The Deductions of Colonel Gore. Lynn Brock

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ minutely-vigilant propriety—sweet, sound English womanliness, scrupulously-groomed, meticulously decked for the afternoon. And yet, behind that secure, orthodox façade of ‘niceness’, these tempestuous passions had swirled and eddied—eddied and swirled now. He was too shrewd to be far misled by the casual, stereotyped phrases of the modern young woman’s dialect. Beneath them he had had skill enough to detect the stir of the oldest, starkest of human stresses and strains. Love and Hate and Fear had had their way with her. That little mouth, whose lips were set now so coldly, had all but given the kiss of final surrender to one lover, all but betrayed another. That little hand, whose slim fingers upheld her chin childwise, had all but dealt murder. Amazing! And yet he was not amazed—save, indeed, by the knowledge that nothing she could do would ever amaze him in the least.

      She turned to him at length, impatiently.

      ‘Can’t you suggest anything, Wick? I don’t care what it costs—so far as money is concerned—so long as I get those letters of mine back. Couldn’t you—wouldn’t you see him, and try to force him to give them up? I mean—you’re a man. You might be able to frighten him …’

      ‘I’m perfectly willing to try, of course,’ he said gravely. ‘Though frankly it seems to me that even if you do get your letters back, he’ll still have you in a very nasty place. That hotel-register down at Bournemouth, for instance? … How do you propose to get rid of that? Suppose, even, that he does actually part with your letters—what’s to prevent his coming along to you the very next day and saying, “Look here. I want another five hundred. If I don’t get it, I’m afraid your husband’s going to find out that you stayed at the Palatine Hotel at Bournemouth on such-and-such a date as my wife.” Well … what are you going to do then?

      ‘However … I’ll see the gentleman, if you wish, and have a preliminary talk about the matter with him at any rate. It may do some good … or it may do quite a lot of harm. What’s his number in Hatfield Place? Twenty-seven, isn’t it?’

      ‘Yes. When will you see him?’

      ‘I can go and see him now. Ring up first and find out if he’s at home—and go round straightaway if he is.’

      ‘I wish you would, Wick,’ she said gratefully. ‘You are a dear old thing. It would be such a relief if I could know that there was even a chance of escaping from this nightmare before I go to Surrey.’

      ‘You’re going away to Surrey?’

      ‘Yes. Tomorrow. I’m going up to the Hescotts for Georgie’s wedding. Of course I could cancel it. But Georgie would be most frightfully hurt. She was one of my bridesmaids, you see— And, of course, we’ve always been tremendous pals. I was so sure that all my troubles were to end last night. Do you really think you could see Mr Barrington this afternoon?’

      ‘I’ll go and ring him up now, if I may. Where’s your telephone?’

      ‘I’ll show you.’

      She rose to her feet, visibly consoled by relief from the despair of inaction.

      ‘If you don’t see him this afternoon—’

      ‘I’ll see him some time today. You may rely upon that.’

      The murmur of voices on the stairs halted him as he opened the door.

      ‘The Barracombes,’ said Mrs Melhuish impatiently.

      ‘Barracombes?’

      ‘General Barracombe’s girls. They live next door.’

      Two fashionably-attired young women appeared in breathless excitement.

      ‘Barbara, dear,’ exclaimed one, ‘such a dreadful thing has happened poor Mr Barrington! Janet and I have just found him sitting in his car, just outside our door … dead.’

      ‘At least we’re nearly sure he’s dead,’ broke in her sister. ‘Your husband has gone out to him. We came at once to get him to go out. Isn’t it dreadful? Of course, he may be only unconscious—he may have had a fainting fit or something like that. My dear, I’m positively shaking all over. It gave me such a shock. You see, we spoke to him—at least Hilda spoke to him, and he didn’t answer. And then I thought he looked queer, somehow … and I got up on the footboard and touched his arm. I saw then by his face—’

      Her sister checked her. Mrs Melhuish had gone very white suddenly and caught at a chair to steady herself.

      ‘There—now we’ve frightened you, rushing in this way. Perhaps it is only a fainting fit or something like that. Though I don’t think so. Do you, Janet?’

      ‘No. I touched his hand. Oh … I shall never forget how deadly cold it felt. I’m sure he’s dead.’

      She shuddered luxuriously, rearranging her furs.

      Mrs Melhuish had recovered her composure now.

      ‘How dreadful,’ she murmured. ‘This is a very old friend of mine … Colonel Gore.’

      The two young women—they were obviously the kind of sisters who existed in duet—produced beaming smiles of perhaps a second’s duration, and then eclipsed them again to a becoming solemnity. Janet Barracombe stole to the door to peep down into the hall from behind the portière

      Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.

      Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».

      Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.

      Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.

/9j/4QAYRXhpZgAASUkqAAgAAAAAAAAAAAAAAP/sABFEdWNreQABAAQAAABQAAD/4QOHaHR0cDov L25zLmFkb2JlLmNvbS94YXAvMS4wLwA8P3hwYWNrZXQgYmVnaW49Iu+7vyIgaWQ9Ilc1TTBNcENl aGlIenJlU3pOVGN6a2M5ZCI/PiA8eDp4bXBtZXRhIHhtbG5zOng9ImFkb2JlOm5zOm1ldGEvIiB4 OnhtcHRrPSJBZG9iZSBYTVAgQ29yZSA1LjAtYzA2MSA2NC4xNDA5NDksIDIwMTAvMTIvMDctMTA6 NTc6MDEgICAgICAgICI+IDxyZGY6UkRGIHhtbG5zOnJkZj0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMTk5 OS8wMi8yMi1yZGYtc3ludGF4LW5zIyI+IDxyZGY6RGVzY3JpcHRpb24gcmRmOmFib3V0PSIiIHht bG5zOnhtcE1NPSJodHRwOi8vbnMuYWRvYmUuY29tL3hhcC8xLjAvbW0vIiB4bWxuczpzdFJlZj0i aHR0cDovL25zLmFkb2JlLmNvbS94YXAvMS4wL3NUeXBlL1Jlc291cmNlUmVmIyIgeG1sbnM6eG1w PSJodHRwOi8vbnMuYWRvYmUuY29tL3hhcC8xLjAvIiB4bXBNTTpPcmlnaW5hbERvY3VtZW50SUQ9 InhtcC5kaWQ6NmI2MDMyMmUtMjRlOS00MmU3LWI2NTktMzZjNjU5NjdmMjFkIiB4bXBNTTpEb2N1 bWVudElEPSJ4bXAuZGlkOjc3RDZFQTUwMzAyQzExRTg5MTMyQ0I3OEI5RDQ5REZFIiB4bXBNTTpJ bnN0YW5jZUlEPSJ4bXAuaWlkOjc3RDZFQTRGMzAyQzExRTg5MTMyQ0I3OEI5RDQ5REZFIiB4bXA6 Q3JlYXRvclRvb2w9IkFkb2JlIFBob3Rvc2hvcCBDUzUuMSBNYWNpbnRvc2giPiA8eG1wTU06RGVy aXZlZEZyb20gc3RSZWY6aW5zdGFuY2VJRD0ieG1wLmlpZDpCNEM5QkEzOUJDMkI2ODExQjM5RkU0 MDQwMTU0QzRBMSIgc3RSZWY6ZG9jdW1lbnRJRD0iYWRvYmU6ZG9jaWQ6cGhvdG9zaG9wOjQyZGUw MmQzLTc4OTEtMTE3Yi05NDJhLTgyZmU1NmU3NTY2NCIvPiA8L3JkZjpEZXNjc СКАЧАТЬ