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

Chapter 19 (Mother Cockleshell) Pg 181

 

Later On,  When Dismissed By Jarwin And In Want Of Funds,  He Sought Out

Miss Greeby And Accused Her. At First She Denied The Story,  But Finally,

As She Judged That He Could Bring Home The Crime To Her,  She Compromised

With Him By Giving Him The Post Of Her Secretary At A Good Salary. When

He Obtained The Forged Letter From Chaldea--And She Learned This From

Lambert When He Was Ill--Miss Greeby Made Him Give It To Her,  Alleging

That By Showing It To Agnes She Could The More Positively Part The Widow

From Her Lover. Miss Greeby,  Knowing Who Had Written The Letter,  Counted

Upon Agnes Guessing The Truth,  And Had She Not Seen That It Had Entered

Her Mind,  When The Letter Was Brought To Her,  She Would Have Given A

Hint As To The Forger's Name. But Agnes's Hesitation And Sudden Paleness

Assured Miss Greeby That She Guessed The Truth,  So The Letter Was Left

To Work Its Poison. Silver,  Of Course,  Clamored For His Blackmail,  But

Miss Greeby Promised To Recompense Him,  And Also Threatened If He Did

Not Hold His Tongue That She Would Accuse Him And Garvington Of The

Murder. Since The Latter Had Forged The Letter And The Former Had

Borrowed The Revolver Which Had Killed Pine,  It Would Have Been

Tolerably Easy For Miss Greeby To Substantiate Her Accusation. As To Her

Share In The Crime,  All She Had To Do Was To Deny That Silver Had Passed

The Borrowed Revolver On To Her,  And There Was No Way In Which He Could

Prove That He Had Done So. On The Whole,  Silver Had Judged It Best To

Fall In With Miss Greeby's Plans,  And Preserve Silence,  Especially As

She Was Rich And Could Supply Him With Whatever Money He Chose To Ask

For. She Was In His Power,  And He Was In Her Power,  So It Was Necessary

To Act On The Golden Rule Of Give And Take.

 

And The Final Statement Which Silver Made To Lambert Intimated That

Garvington Was Ignorant Of The Truth. Until The Bullet Was Produced In

The Library To Fit The Revolver It Had Never Struck Garvington That The

Other Weapon Had Been Used To Kill Pine. And He Had Honestly Believed

That Silver--As Was Actually The Case--Had Remained In His Bedroom All

The Time,  Until He Came Downstairs To Play His Part. As To Miss Greeby

Being Concerned In The Matter,  Such An Idea Had Never Entered

Garvington's Head. The Little Man's Hesitation In Producing The

Revolver,  When He Got An Inkling Of The Truth,  Was Due To His Dread That

If Silver Was Accused Of The Murder--And At The Time It Seemed As Though

The Secretary Was Guilty--He Might Turn King's Evidence To Save His

Neck,  And Explain The Very Shady Plot In Which Garvington Had Been

Engaged. But Lambert Had Forced His Cousin's Hand,  And Silver Had Been

Brought To Book,  With The Result That The Young Man Now Sat In His Room

At The Inn,  Quite Convinced That Miss Greeby Was Guilty,  Yet Wondering

What Motive Had Led Her To Act In Such A Murderous Way.

 

Also,  Lambert Wondered What Was Best To Be Done,  In Order To Save The

Family Name. If He Went To The Police And Had Miss Greeby Arrested,  The

Truth Of Garvington's Shady Dealings Would Certainly Come To Light,

Especially As Silver Was An Accessory After The Fact. On The Other Hand,

If He Left Things As They Were,  There Was Always A Chance That Hints

Might Be Thrown Out By Chaldea--Who Had Everything To Gain And Nothing

To Lose--That He And Agnes Were Responsible For The Death Of Pine. Of

Course,  Lambert,  Not Knowing That Chaldea Had Been Listening To The

Chapter 19 (Mother Cockleshell) Pg 182

Conversation In The Cottage,  Believed That The Girl Was Ignorant Of The

True State Of Affairs,  And He Wondered How He Could Inform Her That The

Actual Criminal Was Known Without Risking Her Malignity. He Wanted To

Clear His Character And That Of His Wife; Likewise He Wished To Save The

Family Name. But It Seemed To Him That The Issue Of These Things Lay In

The Hands Of Chaldea,  And She Was Bent Upon Injuring Him If She Could.

It Was All Very Perplexing.

 

It Was At This Point Of His Meditation That Mother Cockleshell Arrived

At The Inn. He Heard Her Jovial Voice Outside And Judged From Its Tone

That The Old Dame Was In Excellent Spirits. Her Visit Seemed To Be A

Hint From Heaven As To What He Should Do. Gentilla Hated Chaldea And

Loved Agnes,  So Lambert Felt That She Would Be Able To Help Him. As Soon

As Possible He Had Her Brought Into The Sitting Room,  And,  Having Made

Her Sit Down,  Closed Both The Door And The Window,  Preparatory To

Telling Her All That He Had Learned. The Conversation Was,  Indeed,  An

Important One,  And He Was Anxious That It Should Take Place Without

Witnesses.

 

"You _Are_ Kind,  Sir," Said Mother Cockleshell,  Who Had Been Supplied

With A Glass Of Gin And Water. "But It Ain't For The Likes Of Me To Be

Sitting Down With The Likes Of You."

 

"Nonsense! We Must Have A Long Talk,  And I Can't Expect You To Stand All

The Time--At Your Age."

 

"Some Gentiles Ain't So Anxious To Save The Legs Of Old Ones," Remarked

Gentilla Stanley Cheerfully. "But I Always Did Say As You Were A Golden

One For Kindness Of Heart. Well,  Them As Does What's Unexpected Gets

What They Don't Hope For."

 

"I Have Got My Heart's Desire,  Mother," Said Lambert,  Sitting Down And

Lighting His Pipe. "I Am Happy Now."

 

"Not As Happy As You'd Like To Be,  Sir," Said The Old Woman,  Speaking

Quite In The Gentile Manner,  And Looking Like A Decent Charwoman.

"You've A Dear Wife,  As I Don't Deny,  Mr. Lambert,  But Money Is What

You Want."

 

"I Have Enough For My Needs."

 

"Not For Her Needs,  Sir. She Should Be Wrapped In Cloth Of Gold And Have

A Path Of Flowers To Tread Upon."

 

"It's A Path Of Thorns Just Now," Muttered Lambert Moodily.

 

"Not For Long,  Sir; Not For Long. I Come To Put The Crooked Straight And

To Raise A Lamp To Banish The Dark. Very Good This White Satin Is," Said

Mother Cockleshell Irrelevantly,  And Alluding To The Gin. "And Terbaccer

Goes Well With It,  As There's No Denying. You Wouldn't Mind My Taking A

Whiff,  Sir,  Would You?" And She Produced A Blackened Clay Pipe Which Had

Seen Much Service. "Smoking Is Good For The Nerves,  Mr. Lambert."

 

Chapter 19 (Mother Cockleshell) Pg 183

The Young Man Handed Her His Pouch. "Fill Up," He Said,  Smiling At The

Idea Of His Smoking In Company With An Old Gypsy Hag.

 

"Bless You,  My Precious!" Said Mother Cockleshell,  Accepting The Offer

With Avidity,  And Talking More In The Romany Manner. "I Allers Did Say

As You Were What I Said Before You Were,  And That's Golden,  My Gorgious

One. Ahime!" She Blew A Wreath Of Blue Smoke From Her Withered Lips,

"That's Food To Me,  My Dearie,  And Heat To My Old Bones."

 

Lambert Nodded. "You Hinted,  In Devonshire,  That You Had Something To

Say,  And A Few Moments Ago You Talked About Putting The Crooked

Straight."

 

"And Don't The Crooked Need That Same?" Chuckled Gentilla,  Nodding.

"There's Trouble At Hand,  My Gentleman. The Child's Brewing Witch's

Broth,  For Sure."

 

"Chaldea!" Lambert Sat Up Anxiously. He Mistrusted The Younger Gypsy

Greatly,  And Was Eager To Know What She Was Now Doing.

 

"Aye! Aye! Aye!" Mother Cockleshell Nodded Three Times Like A Veritable

Macbeth Witch. "She Came Tearing,  Rampagious-Like,  To The Camp An Hour

Or So Back And Put On Her Fine Clothes--May They Cleave With Pain To Her

Skin--To Go To The Big City. It Is True,  Rye. Kara Ran By The Side Of

The Donkey She Rode Upon--May She Have An Accident--To Wanbury."

 

"To Wanbury?" Lambert Looked Startled As It Crossed His Mind,  And Not

Unnaturally,  That Chaldea Might Have Gone To Inform Inspector Darby

About The Conversation With Garvington In The Library.

 

"To Wanbury First,  Sir,  And Then To Lundra."

 

"How Can You Be Certain Of That?"

 

"The Child Treated Me Like The Devil's Calls Her," Said Gentilla

Stanley,  Shaking Her Head Angrily. "And I Have No Trust In Her,  For A

Witchly Wrong 'Un She Is. When She Goes Donkey-Wise To Wanbury,  I Says

To A Chal,  Says I,  Quick-Like,  'Follow And Watch Her Games!' So The Chal

Runs Secret,  Behind Hedges,  And Comes On The Child At The Railway Line

Making For Lundra. And Off She Goes On Wheels In Place Of Tramping The

Droms In True Romany Style."

 

"What The Deuce Has She Gone To London For?" Lambert Asked Himself In A

Low Voice,  But Gentilla's Sharp Ears Overheard.

 

"Mischief For Sure,  My Gentleman. Hai,  But She's A Bad One,  That Same.

But She Plays And I Play,  With The Winning For Me--Since The Good Cards

Are Always In The Old Hand. Fear Nothing,  My Rye. She Cannot Hurt,

Though Snake That She Is,  Her Bite Stings."

 

The Young Man Did Not Reply. He Was Uneasy In One Way And Relieved In

Another. Chaldea Certainly Had Not Gone To See Inspector Darby,  So She

Could Not Have Any Intention Of Bringing The Police Into The Matter. But

Chapter 19 (Mother Cockleshell) Pg 184

Why Had She Gone To London? He Asked Himself This Question And Finally

Put It To The Old Woman,  Who Watched Him With Bright,  Twinkling Eyes.

 

"She's Gone For Mischief," Answered Gentilla,  Nodding Positively. "For

Mischief's As Natural To Her As Cheating Is To A Romany Chal. But I'm A

Dealer Of Cards Myself,  Rye,  And I Deal Myself The Best Hand."

 

"I Wish You'd Leave Metaphor And Come To Plain Speaking," Cried Lambert

In An Irritable Tone,  For The Conversation Was Getting On His Nerves By

Reason Of Its Prolixity And Indirectness.

 

Mother Cockleshell