Dido’s mind was full to overflowing upon this subject. She was thinking of the mystery of the creature being killed at the very same time that its mistress died. She was thinking of the character it had been given by Miss Neville – a noisy little thing which had bitten anyone who came near it. She was thinking that it would have sounded the alarm if anyone had tried to harm Mrs Lansdale: thinking that it was just the kind of animal which a murderer might wish to destroy.
She looked at Flora’s little white face tipped questioningly to one side: blue eyes wide as a child’s, one shining curl slipping prettily across her smooth cheek.
‘The death of the dog,’ said Dido cautiously, ‘does rather suggest that there was something…strange… suspicious about the lady’s death…’
‘Dido!’ Tears sprang immediately to the wide blue eyes, hung upon the lashes. ‘You are not saying…?’
‘No, no. I am not accusing Mr Lansdale. Did you not hear me tell him that I believe the evidence to be in his favour? For, if someone did kill the dog in order to harm its mistress undetected, I do not think it was Mr Lansdale.’
‘Oh…’ Flora hesitated, looked puzzled. ‘Why do you say so?’
‘Because he told us that he regularly fed the dog. And I think you will agree that, however ill-tempered a dog may be in general, it will usually tolerate the presence of the person from whom it receives food. I cannot see that
‘Yes. Quite. I see.’ Flora blinked away her tears. ‘Then that is all right then?’ she said uncertainly.
‘Well, perhaps not. For, if a murder should come to light, then I fear Mr Lansdale will
‘Of course we must. That is just what I have been telling you.’
‘And we must find out exactly what has been carrying on here.’
Flora looked less certain about that. But Dido was now walking on, deep in thought. At the end of the sweep she stopped.
From here they could clearly see the windows of the houses opposite and in one of them was visible a white cap which Dido recognised as belonging to Miss Prentice – Mrs Midgely’s little boarder. She paused for a moment, looking at the window, then turned and looked back up the sweep to the sombre lawns and the red-brick front of Knaresborough House.
‘Flora,’ she said suddenly. ‘What do you say to paying Miss Prentice a morning call?’
‘Well,’ came the puzzled reply, ‘I daresay I owe her the attention. I have not set foot in that house once since our coming down from town. But, why should you wish to call upon
‘On the contrary,’ said Dido cheerfully, taking Flora’s arm and steering her towards the house, ‘I think she may prove very interesting indeed. For she has a remarkably interesting view from her window – and she spends a great deal of time looking at it. In fact, I do believe that if anyone can tell us who has been visiting Mrs Lansdale, it is Miss Prentice.’
They crossed the road and followed the path which led along the side of the house. The front parlour window was open and there was music drifting out among the severely clipped hedges of box and yew. Mary Bevan was playing upon the pianoforte and singing so beautifully that both women could not help but stop for a moment to listen…
Flora merely smiled appreciatively; but Dido raised an interested eyebrow as they walked on to the front door.
The visit did not begin well.
Miss Prentice was not alone when they were shown into the back parlour; Mrs Midgely was sitting with her and, at first, Dido despaired of being able to ask any of the questions which were filling her head. There was no breaking in upon the torrent of Mrs Midgely’s tedious prosing. At first there was nothing to be done but to take their seats upon hard, narrow chairs and to listen.
Attending with only half an ear, Dido looked about her. The room certainly had an excellent view of Knaresborough House; but that was the only thing to be said in its praise. It was not a pleasant room. It was very small and, facing backwards, it received no sunlight even now in the middle of a day in June. And into it there seemed to be gathered all the oldest and shabbiest articles of furniture that might be found in any moderately sized house. The only handsome piece was a gentleman’s broad mahogany desk – very fine, but with its drawers badly scratched and scarred – pushed into one corner, occupying a great deal of space and offering in return little convenience for the room’s present mistress. And there was also an air of incongruous masculinity in the stains upon the wallpaper which had, almost certainly, been made by tobacco smoke…
The name of Lansdale caught her ear and she returned all her attention to Mrs Midgely.
‘…I believe the business
‘Though I can hardly understand how the neighbourhood has been injured by it,’ said Dido sharply, ‘since it has only gained a subject about which it may talk at a time when news from town is rather thin.’
Colour mounted in Mrs Midgely’s broad, rouged cheeks. But, luckily, she was prevented from replying by the arrival of a note which sent her hurrying off in high spirits to ‘consult with Mary directly.’
As the door closed behind her a silence fell upon the room which was very welcome to all three remaining ladies. But poor Miss Prentice was looking anxious. She sat for several moments, her little hands fidgeting in her lap. ‘Oh dear,’ she said at last, ‘I rather fancy that her note is about poor Mary going away.’
Flora looked concerned. ‘Is it true, then,’ she asked Miss Prentice quietly, ‘that Miss Bevan is to go out as a governess?’
Miss Prentice nodded sadly.
‘I had heard it spoken of,’ cried Flora, ‘but, you know, I hardly gave the rumour credit. For I am sure Mrs Midgely has as pretty a fortune as any woman in the world! And she has not another creature to leave it to. I do not at all see why she cannot provide for poor Mary.’
‘Well, if I must give my opinion, neither can I,’ said Miss Prentice. ‘I never heard this plan of making her a governess until just a few months ago. And I am sure it was always the intention of Colonel Midgely to provide for the girl when he took her in. But he has been dead a year now and…’ She checked herself and gave a smile, turning her little face to one side as she did so. ‘Well, well, it is no business of mine to have an opinion on the matter, is it Mrs Beaumont?’ She sighed deeply. ‘But the poor, dear girl is being so very brave about it. She has set her mind to it, I know, and has had her gowns packed and her travelling dress ready this last week.’
Flora politely hoped that Miss Bevan would find a situation with a pleasant family and then introduced more general topics to take the poor lady’s mind from the distressing subject.
Dido was quite struck by this new view of Mrs Midgely’s character. It certainly showed a hardness of heart and, perhaps, a love of money. But how these qualities might bear upon her determination to harm Mr Lansdale, she could not quite determine…
She turned her attention back to little Miss Prentice, who was now chatting quite merrily. Sitting with her little pink hands folded in the lap of her plain brown dress, a neat grey curl hanging on either side of her cap, she was a pleasant sight – delightfully eager and animated. She was perhaps a year or two older than Mrs Midgely but there was about her something which suggested she had once been pretty in a small, unobtrusive way.
Dido could not help but think her cheerfulness out of place in the dark, confined little parlour. But, it seemed,
