She had discarded her second magazine and was looking through the pile for a third, when the two came in.
'Well, here we are,' said Dame Beatrice, smiling like a replete python. 'I have asked for coffee, and now we can have a cosy little chat.'
'Hullo, Rosamund,' said Laura, without enthusiasm. 'Where did you spring from? We left you in Scotland with my people. How come that you're here?'
'Oh, I was homesick, and I have to see my lawyers,' said the girl. She was looking strained and tired. 'Please don't pester me. I'm ill.'
'Rosamund walked from Moy to Spean Bridge, and from there obtained a lift to Inverness,' said Dame Beatrice. 'From Inverness she got a train to Edinburgh, but there her money ran out, so she has alternately walked and thumbed lifts from there.'
'I threw away my suitcase,' said Rosamund. 'I got a lift as far as Peebles, and then I began to walk, and the suitcase was just simply too heavy. At last I got to Galashiels and a lorry-driver took me the rest of the way.'
'Well, I should say you'd been pretty lucky,' said Laura.
'My feet are blistered, and I've lost my luggage, and I haven't any money,' said Rosamund. 'I don't know whether you call that being pretty lucky.'
'All's well that ends well,' said Laura, 'but I do think you might have let my people know you intended to sling your hook. They've been somewhat worried about you.'
'Yes, I know. I'm sorry about that. Your mother has been very kind to me. But I was afraid she wouldn't let me go, if I told her I wanted to leave.'
'Good heavens, of course she'd have let you go! You're a free agent, aren't you?'
'For the past year I haven't thought so.'
'Ah,' said Dame Beatrice, 'here comes the coffee. Speaking of the past year, my dear Rosamund, you will like to know what has happened to Romilly. He has been arrested and has been brought before the Bench and remanded in custody for a fortnight. After that, he will again appear in court, when it will be decided whether or not he is to be sent for trial.'
'Romilly?'
'Romilly.'
'Do they really think he killed Hubert?'
'It turns out not to be Hubert, but Willoughby.'
'Willoughby is dead?'
'Yes. His was the body which Romilly and Mrs Judith saw at Dancing Ledge. How well did you know Willoughby?'
'Pretty well, in a way. He was my grandfather's secretary, you know.'
'Yes, I did know that. Did you like him?'
'Oh, yes, I suppose so. At least, I didn't dislike him. But, of course, I didn't have a great deal to do with him. I was away at school a lot of the time between the ages of nine and eighteen, and in the summer holidays I was sent away to the seaside, and at Christmas time Willoughby was given a fortnight's leave of absence, and grandfather and I usually went to London.'
'That leaves the Easter vacations. Did you see much of him then?'
'No. Grandfather used to take me to Rome or Santiago. He was very devout.'
'Did the Reverend Hubert ever come to see his brother?'
'Not that I can remember, but I believe they kept in touch.'
'So you have never seen Hubert?'
'If ever I did, I was so young that I don't remember it. Oh, I forgot. Of course I saw him at grandfather's funeral.'
'So if you had been called upon to identify the body, you would not have made the mistake which Romilly seems to have done?'
'No, of course not. I should have known it was Willoughby. After all, it was only just over a year since I had seen him.'
'Quite so. Well, now, Laura and I are staying here for two nights. I propose that you do the same, and then we can all travel back to the Stone House together.'
'But it's three hundred and fifty miles! When Romilly kidnapped me, we stayed a night on the way.'
'Yes, we will spend a night in Birmingham. I have friends there. They are related to Laura through her husband. They will find us an hotel. Laura will telephone them forthwith.'
'Sure,' said Laura. 'I expect they will put us up in their own house, though.'
'But I don't want to go back to the Stone House. I'm not safe there,' protested Rosamund urgently. 'It's much too near Galliard Hall.'
'Well, I can hardly ask Mrs Menzies to take you in again at Moy, after you left her house without even the ceremony of a leave-taking,' Dame Beatrice pointed out in mild tones. 'You would not expect me to do that, I'm certain.'
