sisters

All." And With This Strange Speech,  Mystical To The Last,  She Rode Away

Into The Setting Sun,  On The Gray Donkey,  Looking More Like An Almshouse

Widow Than Ever.

 

As For Miss Greeby,  She Strode Out Of The Camp And Out Of The Abbot's

Wood,  And Made For The Garvington Arms,  Where She Had Left Her Baggage.

What Mother Cockleshell Knew,  She Did Not Guess; What Mother Cockleshell

Intended To Do,  She Could Not Think; But She Was Satisfied That Chaldea

Would In Some Way Pay For Her Triumph. And The Downfall Of The Girl Was

Evidently Connected With The Unravelling Of The Murder Mystery. In A

Witchly Way,  As The Old Woman Would Have Said Herself,  She Intended To

Adjust Matters.

 

"I'll Leave Things So Far In Her Hands," Thought Miss Greeby. "Now For

Silver."

 

 

Chapter 15 (Guesswork) Pg 138

 

Whether Miss Greeby Found A Difficulty,  As Was Probable,  In Getting

Silver To Hand Over The Forged Letter,  Or Whether She Had Decided To

Leave The Solution Of This Mystery To Mother Cockleshell,  It Is

Impossible To Say. But She Certainly Did Not Put In An Appearance At

Lady Agnes Pine's Town House To Report Progress Until After The New

Year. Nor In The Meantime Did She Visit Lambert,  Although She Wrote To

Say That She Induced The Secretary To Delay His Threatened Exposure. The

Position Of Things Was Therefore Highly Unsatisfactory,  Since The

Consequent Suspense Was Painful Both To Agnes And Her Lover. And Of

Course The Widow Had Been Duly Informed Of The Interview At The Cottage,

And Naturally Expected Events To Move More Rapidly.

 

However,  Taking The Wise Advice Of Isaiah To "Make No Haste In Time Of

Trouble," Agnes Possessed Her Soul In Patience,  And Did Not Seek Out

Miss Greeby In Any Way,  Either By Visiting Or By Letter. She Attended At

Her Lawyers' Offices To Supervise Her Late Husband's Affairs,  And Had

Frequent Consultations With Garvington's Solicitors In Connection With

Chapter 15 (Guesswork) Pg 139

The Freeing Of The Lambert Estates. Everything Was Going On Very

Satisfactorily,  Even To The Improvement Of Lambert's Health,  So Agnes

Was Not At All So Ill At Ease In Her Mind As Might Have Been Expected.

Certainly The Sword Of Damocles Still Dangled Over Her Head,  And Over

The Head Of Lambert,  But A Consciousness That They Were Both Innocent,

Assured Her Inwardly That It Would Not Fall. Nevertheless The Beginning

Of The New Year Found Her In Anything But A Placid Frame Of Mind. She

Was Greatly Relieved When Miss Greeby At Last Condescended To Pay Her A

Visit.

 

Luckily Agnes Was Alone When The Lady Arrived,  As Garvington And His

Wife Were Both Out Enjoying Themselves In Their Several Ways. The Pair

Had Been Staying With The Wealthy Widow For Christmas,  And Had Not Yet

Taken Their Departure,  Since Garvington Always Tried To Live At

Somebody's Expense If Possible. He Had Naturally Shut Up The Manor

During The Festive Season,  As The Villagers Expected Coals And Blankets

And Port Wine And Plum-Puddings,  Which He Had Neither The Money Nor The

Inclination To Supply. In Fact,  The Greedy Little Man Considered That

They Should Ask For Nothing And Pay Larger Rents Than They Did. By

Deserting Them When Peace On Earth And Goodwill To Men Prevailed,  Or

Ought To Have Prevailed,  He Disappointed Them Greatly And Chuckled Over

Their Lamentations. Garvington Was Very Human In Some Ways.

 

However,  Both The Corpulent Little Lord And His Untidy Wife Were Out

Of The Way When Miss Greeby Was Announced,  And Agnes Was Thankful That

Such Was The Case,  Since The Interview Was Bound To Be An Important One.

Miss Greeby,  As Usual,  Looked Large And Aggressively Healthy,  Bouncing

Into The Room Like An India-Rubber Ball. Her Town Dress Differed Very

Little From The Garb She Wore In The Country,  Save That She Had A

Feather-Trimmed Hat Instead Of A Man's Cap,  And Carried An Umbrella In

Place Of A Bludgeon. A Smile,  Which Showed All Her Strong White Teeth In

A Somewhat Carnivorous Way,  Overspread Her Face As She Shook Hands

Vigorously With Her Hostess. And Miss Greeby's Grip Was So Friendly As

To Be Positively Painful.

 

"Here You Are,  Agnes,  And Here Am I. Beastly Day,  Ain't It? Rain And

Rain And Rain Again. Seems As Though We'd Gone Back To Father Noah's

Times,  Don't It?"

 

"I Expected You Before,  Clara," Remarked Lady Agnes Rather Hurriedly,

And Too Full Of Anxiety To Discuss The Weather.

 

"Well,  I Intended To Come Before," Confessed Miss Greeby Candidly.

"Only,  One Thing And Another Prevented Me!" Agnes Noticed That She Did

Not Specify The Hindrances. "It Was The Deuce's Own Job To Get That

Letter. Oh,  By The Way,  I Suppose Lambert Told You About The Letter?"

 

"Mr. Silver Told Me About It,  And I Told Noel," Responded Agnes Gravely.

"I Also Heard About Your Interview With--"

 

"Oh,  That's Ages Ago,  Long Before Christmas. I Should Have Gone And Seen

Him,  To Tell About My Experiences At The Gypsy Camp,  But I Thought That

I Would Learn More Before Making My Report As A Detective. By The Way,

Chapter 15 (Guesswork) Pg 140

How Is Lambert,  Do You Know?"

 

"He Is All Right Now,  And Is In Town."

 

"At His Old Rooms,  I Suppose. For How Long? I Want To See Him."

 

"For An Indefinite Period. Garvington Has Turned Him Out Of The

Cottage."

 

"The Deuce! What's That For?"

 

"Well," Said Agnes,  Explaining Reluctantly,  "You See Noel Paid No Rent,

As Garvington Is His Cousin,  And When An Offer Came Along Offering A

Pound A Week For The Place,  Garvington Said That He Was Too Poor To

Refuse It. So Noel Has Taken A Small House In Kensington,  And Mrs. Tribb

Has Been Installed As His Housekeeper. I Wonder You Didn't Know These

Things."

 

"Why Should I?" Asked Miss Greeby,  Rather Aggressively.

 

"Because It Is Mr. Silver Who Has Taken The Cottage."

 

Miss Greeby Sat Up Alertly. "Silver. Oh,  Indeed. Then That Explains Why

He Asked Me For Leave To Stay In The Country. Said His Health Required

Fresh Air,  And That London Got On His Nerves. Hum! Hum!" Miss Greeby

Bit The Handle Of Her Umbrella. "So He's Taken The Abbot's Wood Cottage,

Has He? I Wonder What That's For?"

 

"I Don't Know,  And I Don't Care," Said Agnes Restlessly. "Of Course I

Could Have Prevented Garvington Letting It To Him,  Since He Tried To

Blackmail Me,  But I Thought It Was Best To See The Letter,  And To

Understand His Meaning More Thoroughly Before Telling My Brother About

His Impertinence. Noel Wanted Me To Tell,  But I Decided Not To--In The

Meantime At All Events."

 

"Silver's Meaning Is Not Hard To Understand," Said Miss Greeby,  Drily

And Feeling In Her Pocket. "He Wants To Get Twenty-Five Thousand Pounds

For This." She Produced A Sheet Of Paper Dramatically. "However,  I Made

The Little Animal Give It To Me For Nothing. Never Mind What Arguments

I Used. I Got It Out Of Him,  And Brought It To Show You."

 

Agnes,  Paling Slightly,  Took The Letter And Glanced Over It With

Surprise.

 

"Well," She Said,  Drawing A Long Breath,  "If I Had Not Been Certain That

I Never Wrote Such A Letter,  I Should Believe That I Did. My Handwriting

Has Certainly Been Imitated In A Wonderfully Accurate Way."

 

"Who Imitated It?" Asked Miss Greeby,  Who Was Watching Her Eagerly.

 

"I Can't Say. But Doesn't Mr. Silver--"

 

"Oh,  He Knows Nothing,  Or Says That He Knows Nothing. All He Swears To